“Even if you don’t choose Hell, all I have to do is wait for some pitiful thug to end you, and right back to Hell you go. You hadn’t put that together yet had you Luci? You just made my Millenium.” – Amenadiel
After last week’s episode of Lucifer, I was feeling like I needed a new dose of “Luciferness” and wasn’t sure I’d survive until the next episode. Luckily, I did and this week’s episode titled “Wingman” didn’t disappoint. I actually had a very different idea in my head at how this episode would play out based off what I saw in the promo, but that ended up being a huge plus for me this episode. While the drama wasn’t as intense as last week’s was, the dramatic beats from this episode triggered a completely different set of emotions. There was laughter, a couple of uneasy alliances, some bromance and a lot of buried sadness. This episode brought back the playboy club owner Lucifer we all know and love, but there were still the cracks in his armor carried over from last episode which gave us a bit of hidden emotion that seeped through. With a story broken up into only two defined but intermixing plotlines, I initially thought that we were going to be missing out on that perfect balance we had last week, but each plotline revealed a lot of information that I had been theorizing about previously. Some very important things happened in this episode which helped move along the season’s story arc. I’m going to resummon what happened and break it down a bit.
Warning: SPOILERS will follow!
The Wingman
Once again I want to begin the article by writing about my favorite part. This episode was so aptly named because the highlight for me this week was Amenadiel. Part of why he was the highlight for me during this episode was due to his interactions with Lucifer. Holy cow it was funny to watch those two scoff at the ‘sacred’ items being sold off at the illegal auction. Joking about how Saint Paul’s wrists were too big to fit into the chains as Carmen, the auctioneer passed them off as authentic. “He should have been the saint of… Honeycakes.” It was really fun to see Lucifer and Amenadiel act amiably like the brothers they once were. I started to like Amenadiel this episode just as a lot of you #Lucifans had admitted to last week. Sadly… I love to say it, but… I was right! It ended up being Amenadiel who had arranged for Lucifer’s wings to have been stolen. Even though this episode was great because of the undeniable swagger of having both Tom Ellis and D.B. Woodside suited up together being bros. It was just a glimpse for us fans though, as it will most likely never been seen again. After Lucifer burns his wings Amenadiel actually loses control of his anger and begins to attack Lucifer. That’s some kind of sin right? I still believe that Amenadiel’s whole motivation to get Lucifer to return to Hell is because he will be Lucifer’s replacement otherwise. Amenadiel had been expecting Lucifer to realize what his wings truly meant to him during this misplacement of them. Well he had been right. Lucifer realized that his wings didn’t mean as much to him as he had thought, which was the complete opposite of what Amenadiel had probably hoped for. There were a few interesting things that happened here though. Amenadiel now knows about Lucifer’s so-called mortality issue. Now, Amenadiel can’t actually kill Lucifer himself, which I think is part of the reason I love him as the antagonist, but will he do it anyways? We’ve already seen him lose his temper. I feel like Amenadiel using his powers to influence someone else into killing Lucifer is still a sin on him. So it’ll be interesting to see what Amenadiel’s plan B is. Lastly, Amenadiel has now met Chloe Decker. He saw the obvious feelings Lucifer holds for Chloe during this encounter as well. He now knows Lucifer’s other weakness and I think he’ll begin to exploit it just as he has done with Dr. Linda Martin. The episode ends with another scene that left me with goosebumps, as Amenadiel uses his powers to bring back Malcolm (Kevin Rankin) from the dead. First question I have: How did Amenadiel know about this case? He has to have been following Chloe or had known about her for longer than we know of. Second: Would this be considered a sin as well? Malcolm was going to die, and Amenadiel totally played God by using his powers like that. Lastly: Did Amenadiel do this out of empathy or is this part of his plan B? This will be fun to watch unfold. I think Amenadiel is about to get scary.
Palmetto Street
Half of this week’s case was once again the Palmetto Street case. This time we actually get the full details and see what happened during a flashback at what caused Chloe to become a pariah in her own department. I love that this case has become Chloe’s personal character arc for this first season. It gives us a break from all of the random weekly homicides and gives us a continually growing case to think about as the season progresses. The case comes back up as Malcolm, the officer Chloe claims is a dirty cop, has run out of time at the hospital and it was time to pull the plug on his life support. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) started the episode by bringing back up his feelings about this case, which no doubt split him and Chloe’s marriage, which is the belief that Chloe is wrong about Malcolm. This begins to undue the repairs that Dan had started to make to their relationship last week, until Lucifer’s unknowing guidance helped Chloe think about the case with a different perspective. In the end Dan was right. Malcolm had been seen with a wad of cash, but when he saw Chloe he didn’t react like he was a dirty cop. I immediately knew there was more to the case after seeing that flashback. In most other dirty cop shows, the dirty cop freaks out when his partner catches them being dirty. This reveal points to the real dirty cop still being alive and in the police department. Which brings me to Anthony Paolucci (Lochlyn Munro). Boy he sure gives a touching speech for Malcolm during the remembrance service. Then again, so do most killers when they talk about someone they’ve killed and are trying to cover it up. That’s right, I’m predicting that Paolucci is totally to blame here. You don’t cast someone as recognizable as Lochlyn Munro and have him play a side character. Why Paolucci kills Malcolm and the two other criminals has yet to be seen, but I think if Dan and Chloe didn’t disturb the hidden escape tunnel out of the crime scene too much, that we’ll soon be getting some answers. I was half expecting Chloe to say something during the service about this new bit of evidence she found, but it’s much better that she play it cool. Now that she has Dan back on her side, the two of them will need to work together if they’re going to bring down the dirty cop. I’m really liking this story arc and I’m sure we’ll be getting more details on this case during the rest of this seasons episodes. Also, did anyone else know that Dan’s last name was Espinoza? So him and Chloe have been separated far before the Palmetto Street case, or they were never married. It’s possible she didn’t take his last name as well, but I find little details like this intriguing. I hope we learn more about their past relationship soon.
The Auctioneer
The other half of this week’s case was again the hunt for Lucifer’s wings. We pick off just after last week’s episode with Maze and Lucifer interrogating their fifth suspect in their attempt to track down the wings. I loved how this episode started. Maze seducing a LUX patron was nothing out of the ordinary, but when she started to shove his head under the water in a less sexy way I kind of chuckled at the twist. This whole scene was great and Lesley-Ann Brandt kills it as Maze during the whole episode; even though she’s not as prominent in it as she had been in previous episodes. With the incredulous assistance of Chloe, Lucifer finds out his wings are being sold at an auction. Isiah Whitlock Jr. plays Carmen the auctioneer and he was great as this week’s main sleazebag. He gave off a bit of a crime boss vibe, which is probably because he kind of was one due to his highly exclusive and ritzy illegal auctions. The most interesting part of this plotline was the reveal that the wings he was selling weren’t even real. The real ones were mounted in his house. Where Whitlock Jr’s best acting comes in, is when we see him in his house with the displayed wings. We get clued into the power of an angel’s wings as Carmen, who admitted to being atheist and only followed the almighty dollar, was apparently turned instantly into a believer upon laying eyes on the wings. He even went so far as to tell Lucifer that he couldn’t live without them. It’s interesting to me that the wings had this affect. I mean, the wings were absolutely gorgeous in last week’s reveal, but the idea that they can drive someone crazy with their beauty is interesting. It makes me wonder what the sight of a full angel in all their glory would do to someone. This case ends with Lucifer burning his wings. I am actually still in denial about this. While Lucifer’s reactions and emotions at the end scene with Chloe all point to him actually having done it, I still hope that this doesn’t mean that we won’t get the Lightbringer in the future. I was trying to reason out how Lucifer could still have them. Maybe he had reattached them and is just hiding them like Amenadiel does? Maybe he burned the fake wings and re-hid his real ones? But the FBI probably have the fake ones locked up in evidence now. The feather in the box is kind of a clincher though that the wings truly are gone. I wonder if a single feather is all it would take for Lucifer to regrow his wings? This was such a big shocker and I can’t wait to see if I was right to hope those were the fake wings burning or not. I mean… the fake wings fooled Lucifer until he got close… Quick… someone get me a bell! This angel needs to get it’s wings back!
The Wingless
Tom Ellis once again did an extraordinary job acting as the cockier Lucifer, while still retaining a bit of last week’s hidden emotion for his stolen wings. I loved that he went as far as enlisting Amenadiel to help him this week. I sometimes forget that the two really are brothers, and this episode showed a slight glimpse at the love that was probably held between them before. I feel like Lucifer witnessing how much everyone else thought his wings were worth, and how important they were – so far as to say that something that holy needs to be kept in Heaven where they belonged – is what led to Lucifer’s decision to burn them. Lucifer has always been a rebel, and if there is one thing a rebel doesn’t agree with, is when someone tries to tell them how important something should seem. I felt like there was a hint of reluctance in Lucifer’s act as he was telling off Amenadiel as his wings were burning. It showed again more clearly later in the scene between him and Maze. With that scene opening with Tom Ellis playing a Lucifer original song titled “Hurt”, Lucifer is obviously hurting on the inside. I think the apology and his excuses that he told Maze were really subconsciously meant for himself as well. The scene shared between the two was actually extremely touching, and a bit surprising given how I have been suspecting Maze of betraying Lucifer since the Pilot. Whether or not she’s playing her own game, or if she actually still holds out hope that her and Lucifer still share some sick kind of love together, I can’t really say. It sure didn’t help her jealousy problems when Chloe walked into the bar. Lucifer immediately brightens up too. I love that from this point on the soundtrack switched to the mellow but sweet tune of “Breathe Into Me” by Marian Hill. It really adds a vibe that wouldn’t have been felt otherwise. Just as Chloe and Dan’s relationship managed to get better after a dive earlier in the episode, the same happens with Chloe and Lucifer. Chloe finally admits to Lucifer that she thinks of him as a friend. Which isn’t surprising following last week’s admission of her liking working with him, but it was still really sweet to hear her confirm out loud. Lauren German knocks this last scene out of the park as it really gave me the feels I yearn for each episode. I am holding onto hope that there is some #Chlocifer romance on the way soon, but I feel like Dan definitely has the advantage when it comes to Chloe’s love. The scene with Maze finding the feather in the box was an interesting twist to end the scene on. It shows that Lucifer hasn’t fully let go of his wings. What that means I really can’t begin to fathom, but I think the reaction from Maze gave us a glimpse of her true feelings about the matter. Again, I still think she’s going to end up betraying Lucifer, but it’ll be out of love for him. Not spite. I think her reaction to the feather showed a bit of her knowing that she’s going to have to hurt him if she’s going to put an end to his obsession with the mortal realm. While Maze and Lucifer are both feeling heartbreak for different reasons, I predict us viewers will be feeling that heartbreak ourselves as this season comes to a close.
Overall I thought this was a fun episode. It didn’t strike the same powerful chords that last week’s episode did, but where last week’s emotional theme was rage, this week’s theme was hurt. It was sad to not have an appearance from Dr. Martin (Rachel Harris) or Trixie (Scarlett Estevez), but hopefully we’ll see more of them next episode to make up for it. Some interesting things to consider after this episode: We see Lucifer bleed again, but is this because of his mortality issue or because it was another angel hitting him? Amenadiel didn’t react in any way to the damage Lucifer took during his beatdown. I feel like he would have been more shocked to see his brother bleeding if it wasn’t normal during an angel fight. This explanation still supports my theory that Lucifer isn’t actually mortal, but it’s hard to say. Another scene to debate is when Chloe meets Amenadiel. She immediately gets giddy not unlike when Dr. Martin first meets Lucifer in the pilot. It wasn’t an uncontrollable desire like Dr. Martin’s, but she does pretty good at controlling herself now-a-days. Could this mean that Amenadiel can affect Chloe or was this just normal attraction? If Amenadiel can affect Chloe but Lucifer can’t, then that changes the game as far as Chloe theories go. This story is getting more complicated as it unravels. As always, I can’t wait until next week’s episode. Tell everyone you know about this show. We need a season two.
Let me know what you thought of this article and your thoughts on some of my questions! I’d love to hear them! Find me on Twitter @TheEverwritten.
Check out the promo for next week’s episode below: