Lucifer season 2, episode 7, “My Little Monkey,” just finished airing, and this week Chloe revisited the case of her father’s murder.
As much as Lucifer is truly the star of this show, it is Lauren German as Chloe Decker that often elevates the episodes in which she’s front and center. When the series takes a break to put her issues ahead of Lucifer’s, it brings a whole other level of emotion to the show.
In a flashback at the top of the episode, we see what murder this week’s episode will be focusing on. While at a local convenience store, Chloe’s father is talking to the man behind the counter when a figure in a hoodie holds them both up at gunpoint. Officer Decker is gunned down before the other man is robbed and the assailant gets away.
In the present day, Chloe receives a phone call that the main who was imprisoned for her father’s murder is being released on family leave in order to attend his granddaughters christening. The detective is obviously upset, but there’s nothing she can do to stop it.
But it doesn’t matter anyway because when Chloe catches up to to the transport van, everyone inside is dead, including Joe Fields, the supposed murderer. Being first on the scene and given the fact that she’s so close to the case, Chloe decides to step back and let someone else take over.
Dan, of course, steps up to the plate, but surprisingly so does Lucifer. This week, Lucifer is having a little bit of an identity crisis. After seeing his true face, Linda cancels his next meeting with her, which makes the Devil once again feel guilty about his life choices.
If being Lucifer only brings pain and death to those he cares about, he needs to find a way to be someone else. And who does he choose to latch onto? Detective Douche, of course.
Tom Ellis imitating Kevin Alejandro is quite possibly the funniest thing this show has ever done, and I enjoyed every little quip and every little change to Lucifer’s personality and attire. From the extreme side part to the jacket to the way he walked, Ellis was absolutely brilliant the entire time.
Oh, and let’s not forget Alejandro’s imitation of Lucifer, too. This episode was absolutely hilarious and heart-wrenching all around.
“I need to learn how to douche.” “You’re like duct tape or a favorite socket wrench. I want you to teach me how to be a tool.” “Let me play the Me’s advocate.” Every line in this episode was brilliantly written and delivered.
But every time Lucifer gave us another gem to laugh at, the show brought the story back around to Chloe. Tina Fields, the daughter, holds her at gunpoint, but the situation is quickly diffused and Chloe gains another piece of evidence. There’s a video of Joe the night of the murder that proves he wasn’t actually the one who shot Officer Decker.
But even with Lucifer’s ridiculous “Dansformation” that leads him into his Doucheifer persona, he and Dan are there to support Chloe in her request for the truth about her father’s murder. And the two of them actually make a pretty good team.
Once the team figures out that Joe traded a false confession for regular payments to his daughter, and that he wasn’t the only one who agreed to these terms for one reason or another, the detectives begin to put the story together.
It turns out that despite the fact Officer Decker was only a beat cop, he was sniffing around somewhere he didn’t belong and got on the wrong person’s radar. That person was the prison’s warden, who had been setting up these men as fall guys. (Did anyone else totally get creeper vibes the first time we saw the warden?)
The warden escaped the prison, but Maze, having been struggling the entire episode to figure out what she can do on Earth now that she’s out of a job in Hell, catches up to the man and holds him hostage for Chloe. In a moment of emotional turmoil, Chloe pulls her gun on her father’s murderer, but doesn’t pull the trigger.
There is one other reason why I truly loved this episode, and I only just realized it at the very end. Only at that point does Lucifer make mention of his own dad, despite the fact that this entire episode was about a child’s relationship to their father. Lucifer truly let Chloe’s story take the reins without the Devil’s deeds interfering more than necessary.
It’s this balance and respect for Chloe being her own character outside of Lucifer that makes me respect what this show is doing even more than I already had.
The Devil is in the details
? Maze got paid by the LAPD as a bounty hunter. She’s clearly found her calling and I hope we see her out in the field much more often.
? Chloe and Lucifer hug and it’s absolutely platonic. I loved every second of it.
? Linda is still struggling with the knowledge of Lucifer and Maze’s true identities.
? Maze really misses her only friend, that Dr. Linda. It feels a little out of character to see her so sentimental, but it also makes sense — the demon is coming to terms with her life on Earth and she’s trying to forge friendships to make the transition a little easier.
? “You both have true hatred for this man.” I believe Dan’s hatred less than Lucifer’s, but it’s still sad to think the Devil is so self-loathing.
