Ripped from the headlines, the son of a movie star killed trying to escape the ever watchful eye of the paparazzi…
Okay, so maybe not “ripped” from the headlines. More likely cut and pasted. But anyhow, in our second of thirteen episodes of the ‘Lucifer’‘maxi-series’, we get more Lucifer goodness, some backstory on Chloe Decker as well as our titular character going in a direction his supernatural acquaintances aren’t too fond of.
The Case
Things start off simple enough. Lucifer has a bit of fun with a Hollywood Blvd preacher, aka “a charlatan”. So the devil does as the devil does: he shows the man his true face and it ain’t pretty. Soon after, we get to be a fly on the wall of Lucifer’s initial session with Dr. Linda. Despite her obvious need to jump his bones, she maintains a modicum of professionalism. “You like to hide insecurity in humor,” she remarks at one point, further emphasizing his dilemma at the changes going on with him; changes he doesn’t know what, or who, is causing them.
Not too long after, he catches Chloe spying on him at Lux. Based on her investigations, Lucifer Morningstar appeared from thin air not five years prior and she knows he’s more than he lets on, promising to discover his secret. “It’s not a secret if I’m telling you the answer,” he responds to her and the man has a point. Their back-and-forth is interrupted when Chloe gets a call from Danny. Robbie Russell Jr., son to a famous actor of the same name, is killed alluding Nick Hofmeister, aka Dung beetle. From the start, Chloe’s a bit more intense in Nick’s presence and Lucifer, uninvited though he may be, arrives and recognizes the unspoken history between Nick and Chloe. Lucifer throws down his mojo and is this close to having Nick give up the good on something he’s obviously hiding before Danny comes over to break the spell. To him, it’s an open and shut case, though some of his frustration is aimed squarely at his ex’s “weird, club owner sidekick”. Despite Danny’s warnings, Chloe isn’t ready to put the case to rest.
Taking a bit of a break from the case, Lucifer, fresh off a bit of a “devil’s threesome” gets another visit from Amenadiel. The angel is, forgive the pun, hell bent on getting Lucifer back to his thrown down below. He even offers up a deal: “Go back to Hell…and I’ll speak to Father.” But Luc’s not quite ready to take back the throne but his new demeanor makes Amenadiel realizes that his brother doesn’t realize just how much time on earth is affecting him. As if the angel’s words are the catalyst, Lucifer finds his way to Chloe’s house, one she shares with Penelope Decker, her mother and former B-movie star or the 80’s. He questions her on why she’s so disgusted with Dung Beetle Nick but she refuses to share. Not one to be deterred, Luc pays Nick a visit and finds out from the horse’s mouth. Two weeks after Chloe’s Hot Tub High School appearance, her father died. Wanting to be the first to get the picture, Dung Beetle Nick crashed the funeral. Luc browbeats Nick to reveal his secret but, by Nick’s response, he truly wishes to protect someone, a continued atonement for his vile behavior with Chloe.
The Changeup
While Chloe speaks with Robbie Russell’s father, Lucifer puzzles over his moroseness to discovering a sad portion of Chloe’s past. Tired of seeing the being she followed through the gates of Hell act like nothing more than an emotionally unstable human, Maze pushes Lucifer’s buttons and, for a moment, he rages at her, eyes aflame and she sees the true King. That is, of course, until Chloe arrives, questioning how the blue hell Luc got into the interrogation room with Nick. The two eventually put their various threads of information together and theorize that the paparazzi responsible for the accident 1) never left the scene and 2) may still be at a party where pictures are being uploaded via Dung Beetle Nick’s site.
It doesn’t take long for them to recognize a pap from that party that was also at the accident. He’s able to get away but, with Danny’s help (after she sees photos of herself on the front page) they ID the slime as Josh Bryant, freelancer for Nick. Luc and Chloe track Josh down and realize the guy’s a dirt bag who will do anything to be first but they have no evidence to arrest him and that doesn’t sit well with Lucifer.
With Maze in tow, he takes Dung Beetle Nick and Josh away, to give the two a punishment befitting their wretched lives. It’s quite simple; Mazes offers each a gun and the survivor will be the one who shoots first. Josh shows his ruthlessness and pulls the trigger…only to find out the gun’s not loaded. Nick takes aim at his former protégé but Chloe figures out Lucifer’s plan and tries talking Nick out of doing something he’ll regret. Her words have no effect on Nick but they reach Lucifer and, the instant after Nick pulls the trigger, Luc prays for the one thing that can stop the bullet.
At first he believes Lucifer is ready to deal, especially after Old Scratch admits to him being right. But it’s not about being right on restoring order, rather Lucifer does realize the world is changing him. And he loves it. After promising Lucifer he’ll regret this slight, Amenadiel leaves, restoring time. Chloe is shocked more at Lucifer’s seemingly instantaneous leap from one place to the next than she is Josh isn’t dead.
The Aftermath
Knowing that it’ll all get out sooner rather than later, Chloe sits down with Trixie to have a talk about the movie thing. “Mommy,” Trixie whispers, “I know.” Kids and their internet…even when it’s not in HD. Chat in hand, Chloe decides to pay Jimmy Barnes a visit in the hopes he can shed light on the enigma that is Lucifer Morningstar. All she gets for her time is a broken, terrified man who bashes his head against the wall and screams “he’s the devil!”
“So the devil did a good deed,” a satisfied Dr. Linda says to her client/lover. Lucifer can only smile, exhilarated by not knowing what’s coming next or what exactly he should do with one Chloe Decker.
The Fun Stuff
- Another hour, another layer peeled away. Right in front of our very eyes, Lucifer continues to evolve. Despite the words of his otherworldly associates and his own speech to Dung Beetle Nick—“The trouble is that you tried to change…and you failed…cuz, sometimes we are what we are. And we should embrace that”—Luc is all for the change occurring within him. True, it seems a bit farfetched for such an ageless being to be affected so quickly by a human, we do need to take into account his fascination with her ability to shrug off his “charms”. I’m sure it’s not something he’s ever seen so it adds to her mystery.
- “Did you kiss a girl and like it? Ah, so there is something. Two girls. An Eiffel Tower.” So many lines are writer’s gold but the one leading this bullet point has to be the best of the bunch. Crisp, fun and interesting dialogue coupled with great chemistry almost makes ‘Lucifer’ too easy to like.
- Now we know—Lucifer’s been MIA in Hell going on five years now. Amenadiel hinted in the premiere how, when the cats away, the devils will play. What does this mean for those topside? Will Lucifer’s absence provide a window of escape from their hell and egress to the surface? Will Amenadiel stop playing nice and bring out the big guns—maybe leverage Lucifer’s interest in Chloe? More to the point, will God eventually interpose Himself into Luc’s current sabbatical?
