“Lucifer” 1.07 Review: Lucifer is No One’s “Wingman”
The seventh episode of Fox’s supernatural drama Lucifer finally gave me something that I’ve been longing for since the beginning of the series: prolonged scenes of Lucifer and Amenadiel together. For the first time, Lucifer and Chloe were separated for a majority of the episode, with each of them investigating cases that they were personally invested in. I, for one, was glad for a break because I was getting tired of Lucifer’s sexual innuendo and Chloe’s constant quibbling. Perhaps absence will make my heart grow fonder in regard to the Lucifer/Chloe relationship. Perhaps not. We’ll have to wait and see.
So, what are Lucifer and Chloe’s primary objectives this time around? Well, Lucifer is on a mission to recover his stolen wings and is pulling out all the stops to get them back. The episode opens with Maze and Lucifer torturing a known smuggler for information. However, while Maze is clearly enjoying herself, Lucifer seems more than a little uncomfortable. When the smuggler continues to deny having any knowledge of the location of the wings, Lucifer puts a stop to the torture, asserting that they need to try a different approach. Maze, of course, isn’t happy about that.
Meanwhile, Chloe is racing against time to solve the Palmetto case (if you don’t remember the Palmetto case, all you need to know is Chloe accused an injured cop of being shady and thereby pissed a whole bunch of cops off) before the family takes the comatose cop, Malcolm, off life support. After Dan tells her to either unravel the details of the case quickly or drop it for good, Chloe asks Lucifer for advice. Lucifer encourages her to stop taking orders from other people and then brings up his own problem. Chloe suggests he needs a fresh pair of eyes and proposes that they help each other. Thankfully (and a bit surprisingly), Lucifer has other ideas and leaves Chloe to seek help from Amenadiel.
At first, Amenadiel is reluctant to help the desperate Prince of Darkness and tells Lucifer to solve his own problems. Nevertheless, when Lucifer follows a lead to an auction house, he runs into Amenadiel, who has decided that the best way to make sure Lucifer doesn’t screw up any further is to aid in the investigation.
What follows is one of the most entertaining scenes of the show yet. D.B. Woodside and Tom Ellis have a chemistry that’s impossible to ignore and the camaraderie between their characters is truly one-of-a-kind. I especially loved their little in-jokes about St. Paul and the fact that Amenadiel kept calling Lucifer “Luci,” which implies that theirs was a relationship that at one time must have been an affectionate one. I even didn’t mind Chloe showing up because I loved how smitten she was with Amenadiel and how nervous that made Lucifer. But the question is: why is Chloe affected by Amenadiel and not Lucifer?
I guess it’s always possible that Chloe was just pretending to be attracted to Amenadiel in order to grate on Lucifer’s nerves, but I hope that’s not the case. Anyway, the auction house turns out to be a bust—sort of. Lucifer once again leaves Chloe and Amenadiel behind to track down the auctioneer, who, as it turns out, has Lucifer’s real wings mounted behind glass in his house. This sight triggers a rage in Lucifer unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There’s no trace of mercy in his shaking form as he stares down the cowering auctioneer, who begs Lucifer to leave the wings with him. Naturally, Lucifer can’t do that; he’s a possessive bastard if nothing else. Instead, Lucifer demands to know who tipped him off. Even though the camera cuts away at this point to enhance the suspense, I already had a pretty good idea who it was.
Once again, Lucifer and Amenadiel meet on the beach. This time, Lucifer is snuggled up to his wings (which makes me wonder what he did to the auctioneer, but maybe it’s better if I don’t try to imagine it) and Amenadiel is in a much better mood. Not for long, though! Lucifer accuses Amenadiel of orchestrating the theft and, in a dramatic move, lights his wings on fire right in front of Amenadiel’s horrified eyes. This leads to a scuffle and an oath on Amenadiel’s part to get Lucifer back to Hell by any means necessary. Now that Amenadiel has met Chloe, this makes me very, very nervous.
In regard to Chloe, she uses her keen detective skills to come to a revelation of her own. Upon returning to the crime scene, and with help from Dan, she discovers a trap door, a secret passage and a left-behind, cop-issued key, which solidifies her theory that there was a third shooter. To avoid spooking the real culprit in the case, Chloe and Dan attend the living wake for Malcolm to announce their closing of the case. Then, she goes back to Lux to apologize to Lucifer who, in true Lucifer fashion, refuses to admit any wrong-doing on his part.
Altogether, this episode helped dig the show out of the “procedural cop drama” rut that it had fallen in to. Not only did it highlight the incredible chemistry between the characters but it also introduced some new mysteries to dwell on. What will Amenadiel do next, and why did he save Malcolm? Why was Chloe affected by Amenadiel but not by Lucifer? Why did Maze save one of feathers from Lucifer’s destroyed wings? And why is Lucifer so adamant about not returning to Hell? I have no doubt that Amenadiel and Maze aren’t done conspiring—Maze’s declaration of undying loyalty to Lucifer felt like there was a “I know what’s best for you” lingering behind it—but I pray that Chloe and her daughter don’t get caught in the crossfire.
New episodes of Lucifer air on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Fox.