Lucifer season 2, episode 9, “Homewrecker,” delves deeper into the reason why Lucifer thinks of L.A. as his home.
It’s clear that Amenadiel wants to go back to the Silver City where he feels he belongs. For Amenadiel, heaven has always been his home. It’s where he was powerful and respected. It’s where he fulfilled his purpose.
For Lucifer, Los Angeles was his first true home. Linda, ever attune to Lucifer’s many, many issues, asks why. Is he running from something or looking for it instead? This is the theme we explore in “Homewrecker.”
I have to take time out from the main plot to once again sing the praises of Aimee Garcia as Ella. She brings the right kind of awkward to this show. She says the weirdest things, but they’re so genuine and earnest that you can never fault her for them. Of course she speaks Klingon. And of course she was the type of kid to put together jigsaw puzzles with the picture side down. Of course.
But back to the problem at hand. The murder of the week once again ties directly into Lucifer’s life, just how I like it. The deceased man’s son, hours after his father’s murder, has exorcised the Devil from his own nightclub, Lux. It’s easy to understand why being expelled from his home is a sore spot for Lucifer.
The number one suspect right away is Charlotte, Lucifer’s mother, and I’m glad the show brought that up immediately. But there’s a twist — she wasn’t the one who killed the real estate mogul! She’s still planning to use it to her advantage, though.
We go through a series of red herrings and misdirections where the suspect constantly evolves from the son to a rival mogul. Lucifer wants his club back by any means necessary, but Chloe is insistent that there’s a legal way to reclaim Lux. This is a constant back-and-forth battle between them, but Lucifer always seems to give in to Chloe’s logic. Which is pretty lucky for the targets of his revenge.
Charlotte cleverly moves pieces around the chess board to benefit her plot to take away Lucifer’s home, driving him back to heaven. She appoints herself as the lawyer for an alleged bomber in a case Dan is working on, recruiting the criminal to set up charges and take down the nightclub.
That would’ve worked, except Lucifer throws an impromptu party to get all the construction workers drunk and delay demolition for another day. The bomber, being of the slightly squeamish variety, refuses to blow up the building with all those people inside. Charlotte has no such qualms, much to Amenadiel’s chagrin and Maze’s utter lack of disbelief.
Charlotte makes her way into the crowd to work her charms on Lucifer, but he quickly dumps her off at Linda’s feet, and Dr. Martin is barely able to contain herself. A goddess! Wow! Like, thanks for creation! If only Linda could cast off her daze at meeting another deity to see how manipulative Charlotte can be. Lucifer’s mother has a great line about not wanting to be defined by her husband, but any sense of pride over her agency is washed away as soon as Linda lets slip how much Chloe means to Lucifer. You immediately see the gears turning in Charlotte’s mind.
But, alas, Lucifer’s party is of the illegal variety and the cops show up to shut them down. Chloe steps forward and tells them she’ll handle the situation. Then, surprise of the century, she tells Lucifer to turn the music up.
I love that Chloe is coming out of her shell a little bit. She’s still a stickler for the rules, but no one is getting hurt here, and she knows how much Lux means to Lucifer. Their dance wasn’t romantic or sexually charged; it was fun and carefree. Lucifer is comfortable around anyone, but Chloe takes a bit of time to warm up to you. The fact that she’s warmed up to Lucifer and his weird ways speaks volumes as to how much she cares about him, whether it’s platonically or as something more.
Charlotte slips away and Amenadiel follows her to see what she’s up to. Maze catches him in the act and can’t help but rub it in his face. They’re both silenced, however, when they see she’s meeting up with Dan. The conversation is a bit one sided, as Dan talks about Chloe the entire time, but Charlotte isn’t complaining. She got exactly what she wanted.
Charlotte’s cavalier attitude about sex also leads her to taking Dan home for the night. He’s maybe a little shocked, but definitely not complaining. Amenadiel, however, is disgusted, and Maze gets photographic evidence. She’s never going to let him live that one down. Just wait until Lucifer finds out!
The end of the episode really calls back to the idea that more often than not, home is not a place but a person. The mogul’s daughter-in-law is the one who killed him, but her husband also confesses to the crime. They’ll both go down for murder, but they don’t care. At least they’ll be together.
This strikes Lucifer as odd and illogical, which is only compounded by the fact that Chloe, of free will and volition, offers him the perfect solution to his problems with Lux. Because the nightclub is a heritage site, it cannot be demolished. He’ll still have to pay an arm and a leg to get it back from its current owner, but it’s likely he can afford such a price.
Lucifer is, perhaps for the first time in his life, completely speechless. Friends help each other out, Chloe says, but Lucifer doesn’t understand the no-strings-attached mentality. As someone who has lived his whole existence striking deals, the concept of doing something without expectation of repayment is as foreign of a notion as there can be. Still, he would like to show his gratitude, and so he asks her out to dinner.
Later, during their session, Linda tries to explain to Lucifer that this sort of thing happens all the time. She also digs deeper and wonders why he hasn’t shown Chloe his true face as he has with Linda. She’s asked for the truth time and time again, but he’s never revealed his devilish form. Is it because he cares so much about what she thinks of him that he doesn’t want to risk driving her away?
Linda circles back around to what they were talking about at the top of the episode. She doesn’t believe Lucifer came to Los Angeles because he was running from his father; she believes he came to L.A. because he was searching for something. And she thinks he found what he was looking for. Was he looking for love? Did he find it in Chloe? That’s the concept we must chew on for at least another week.
Lucifer is also thinking deeply about this idea and what it could mean for him. He stands up Chloe at the restaurant and she seems more disappointed than annoyed. It’s definitely a step back in their relationship.
But this is literally the least of their problems. In the shadows of a dark alley, Charlotte holds up a detonator and looks giddy with triumph as she’s about to press the button that will blow up Chloe’s car, catching the detective in the blast.
This is where we end the episode. Chloe is certainly not going to die, but will she be injured, or will someone stop Charlotte? Will it be Amenadiel or Maze? What if it’s Lucifer, or even God himself? Luckily, we only have to wait a week to find out.
The Devil is in the details
? Did you catch the nod to the comics in this episode?
? Every time Amenadiel and Maze share a scene, I have to wonder if they’ll start ripping each other’s clothes off at any second.
? Will Dan feel guilty about sleeping with Charlotte? He shouldn’t, since he’s no longer with Chloe, but it’s obvious he still has feelings for his ex.
? I’d love to see Charlotte in a session with Linda. God (literally) knows that woman needs some time to reflect.
? But, like, has the Devil actually fallen in love with a human!?
