Tori Brazier reviews the eighth episode of Lucifer season 3…
With the return of Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), more Linda (Rachael Harris) and even Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) hanging around again, there are a greater number of characters to juggle this week than in an average episode of Lucifer. ‘Chloe Does Lucifer’ is a gentle, rather procedural outing – especially in the face of last episode’s brazen (and successful!) break from the formula with a guest character’s arc and viewpoint shaping the episode’s entirety.
This week’s episode is more conventional, being built around a reasonably straightforward (but not uninteresting) homicide case rather than character backstory. The case has its usual link with the culture of Los Angeles, this time being all about the shallowness and vanity of judging exclusively by good looks and a bright, shiny exterior. The crime’s solving also teaches Lucifer (Tom Ellis) the lesson of the importance of sometimes being the – in his opinion – “boring” shoe in Monopoly, rather than the dashing top hat. He pre-judges the murder victim as a shoe in a world of top hats when it’s revealed that she’s seemingly hacked her way into an exclusive dating app. Her glamorous but vacuous housemate Esther (Mikaela Hoover) is a top hat, as is TopMeet’s founder Mac (Michael Rady). Although both of their comeuppances are glaringly predictable, it is a nice, neat little twist to have it revealed that victim Kim was in fact the app’s creator, with Mac hired purely to hustle the capital investment with his looks and (questionable) charisma. Things took a murderous turn when Kim, however, wanted to open up the app to more users, thereby making it less exclusive…
The supporting characters pair off tidily for the episode in two separate arcs: With Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) an unwelcome surprise back at the precinct, usually-sunny forensics officer Ella (Aimee Garcia) spends most of the episode dodging her and thereby avoiding feeling forced to mentor her into ‘goodness’. Charlotte’s acceptance of a role within the District Attorney’s office at the end, however, will make Ella’s hiding into more of a full time occupation from next week.
The well-matched Amenadiel and Linda, meanwhile, reconnect when he seeks to help guide her in the wake of her estranged husband’s death the previous episode – which he missed, due to not being written into the episode, presumably as there is not enough room now each week to fit in all the characters without doing a disservice to their plot strands. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) and Lucifer are also beginning to rub along together nicely during LAPD investigations – he can get away with being a little belligerent or dismissive in retaliation when Lucifer belittles or condescends towards him, giving a little more agency and dignity back to a character sorely lacking in it for parts of the season so far.
‘Chloe Does Lucifer’ is a diverting enough slice of Lucifer – the title refers to Lucifer getting to coach Chloe (Lauren German) into being a female version of himself (‘Lucinda’) when the detective goes undercover at a mixer event for the app, and his instruction involves both Barbies and then an earpiece. The slower pace and fewer plot intricacies, however, do leave the viewer slightly restless when considering the series’ arc as a whole. This perhaps suggests it’s about time that the Sinnerman came back on the scene, along with the curious case of Lucifer’s re-attached angel wings and missing devil face, to propel the season forward.
Tori Brazier
