Lucifer aired the last of its standalone, carried over episodes from season two yesterday in a special New Year’s episode, giving us a little more insight into how Lucifer decided to stay in LA. Let’s dive in!
1. Etiology and Origin
As soon as the episode started we’re treated to the words that began the first season of this show and transported to the magical year of…2011. Lucifer comes back to Earth wearing his whole suit, a call back to the comic series, in his latest attempt to escape his responsibilities in Hell. Of course he gets caught by Amenadiel later in the episode and they go on this wild goose chase to get Amenadiel’s necklaces back after he’s shot and it’s stolen from him. It’s sort of ridiculous and wacky, as are most things on this show, but it’s charming and we get to check on with every major character on this show and see how connected everyone is even if they don’t realize it. Lucifer is drawn to Chloe and this murder investigation is the one that propels her to make detective. We see how Lucifer got his car, how he acquired Lux. We miss out on Linda, but I’m glad she didn’t show up because a psychiatrist would’ve felt shoehorned, as did Chloe’s brief interaction with Charlotte Richards (and her ridiculous wig). A return to origins, a look back at the beginning, is just what this show needs. It gave key characters, which we’ll get to, something to do that wasn’t comic relief, and really got at the heart of Lucifer’s nature. Overall I hope this showcases better things to come for Amenadiel and Dan, and a larger investment in the more serious emotional beats, as this and the great hell standalone episode that aired earlier in the season.
2. God’s Greatest Son: Amenadiel
I had forgotten before now that Amenadiel used to be a complex conflicted angel, rather than just a washed up sometimes funny hasbin. Seeing Amenadiel in his robe and bark around and be commanding is really refreshing. He had some ridiculous bits, almost staring in a porno, which was great, he was season 1 top dog angel material. Even his interactions with Lucifer maintained their emotion and seriousness and you could tell there was a mutual respect between the two. This is the Amenadiel this show needs and going forward season 3 can do better.
3. Dan the Man
Dan is another character that really stood out this episode. He’s a loving husband to Chloe as they’re still married here, and is super invested in her making detective. He’s encouraging and competant which is not something that can be said for later Dan. Thank God there were no yogurt jokes in the whole episode. Dan is another character who’s suffered since his season 1 arc of being a dirty cop which was followed by his weird Charlotte/Goddess loving season 2. If anything both him and Amenadiel need a return to these origins, of being intelligent, capable people. We’ll see.
4. (D)evil
I really appreciate those episodes that dig deep into how Lucifer perceives himself. That’s what’s great about this show. Lucifer is constantly fighting the perception that Earth, history, society, humanity, etc have of him as evil, when in reality he sees himself as simply fulfilling his duty, hating hell, and hating God for making him do this. It’s interesting to explore that within the confines of the fate and destiny aspects this show has taken on as well and think of this too is part of “his Father’s plan.” There’s hints of that with how Lucifer reacts to seeing Chloe the first time even if they don’t interact. This is the first time I’ve realized she’s the only one that doesn’t have eyes on him at all times for the most part. When he sees any stranger everyone is drawn to him except her.
This concept of whether not the Devil is evil seems to be the core of the show, and this season. It’ll be interesting to see how Cain and Lucifer interact and what Cain’s perception of him is going forward. It’s strange to see that Amenadiel sees his brother as the evil one, although by the end of the episode it seems more complex than that. There’s a lot of layers to Amenadiel and Lucifer’s relationship and it’d be great to get another origin episode of them in Heaven. Until then…
Continued below5. Cut em
Wow the bit where Maze cuts off Lucifer’s wings on the beach is far more emotional and sad than I expected it to be. She’s crying. He’s angry. It’s cool to finally see this moment rather than it just be described to us. And it really explains why Lucifer getting his wings back this season is so infuriating for him, as they represent his lack of freedom, which was much of the driver of last season.
Overall, if there had to be any episode aired on New Year’s and then break for three weeks, this one makes a lot of sense, and accomplishes what it sets out to do. Although we don’t really learn much from this origin story, or not much more than we already knew, it gives us better versions of characters and highlights the Central themes and concepts of the show well.
2018 is underway, sound off in the comments and we’ll see you in 3 weeks!
