Review by An Honest Fangirl
"Sympathy for the Goddess" is the penultimate episode of this bizarrely scheduled Season 2. Did anyone else think that it didn't really feel like one? Penultimate episodes usually have this sense of urgency, of stakes being raised before the insanity that is the finale. I didn't get that feeling from this episode. It just felt like... business of usual.
Now, this isn't a bad thing since business as usual on Lucifer is still pretty damn good. I always tend to like the episodes where the Case of the Week ties into the more supernatural elements of the show, and that's exactly what this episode did.
I absolutely loved seeing the weird partnership between Charlotte and Chloe. If there's one thing that this block of episodes has done well, it's giving us wonderful combinations of characters that we either haven't seen before, or haven't seen enough of. These two women will probably never be friends, and I honestly don't want them to be. I love their antagonistic banter, especially since Chloe can more than hold her own against her.
You know, it took them long enough to figure out that Charlotte should be introduced as Lucifer and Amenadiel's ex-stepmom. I thought that that was the obvious answer to why they have such an odd relationship since the very beginning. This episode really cemented for me the fact that Charlotte feels like she belongs here, both on Earth and on the show. I really enjoy her interacting with everybody. I'm enjoying this weird quasi-relationship/friends(acquaintances?)-with-benefits thing that she has going on with Dan. I would absolutely love more jokes about Dan dating Lucifer's stepmom and potentially becoming his dad. (I can picture the look of absolute horror now.) But I just can't help but feel like her time on the show is coming to an end, and that makes me sad. I don't want to lose her.
I really don't see the next episode ending in any other way, though. Charlotte's vessel is deteriorating rapidly. I liked the little reminder of the fact that Charlotte is covering up the holes in her with bandages. It nicely set up the fact that stabbing her in the stomach will release more of that light. Poor Chet. He really couldn't do anything right, and now he's dead. I get the feeling that this death won't be very easy to conceal, especially since Chloe is already looking for him. Is this what finally clues Chloe in on the truth of what her partner is? I hope so.
Amenadiel has had one arc this entire season: figuring out who he is in relation to his family, and figuring out who he is as an individual. He's spent a lot of time being resentful towards Lucifer. After all, despite everything that Amenadiel did, Lucifer was still the favorite of both his parents. Except maybe not. Amenadiel was the one with the Key, not Lucifer, and suddenly a fundamental belief is thrown into question. Is Amenadiel really God's favorite son? How does this change his loyalties? If God and Charlotte don't get along, which side is Amenadiel going to fall on? The arrival of the Key makes that all a lot less certain.
What I want for Amenadiel is for him to choose his own side. I want him to be happy here on Earth with Lucifer, Linda, Maze, and Dan. Was this the first time that Amenadiel and Dan shared a scene where it was just the two of them? I really, really loved watching them just hang out and get food together. It felt like they could actually be pretty close friends, and I think that they both need that.
What Linda needs, besides a lot of stiff drinks, is a vacation away from all the demons and angels. I wondered if Linda would ever get in trouble for sleeping with Lucifer, but I didn't even think of the asylum escape as a potential avenue for trouble. There's no way that Linda is permanently going to lose her license... right? What the hell is Lucifer going to do without her? I did enjoy the return of the Linda/Maze friendship. Maze might be clingy, but she is definitely there when you need her. Although, is it bad that I'm not sure whether or not she's going to kill, torture, or sleep with the ethics investigator?
For someone without a soul, Maze cares a surprising amount. I'm not sure if she always has, or if this is a recent development due to her being on Earth. She was genuinely scared and upset that Lucifer was going to abandon her. And not just abandon her, but not even tell her that he was leaving in the first place. Lucifer didn't even realize that he was hurting her. He just assumed that she would be fine with the plan once he explained to her everything that was going on. It was an absolutely lovely moment when Lucifer called her "Mazikeen" and apologized to her. You could really feel the weight of their millennia long relationship behind his words. It really highlighted just how much they both have changed.
Random Thoughts
No Trixie again.
Also not a lot of Lucifer and Chloe interacting. They had a few scenes, but not nearly as many as I wanted. I miss them!
I mean, seriously, I would have loved to see Lucifer's reaction to Chloe being all dressed up like that.
I would hate to have Charlotte on my charades team.
I appreciated Chloe just going for it when it came to belting out Chet's lyrics. She played the lovestruck fangirl well.
Okay, I'm sorry, but how is a little bandaid holding in divine light?
Amenadiel mentioned Lucifer's ring potentially being special and powerful. Who wants to bet that it turns out Amenadiel is right?
Okay, I know that I scoffed at the "Ella is Azrael" theory earlier this season, but it's really starting to feel like she has to be someone important. I'm not saying that I believe the theory now, but Ella's presence and behavior in general is starting to make me be suspicious of something.
I kinda wish that we had seen the full fight between Maze and Lucifer.
Lucifer really hasn't had a bad episode in a long time, has it?
8.7 out of 10
~An Honest Fangirl
Thing is, I love Trixie, she's one of my faves, she's cute, she's adorable. And yet despite all that, I can't begin to say how happy I am that the show doesn't feel forced to push her into every single episode. They put her in when she belongs, when she actually adds to the story. Or when there's a scene where it would make no sense for her not to be there. But they don't overuse her, to the point that people would get annoyed with her, like often happens with child actresses. And I really respect the writers for their restraint in this regard.
ReplyDeleteI miss the Lucifer/Chloe scenes to but you have to give the actors a break sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it's funny, as soon as Linda showed up to break them out of the hospital, my first thought was: "Is she nuts? She's going to get in so much trouble!" So when she got suspended I was delighted by the continuity. So often shows ignore things that really ought to have consequences. However, the scene with Maze, Lucifer and the Chairman drove me crazy. Why the hell didn't Lucifer ask him what he truly desired and try to make a deal?
ReplyDelete