'LUCIFER' Walks Into Its Third Week With A Justified Swagger -- TUBE ROCKET

Season One, Episode Three — “The Would Be Prince of Darkness”

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By Shay Revolver. By the end of last week’s episode Chloe had found herself coming face to face with a new version of reality. After a bewildering Mexican stand-off between a sociopath and Nightcrawler Redux ended with not one casualty, Chloe went to see Jimmy, a man abandoned to a padded cell screaming that Lucifer is the Devil. The notion that seemed quite improbable to her before is now starting to look like anything but.

Meanwhile, Lucifer’s up to his old tricks. What appears to be the Devil whispering provocations into the ear of a young woman perched on a balcony, turns out to be a bit of soft fun: he’s just trying to get her to cannonball into a swimming pool during a party. And when he’s not too busy trying to pick up on said woman from the pool, Lucifer discovers there is an impostor on the loose using his name in the underground rap scene. It all culminates into an entertaining hour of television, where an emotionally occupied Chloe — who’s still making heads or tails of the “magic” Lucifer uses — gets called in to help “The Would Be Prince Of Darkness” investigate a murder of a woman at the home of a pro football player.

WHAT WORKED: Everything. The rotating roster of recognizable guest stars made the suspect pool look real, in that I got sucked in trying to pin the crime on somebody I recognized. Thankfully, the resolution of the case made far more sense.

We also got to see more of the dichotomy between Maze and Lucifer, although it still wasn’t as much as I would have liked. But, the time they did spend together in this episode was enough to make it clear that the two of them are romantically involved, and Lucifer’s fascination with Chloe has more to do with her bringing him closer to humanity.

I really like the turn that Lucifer’s therapy sessions have taken. It’s like we get to see him break the fourth wall without actually doing it. A couple of minutes set aside in each episode to round up his motivation and “personal growth”. It’s just enough to get you attached to the character so that you see him as “human”, instead of veering him towards becoming a network television cliche. His interactions with his therapist are naked and raw (both physically and emotionally), and that softness stands in stark contrast to those moments when we see him doling out punishment to those who would deserve it.

Lucifer’s interrogation of his impostor held the tension at a steady level, keeping the catharsis of release at bay until that one crucial moment where he threw Ty’s manager through a wall, effectively shattering glass all over the place. It was a nice slow burn. (The transition from that to a bedroom sequence with his therapist was also perfect.) I think the show has finally found it’s stride.

WHAT DIDN’T: In this episode? Nothing. The only thing that I can think of that may have kept it from feeling complete was the lack of Amenadiel. (But, that may be my bias showing.) I want to see a progression of the battle we know is coming. It seems kind of weird that he doesn’t show up in this episode when he’s been popping up in the last two weeks to remind Lucifer of who he really is. I can only assume the writers gave Amenadiel an episode off to figure out how to provide him with more to do than just show up to be a bossy buzzkill.

BEST LINE(s):

“You’re like a four leaf clover and a unicorn had a baby. Without having sex.” – Lucifer, remarking on the virginity of a football player.

“Ginger lad. Soulless bastards. Give even me the creeps.” – Lucifer, on his prime suspect.

“You call watching porn on your phone useful?” – Chloe, to Lucifer while he watches newly discovered evidence.

“This is so hot. It’s like you’re punishing yourself.” – Maze, as Lucifer threatens the impostor.

“Did I squeeze to hard?” – Lucifer, after Jedi choke-slamming the agent through a glass wall and into a desk.

“I’d rather return to the fires of Hell than spend a night in Tarzana.” – Lucifer, on his impostors sullying of his name.

BEST MOMENT: There were more than a few to choose from in this episode. It was a solid run of awesome. But, if I had to pick one it’d have to be the scene where Ronnie delivers Fauxcifer to Lucifer & Maze at Lux. The witty banter. The threat of violence. I loved the voyeuristic feel of the whole scene. I got sucked into to the “will he or won’t he kill him” tension of the moment. The only thing that would have made it better would have been Lucifer turning his eyes red like he did with the bully back in Episode One.

EPISODE’S MVP: Sofia Vassilieva as Debra the crazy ex. Everything about her was real. We all know this girl, the one who gets a little too wrapped up in her man and doesn’t want anyone encroaching on their love. The girl whose man is just as into her and they both act out in ways that are super unhealthy. They are a train wreck and all you can do is grab popcorn and let it happen. Despite the crazy in her there’s something hella lovable and adorable about Debra. She seems more madly in love than possessive. Yes, she might go a little far at times but, Ty is just as crazy about her, so it works. I love that her alibi involved her nursing her broken heart by sitting alone in a cafe gorging herself on ice cream. And, I really loved them running into each other’s arms after the killer is revealed. She was funny, she was sweet, she was the most realistic person in this episode.