Lucifer Review: None of Us Are Okay (Season 4 Episodes 1-3)

My favorite show is back and you have no idea how good it feels. Lucifer  Season 4 is a breath of fresh air.

Lucifer being canceled by Fox was most definitely a blessing in disguise, because honestly? I don’t think we would have this season if it was still on the same network. Lucifer Season 3 was lackluster but Season 4 goes above and beyond.

The reason I mention Season 3 is that the theme of that season was identity, and it’s actually a theme that is very well represented in Season 4. Who am I? What are the consequences of my actions? What’s the meaning of all this? These are all the things they touch on in this season.

It also deals with self-loathing and the things we’d do for those we love.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

Episode 1:

The episode starts with the gorgeous scene of Tom Ellis’s singing “Creep.” It’s a perfect entrance to the season. We get the feeling he’s been singing it for multiple weeks as the background changes and he looks more ragged as time passes.

Not only is it a visually stunning scene but it’s also the start of the emotional journey that these ten episodes takes us on.

Lucifer Morningstar: Have I played that song too much? I have, haven’t I?

The episode is the perfect set-up for all the plots of the season. We get a hint of what the emotional arc for each character is.

There are a lot of beautiful scenes, but I can’t talk about all of them because we’d be here all week. We get that wonderful Trixie and Maze reunion and the heartbreaking thought that Lucifer and Dan aren’t friends anymore.

There are some great scenes between Linda and Maze and the Amenadiel moments are stellar.

It’s incredible to see how much the relationship between Lucifer and Amenadiel has improved since the days of the pilot episode. Long gone are the days of animosity. These brothers love and support each other, which Tom Ellis and DB Woodside do a marvelous job of portraying.

Amenadiel is a character who has long struggled with who he is. Not to mention the writers own struggle with writing him. So it’s wonderful to see him get an actual arc of his own — that doesn’t involve Lucifer.

Maze: Because this, is your home.

It’s such a simple statement and yet it has so much meaning. Amenadiel was the person who looked down on humans, and yet he’s calling earth it home. It has the same cathartic feeling as when Lucifer screamed that Earth was his home in Season 2. The Celestials have found a home on earth, they’ve found a family and that’s beautiful.

Speaking of that family, the main point of this episode is Deckerstar dealing with the events of the finale. It’s been a month since then and they’re both reeling. Lucifer is out of sorts — which Tom Ellis also portrays wonderfully. His biggest fear is that Chloe will be afraid of him, that she will see him as evil.

Even when she returns he still struggles with her reaction. There’s a part of him that is uncertain which connects to his own feelings of self-loathing about the devil face being back.

Chloe is completely shaken, and who can blame her. She found out that the man she’s in love with is actually the biblical devil. This episode gives us just a hint of the turmoil inside of Chloe but it’s still everything.

How do you react when everything you ever thought was a lie?

Episode 2:

These episodes are pretty fast-paced and normally pick up where the other left off. We see more of Ella who’s problems with her faith have her avoiding mass. The free time is used for raising bathtub chickens and watching terrible reality shows.

Amenadiel is trying to figure out the meaning in his life now that he’s declared earth his home and Linda finds out some pretty life-changing news.

Of course the big part of Lucifer Season 4, Episode 2, ”Someone’s been reading Dante’s Inferno” is Chloe and Lucifer. Here, we get to see where Chloe met Father Kinley, portrayed by the spectacular Graham McTavish, and the way he tries to manipulate her into going against Lucifer.

This is obviously something that is very hard for Chloe, Lauren German is the MVP of the episode after all. She can’t connect the horrible man of Kinley’s stories with the man she’s in love with. The way the episode goes about it is very interesting as you see Chloe truly struggle.

Is Lucifer the man she’s always known him to be, or is he the prince of lies that has been manipulating her this entire time? Despite the fact that she thinks he’s been lying to her she still can’t bring herself to hurt him or poison him.

Lucifer Morningstar: I’ve always been honest with you detective and I always will be.

We get an exploration of Lucifer vulnerability. How is it that he can walk through fire without a scratch but he still gets cut on glass? It leads to two stunning scenes where Tom Ellis and Lauren German show off their incredible acting chops and the gorgeous chemistry between them.

She’s seen both events happen, she remembers all the times he’s gotten hurt near her so she confronts him about it. German’s performance will make you cry as she pleads with Lucifer to tell her the truth. It’s heartbreaking for both of them.

A text breaks the tension and Chloe has to run off because of a new lead leaving Lucifer behind.

Lucifer being Lucifer isn’t actually far behind and steps in front of an ax for Chloe. This gives us the best scene in the episode and one of the most touching scenes in the season.

Chloe Decker: If I pushed this into your chest it would kill you?
Lucifer Morningstar: Yes.
Chloe Decker: Because I’m close to you.
Lucifer Morningstar: Yes.
Chloe Decker: But you jumped in front of it anyway.
Lucifer Morningstar: Yes and I would do it again, and again. Don’t you know that Detective?

Personally, I think that this is the moment where Chloe’s emotions finally win over her empirical mind. Keep in mind that Chloe has no idea of the number of times that Lucifer has actually died for her but knows he’s willing to do it and that’s enough for her.

It’s enough to convince her that her emotions weren’t leading her astray. She knows in her gut that Lucifer is a good man and this solidifies it in her mind and her heart. We get a great scene afterward of Chloe refusing to help Kinley and you feel like cheering.

But just as Chloe is on the right track, Kinley has a surprise for her.

Episode 3:

One of the things I am enjoying the most about this season is how they’re facing everything head on. Instead of having everything get drawn out between Chloe and Lucifer it’s dealt with promptly.

It’s very curious how both of them pretty much react the same way at first. They both think no the other would never hurt me like this. It makes everything that happens all the more painful of course.

McTavish’s Kinley is wonderful in the role of the priest too stuck in his ways. He will go through terrible lengths to prove he is right and doesn’t care who gets hurt. He is a fascinating villain and a great contrast to season 1’s Father Frank.

Lucifer Morningstar: Sometimes betrayal comes from the ones we expect least doesn’t it detective?

Lucifer doesn’t want to believe that Chloe would do that to him but he knows he needs to know for sure and tries to figure it out in his own way. He catches her in a lie and it all unravels from there. Chloe wants to protect Lucifer but finds it’s too late. He’s lost faith in her.

We get another stunning scene from Lauren German and Tom Ellis. It pains us so much to see Deckerstar break-up before they’re even together but I know it’s for the best.

Chloe is understandably still shaken from everything. She’s a woman who was an atheist and is in love with a man that claims to be the devil. Only to find out — in the worst of ways — that it is all true. We can see she is trying her hardest to accept it all but it’s hard.

Chloe Decker: How am I Chloe Decker, a nobody, supposed to deal with that?

Which is where the dam breaks.

These three episodes focused on them coming together only to fall apart once again. It was necessary but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

Additional thoughts:

• It’s a hilarious callback to keep bringing the same actor for every premiere since Season 2.
• Linda does not get paid enough for all of this.
• The scene where Amenadiel and Dan talk about Charlotte is hauntingly beautiful.
• Ildy Modrovich’s cameo in Episode 2 is hilarious.
• Maze’s pink wig was a great look.
• Ella taking off her cross is a heartbreaking yet poignant moment. Aimee Garcia does a fantastic job at showing how lost Ella is feeling over the course of these three episodes.
• Dan is most definitely heading towards a downward spiral, hopefully, he doesn’t regret the choices he makes.
• Eve is here! Things are going to get interesting.

What did you think of these episodes of Lucifer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Lucifer is streaming now on Netflix.

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