Lucifer season 2, episode 6, “Monster,” just finished airing, and this week the Devil had to deal with his guilt.
The episode opens up on a zombie wedding, which is fitting for Halloween, but everything goes to Hell when the bride is shot and killed right before she can say, “I do.”
Lucifer isn’t much help when he finally shows up at the crime scene. After Uriel’s death, he kind of went off the deep end. He cancelled his appointment with Linda and hit the bottle pretty hard, so by the time he tracks down Chloe, he’s eating evidence and making out with witnesses.
It sounds like typical Lucifer, but about 10 times worse than usual — which is saying something.
What I found interesting about Lucifer’s interactions with Linda is that she has no problem rejecting his sexual advances. That’s not exactly news because they haven’t been sleeping together for quite a while, but I wonder if Luci is losing a little bit of his charm. Or if Linda is building up a resistance. That’s not supposed to happen — Lucifer likened himself to heroin in season 1 — so I’d like to know if something is going on here or if we aren’t supposed to be reading into it at all.
He’s definitely not losing his powers like Amenadiel, though. We see this when Lucifer locks himself in with one of the suspects and gets him to admit what he knows about the murders. The man is innocent, and it does help the investigation, but the way Lucifer went about it does not sit well with Chloe.
But despite Chloe giving Lucifer a stern warning, he later hijacks Dan’s badge and gun and then swipes confidential paperwork they need for the investigation. Dan calls out Lucifer on his attitude and Lucifer does what he’s wanted to do since he first met Detective Douche — he punches Chloe’s ex in the face.
Lucifer gets benched after that, but Dan and Chloe don’t return the files right away because there’s still a murderer out there. It leads Chloe and Dan to the next victim, who finds herself in the crosshairs of the killer’s gun.
Luckily, Lucifer has his head back on straight and stands in front of the would-be victim. The killer, not being totally unreasonable, doesn’t want to shoot an innocent person, which gives Chloe enough time to track him down and stop him from adding to his kill count.
I liked that one of the themes for this week was husbands and wives, especially considering Chloe and Dan have decided to get divorced. The killer murders the spouse of the people who’ve wronged him because he wants them to feel what he’s feeling without his wife. There is a love between spouses, whether you’re happily married, one has died, or you’re getting divorced.
That love could have been lost, especially in the case of a messy separation, but it will never be forgotten. This is especially true when you’ve had a child together, as the two detectives have. Yes, they’re getting divorced, but there is still a respect and appreciation and a love between them, even if it’s not a romantic love anymore.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was a little heavy-handed. We had multiple people telling Lucifer, “It’s not your fault,” or, “You didn’t deserve it,” in other contexts, like when he accidentally bumps into someone. Perhaps we’re supposed to read this as God or the universe’s way of reminding Lucifer it’s not his fault he had to kill his brother, but it was a little on the nose for me this week.
Aside from that, it is nice to see Lucifer having such a strong reaction considering he’s usually so good at playing it cool. He’s never felt guilty before, and he’s never killed a living soul before, so it’s all a first for him. How do you come to terms with that?
Perhaps it’s by blaming God, rather than himself, which also seems to be a theme in this episode.
Chloe wants to help her partner (she called him her partner!), but recognizes that she might not be the best person for the job. Therefore, Luci sees Linda, who almost immediately gets fed up with him. I don’t blame her for that reaction considering, in her mind, Lucifer constantly talks in metaphors and won’t admit to his real problems.
But Lucifer is ready to deal, and the only way he can convince Linda that he’s being honest is by showing her his true face. She’s shocked into silence upon seeing it, and when she has no reaction other than the occasional whimper, he quietly leaves.
I’m anxious to see how next week’s episode goes and if this will put us back on track for Chloe finding out that Lucifer is really who he says he is. I’ve wondered if Chloe will ever learn or if her trust in him must be about faith, but this episode certainly makes me think it’s a conversation we’ll be having again by season’s end.
The Devil is in the details
? Maze and Chloe are already butting heads. I don’t know why either one of them is surprised.
? Amenadiel’s mother suggests to him that there are ways they can both regain their strength and alarm bells are going off in my mind.
? She also tells Amenadiel to stop feeling guilty over Uriel’s death and admits that she thinks it’s all her fault. I find this confession more manipulative than genuine.
? Amenadiel says he’s done “trying to please someone who isn’t even here,” and this just ties back into the idea that everything is God’s fault. Is their mother trying to start a rebellion against the Big Guy?
? Maze takes Trixie trick-or-treating, let’s her dress up as the President of Mars, and they fall asleep watching scary movies together. Best babysitter ever?
? That moment when Maze showed Trixie her true face, half rotten as it was, and Trixie accepted her, was one of the most poignant scenes on the show so far. The relief and pure joy on Maze’s face is something I’ll never forget.