Thursday, April 26, 2018

Lucifer, Season 3, Episode 21: Anything Pierce can do I can do Better




Pierce and Lucifer are having a big confrontation after the drama of last episode with Pierce insisting that the key to vulnerability is Chloe loving you - Chloe’s love turns off woo-woo

Wow… that may be the worst super power ever. A hyper emotional null?

Lucifer doesn’t buy this thinking, instead, that god is up to something nefarious. Again. And when Pierce doesn’t want to be murdered Lucifer just leaves… wait, what? He charged in here looking for revenge because Pierce hurt Chloe and then decides to just leave?

So we have lots of focusing on relationships here. Because has decided he got it all wrong and he now loves Chloe and wants to be with her forever. Or, rather, he wants to grow old with her. Yes he has realised that now he’s mortal he doesn’t have to avoid Chloe for fear of hurting when she inevitably dies and she lives.

Chloe is, naturally, a little wary after he just played with her emotions.

And Lucifer? Well while he didn’t buy Pierce’s theory that being vulnerable when Chloe loves him, he does take to heart that an accidental touch causes a small cut on his finger. He realises that, if Pierce is right, that Chloe still loves Lucifer as well

He goes to Linda about this and she desperately tries to poke him into finally admitting to Chloe - to himself - how he felt about her. Of course he doesn’t. Instead he intends to prove himself better than Pierce so they can go back to how things were.

Which doesn’t go well. Both Lucifer and Pierce engage in a series of really over the top gestures and gifts to get Chloe on side - flowers, baked goods even a car. Ella supports Pierce, Dan supports Pierce. And no-one thinks how radically inappropriate it is for Chloe to face huge, prominent romantic gifts from competing men while she’s at work and trying to do her job because no-one has any concept of professionalism here or how Chloe may not want the whole department to know she may have romantic links to her boss or her work partner (remembering Chloe already faced considerable pushback since she was once an actor who appeared naked in films: she has to be sensitive to the sexist attitudes which may be prevalent in the station).

Chloe tells Lucifer to back off, tries to stop him competing and ultimately despairs as he thinks it’s all about material things and having the biggest shiniest gift.

Eventually Pierce invites Chloe to a romantic dinner and before that Lucifer insists on seeing her first. Setting up a whole wonderful romantic setting to convince her not to get with Pierce. Except he fails to say what she obviously needs him to say:
He says Pierce doesn’t deserve her
And she asks who does she deserve
And all he says is “someone better”. And not “me”.

She leaves - and goes to Pierce. And when he asks her to marry him, she agrees. Which I honestly did not see coming and seems awfully sudden…

...And Lucifer, with some prompting from both Linda and the murder case, realises that he has just lost everything just because he couldn’t tell Chloe how he felt


Linda does an awesome job of pulling apart Lucifer’s excuses, especially blaming god. Because no-one, not even Lucifer, knows what his dad is planning - And what he can’t control is what Lucifer does right now: so he has to make that choice. Shame it’s too late but oh how about time this is!

Additional complexities - Maze is not happy that Pierce has changed his plans. She wanted to kill Pierce and set up Lucifer which would have destroyed his life on Earth and driven him back to hell. Or somewhere else on Earth. And why does she need Pierce to die? She can murder anyone and frame Lucifer. This plan doesn’t make a lot of sense. But no doubt will result in Maze doing more nonsensical things

That is if her obvious upset about Trixie avoiding her doesn’t melt her heart.

While most of the murder was somewhat irrelevant except for the heavy handed message at the end, we do have a disabled famous choreographer and just about everything about this is wrong. Firstly Ella describes a choreographer who lost a leg in an accident as “inspirational” which is loaded terminology and she talks about how he didn’t give up or become a victim which is… really gross language. Disabled people whose lives are changed, especially negatively, by disability are not “giving up” or “becoming victims.” The narrative of disabled people rising above is a toxic one - it’s so often used to shame disabled people for not trying enough, excusing not providing basic accommodations or treating someone’s life as a moral lesson.

Oh and he’s not really disabled, he’s faking, because being a disabled choreographer and selling the story gets him more business and reputation

Amenadiel has also joined in team Lucifer because he’s decided that Chloe’s special blessing and involvement with Lucifer is his test - and he recruits Charlotte to join him in proving Pierce is secretly the Sinnerman since she has the legal skills. Since she has sunk into a deep depression about going to hell (and is punishing herself by staying in a hotel with only THREE STARS! The suffering! Oh the suffering!) seizes on working with Amenadiel as god’s work! So a definite path to heaven involves helping - even if that involves illegal searches, breaking and entering and stealing bikes. Oh Charlotte thinks she’s found another shortcut into heaven...

This will not end well

But have we finally reached a point where Lucifer  has to tell Chloe the truth? Finally?