Lucifer season 1, episode 4, “Manly Whatnots,” just finished airing, and the Lord of Hell revealed all.
The episode opens with Chloe in the shower, reliving the strange moments she’s encountered with Lucifer. She remembers the superhuman things he has done, and I’m hoping she’s finally starting to believe who he says he is. This is only episode 4, so they haven’t been drawing this plot out that long, but it feels like it’s just about to overstay its welcome. If Lucifer can convince her he really is the Lord of Hell within the next episode or two, the show can continue to explore other complications in their story.
Speaking of complications, Lucifer is making Chloe breakfast in her own home, and he gets a good look at her sans towel. Worse yet, Detective Douche and Trixie show up, and it’s awkward all around. Chloe kicks them all out and works to pick up what’s left of her dignity.
Later, her husband (we’re reminded they’re not divorced, just separated) passes her a case. A young woman named Lindsey has been kidnapped and the prime suspect is a man named Carver, who’s basically a glorified pickup artist. Lucifer is on the list for his event, and so Chloe will be going undercover in order to find Lindsey.
Meanwhile, Lucifer is having another crisis. There has not been a single woman who has ever turned him down, except Chloe. He goes to Linda to talk it through, and though her advice is sound, Lucifer misconstrues it, like he’s wont to do. He determines that if he can have sex with Chloe, he’ll take his power back and she’ll be out of his system.
There just one problem. Chloe is not interested. Lucifer’s insistence that she sleep with him, and her continued refusal, is funny at first, but it starts to grate when she makes it abundantly clear she is not at all interested and he still pursues her. Lucifer’s hesitance to believe it to be true is faithful to his character; he is irresistible to both sexes, after all. However, the coupling of Carter’s beliefs that men are wolves and women are fluffy bunnies just further underlines how inappropriate Lucifer is being toward Chloe.
Lucifer continues to screw everything up by announcing to the congregation that Chloe is a cop, getting them kicked out and on Carter’s radar. He manages to fix it by hosting Carter’s upcoming party at Lux, but not before he bares it all in front of Chloe — literally.
Lucifer has overstepped his bounds here, more so than previously, and Chloe is quick to tell him so, though she does spend an inordinate amount of time gazing at the goods. When Lucifer turns, however, she’s sobered. We see scars on his back where Maze cut off his wings, and when she goes to touch them, he’s quick to stop her. The flippant, flirtatious Lucifer is gone, replaced by one that is sad and vulnerable.
This feels like the realest version of Lucifer we’ve seen on the show so far, and I sincerely hope this Lucifer returns from time to time. I love the sexy, naughty, mischievous version as much as the next girl, but this version of Lucifer is why we watch the show. We want to see the person beneath the facade, and for a moment there, we did.
The duo realize that Carver did not take Lindsey, and in fact, he’s the biggest hypocrite of all: He fell in love with the fluffy bunny. Lucifer sets up a sting operation, but Carter crashes it because he’s determined to get Lindsey back, no matter what.
Unfortunately, this plays right into the kidnapper’s hands. That is, Lindsey’s hands. She and her brother set up the whole scenario because Carter had previously slept with Lindsey in order to gain research for his book, but he didn’t even remember her when he saw her for a second time several years later and subsequently fell in love with her.
Lindsey is about to put a bullet into both Carter and Lucifer, but the Devil reveals his true face and she cowers before him. It’s then that Chloe storms in, gun out, and also gets a glimpse of what lay beneath. It’s clear that it scares her, and Lucifer’s insistence that she shoot him and finally prove to her who he really is tips her over the edge. But when she does, Lucifer actually begins to bleed. Oops?
It’s in the final scene between the two that I have to wonder if there really is some chemistry between them. It’s clear Chloe is not attracted to Lucifer when he’s obnoxious and arrogant, but rather she may truly care for him when he’s being selfless and honest. Or maybe she’s just grateful he got her out of trouble with her boss.
Throughout the episode, we also get a confrontation between Maze and Amenadiel. He just wants to talk about Lucifer, but she wants to get physical. She attacks him, but she is no match for the archangel. When she’s pinned down, however, she licks his face, and it’s clear this is not something he encounters on a daily basis. It throws him off his game, and I have to wonder if this experience might lead to some trouble upstairs.
Either way, Maze is unflinchingly loyal to Lucifer. (“No means no” is something she should teach the Lord of Hell, though.) She wants to return to Hell as much as Amenadiel wants Lucifer back there, but she won’t betray him. For how long, though? Lucifer’s declaration at the end sounds like he’s having the time of his life at Maze’s expense, and I just don’t see her sticking by his side forever if he keeps putting a human ahead of her, despite all they’ve been through.
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