Only on Lucifer could such a line be sweet and romantic and not make me immediately roll my eyes.
I've written and rewritten this first paragraph half a dozen times, and I'm still not sure that I'm fully happy with it. Really, this is a paragraph that should be about my hopes and expectations for this last batch of episodes. I want a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one, whatever form that may take for all of our characters that we've grown to love and have watched over these last few years. I don't even necessarily need or want some big threat for everyone to fight. I'd be happy to focus on the smaller thing, on the completing of character arcs, such as Lucifer's continuing fear that he isn't worthy of anything.
What does being God actually entail? No one is sure, and it isn't like there's an inter-dimensional phone line to ask for the detailed job description. Will taking over as God mean that Lucifer is fundamentally changed on some way? Or that he will need to change? Ella did have a point when she said that one of God's major things is that He loves all of his creations equally, and that isn't Lucifer. I don't want to call Lucifer selfish in this context, but he's very human in terms of him having a sliding scale of love when it comes to people and the world in general. But at the same time... God did have a wife. Kids. He may have not been a very good husband or father, but he still had them.
Arguably, the episode's most important job was to introduce Carol as an actual character that belonged here. It's really hard to bring in a new character for the very last season of a show. It's even a harder when that character replaces an already existing character, in this case Chloe and/or Dan as our police procedural lead. I think they succeeded. I actually really love Carol so far. He was very competent at his job without doing things exactly as Chloe would have. He felt like his own person. I also really liked his dynamic with Ella. (Even if Ella obviously has a favorite ex-detective and ex-consultant pair.)
It was almost strange to watch Carol interview Lucifer and see his reactions to it. It's just been so long since people didn't just accept and brush off Lucifer's weirdness as just a harmless personality quirk. Lucifer is essentially a stranger to him. It was also interesting to see Carol's face when he turned around to see the door to the secret passage just ripped away. He was surprised and maybe a bit confused. It definitely struck him as something that a normal person wouldn't be able to do. I'll be curious to see just how much he gets dragged into the supernatural world before it all ends. Will he find out the truth? Will Ella?
Is Ella some kind of supernatural herself? This may be a strange question, but she's obviously very in tune with what's going on up in Heaven. She knows that something is different, that someone isn't there when they should be. We've haven't seen anyone else with that level of sensitivity. I wonder if she'll be able to tell when Lucifer is up there listening instead of the previous God.
That is, of course, assuming that Lucifer will ever actually get up there. Maybe he and Chloe will just get married and stay on Earth instead.
That is what Maze and Eve decided to do, after all. I am so relieved that they didn't actually break up or otherwise have that kind of tension in their relationship. We got nine more hours of Lucifer, and I don't want to be frustrated by unnecessary drama that is easily resolved by actually talking to each other. Linda and Amenadiel's side conversation and looks were my favorite part of those scenes, especially when Amenadiel yielded and literally applauded Linda when her poking and prodding worked out.
Their conversation after dinner was a highlight as well. Yes, Amenadiel was insightful in figuring out what was going on with Linda. (Honestly, reminded me of when he was pretending to be a therapist back in Season One; he would have made a good, genuine one.) But Linda was also insightful when she acknowledged that she wasn't at the point where she could accept the idea of small acts meaning and mattering just as much as universe-shaping ones. Sometimes, you know exactly what the right answer or point of view is, but knowing is very different than being able to actually do it.
But, of course, Linda's unexpected therapist session did result in a power vacuum down below. So, who the hell is on the throne? Despite some similar fashion tastes, it can't be Maze since she just decided to give up Queendom. I assume that if it was Lilith, they would just show her already since that's a known character. One of her sisters then? We were told multiple times during the dinner scene about how much Maze hates them and how horrible they are. Is this our last Big Bad?
Finally, we got a few moments with Dan at the end there, the very first soul in Purgatory. Good. I'm glad that he isn't being tortured by demons for all eternity. I would have been very upset with Lucifer otherwise. But Dan is still stuck. He still can't find his own metaphorical door to go through to get out of there. The most important line, maybe in the whole episode, was Lucifer's during that scene. He can't just jailbreak Dan because that carries the possibility of invalidating and removing free will. I bet that's going to come in play later on.
Random Thoughts
Dan's horrible ping pong partner had the episode title.
It's been six weeks since the end of the last season.
Chloe mentioned that she would be commuting. How would that work? Amenadiel or Lucifer flying her back and forth? How do you explain that to Trixie?
I am a little confused about when or how Jared was actually killed. Obviously, he was stabbed by a pre-sharpened sword. But otherwise the details are very fuzzy for me.
The food puns were great.
Lucifer loving magic and magicians (but not mentalists) made me smile and is just very in character for him. Although, did he really not know how some of the tricks were done? Even if you purposefully look at it as searching for wonder... it's pretty obvious that swords are dull or that there's some kind of false back.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
Programming note: Reviews will (hopefully) be up every other day!
ReplyDeleteA very enjoyable character-driven episode, and I don't know how they're going to resolve things. Lucifer is uncomfortable and unenthused about taking over as God. Maze, ditto, Queen of Hell. And it's clear that Chloe is having difficulty letting go of her job.
ReplyDeleteIs Ella supernatural? Or is she just a person of deep faith? I was kind of going for the latter, but you're right, maybe it's the former.
Final season, please don't disappoint me. :)
I also don't know what is going to happen, which is weird! I do find it odd that Lucifer, after having been challenged for the throne of God, has not claimed it immediately. That has to lead to trouble.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting bit was the visit with Dan. I'm glad Lucifer is going down regularly to check.
I liked that Lucifer was having cold feet about the God job because I had a hard time seeing him wanting it to start with. Maze was a bit more of a surprise, but Linda was right to wonder what Eve would be doing there. I'm still having trouble picturing how Chloe's Divine Consultant role would work, too. But it did make sense that while initially unhappy with life on Earth, Maze has made real friends and a life for herself now. And I too wonder who is running Hell. Could Michael somehow be running it in secret? Given his power to understand what everyone truly fears, he seems better suited to the position than Lucifer ever was.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how this season was going to work because I envisioned our cast being scattered between Hell, the Silver City and L.A. But it looks like that may not be the case, at least for a while. But are they really going to continue to have a case of the week every episode when neither of our primary characters works for the LAPD anymore?
It's quite interesting to watch a show semi-reinvent itself this late in the game.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, though: I don't think Lucifer will be a very good God. It's just not his skillset.