Tori Brazier reviews the fifteenth episode of Lucifer season three…
Another episode walking on the lighter, more flippant side of Lucifer (if you couldn’t tell already from the title’s inclusion of an incredibly Lucifer-esque word – which means ‘nonsense’, for the confused non-Brits), ‘High School Poppycock’ delves into the world of teenage drama and romance through the much-maligned but often-mined genre of young adult fiction.
When a hugely successful YA author is found with her head bashed in on the eve of delivering the concluding part of her dystopian teen fiction series (obviously) to her author, both Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and Chloe (Lauren German) get particularly drawn into the case. Chloe is looking to capture that seminal high school experience that she finds within the pages of the author’s novels, and which she never had as a working child actor, and Lucifer is obsessed with finding out how this author overcame her writer’s block to finish a book five years in the writing. Lucifer himself is feeling uninspired, having come up with no way to break the curse of immortality on Pierce/Cain (Tom Welling) yet. He gets to be particularly brash and dismissive as he hones in on solving the case for his own benefit (which Chloe points out he can’t even hide…). He also seeks advice elsewhere for opening up his mind, but is less than impressed with either therapist Linda’s (Rachael Harris) assertion that he must simply be patient, or Dan’s (Kevin Alejandro) improvisational technique of “Yes, and…”.
As happens with many of the more successful YA book series, the cult of online fan forums and fan fiction is explored, unmasking a rather unexpectedly committed admirer in the form of an adult male ice cream shop manager – rather than the teenage girls who work there. Chloe is also wrapped up in the drama when it’s revealed that the author was inspired by her real-life high school cohort; a conveniently-timed reunion means that she and Lucifer can go along undercover to find out the whereabouts of the books’ real life main cast on the night of the murder. Here lies some particularly resonant casting as one of the suspects is played by Trevor Donovan, still immediately recognisable – to those who watched – as Teddy Montgomery from the 90210 reboot.
Meanwhile, the awkwardness of the ongoing Linda-Amenadiel-Maze triangle is finally addressed as demon Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) decides to make her move – after catching them on a date a couple of episodes back – and punish the lying lovebirds (she is Hell’s #1 torturer, after all!). Her weapon of choice is an excruciating double date, where she attends with the “single” Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) and pairs off Linda with the high school loser she’s occupying whilst Lucifer steals his identity in order to attend the reunion. Obviously he ends up implicated in the murder, and obviously Linda and Amenadiel work out that Maze knows of their relationship – and *obviously* Maze draws her knives and storms out…
Although this results in a break-up for the therapist and the angel, there is a nice bit of love (platonic or otherwise, will it ever be resolved? And what of Pierce?) for Lucifer and the detective, as he treats her to a corsage, an escort and a dance at her very own (delayed) prom. Particular props to the music supervisors here, who decided to use Yazoo’s ‘Only You’ – as well as Train’s ‘Drops of Jupiter’ earlier on. Corkers, both. Chloe also ends up inspiring Lucifer to a brainwave with her opinion that we can’t re-write the past. Au contraire, thinks the devilish Lucifer – and here we wait for next week’s episode.
Tori Brazier
