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Lucifer: A Devil of My Word

Review by An Honest Fangirl

"Emotions are hard, but that's why they make you strong."

If this really is the end, then at least they went out on a brilliant high note.

"A Devil of My Word" is my favorite episode of the series, hands down. I think that it's the best one that they've done. It was just so emotionally satisfying on every level.

I am so pleased that Maze got her redemption and that it came out of her love and care for Linda. We also saw some growth with Maze acknowledging that she needed to verbally apologize because words were the thing that was difficult for her to do. Those two are one of my favorite relationships on the show, and I hated that Amenadiel got between them. My only complaint is that they felt a little isolated from the rest of the cast. Do they even know that Charlotte is dead?

Her death was what motivated the majority of this episode, as it should have. I have to give a gold star to Kevin Alejandro, who just broke my heart over and over again. Dan is so often the comic relief that you forget that Alejandro can do the heavy stuff as well. One of the main themes this season has been about identity, and it was fascinating to see how Dan owned his. He is a corrupt cop, one who stole evidence, almost killed Malcolm, and hired the Russian mafia to kill someone else. While Dan is obviously also more than that, those things make him very dangerous when backed into a corner. I would have loved to see how him fully embracing that side of himself played out in future seasons. I would have also liked to just see him happy for once. Is that too much to ask?

The case this week, Charlotte's murder investigation, showed just what the cop procedural side of Lucifer can be applied in the proper context. It wasn't a question of who killed Charlotte, but rather a cat and mouse game of who would ultimately come out on top. I was on pins and needles throughout and was genuinely shocked by one of the twists. I knew that Ella going to Pierce had to be part of the plan, but I really thought that Pierce's goon had a sister! The execution of that was simply spot on.

Tom Welling may not be the best actor, but he was certainly compelling here. He was actually scary for once, especially during the face-off with Lucifer in his office. He was smart, always seemingly one or two steps ahead of our core group, and I bought that he was actually the Sinnerman. As soon as Lucifer told Pierce that he had fallen in love with Chloe and that was why he lost his mark, I had a feeling that Pierce would try to kill her. But I was technically wrong. Pierce was willing to let Chloe go. He didn't necessarily want to kill her. But he still shot her when she got in the way of what he wanted.

Which was how we got to what was, in my opinion, the most powerful scene of the episode. In a direct parallel to the first episode, Lucifer once again protected Chloe from a hail of bullets. Only he didn't use his invulnerability or Devil Face to do so, but his wings. After an entire season of hating them and wanting them gone, Lucifer finally uses them for good, and fully dismisses the dream he had where the lack of control over his wings led to Chloe's death. It was just so visually striking, even if I kept wondering why the goons kept firing as if everything was normal. You would think the wings would give someone a moment's pause.



Still, the sight of Lucifer's bloody wings as he tore through the goons like tissue paper was a sight to behold. I was grinning like a loon the entire time. It was interesting to see him force the wings back inside when he finally fought Pierce. Why did he do that? To make it a fair fight? Because he wanted to kill Pierce with his bare hands? Budget constraints? Regardless, their fight was still a lot of fun. What struck me the most was that Lucifer almost seemed like he was just playing with Pierce. Defeating him didn't take any real effort on his part. Defeating him physically, at least. Pierce may have won the mental game.

While Lucifer managed to make Pierce feel guilty about Charlotte, therefore damning him to Hell, Pierce may have been responsible for the return of the Devil Face. Lucifer's whole speech was about how you can't escape who you are deep inside, no matter what you say or do, and as he said this, his Devil Face slowly came back. Why did it come back?

I have a couple of theories. The first is the most obvious: despite his growing sense of self-worth, Lucifer still sees himself as a monster and his speech just brought all of those feelings back to the surface. This would be assuming that Amenadiel's theory of self-judgement is right, and I have a feeling that it is. The second is that Lucifer's face is directly tied to emotions like anger. It always pops out whenever Lucifer's predominant emotion is anger, and this time would then be no different. The reason why his face didn't appear in earlier episodes where he was angry at Pierce was because Lucifer wasn't angry, but heartbroken.

The third theory that I have is the one that I think I believe in the most: the Devil Face is the direct result of Lucifer murdering Pierce. Angels aren't allowed to kill people, remember? Maze did say that the ramifications would be biblical way back at the middle of the season. Could this be a ramification? Either Lucifer feels like a monster because he killed someone, or this is some kind of punishment.

The timing in which Chloe walked in on everything certainly makes it feel like a punishment. Three seasons, and this is the cliffhanger that we get? What the heck, man! At least Chloe finally found out. I am a bit worried about her impending freakout, though. (Hush. I don't care if we probably won't get another season. I still care about these characters!) We finally got Chloe and Lucifer to a good point in their relationship, and then this comes along to push Chloe over the edge. I just want an entire episode where Lucifer, Chloe, and Linda all sit in a room and they talk through every issue or problem that comes up. Is that too much to ask for?

I didn't want to write this review. I've been putting it off these past few days hoping for a Brooklyn Nine-Nine miracle, but it hasn't happened yet and you all deserve a review. But this really just feels like saying goodbye to a show that has captured my heart for the past three years, and I hate that feeling. I'm going to write an overall reaction piece to Lucifer, its cancellation, and this past season as a whole at some point next week. I just want to wait a bit to see if we get a second life.

Random Thoughts

#SaveLucifer

#PickupLucifer

I'm going to go rewatch my favorite episodes now.
---
An Honest Fangirl is a very sad Fangirl at the moment, and needs a new show to watch.

7 comments:

  1. To begin: This Show Must Get A Fourth Season.

    I'm one of those people who liked the show from the get-go but wished it could turn into more than a police procedural romcom. It certainly had the bones for it. But the writers teased, and procrastinated, and teased, and lied, and teased, and...

    ... and at some point I thought "well, maybe that's just it, they have no plan, they don't know what to do with it after the cards are laid bare."

    Turns out they did, and the episode answered a LOT of questions.

    "It was interesting to see him force the wings back inside when he finally fought Pierce. Why did he do that?"

    Lucifer fighting Pierce wasn't "Angel Lucifer" fighting Pierce, at least that's my interpretation.

    The most important thing about the episode, and by extension the whole series, has been the "free-will" discussion. While I am a logical determinist and thus I think the reasoning is unsound, it's still very well executed.

    Example: God "cursed" Lucifer with all the humans blaming him for all evil, as Lucifer himself blamed dear old dad for everything. A six thousand years long learning experience, and it's finally paid off. We decide ourselves how we'll be judged.

    Lucifer was vulnerable around Chloe because he didn't want to be the Devil around Chloe. He might've said it time and time again, but he could have easily proved his status beyond any reasonable doubt at any time. Once his Devil face was gone, he had his wings.

    And if he isn't the Devil, he's a human, and humans bleed.

    I see the final shot of the finale as Lucifer accepting himself. He's accepting his role. He is Lucifer. He is "the Devil." He's the one who punishes wicked. It's not an evil Devil face, it's actually more of a happy Devil face. So, he's fine with being the Devil in front of Chloe. As such he's no longer vulnerable.

    The whole "reverse last rites" scene with Pierce and Lucy was incredible. As you said, as everyone says, this was their best installment by one million miles.

    God, Save Lucifer.

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  2. Like I said in the cancellation thread, it's just awful that Lucifer has been cancelled after giving us the two best episodes in the series. The sequence with the wings was awesome. And even though the ending was somewhat satisfactory if this is all we're getting, I would also love to spend a season exploring the ramifications of what just happened.

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  3. I'm so hoping that the efforts to bring back the show at another network/streaming service work out. I live-tweeted during the original broadcast of the finale and tweeted a bit the rest of this week. Everybody seems to be trying.

    And yes, this was the best episode of the series. I thought the writers had lost their way during the middle of the season but they brought it right back for an epic ending. The cast did a phenomenal job.

    #SaveLucifer #PickupLucifer

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  4. I loved it. So good. Good that it at least ended with Chloe knowing the truth and Maze and Linda reconciled. Save Lucifer!

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  5. Save Lucifer, its got everything...murder, humour, romance, fantasy. Best series for a long time. Come on networks get with the 21st century. We watch TV differently now. Ratings on the night does not reflect the viewing figures. Yo many good shows are being cancelled.

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  6. This was a great episode, but--wow!--this season overall was a huge slog.

    There was an outsized focus on the procedural elements, as though the writers (or more likely, the network) were afraid to change what they thought was the core of the show, even though the real appeal (for me, and I assume most fans) is the romance and supernatural stuff, not Satanic CSI.

    Maybe I noticed the slog more because the season was also So. Damn. Long. I've been spoiled by the shorter seasons that are trendy nowadays; I have less patience for episodes that feel like filler or artful delay.

    But I also really, really struggled with the pacing of the emotional beats. Pierce is Cain! Cain is evil! Cain is changing his mind! No, that was a trick! No, he learned from his trick and now he's evil again! None of it felt natural or earned. It all felt like plot hijinks just to fill up space. (The great line from Angel Season Four--"a turgid supernatural soap opera"--kept popping into my head.)

    Maze's turn to the dark side bothered me, too, perhaps because I'm a bit sick of the edgy sidekick always being the one who turns dark, perhaps because I just don't see why it happened. The show spent too little time on character development to earn the amount of character changes it created.

    There was a lot of good here, of course. I still love how all the regular actors inhabit their roles. Tricia Helfer is a delight, and so is DB Woodside. But the thing that kept me watching was the knowledge that the show would get better, or at least more taut, in coming seasons.

    I did really enjoy this episode, although I hadn't realized it was the proper season finale. That must have been awful, to think the show was canceled on such a high note.

    Thank Dad for Netflix picking it up. And thanks to Fangirl for reviewing it!

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  7. Josie, I'm so with you. I was not a fan of the Pierce stuff and reaching the point of dropping the series. And then it ended so beautifully. And then it was cancelled. Real whiplash.

    Netflix does a much better job with the property than Fox did.

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