Season One, Episode Five — “Sweet Kicks”
© Copyright 2016, Fox Broadcasting Company. All Rights Reserved.
By Shay Revolver. After all the sweet momentum Lucifer had built up over the previous three installments, last week’s episode, “Manly Whatnots”, was a bit of a let down. (Having it end with Lucifer getting shot by Chloe kind of felt like his penance for making us sit through that ho-hum episode.) This week Lucifer spends a great deal of time toying with his newfound mortality, much to Maze’s dismay. Lucifer’s search for new experiences leads him and his reluctant partner, Chloe, straight into the middle of a possible gang war… and the death of an innocent bystander.
WHAT WORKED: Almost everything. It looks like Lucifer got its groove back. From Maze’s epic fight scene to giving Amenadiel more to do than brood, this episode was on point. The chemistry between Lucifer and Chloe paled in comparison to exposing the little intricacies between Maze and Lucifer’s relationship. It was nice to see a version of Lucifer that was more closely aligned to the Lucifer from the comics.
WHAT DIDN’T: I looked, but couldn’t really find anything that didn’t. Even the episodes campiest moments were filled with cleverly crafted lines. Everything flowed together like a competent show should. But, if I’m pressed and had to name one thing that threw me off, I’d say it was that Lucifer seems to still have all of his powers at maximum capacity. Yes, he can “feel” pain, but he also seems to still be very much the impenetrable Lucifer. That’s kind of confusing, considering that last week’s episode made it seem like he was becoming more akin to us mere mortals, but this week he’s throwing punches that lay out cops twice his size. With his purported de-powering I half expected him to get knocked out in return, but… nothing happened.
BEST LINE(s):
“I approve of Benny’s avant-garde approach to clothing. The models don’t appear to be wearing any.” – Lucifer, to Maze at the fashion show.
“You are the oldest young person I’ve ever met and I’m immortal.” – Lucifer, to Chloe.
Chloe: “Act like a child, get treated like a child. “ Lucifer: “Isn’t it illegal to leave a child in a car?”
“Yellow Viper… sounds like a venereal disease.” – Lucifer.
“I was promised a gang war, instead I get a cry baby. This is boring.” – Lucifer, on Danny & Diego not seeking immediate revenge.
“Killing Pig Diddy was a message.” Benny. (Added just because he has a pig named PIG DIDDY.)
“Ass saved. You’re welcome. His ass, not yours.” Maze, after taking down a slew of gang members.
“Then he made me plant the gun on Viper and, kill Pig Diddy. I loved that pig.” Benny’s body guard, crying about being forced to kill Pig Diddy.
BEST MOMENT: It’s a tie. I couldn’t decide what I loved more this week, between the fight scene between Maze and the gang bangers (aka Maze’s ninja style take down), or the scene between Lucifer, Benny, and his bodyguard, where this episode’s climactic confession happens. Both were over-the-top awesome but in different ways. The sequence where Maze goes Super Sayian to save Lucifer was beautifully done, kind of dark, and totally serious. Every frame of footage seemed to mimic a comic book panel and the action was on point. The scene where Lucifer uncovers the true murderer was reliably campy, funny, and completely silly. The scenes are polar opposites in context, but they somehow seemed to flow into the overall tone of the episode perfectly. They both added some much-needed texture to Lucifer.
EPISODE’S MVP: Maze. For weeks I’ve been lamenting the lack of Maze action, but the writers made it up to me and delivered. Not only do we get a bunch of really cool scenes with Maze and Lucifer, but we got a real scene between Maze and Amenadiel. A scene where he’s not just huffing and where she has more to do than look pretty and smile. Fans of the comic get to see the Maze they’d hoped for and the uninitiated get to find out more about her, her purpose, and her motivation. (Side Note: It seems like Lucifer’s newfound humanity is causing some problems for Maze as well. She may still be unbeatable in a fist fight but, she’s becoming vulnerable and is starting to experience emotions. And, one of those is jealousy, so Lucifer had better watch his back. Because a Lilim scorned — and worried about her Luci — ain’t no joke.)
© Copyright 2016, Fox Broadcasting Company. All Rights Reserved.
THE DEVIL’S DUE:
– Lucifer seems hammier than usual this week.
– The chief of police just made a deal with the devil.
– Finally Chloe calls it stalking. Kudos to the writers.
– So much Maze! I love it.
– They killed his pig? That’s cold. Look on the bright side Benny, at least they didn’t leave his head in your bed.
– Maze is a ninja!
– I love it when Lucifer shows his true face, and people lose their minds!
– There were no Devil-themed songs this episode. Hmm.
– They did it! YES! They showed Maze’s true, pre-war face, and… it’s eerily beautiful.
8 out of 10
Next: “Favorite Son”, soon.
Before: “Manly Whatnots”, here.
