Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Lucifer, Season Two, Episode Three: Sin-Eater


This week it's back to the police procedural.  To make it work, the writers choose to link a case about punishment and Lucifer.  As the devil, Lucifer has spent centuries punishing humanity for its bad acts. This week, he becomes involved in a case which has people being punished for the horrible videos they post on a social media site called Wobble.  Apparently, the videos which are uploaded are so soul crushing that Wobble has a ridiculous retention rate for staff.  How much depravity can one person look at day in and day out? In many cases, the internet is where common decency goes to die. Lucifer is put out by the fact that someone is doing his job, even if he does enjoy seeing someone who has had their nuts roasted off. 

There's some pretty good liners back and forth between Lucifer and Chloe, who mostly takes on the role of disapproving mother.  Lucifer even uses one murder to point out that Chloe is actively making Dan's life miserable.  I absolutely don't agree with his assessment in this. Given what Dan did, the last thing Chloe should be doing is rushing into his arms and pretending that everything is okay, no matter how many times Dan offers up the puppy dog eyes.

Trixie, being a child, wants to spend time with her parents and for her that means a family camping trip.  It's clear that while Dan wouldn't mind participating, spending any one on one time with Dan outside of work is the last priority on Chloe's mind.  By the end of the episode, the two decide that it's time to stop pretending that things are going to be fine. Yes, that spells D-I-V-O-R-C-E.  Thus far this season, we have had less of Lucifer pushing himself on Chloe, though he continues to care for her.  I don't want to see this potential separation between Chloe and Dan used to make Chloe and Lucifer into a couple because I think that it would ruin the show. 

Charlotte continues to try to acclimate herself to the world and for her this includes interrupting Lucifer just as he is about to get lucky.  Talk about pouring a bucket of ice water on any excitement. Interestingly enough, Lucifer always seems to act when Charlotte is even remotely sexual. Living with mommy is something Lucifer feels he must do but it doesn't exactly excite him, particularly given that Charlotte has a steep learning curve and seems to passionately disapprove of Lucifer's chosen profession.  Lucifer sees being a police consultant as an extension of the job he's had for centuries - punisher.  Charlotte however doesn't miss the chance to suggest that Lucifer is doing this to curry favor with his father because he apparently wasn't born for this role.  When Lucifer finally comes to the conclusion that he punishes because he likes it, he comes to the determination that Charlotte needs to take up the life of the body she is currently possessing.  As you recall, Charlotte is supposed to be a practicing lawyer, married mother of three.  As you might well suspect, Charlotte is not really enthused with this idea. It does however allow Lucifer to kick Charlotte out. 


Lucifer has certainly been a key point of interest for Charlotte but she's also concerned with her other son - Amenadiel.  Lucifer however warns Charlotte to stay far away from Amenadiel because he is certain that given the chance, Amenadiel will simply return Charlotte to hell.  At this point, Lucifer has no idea that his brother is in pain and losing his wings.  Blocked by Lucifer from interacting with Amenadiel, Charlotte is finally able to meet with Amenadiel due a plan of Mazikeen's back firing.  Maze may not have forgiven either brother for how they have used her but she absolutely sees Charlotte as a threat.  It's Maze who goes to see Amenadiel about returning his mother to hell.  Amenadiel's office is a wreck and it's clear that something isn't right with him but Maze assumes that Amenadiel has picked up some strange and is hiding it from her.  Amenadiel reluctantly takes the excuse offered to him but it seems very much as though he wished that Maze had picked up on the fact that everything is not right with him. He clearly is at a loss for what to do and needs someone to lean on. 

Amenadiel and Charlotte finally have their big reunion and she surrenders herself to him.  Without his wings, Amenadiel, obviously cannot drag his mother back to hell and so this forces him to listen to her without judgement for a change.  Lucifer may have had to deal with being kicked out of heaven and imprisoned in hell, but Amenadiel was tasked with dragging his own mother out of heaven and turning her over for eternal damnation.  It's always the kids that pay the price in a divorce and clearly that's the case for Amenadiel and Lucifer. I thought that Charlotte might just be the one to discover that things aren't right when Amenadiel, particularly when she hugged him but I guess the writers want to draw out the big reveal a little longer. 

One thing for certain is that this dysfunctional family drama is coming to a head.  Charlotte isn't nearly as vulnerable as she believed herself to be, a fact made obvious when she dealt with a gross creeper. She's gotten some relative degree of acceptance from her sons, even if Maze is firmly not in her corner and we know damn well she is working her own agenda, what with all the smirks she gives when she looks up. Amenadiel's little wing issue is going to be just the tickey to bring them altogether in a cosmic shit show for a love fest.  So far, Charlotte has made season two interesting and her interactions with Lucifer are laugh out loud funny.  I'm anxious to see where they take her character.