Lucifer season 3 episode 8

[shapinglight]

I'm away from later this morning until Thursday evening, so quick review before I go.

I enjoyed this episode, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the soundtrack had been working properly (I watched it on Amazon Prime, don't know if anyone else watching on Prime had this problem). The music and sound effects were working fine but the dialogue was completely inaudible. I have subtitles on anyway but usually that's just to catch the words I miss because of actors mumbling. This time, the entire episode would have been incomprehensible without them.

Never mind. Hopefully, they'll have sorted it out by the time I come to re-watch. Which I'll have plenty of time to do because there isn't another new episode till December 4th. Something to do with Thanksgiving?

Spoilers behind cut.



As I said, I enjoyed the episode. Narcissistic dating sites are the exactly the sort of thing you'd expect the procedural part of the episode to investigate and the procedural part complemented Lucifer's ongoing quest to prove- to himself, if no one else - that he hasn't changed at all. In order to do which, he was extra-super-duper obnoxious, to Amenadiel, to Chloe, to Dan. Apart from Dan (who so far has just been the butt of Lucifer's jokes this season), everyone else seems to see right through him, though. In fact, I think even Dan sees right through him, while at the same time finding him a complete pain in the butt. And certainly, Lucifer's final scene with Dr Linda, when he turns the conversation around to talking about her (and not because he's trying to avoid talking about something he doesn't want to talk about) plus the rather cute monopoly scene at the beginning, shows that Lucifer is wrong and everyone else is right.

I also liked that they've found a way to incorporate Charlotte into the police set up that isn't too unbelievable (I use that word in a relative way), because her stalking Ella around LAPD HQ, though funny for one episode, wasn't a tenable situation. I think Tricia Helfer is doing a pretty good job of making Charlotte a different person from Mum, and I like the fact that Ella is afraid of her. Or rather, not of her, but that Ella can somehow sense where Charlotte's been (hell, I mean) and it scares her.

I also got quite as many references to Lucifer's bisexuality as I could ever have wanted so that's that ticked off too.

However, there was a treading-water feel about the episode and unfortunately that's a great deal to do with Marcus Pierce. It's like the season arc has gone on hiatus till he comes back, to the extent that you'd think Lucifer had forgotten all about this Sinnerman business. I don't want Pierce back at all, but I do think the arc needs to be kick-started, and his return - and hopefully, the return of Maze at long last (I thought she was back this week and was very disappointed that she wasn't)- will do that.

What's also a little lacking at the moment, which a return to arc episodes would bring back, are the supernatural references. I'm missing Lucifer's devil face. Quite enjoyed those scenes where he used it to intimidate the bad guys. Angel wings, obviously, wouldn't have the same effect, so it's no wonder he doesn't deploy them. On the other hand, I'd quite like to see those too.

As it is, if it weren't for the stellar scene between Dr Linda and Amenadiel (in which Rachael Harris was superb), in which she wishes she'd remained in blissful ignorance of the divine, if you were a casual viewer and had no idea what the show was about, you really would think that Lucifer was just an obnoxious, rich playboy with a hugely over-inflated ego.

Anyway, I need to re-watch. Hopefully with dialogue you can hear this time.



I'm away till Thursday, as I said, so happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Comments

[ex_peasant441]

I just watched it and the dialogue was fine.

[shapinglight]

It was fine the second time I watched it too. Having dialogue you could hear also improved the episode a great deal.

[ex_peasant441]

Jolly good.

[shadowkat]

Never mind. Hopefully, they'll have sorted it out by the time I come to re-watch. Which I'll have plenty of time to do because there isn't another new episode till December 4th. Something to do with Thanksgiving?

No, sweeps. Thanksgiving marks the end of the November sweeps when they tabulate what people are watching for Neileen ratings, which advertisers use to figure out which ad spaces to buy. (It's antiquated, but they are still doing it.)

They take a week or two week break, they tabulate again for about two weeks in Dec, before the big Holiday Programming takes off, and everyone takes a break until January or Feb.

US Sweeps schedule?

November Sweeps, Feb Sweeps, and May Sweeps. With big checks on ratings in Sept/Oct, April/March.

The reason? They only have 13-22 episodes a year. So they have to find a way to put their best episodes in the middle of Sweeps -- so they can obtain great ratings from Neilsen Box users -- in order to sell ad space during the show to advertisers. So if your television show has say 16 episodes? You will place three between Sept and Oct, three-four in Sweeps, one in Dec, one in January, and the rest in Feb and May if you can.
OR just skip January completely and start up again in Feb, spacing them out between Feb and ending with May Sweeps. Makes life difficult for television viewers.


It's annoying. But it's been like this since I can remember. Only change is now we have series popping up in the dead time or specials, as opposed to just reruns. IF you live in the US, you get used to it after a while. Is sort of funny watching people outside the US trying to figure it out. ;-)

Hmm...you are right about Lucy using his shickt to pretend he hasn't changed, but the boy protest too much.

[shapinglight]

I know about sweeps from BtVS days, actually. I was really surprised early this year when Lucifer came back for three episodes in January then went off air till May. I'd assumed it would air in February for sweeps but it didn't.

[shadowkat]

That was what I was trying to explain to peasant in response to a separate post. (You really can't apply logic to this, it defies it). Lucifer is an example of a series that doesn't quite follow the standard 22 episode sweeps model.

There's reasons for that -- Fox has the rights to various sporting events. Same thing happened with The Good Place on NBC.
The network yanks shows to make room for "sporting events", "news specials or special reports", "awards" and "holiday specials". Whatever they think will grab bigger ad dollars or more ratings.

Fox -- had rights, I think, to the World Series (early fall) and the NCAA Basketball Championships (March through April). It also has rights to NFL Football (December - January). NBC also has football coverage rights -- so yanked the Good Place to make room for Thursday Night Football. The Good Wife was constantly getting pre-empted by CBS due to Sunday Night Football.

Also, Fox likes to play around with its programming schedule. (And I can't figure out the logic. They'll throw in a reality show, and pull out a scripted one during a specific month for no reason I can determine. Or some mid-season replacement that they want to get off the ground in that slot, thinking viewers hunting Lucifer may stumble upon it?? Sometimes its during a sweeps month, sometimes its not.) If I didn't have Lucifer DVR'd, I'd have lost track of it ages ago. )

Buffy followed the formula pretty precisely. But after 2005 or thereabouts, some shows do, some don't. It's a toss-up.

[shapinglight]

Ah ok. Weird.

I'm hoping there won't be quite such a long hiatus next year. Four months is a bloody long time. :(

[shadowkat]

Yep. I've gotten used to it. It's why I just tend to wait for shows to stack up on my DVR before watching. Trying to watch it week to week can be head-ache inducing. They also like to occasionally switch days or move them to a new night, new time slot, not always with a lot of warning.

[yourlibrarian]

I enjoyed the whole shoe and top hat metaphor throughout the episode. In fact, at the end when the woman appears wearing the top hat and he has the shoe on his piano, Mike asked me "I guess we're shoes, huh?" I told him, yep but shoes come in pairs and hats do not.

I thought Maze was conspicious by her absence as they managed to work everyone else in. I liked the scene with Linda and Amenadiel a lot (and also that they referenced the previous episode). Also, it's good that Charlotte will have a reason to be at the station. I actually disagree with your opinion about her being different from Mom, at least in this episode, because she seemed so much like her that I wondered for a moment if it was some holdover issue from last season that remained in the episode.

I also wish that Lucifer had been deployed to pick men up at the party, it would have been interesting to see how he'd operate. When he was going to train Chloe to be Lucinda I thought we were going to get a scene of genderswapping roleplay there but no such luck.

But the whole twist (and use of the killer's vanity) worked better than in many episodes so a thumbs up for the procedural this time.

[shapinglight]

I thought Maze was conspicious by her absence as they managed to work everyone else in.

I guess Lesley-Ann Brandt still hadn't returned from maternity leave when they shot this episode.

I actually disagree with your opinion about her being different from Mom, at least in this episode, because she seemed so much like her that I wondered for a moment if it was some holdover issue from last season that remained in the episode.

Hmm, not sure I agree. Mum was always quite passionate, I think, except when she was being Charlotte (ie. in the season 2 episode with the trial of Chloe's father's killer). Charlotte comes across to me as very cold here. You get the feeling she really doesn't care about anyone except herself. Mum was never like that.

When he was going to train Chloe to be Lucinda I thought we were going to get a scene of genderswapping roleplay there but no such luck.

I think they've probably gone as far as they're ever going to go in that regard. Lucifer will talk the talk occasionally but he'll never walk the walk. As it were.

[tinny]

I always watch on Amazon Prime, and I had no problems. But I only watched it last week, maybe they fixed something. (Also, German Amazon Prime, that surely is not the same thing, server-wise.)

I didn't like that episode too much, mostly because of Charlotte and Ella. That was a lot over the top again. I love Tricia Helfer's acting this season, though. Her crying to Lucifer and the scene with her nervous breakdown were both outstanding, but I also like her more understated stuff.

I'm right there with you on Lucifer being extra obnoxious, another reason I didn't like the ep too much. But everybody seeing through him and not bothering to engage, I liked that a lot.

The case was okay, and you're right, the bisexual references were all in this ep. :) They are bleeding together for me a bit right now.

[shapinglight]

I didn't like that episode too much, mostly because of Charlotte and Ella. That was a lot over the top again.

Aww, I kind of liked that stuff. ;)