Lucifer season 3 episodes 4&5
Nov. 2nd, 2017 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightWell, I may be alone in thinking it, but I thought both these episodes were great.
Spoilers behind cut.
Okay, I wasn't so keen on episode 4 (What Would Lucifer Do?) the first time I watched it - mainly because the final scene between Lucifer and Amenadiel was just so painful and unpleasant - but on re-watching, the scene was easier to bear. Yes, what Lucifer said to his brother was horribly cruel, but Amenadiel's response - I forgive you and I still have your back, essentially - was the perfect one, and also cruel in its own way, because Lucifer really can't cope with the idea that he's changed and that everything that's happening to him is part of 'Dad's' plan, and Amenadiel knows that perfectly well. Not that I think Amenadiel is twisting the knife deliberately, but every time he mentions 'Dad', the knife does get twisted, and Lucifer clings more and more desperately to his old self from before he met Chloe.
The procedural part of the episode was fairly hum-drum (it usually is), and the murderer shooting at Chloe and Pierce pretty inexplicable. You have to put it down to the fact that it was necessary for the Pierce plot that he get shot while with Chloe, because his reaction to being shot (he says he's never been so close to death before) makes it pretty plain - to me, anyway - that Pierce is, for whatever reason, also invulnerable. Except, like Lucifer, when Chloe's around. Not surprising that Pierce tells her - as 'Mum' did in season 2 - that she's 'special.'
And not surprising that Pierce is doing everything he can to alienate Chloe from Lucifer, by praising Lucifer every time he does something that Chloe considers unacceptable, so that Lucifer is encouraged to do it even more. Clever.
As for episode 5- Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards - it was a joy from beginning to end. Tricia Helfer is superb (though I do miss 'Mum' still), portraying Charlotte's hurt and vulnerability, which she can't quite hide no matter how she tries. I also thought the way the question of Charlotte's husband and children was dealt with was very well handled, and the fact that Lucifer feels responsible for her predicament - feels guilt, in fact - shows that no matter how much he might want not to have changed, he really has (though not enough to not piss Chloe off mightily in his dealings with Trixie). Interestingly (and no doubt deliberately), though Charlotte is a different person from 'Mum', both of them are women who have lost their children and are desperate to get them back.
The episode was also very funny, whereas I found the humour more strained in episode 4. That said, at least there were some drugs references, so there only needs to be a reference to Lucifer's bisexuality to reassure me that the earlier timeslot hasn't changed anything.
There are still things that are missing from the season - notably Maze, of course, but we know why that is. It does seem like the expanded cast, and the emphasis on changes at the police precinct (ie. Pierce) has impacted on the ensemble in such a way that it's becoming harder to find things for all the characters to do in every episode. Maze apart, Dr Linda has now been missing for two episodes, and Amenadiel for one. Charlotte was missing for 4, and episode 5 was the first new episode (ie. not one of the four standalones left over from season 2) featuring Trixie. Not happy about this, but...better they be absent than being shoehorned in when there's no actual material for them, IMO (this happened a fair bit with Amenadiel in season 2).
Also missing is Lucifer/Chloe, to the extent that in episode 5 Chloe was actually encouraging Lucifer to proposition another woman in order to further the case. I don't think the 'ship is dead however it may appear, but I do think Chloe is trying very hard to kill it at the moment, and you can't blame her. Lucifer is dangerous, unreliable, still delusional (from her POV), has no concept seemingly of faithfulness to one sexual partner (or potential sexual partner) and is still obsessed with his very peculiar family (I do hope we get to meet some more of them this season). It's no wonder at all that she's taken a big emotional step back from him.
Episode 6 is the second of the season 2-shot standalones, this one focusing on Lucifer and Ella. I gather that three out of the four standalones will be shown before Christmas.
Spoilers behind cut.
Okay, I wasn't so keen on episode 4 (What Would Lucifer Do?) the first time I watched it - mainly because the final scene between Lucifer and Amenadiel was just so painful and unpleasant - but on re-watching, the scene was easier to bear. Yes, what Lucifer said to his brother was horribly cruel, but Amenadiel's response - I forgive you and I still have your back, essentially - was the perfect one, and also cruel in its own way, because Lucifer really can't cope with the idea that he's changed and that everything that's happening to him is part of 'Dad's' plan, and Amenadiel knows that perfectly well. Not that I think Amenadiel is twisting the knife deliberately, but every time he mentions 'Dad', the knife does get twisted, and Lucifer clings more and more desperately to his old self from before he met Chloe.
The procedural part of the episode was fairly hum-drum (it usually is), and the murderer shooting at Chloe and Pierce pretty inexplicable. You have to put it down to the fact that it was necessary for the Pierce plot that he get shot while with Chloe, because his reaction to being shot (he says he's never been so close to death before) makes it pretty plain - to me, anyway - that Pierce is, for whatever reason, also invulnerable. Except, like Lucifer, when Chloe's around. Not surprising that Pierce tells her - as 'Mum' did in season 2 - that she's 'special.'
And not surprising that Pierce is doing everything he can to alienate Chloe from Lucifer, by praising Lucifer every time he does something that Chloe considers unacceptable, so that Lucifer is encouraged to do it even more. Clever.
As for episode 5- Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards - it was a joy from beginning to end. Tricia Helfer is superb (though I do miss 'Mum' still), portraying Charlotte's hurt and vulnerability, which she can't quite hide no matter how she tries. I also thought the way the question of Charlotte's husband and children was dealt with was very well handled, and the fact that Lucifer feels responsible for her predicament - feels guilt, in fact - shows that no matter how much he might want not to have changed, he really has (though not enough to not piss Chloe off mightily in his dealings with Trixie). Interestingly (and no doubt deliberately), though Charlotte is a different person from 'Mum', both of them are women who have lost their children and are desperate to get them back.
The episode was also very funny, whereas I found the humour more strained in episode 4. That said, at least there were some drugs references, so there only needs to be a reference to Lucifer's bisexuality to reassure me that the earlier timeslot hasn't changed anything.
There are still things that are missing from the season - notably Maze, of course, but we know why that is. It does seem like the expanded cast, and the emphasis on changes at the police precinct (ie. Pierce) has impacted on the ensemble in such a way that it's becoming harder to find things for all the characters to do in every episode. Maze apart, Dr Linda has now been missing for two episodes, and Amenadiel for one. Charlotte was missing for 4, and episode 5 was the first new episode (ie. not one of the four standalones left over from season 2) featuring Trixie. Not happy about this, but...better they be absent than being shoehorned in when there's no actual material for them, IMO (this happened a fair bit with Amenadiel in season 2).
Also missing is Lucifer/Chloe, to the extent that in episode 5 Chloe was actually encouraging Lucifer to proposition another woman in order to further the case. I don't think the 'ship is dead however it may appear, but I do think Chloe is trying very hard to kill it at the moment, and you can't blame her. Lucifer is dangerous, unreliable, still delusional (from her POV), has no concept seemingly of faithfulness to one sexual partner (or potential sexual partner) and is still obsessed with his very peculiar family (I do hope we get to meet some more of them this season). It's no wonder at all that she's taken a big emotional step back from him.
Episode 6 is the second of the season 2-shot standalones, this one focusing on Lucifer and Ella. I gather that three out of the four standalones will be shown before Christmas.