I do always love meta episodes. They're always fun, even if they sometimes stray into silly territory. But hey. This is a show about a crime solving devil. You need to expect some silly.
Let's be honest. With the show set in LA, it was only a matter of time before Lucifer tackled a show directly based our characters' experiences. Or, well, a version their experiences, one that trivializes our dear detective and her contributions to the crime solving portions of their partnership and replaces them with lap dances. I would be driven to murder, too.
Continuing the trend started last episode, I actually enjoyed the Case of the Week. Is it still a Case of a Week when the season is dropped all at once in a binge? I suppose it doesn't matter. I liked this case. I did expect poor Diablo to end up dead, but otherwise I really liked the various twists and turns. This is a change from how Lucifer usually operates, but it's a welcomed one. If they're going to stick to the procedural format, then might as well make the cases better.
Although, of course, we still had to tie the case directly to the emotional journey that our main characters are going through. Chloe very quickly got confirmation from Lucifer that she was indeed a Gift from God, and to say that she was unhappy about it would be an understatement. She spent the majority of the episode looking for some kind of guidance on how to handle the fact that her life was completely out of her control, that she was being forced down paths that she might have never considered otherwise in order to fulfill someone else's needs and desires.
The issue I have with Chloe's reaction is twofold.
One: the fact that we have yet another thing keeping Chloe and Lucifer apart is very frustrating and feels very unnecessary. They both love each other and have acknowledged that they love each other. They, I assume, are going to continue solving crimes together since that's the whole premise of the show. So why do the writers insist on putting more obstacles and drama in their way of actually being together? The whole idea of the "Moonlighting Curse" is wrong and outdated and I really wish that writers would stop indulging in it.
Two: we already watched Lucifer work through this exact same conflict and have the exact same fears. This makes Chloe's reaction, which IS very rational and realistic, feel like a retread. I found myself getting a little annoyed at her, since the show already decided two seasons ago that the idea of Lucifer and Chloe being controlled by God and not having any free will about their relationship didn't matter. That they still chose each other and chose to pursue this. Why couldn't she just get with the program?
Which is incredibly unfair to her as a character. Like I said, her reaction is rational and realistic. I wouldn't really expect her to react in any other way. She just has the misfortune of being a few seasons behind our POV character. Because while Chloe is (sometimes) our co-lead, Lucifer is who we view this world through. It's Lucifer that we and the story empathize with. Chloe doesn't always get this empathy. We saw shades of that in Season 3 when she was made to seem uptight and unreasonable due to the fact that she couldn't understand what Lucifer was doing due to her lacking some very key information. I don't want that to happen again.
But, I'm tentatively hopeful that they won't drag out this conflict for the rest of the season. So far, this season has been very, very good about dispensing information and making choices in such a way that plot developments are happening quickly. Michael was revealed in a single episode, Lucifer quickly proved that it actually was him through his superpower, and by the end of the episode, it became very clear that Michael would not be impersonating Lucifer like that again.
I mentioned in my last review that Lucifer and Michael act as twisted mirrors of each other, and this episode just visually reinforced that at every turn. The confrontation between the two brothers at Lux was just beautiful. Not only did we have a well-choreographed fight between two characters that are played by the same actor, but we had some very lovely use of black and white to separate and distinguish them. I really love the wings on this show, and seeing both Lucifer's and Michael's in the moments before their brawl was a treat.
What do we think about Michael's claims that he has been the one manipulating Lucifer and planting ideas in his head since the beginning of time? I can see a degree of truth in it, especially if Michael really has claimed the seat at the right hand of God and cut off all of his other siblings from Him. What better way to remove a probable threat to his power than to have him be cast out into Hell for all eternity? And if I'm right, then Michael has certainly been playing a very long game. I'm curious to see what his end goal is, or if he even has one.
Either way, this is now the second time he's tried to get Maze on his side. Yeah, yeah, I was really annoyed too when it became clear that she would end up betraying our heroes. Again. And work for the bad guys. Again. But hey. Maybe the secret that Lucifer is keeping from her really is something horrible and deserving of punishment. I doubt it, but maybe. Her whole heel turn would probably be less frustrating if not for her flip-flopping last episode and scenes with Linda this episode.
I have always loved the Maze/Linda dynamic, and the two of them watching ¡Diablo!, drinking wine, and talking about their insecurities was no different. Maze isn't doing well following Eve's leaving. She really isn't. To the point where I think her anger at Lucifer for leaving her behind is more her just directing her pain at the most convenient target. Did she really not realize that Amenadiel could have flown her down to Hell? Had Amenadiel not thought to offer? Or does Maze truly just want everyone that she cares about to stay on Earth with her? I'm leaning to the last one, but I'm not sure.
Although Linda made me very, very, very nervous when she told Maze that she wasn't going anywhere. That just has all the signs of a massive, red death flag, especially with the renewed focus on Linda's belief that she's going straight to Hell. But they wouldn't kill the mother of a newborn...
Right?
Random Thoughts
I am a little confused about the logistics of the final scene. When/why is Michael sitting in the dark at Chloe's house? Where did Chloe and Lucifer go after their talk?
I do hope that Amenadiel isn't stuck watching Hell for the rest of the season. I like him. I want him to be involved.
I did appreciate that Lucifer took on Dancer's role when running lines with Dan. I almost expected him to want to play himself.
Speaking of Dan, I am so, so glad that he and Lucifer are friends again. I love it when they're friends, and I loved it when Lucifer accepted Dan's bracelet.
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An Honest Fangirl has dearly missed this show and is very, very glad to have something to binge again.
Fangirl, I so so so agree that I don't want Chloe's obsession with this gift of God thing to be just another artificial way to keep her from Lucifer. How gifty of God are we talking, anyway? Did God want her to become a police detective? Did God want her to do that hottub movie? However Chloe began, she's still Chloe. She's still Trixie's mom, she's still who she is.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with Michael's right arm? Is that something we're supposed to know? I keep thinking it must be important.
Excellent review! You ask great questions, and alas, I can say little, because I have binged to the very end of what is available so far. Let me just say that Chloe may be doing a retread of what Lucifer went through a couple of seasons ago, but if she did not react to this, we would not like her.
ReplyDeleteAnd there has to be some tension between our couple, or else we are at "They lived happily ever after. THE END."
I do think Chloe needs to confront and get past the Gift from God thing. It was one of the outstanding issues, and it would have been worse to just hand-wave it away. That said, I do hope it will pass quickly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really clear on Michael's goal, period. Just to one-up Lucifer for good? To permanently be the power behind the, er, throne? To win some heavenly contest we're not yet privy to?
As far as what Michael's doing at Chloe's place... he has tremendously detailed knowledge of Lucifer's life and Lucifer and Chloe's relationship. Either he has a great view from Heaven, or he's spent a heck of a lot of time skulking around Lucifer's life on Earth. Maybe this suggests there's some of the latter going on?
Victoria, even if Chloe and Lucifer were to get together for good, I don't think they're at Happily Ever After yet. Chloe still isn't Lucifer's partner. Despite his realization in season 3 that she's an excellent detective on her own, he still shows up and says not "let's solve this case" but "I'll solve this case for you." He makes the decisions about coming and going to Hell without her input. He only begrudgingly ever asks her for help. Though he clearly loves her, he hasn't said so, and I think he still has a ways to go in the relationship department.
Plus, I heard a rumor there was once a show where the leads got together without ruining it. So I guess there's hope we don't require nearly two more seasons of obstacles. :)
Maybe the episode called "A Little Harmless Stalking" is about Michael stalking Lucifer during his time on Earth. It might come from Michael's mouth as an explanation for how he knows so much about Lucifer's life.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the “meta” parts of this episode fell flat — the only amusing scene involving this conceit was when Maze and Linda were watching !Diablo! together. The “typical” parts of the episode were much better: Lucifer’s session with Linda was great fun, as always, and his interactions with Ella and Dan were adorable.
ReplyDeleteAs for Maze, Lucifer claims he didn’t take her with him to Hell because he was respecting that she was no longer his servant. But he could have chosen to treat her as a friend by asking her if she wanted to come. Telling Maze she could have gotten Amenadiel to fly her down to Hell just emphasizes how oblivious Lucifer is to her feelings. All Maze wanted was a little appreciation, and instead she got more proof of how little she is valued.
In fact, Lucifer is shown to be a better friend to Dan than to Maze, which makes me think the writers are forcing this rift just to create “motivation” for Maze to ally with Michael. This is disappointing, as it feels like a rehash of S3 (Maze working with Pierce). Plus I sorely miss the Lucifer/Maze friendship. I wish the writers would find a better way to integrate Maze into the main storyline.
I am also disappointed at the way the Chloe/Lucifer angst is unfolding. It is unnecessary to pit Chloe and Lucifer against each other, when in fact they are both victims of manipulation. The writers could have allowed Lucifer to defend himself better when Chloe confronted him about being a “gift”. If Lucifer had let Chloe know how devastated he was that her free will had been compromised (S2E14 “Candy Morningstar”, and onwards), Chloe would have known that Lucifer wasn’t just thinking about himself. Instead, Chloe is left in the dark about how much Lucifer sacrificed trying to give Chloe back her free will. As a result, watching Chloe direct her anger at him seems horribly unfair and makes her far less sympathetic to the audience. Especially heartbreaking was Ellis’ delivery of this line at the end of the episode:
“I spent thousands of years in Hell imagining our reunion. Getting my partner back, getting you back. And now... I just thought it would go differently.”
Stray observations:
— Finally some clue as to the timeline on this show — when Lucifer explains to Chloe that his mother told him that Chloe was a “gift from God”, Chloe’s reply places those events (season 2), “over a year ago”. So the events of seasons 2, 3 and 4 all occurred within barely more than a year’s time. Whew!
— The only positive to Maze and Lucifer being in conflict again is their excellent fight scene.
— Strange choice of music for the epic fight between Michael and Lucifer. I found it unpleasant and seriously distracting — usually the music on this show is impeccable in complementing the action and heightening the emotion of a scene, so I have no idea what went wrong this time.
I loved this meta episode! Not just for the meta elements, but for the weird theme of doubles, like the prop knife vs. the real knife, the various Lucifers and Decker/Dancers running around, etc.
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