Lucifer, S2E2 – “Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire”

Lucifer cruelly left fans hanging with the mother of all cliffhangers two weeks ago, and the start of second episode takes us through Charlotte’s journey to finding her son. The opening sequence manages to be both hilarious and horrifying, a balance that the show has gotten better and better at striking as time goes on. While its disconcerting to see two men of color killed in quick succession, it was clearly a careless move on the show’s part rather than a malicious one.

Tricia Helfer fits seamlessly into Lucifer‘s cast, throwing out quips like “Do humans eat their own?” with such ease that it feels as though she’s been there since day one. Her dynamic with Lucifer (Tom Ellis) is the primary focus of the episode, and it provides a good deal of fun. Of course, there were probably a few too many moments sexualizing Charlotte’s admittedly gorgeous figure, but they were played for laughs and the main characters usually had appropriate reactions to them. There are also plenty of unanswered questions about how the Goddess of all Creation – someone fans didn’t know existed until the finale – wound up in Hell with her son, but the episode builds up enough goodwill to postpone the mythology reveals for a while longer.

The case of the episode is not particularly interesting, but that’s mostly because there isn’t much of a connection to its victims. In fact, the most prominent victim in the case is now the body that’s housing the Goddess of all Creation. Perhaps on a darker show, the ramifications of her death and what it means that someone else is operating as her would be further explored, but Lucifer tends to focus more on mythology and personal relationships. The best moments relating to the case belonged to human Charlotte’s beaten-down house husband. Once again, the show strikes a good balance by not making fun of stay-at-home dads, but rather bemoaning how this one seemed to have given up entirely.

Trixie plays innocent after mutilating Tammi Twinkle-Toes

Chloe (Lauren German) and Dan (Kevin Alejandro) do less heavy lifting this week, solving the mystery of what their daughter Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) did to her doll and why. Obviously this B-plot doesn’t have much larger significance, but the way the writers tie it back to Lucifer’s mommy issues is rather clever. Outside of showing off his parenting skills, Dan also got the chance to prove what a competent detective he is. It wasn’t a big moment in the episode, but it was nice to see his instinct actually be right about the case while Lucifer let his bias blind him. Often these genius/supernatural consultant shows make the protagonist infallible even as he shows himself to be as difficult a partner as possible, so it’s gratifying to see that Lucifer doesn’t fall into that trap. Not to turn this review into an ode to Dan, but his acceptance of Chloe’s new seniority over him was also a nice touch. He knows he’s responsible for the mistakes that put him in this position, and he doesn’t let that affect the quality of his work.

Maze babysits an abnormally attractive mom/deity

As for the supporting cast, Aimee Garcia continues to make the most of Ella’s mostly expository dialogue. It’s too early in the season to delve into much of her backstory, but hopefully there’s a chance later on. She already brightens up the procedural scenes, and is sure to develop enjoyable interactions with the rest of the characters. Speaking of enjoyable interactions, the lack of follow through with Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) and Linda’s (Rachael Harris) friendship was disappointing. Since the glimpse of it in the premiere was certainly enticing, it was surprising to see Maze back to following Lucifer’s requests so quickly.

Regardless, the scenes between her and Charlotte crackled with animosity and begrudging respect – and plenty of tantalizing hints about their shared history were dropped this week. Linda, on the other hand, spends a little bit of time ironing out issues with Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside). Both scenes between them were great, but his presence was missed in the rest of the episode. The slow-burn regarding his powers is painful right now, but as long as it gets a spotlight in the coming weeks it will be worth it.

This week’s outing was a little slower than the premiere, but there were several great character bits that made up for it. Chloe got a great moment with Lucifer near the end, explaining the difference between a strict mother and an uncaring one, for example. Amenadiel’s final scene was one of the highlights of the episode, as upsetting as it was. Most importantly, a great deal of progress was made in Lucifer and his mother’s relationship. Which leads to a question to ponder for next week: is Charlotte as innocent as she claims, or does her chilling look towards God at the end suggest otherwise? Sound off in the comments below!