Lucifer the_would_be_prince_of_darkness

What does a virginal sports star, a Hollywood ‘fixer’, and the Prince of Darkness getting his identity stolen have in common? Why, episode three of ‘Lucifer’ of course!

Lucifer whispering into Ty's ear...a real devil of a thing to do
Lucifer whispering into Ty’s ear…a real devil of a thing to do

Off the bat things feel a bit different as Lucifer whispers in the ear of a lovely lady, coercing her to take the plunge. Said plunge is not to her death but into a pool at a party thrown by Ty Huntley, number one draft pick and proud, albeit sexually frustrated virgin. Even as Allie, the woman in a red dress, tries coaxing him into a drink, it’s Lucifer’s devilish charm that seals the deal, overriding Ty’s moral stance on pre-marital sex. If that was all to it, no harm no foul. But when Ty finds Allie’s body floating in the pool the next morning, he taps Lucifer for the favor of getting him out of the mess.

Practical guy that he is, Lucifer calls Chloe in on the case and soon after she discovers this isn’t an accidental death but a murder. And when she catches Lucifer enjoying the video of Ty and Allie together, Chloe arrests the football star on suspicion of murder. Lucifer tries explaining to Chloe that she has the wrong guy but she ignores him. Annoyed with the detective’s dismissal of his ideas, Lucifer returns to the club only to find out from Maze that someone’s stolen his identity and doing all sorts of non-Lucifer things. “This malfeasant reprobate,” he laments to Dr. Linda, “is diluting the Lucifer brand.” Dr. Linda remarks that his reaction is one of displacement but from what exactly? He believes it’s due to an innocent being punished and moves to rectify it.

After doing a bit more digging into Allie’s phone, Chloe’s next stop is to see Joe Hanson, Ty’s agent. Just so happens Lucifer has the same plan. They question Joe and Lucifer gets out of the agent that he wishes to protect his clients before Chloe interrupts the questioning. Faculties about him, Joe points to Debra McCall, Ty’s crazy ex, as a possible culprit. Of course, that theory is blown to hell (quite literally) when Debra’s car explodes moments before she gets to it. She admits to driving by the party—a violation of the restraining order—but her alibi for the time of the murder checks out.

Despite their consistent back-and-forth, Chloe and Danny end up putting their heads together and come up with Ronnie Hillman. A known ‘Hollywood fixer’, Hillman was spotted on the street moments before the car bomb went off. Thus they have a new plan: pinch Hillman and get her in a position to spill the beans on Allie’s murder. Who better to be the go-between than a guy “up for encouraging someone to commit a nefarious act”?

The meet with Ronnie goes well but when she brings up the identity thief, Luc changes the plan, much to the chagrin of the detectives. The fixer delivers and Lucifer comes face-to-face with Justin the identity thief. For a moment it appears the true King is back as he threatens abject torture onto Justin but Maze’s excitement at the display causes her to blurt out how it’s like her boss is punishing himself. Fire and brimstone punishment forgotten, he sends the charlatan on his way and signals Chloe and the cops to arrest Ronnie. The fixer admits that Allie worked for her and that they were hired by Joe Hanson to secure blackmail on Ty. But why would Hanson blackmail his star client and how would he know Debra would be the perfect scapegoat?

Chloe finally admitting to herself of the possibility that something unnatural abounds with Lucifer
Chloe finally admitting to herself of the possibility that something unnatural abounds with Lucifer

All told, after planning a bit of a ruse with Hanson, the detective and her devilish partner garner a confession. The realization that Joe’s responsible for Allie’s death makes Lucifer momentarily lose control and he casually flings Hanson a dozen feet through a glass partition. Case closed, right? Chloe even tells Lucifer he can stop blaming himself for getting Ty into trouble. Of course, Lucifer doesn’t buy that as the reason though, after some post-naked pillow talk, Dr. Linda remarks something similar being the case. In addition, she mentions that he’s come to LA to reinvent himself and he’s starting to like the idea of seeking justice for the good people, and not just punishing the bad.

At home, Chloe reviews the surveillance footage of Lucifer flinging a grown man so far with the single flick of his wrist…

Devil in the Details

  • The streak is over. After two magically written episodes, Lucifer’s third hour doesn’t quite reach the heights of memorable quips and hot-diggity music as its two predecessors. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good one, especially as we get a bit more involved with Dr. Linda’s diagnosis of our titular anti-hero. The changes are becoming more and more obvious to her as well as to Maze, with the latter not happy at all.
  • Speaking of changes, it looks like Chloe’s finally starting to realize Lucifer’s a bit more than a man. Considering his inhuman display of strength, her ideas on what’s impossible versus what’s not is becoming a bit more malleable. Odds are, when the lightbulb goes off and Chloe realizes that Lucifer’s been telling her the truth all along, the drama will sky rocket. I mean, how do you resolve that the charming club owner with the British accent is actually the Devil?

Though the one-liners weren’t quite as robust as the first two episodes, there were a few good ones. The top three:

  • “You, Ty, are like a four-leaf clover and a unicorn made a baby. Without the sex, of course.” (Lucifer to Ty on his promise of no sex before marriage)
  • “Oh, ginger lad. Soulless bastards. Give even me the creeps.”  (We always knew gingers had no souls. Lucifer confirms it!)
  • It seems you’re a bit of a two-pump chump. Also, a crier afterwards…” (Lucifer to identity thief Justin)