Lucifer: Orange is The New Maze | Season 3, Episode 19 | Rating: 10/11 |
All the feelings from last week’s episode of Lucifer have spilled over into this week’s episode of Lucifer, although there is a decidedly darker mood amongst everyone, save for Detective Chloe Decker and Lieutenant Marcus Pierce. To make things even worse this week, it looks like Maze finally lost it and completely snapped. Let me explain…
Maze asked Lucifer to meet her back at her old apartment with Chloe. Where Maze living right now, we don’t know, what we do know is that she’s completely trashing the apartment looking for a missing knife that was made in China. Of course, it’s one of a kind.
Maze asked Lucifer to meet her there because she wants him to take her back down to Hell: She’s done with earth and humans (and feelings), in general, and wants to go back home. Unfortunately for her, Lucifer says no. She’s more than a little miffed, especially because – if you recall – he went down to Hell to get Abel for Cain, a guy he doesn’t even like. It comes down to Lucifer not wanting someone (probably Chloe) to get hurt if he “takes someone on a celestial Uber ride.” Just before Maze can properly storm out at the unfairness of it all, Chloe comes home. It’s a little awkward, especially since Chloe wants to know why Maze would hurt her daughter Trixie’s feelings, but Maze in engages self-destruct mode and storms out of the place. If you thought things couldn’t get more awkward, you’d be wrong because in walks Pierce in flip-flops and beach clothes. Apparently, they were both at the beach together and, despite what Chloe told Lucifer, not for a case. What a mess, right?
It turns out there is a dead body on the beach, after all, and the guy was stabbed with a knife. Fortunately for Chloe and Lucifer, there is a security camera right there. Unfortunately for both of them, the footage shows Maze pulling a knife out of the dead guy and smiling at that camera. There’s a whole lot of back and forth about whether or not Maze is guilty of murder: Did she decide to kill someone when Lucifer told her to go blow off some steam instead of taking her back down to Hell? Well, there’s no real consensus amongst the group if she’s guilty or not. Dan, Pierce, and Lucifer all believe she’s guilty, especially Lucifer because he thinks she’s trying to manipulate him. On the other hand, we have Chloe and Ella who both think she’s innocent, even after she walks into the station with the murder weapon and confesses. Maze wants to be locked up and even though it seems like its part of her self-loathing spiral, it’s not. Maze only wanted to get locked up in order to look at a file and, after a pick-pocketing hug with Ella, she manages to do just that. Oh, and let’s not forget that Maze didn’t know how many stab wounds the guy had and it finally dawned on Lucifer that Maze was being framed.
What follows next is a combo of following the breadcrumbs of where Maze has been and trying to find out who is targeting her resulting in some hilarious interrogations with past bounties. She may have terrified all of them, but they actually liked her as a person and she helped all of them out in her own unique Maze-way. What gets Chloe and Lucifer’s attention is when one of the bounties mentions a winery with some shady vibes which happens to be the winery where the dead guy worked. Chloe and Lucifer finally catch up to Maze whilst she’s in the middle of hunting the winery lady, Margo Channing, who set up the frame job: Margo blames Maze for her son’s death in prison. Margo’s son did some bad things, Maze caught him, and he died in a prison fight, so naturally, it’s Maze’s fault. In the midst of this standoff, Chloe tries desperately to talk Maze down, to make her realize we are all responsible for our own actions, that she’s loved, that she doesn’t destroy things, that she’s the best babysitter and so on. It seems to crack Maze’s shell, but not enough for her to fully come to her senses.
In the end, Maze begrudgingly shows up to Lucifer’s place because he wants to have a chat. Lucifer apologizes for thinking her guilty and assumes all is good again. Well, it’s not. Maze has a lovely rant about how much feelings suck (preach!), how complicated it is on earth, how caring for humans always goes wrong, and she’s not the one who is supposed to be tortured. Lucifer agrees that feelings do suck but there’s another reason he won’t take her back down to Hell: he can’t lose her, too, and they can be miserable together. This is when Maze completely breaks. We’ve never seen such a deep emotional well from her: she’s crying at the realization that she will “always be a consolation prize” for Lucifer and he only cares about her when he doesn’t have Chloe. This is an absolute (but much needed) slap in the face to Lucifer as Maze leaves again exclaiming how no one puts her first and none of them deserve her. The next thing we know, she’s waiting to board a bus to who knows where when Pierce appears. After rubbing salt into the wound of being angry with the people you trust, he proposes an alliance. He won’t pretend to be her friend but does think he can get both of them what they want. Oooh snap!
Digging Deeper:
When last we saw Charlotte Richards, she was asking Amenadiel to tell her the truth about how he knows her. Well, he told and she didn’t break. In fact, she’s not really sure what to believe as fact. In a sit down with Dr. Linda about what Amenadiel he told her, it’s amusing to watch Dr. Linda hold her tongue about knowing Amenadiel and her ill-disguised annoyance that he didn’t listen to her. While Charlotte can’t completely wrap her head around Amenadiel’s you’re my stepmom/Lucifer is my brother saga, she also knows he wasn’t lying to her. This leads Charlotte to do some digging with Lucifer who confirms Amenadiel’s story and slips and calls her mum. Lucifer is a bit pressed for time so he gives Charlotte the Cliff Notes version, celestial bits and all, which Amenadiel neglected to tell her. Now Charlotte is even more confused – thinks she’s going insane, actually – and returns to Amenadiel for answers. She does recognize that it did seem like she was in Hell, but the rest of it just can’t be true because that’s just crazy, right?
In a very un-Amenadiel move, he suggested that Lucifer show himself to Charlotte: he reveals his wings. For a moment it seems like Charlotte was broken; instead, she realizes that all those crazy things are true and – most importantly – she’s not insane. Mind blown.
Rivalry, Party of Two:
One of the more enjoyable things in this episode was watching the intense and subtle rivalry between Pierce and Lucifer over Chloe. From the moment Lucifer decided to change course and take Chloe to the winery instead of letting her go with Pierce, to the subsequent dissuasion from Lucifer to Chloe about Pierce including this gem from Lucifer, “I’m not one for gorilla-sized ham hands, or stale alcohol breath, or just, you know, a general bloke, but I suppose there’s no accounting for taste, is there?” It seems everywhere Lucifer turns, there’s Pierce exactly and immediately in the way. Pierce, on the other hand, is working his hardest to seduce Chloe from saying they “can take it slow” but he’s “all in” to always being there with a hand hold or an attempt at a kiss. I say attempt because it’s usually interrupted by Lucifer. Pierce goes so far as to ask Chloe if she’s fully invested, asking if she has feelings for Lucifer, especially given she wears that necklace with the bullet he gave her. What is undeniable is when left to their own devices, Lucifer and Chloe get their mojo back. While watching Chloe and Lucifer interrogate Maze’s past bounties, it’s evident to Pierce that Lucifer will always be in the way. Dan confirms the two are a packaged deal with a real connection and eloquently advises, “It’s like… say you fall in love with a woman who has a cat. What are you going to do? You accept the cat because she’s worth it.” Pierce would sooner just get rid of the cat.
Sadly, we later see Chloe take off Lucifer’s necklace and ride off on the motorcycle with Pierce, leaving a rather hurt and lost Lucifer behind.
Quotes of the Week:
- “Oh! Sorry. Hate to interrupt the canoodling, which I am so okay with. It doesn’t fill me with mistrust at all.” (Lucifer)
- “I can’t believe Maze used me! She ruined hugging.” (Ella)