“Gift? He shunned me. He vilified me. He made me a torturer. Can you even begin to fathom what it was like? Eons… spent providing a place for dead mortals to punish themselves. I mean why do they blame me for all of their little failings as if I’ve spent my days sitting on their shoulder forcing them to commit acts they’d otherwise find repulsive? Oh, the devil made me do it, I HAVE NEVER MADE ANY ONE OF THEM DO ANYTHING! NEVER…This is unjust! For all eternity my name will be invoked to represent all their depravity. That is the gift that my father gave me!” – Lucifer
I feel like I say this every week, and partly because I do actually say it, but Lucifer is the best god damned show on television right now. I can say that with the utmost sincerity after this week’s episode of Lucifer titled “Favorite Son.” This episode was the perfect blend of comedy, mystery, action, and drama all to a killer soundtrack and cinematography. It seriously had everything I want from a show and more. If you get nauseas when you hear people gush about their favorite shows then you might want to just skip down to my score at the bottom. Nevertheless my thoughts and emotions need to be broken down. So if you’re still reading, I appreciate you, and welcome to the Lucifandom. It’s looking up to be one hell of an experience.
Warning: SPOILERS will follow!
The Lightbringer
Ok so Tom Ellis is basically a god tiered actor in my opinion after this episode. Not only does the show open with him singing a cover of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”, yes that was actually him, but the emotional rollercoaster his character displayed throughout this episode was performed with an uncanny acting skill. We learn so much about Lucifer this episode as it has finally begun to go deep into who he is, his past and how he truly does feel on the inside. The episode continues with the same careless and witty Lucifer we’ve been seeing for the past five episodes, but once it’s revealed to him that his cargo container was stolen, something switched inside him; and it’s visible. This whole episode he was trying to push his feelings down deep within him and it’s intentionally obvious. Everything about him this episode exuded a glimpse of the hidden layers of emotions that he’s constantly trying to push down. Lucifer tells Chloe that in the shipping container is the only thing he brought with him to Los Angeles. I knew almost immediately that his wings had to be in there, and damn it I was right. Let me just skip to the end real quick and say that even though I knew it was his wings missing from the container, holy shit was this ending amazing and chilling. “Zvvl” by Chvrches playing while the camera slowly pans out to reveal the glorious sight of Lucifer’s wings gave me a chill down my neck. These aren’t the grimy grey-ish wings that Amenadiel has displayed. Lucifer is known to have been the most beautiful of all angels, so it’s fitting that his wings fit that description.
The way the writers and Ellis both made Lucifer’s feelings about his wings so intensely complex was a masterwork. There is a sorrow deep inside Lucifer that he denies even to himself. His last revealing talk with Dr. Linda Martin was proof of this. Honestly, the people who protest this show because it sympathizes with the devil have it partially right. That’s the point of this story; that the Christian mythos has always told us a one sided tale. What they can’t comprehend, due to not actually having watched the show, is that this devil does deserve our sympathy. We find out a sort of “origin” for Lucifer, who used to be named Samael the Lightbringer, and how his being God’s favorite son landed him the ruler of Hell gig. This story is truly heartbreaking when you see the pain on Lucifer’s face as he tells it. Here is a son who just wanted to be loved by his father, but instead his father cast him down into the darkest place in all of eternity to be blamed for all of humanity’s failures and horribleness. He didn’t ever ask to be what he became. So he had Maze cut off his wings in rebellion to his father, but there is a small part of him that holds onto his wings hoping that maybe someday he can return to his former self. At least that’s how I interpreted it. That kind of depth can only be further revealed as this story unfolds. Watching this episode again with this knowledge really reveals Lucifer’s true emotions throughout the episode. There is a feral rage that comes out when Lucifer hunts after Renny. He thought Renny had taken the one thing he secretly holds precious, but when Maze first told him about his container being stolen, he tried to play it off like he didn’t care. Hell, he even blew up twice on Dr. Martin this episode and passed up a four-way with three gorgeous women. Lucifer is becoming more than the witty nightclub owner he was before. I think this is the turning point for the show that really nails the coffin shut on anyone still skeptical about Lucifer. This kind of character development and depth after only six episodes is pretty unheard of. I hope that one day we’ll get to see Lucifer become the Lightbringer again. He deserves at least that much.
The Hunt
So this week’s case was the hunt for Lucifer’s own shipping container that someone stole. This case was really well crafted from the beginning. When I heard the security guard call the container “the Morningstar thing” my interest immediately peaked. I didn’t really think about what Lucifer might have been keeping in the container until I saw his reaction when Maze told him of its theft. That slight hint of emotion really drove my interest in this case through the roof, as it also did with Lucifer. Lucifer going all “Hulk” on the snow cone vendor was pretty standard from what we’ve seen in previous episodes, but it’s once the case moved into the Los Diablos biker bar that it started to get good. I love how Chloe Decker doesn’t fear anything. She can walk into a bar full of massive bikers and not miss a step. Tom Sizemore showed up as Hank Cutter, the head of this legal-but-not-really motorcycle gang, and he was a great actor to play the gangs lead. I really loved that he was just a normal aging guy with a bad prostate on the inside all of that rough exterior. I liked that this episode showed both Chloe’s methods working as well as Lucifer’s. One of the best scenes this episode is when Lucifer realizes that Chloe was right that Hank would lead them straight to whomever it was that stole the container. When they are led to Renny, holy cow did the energy of this episode skyrocket.
The chase sequence where Lucifer is driving after Renny to the tune of “The Day is My Enemy” by The Prodigy was electrifying; purely because of the emotion Lucifer had been showing. I’m glad that they showed Lucifer almost forgetting about his sudden “mortality” as Renny fired his gun towards him. It was a nice touch to show that Lucifer’s anger towards the guilty suspect had made him almost forget. When Lucifer burst onto the roof, I genuinely was sneering in some kind of morbid excitement that Renny was going to freaking get it. It was interesting to show that in Lucifer’s supernatural rage, he drove Renny to suicide; jumping without a second thought. Renny probably wouldn’t have jumped if Lucifer hadn’t shown him his true form. This should be a wakeup call for Lucifer. I feel like he didn’t think about the consequences before doing the things he did this episode, and that’s something that he’s going to have to work on if he’s truly ever going to change. When Chloe and Lucifer opened the container in the end, I was actually surprised that I had been wrong about the wings being in there. I almost allowed myself to believe that I had been wrong when Chloe rummaged through the box only to find nothing but Russian dolls. That is… until a few seconds later when Lucifer reveals his hidden compartment in the back with an empty rack in it. So the problem is… only a few people know about Lucifer’s wings and even fewer would know where he had hid them. As we now know, Maze takes care of all the logistics for Lucifer. So I feel like there was some more secret coffee shop meetings between her and Amenadiel that we didn’t get to see happening. It was great to see the weekly case evolve slightly into something more than just another random homicide.
The Betrayer and The Badge
Speaking of Maze, everything about Lesley-Ann Brandt’s portrayal of Mazikeen is perfect. Maze is seriously one of the best things about this show, and I really wish it wasn’t so, because if Maze is truly betraying Lucifer then things aren’t going to end well for her. We saw in the last episode that Maze and Amenadiel begun plotting Lucifer’s trip back down to Hell. Like I said in the last section, Maze is really the only one who would know where Lucifer’s wings are. Amenadiel would know how important Lucifer’s wings were as well, but I’ll get to that later. We’ll cover this plotline again as the plot thickens, for now let’s move onto how hilarious it was when Dan tried to act all bad cop towards Mazikeen. I loved Maze’s reasoning behind why she knocked Dan out and put him naked in Chloe’s bed, “It always works for me.” This episode we got to see a lot of Mazikeen’s jealousy surfacing. The attempt to get Lucifer into a four-way with the two Britney’s was a textbook attempt to steer his mind away from Chloe and back towards her. So when that failed and Dan showed up it was super clever of Maze to try playing the opposite direction in an attempt at drawing Chloe’s attention away from Lucifer. I actually started to like Dan in this episode, but truthfully this is the first time we’ve gotten a Dan-centric plotline. The scenes where Dan woke up naked in Chloe’s house were fun and lighthearted. Add to that Trixie’s utterly adorable blackmailing of Dan to get chocolate cake and the lightness of the episode really hits a nice peak. Top that off with Dan managing to get back to Lux wearing Chloe’s pink pajamas and an N’Sync t-shirt, and this episode easily meets its comedy goal for me. The always amused Maze was feeling pretty proud of her matchmaker attempt and in the end it actually worked due to Dan overhearing Chloe’s phone conversation with her Mom while hidden in her house. Dan still has a few chips in the game when it comes to Chloe’s heart. Does Maze have any clips left in the game for Lucifer? We’ll find out.
No Boys Allowed
The beginning of this episode was extremely well cut, as we see Detective Chloe Decker interrogating a suspect about lying. The part that makes it great is that her suspect was Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) who had chocolate all over her face; as Chloe plays bad cop trying to get her to fess up about eating chocolate cake. I loved that Chloe’s attempt failed and Dan had to come in as good cop and get the truth from Trixie. I felt like it was a sweet nod to the cop drama clichés we so often see. Nevertheless, Chloe ended up taking a sort of back seat for the focus of this episode. Lucifer’s unwillingness to tell her what he had stored in his stolen container really nagged at her in all of her scenes. I loved that she was so bothered by the fact that she thought Lucifer had been lying to her. One of the most shocking parts of the episode is when Chloe reveals to Lucifer that she actually has been enjoying working with him and she doesn’t want to see him go to jail. She actually does care for him. Lauren German’s acting in this episode is the best it’s been this series, especially during the stake out scenes. It’s still hard to tell if she holds any romantic feelings for Lucifer or not, but we’ve still got another half of this season for that to come into play. For now it seems like she is still working at making her relationship with Dan work. I thought this was really nice and realistic. We still don’t know what either she or Dan did that caused them to split up, but I would guess it was because of the Palmeto Street incident that has been mentioned on and off; especially in last episode.
This plotline is also playing with my emotions as well, because Trixie is so darn cute that you want the best for her; that being Chloe and Dan remaining a family. I mean, Trixie had a sign on her bedroom door that said “No Boys Allowed! Except for Lucifer and Dad.” That’s hysterical. Although, I can’t help but think that Lucifer and Chloe would make such a hot couple, and there’s still the mystery behind why Chloe can resist Lucifer’s powers. Just as a side note, I am partial to the theory that Chloe can, for some reason bypass angels’ powers, which also includes her being able to hurt angels (or demons). I don’t think Lucifer is becoming mortal. We’ve actually not seen him get hurt since that revelation, but I think he was hurt when he got shot by Chloe, specifically because it was her that did it. I think Chloe’s power to hurt angels will come into play later when Amenadiel becomes a bigger threat.
Heavenly Therapy
Finally, the most calm but interesting bits in this episode came with the continuing relationship Amenadiel is growing with Dr. Linda Martin. His powers of persuasion and pure nature are making it really easy for Dr. Martin to break her doctor-patient privilege to privacy. It’s fun to see Amenadiel throw in stuff about how he knows The Bible inside and out, and how it’s almost as if he lived it. D.B. Woodside does a really great job at playing his character. I believe he is an angel even without him displaying his wings. I honestly think that Amenadiel is the one behind the theft of Lucifer’s wings. I think Maze told him where they were, and Amenadiel has worked out some deal with her that involves Lucifer never being able to become anything other than the ruler of Hell again. I’ve been a big fan of Dr. Martin since the pilot, but for the first five episodes I hadn’t felt like they were using her character to the fullest of her potential… that is until this episode. Dr. Martin’s scenes with Lucifer this episode were the scenes I’ve been wanting since the pilot. Real therapy that really gets through Lucifer’s emotional armor and causes him to open up to hidden truths. We’re finally getting a Dr. Martin who isn’t just there to be funny and have sex. Rachel Harris and Tom Ellis were incredible on screen together, especially in the last session. That last scene between them is one of the most powerful scenes of the season, and I’m not even trying to riff on Lucifer punching a hole in her wall. The information and emotion that came to the surface in this scene really made the episode for me. With Amenadiel’s help, Dr. Martin is unknowingly helping break Lucifer down, revealing the cracks in his armor that Amenadiel is going to exploit later on. What Dr. Martin doesn’t realize is that she’s playing close to a very dangerous fire. I hope she doesn’t get burned.
There’s not much else left to say about this episode. I’ve watched the episode three times already since it aired, and I’ll probably watch it again on Monday before episode seven airs. The viewer ratings have been slightly declining for this show, although viewer reactions and reviews have been high, but I’m really glad that all of the protesting is being pushed aside as this show continues. I think after this masterpiece of an episode, interest for the show will continue to grow even more and assure a second season. I also think that the show needs to keep piling on the mythological and supernatural elements this world has to offer. I think Lucifer’s wings being at stake really made this episode interesting, and if they keep up with this kind of theme to the weekly cases, this show will go no where but up. The acting in this show is top notch, the soundtrack chosen by Marco Beltrami and Dennis Smith is perfect and fitting, and the story being told is well thought out and unique. If you know someone who isn’t watching this show, do me a favor and tell them to watch it. At this rate, I am going to need a dozen seasons before I get tired of this show.
Let me know what you thought of this episode at @TheEverwritten on Twitter!
Check out this preview for next week’s episode “Wingman” below or read my thoughts on (1×07) “Wingman” here!