Well, we’re properly in the thick of it now. Despite a driving ambition to piss off Daddy God by helping Cain/Pierce die, Lucifer, having realized that losing Decker is a deal-breaker, breaks his deal with the world’s first murderer and entertains the idea of directing his energies to craft beers or pet sharks.

Yeah, right.
Meanwhile, Cain/Pierce is moping around the precinct, slaughtering “Dust in the Wind” on an acoustic guitar and Ella is (bless her heart) trying to cheer him up. When her “compliment box” gets weirdly arm-focussed, she convinces Espinoza to give it a try.

This week’s murder victim is a back-up dancer for musical performer Axara (Skye Townsend, 8 Days a Week) who switches places with the superstar for a masked dance routine and ends up dead of a close-range firework to the gut.
Honestly, I expected a lot more screaming from the victim… or even the audience. Either Axara crowds are super stoned-out-chill or incredibly unobservant.

Assuming Axara was the intended target, Decker and Luci start running down potential suspects including her ex-back-up singer, Patrick/Patty (Steven Daniel Brun, Hipsters Anonymous) who has started a popular “Axara 2.0” drag-queen act, and super fan Benny4Axara who turns out to be their second (but actually first) victim, staged to look like a guilt-ridden suicide.
Meanwhile, Dr. Linda extends an olive branch (in the form of a gift-wrapped battle axe) to Maze but is met with silence. Out of (serious) desperation, she accepts Charlotte’s offer to mediate their conflict. Needless to say, that doesn’t go well.

While investigating, Lucifer comes to the conclusion that the solution to keeping Decker safe is to stop drawing her into his attention spotlight. This plan comes about with a lot of self-talk which played out a bit like a soliloquay except that he was surrounded by people who could actually hear him.
Jumping into action on this new strategy, he comically and obviously showers attention on everyone in his vicinity who isn’t Decker which, of course, only seems to make her even more obviously his focus.

Back at the LUX ranch, er… bar, Espinoza is giving Pierce his A-Game pep talk trying to convince the man who has wandered the Earth since the dawn of time that his cup is half-full. Feeling the drag of Pierce’s depression he catches sight of Amenadiel and waves him over, not realizing they’re pretty well acquainted.
Of course, the last time the two of them met, they tried their best to beat each other into a bloody pulp. This time, when Amenadiel demands that Cain stop trying to thwart God’s plan, Cain’s like,”Sure, why not?”

Returning to the Axara storyline, Lucifer has volunteered to bodyguard the turmeric-obsessed diva and houses her in the penthouse while Decker arrests her manager, Rohan (Tom Gallop, Will & Grace), only to change her mind when Ella brings her Benny’s toxicology report and misidentifies raw turmeric smoothie ingredients as gastronomical torture devices.
Axara slips Lucifer’s leash upstairs (figuratively of course since, for the first time in eternity, the Devil ain’t in the mood) and gives an impromptu show down on the LUX stage. In his effort to protect her, Luci jumps in on the duet which quickly devolves into a diva-showdown.

Any episode that has Tom Ellis singing gets my attention. Unfortunately, this performance ends abruptly when Axara’s personal assistant (and, it turns out, high school bestie) appears, wielding a knife. When she begins to explain that she’s killed Benny and Jill, the back up dancer, in an effort to scare Axara into ending her performance tours, Lucifer recognizes his own attempt to save Decker from all potential dangers.

An exciting little exchange takes place with Decker on point, Cece (Jillian Rose Reed, Awkward) still holding the knife, and Lucifer diving in between to take the tiny pointy obsessive P.A. down when she turns her attention on the detective.
In the aftermath, Espinoza cuffs Cece while Lucifer plucks her knife out of his chest and Decker tries to staunch the flow of blood with ONE COCKTAIL NAPKIN. Okay, police detective, not emergency medical technician but STILL.
From a short distance away, Cain/Pierce and Amenadiel watch Decker and Lucifer interact and Amenadiel espouses the benefits of having faith. In the moment, Cain/Pierce makes the decision to break out of his funk by having faith in the world and risking intimacy with Decker.
Back at the station, he makes a date with her for Axara’s concert, leaving her slightly stunned by the change in attitude and Lucifer out in the cold when he arrives and assumes he’ll be her plus one.

And now it’s Lucifer’s turn to watch from a distance as Decker enthusiastically responds to Cain/Pierce’s attention. The wheels are turning and our devilish hero has never been one to lie although he HAS managed to deceive himself for some time now.
With elegant symmetry, we find him at the end in Dr. Martin’s office where he started the episode off. However, he’s made his break-through in the interim and it’s shaken him.

Lucifer airs Monday nights at 8pm ET/PT on FOX.
Diana Keng
Related posts
Classics
Thank Me Later: Will Trent
[Warning: spoilers ahead.] I’m on record as loving and losing shows over at ABC so I’m usually very reticent to pick something up on the network until it’s been renewed, and I seriously hope I’m not jinxing it, but I took a chance on the deeply odd and very sweet…
Dennis Heaton Talks The Imperfects
Longtime readers at TV Goodness will know that Motive is one of my ride-or-die series, and as such, I am fiercely loyal to its creator, Dennis Heaton. He followed up that fantastic reverse procedural with Netflix’s The Order and is back on our streaming screens with The Imperfects, which dropped…
Kelly McCormack Talks Favorite Moments in A League of Their Own
[Warning: Mild spoilers for season 1.] Now that you’ve had a chance to watch A League of Their Own, here’s the rest of my chat with Kelly McCormack about her favorite moments of the season. Seeing the iconic Peaches uniforms for the first time wasn’t just a goosebump moment for…
John Griffin and Harold Perrineau Talk From on EPIX Season 1 Finale
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] How are we doing, #FROMily? In case you missed it this morning, the very good news is that that cliffhanger will be followed by a second season, which was gifted this morning ahead of the linear broadcast of the finale. I always legitimately appreciate when we…
Elizabeth Saunders Talks EPIX’s From
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] One of the things that makes EPIX’s From such a fun ride is the abundance of Canadian cast members. Elizabeth Saunders, who plays Donna, is a favorite from her turn on the third season of Mary Kills People [streaming on Global TV in Canada and Roku…
Corteon Moore Talks From “Broken Windows, Open Doors”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight’s episode of From had us all in our feels as we learned through flashbacks about the Sophie’s Choice Boyd had to make to save his son, and back in the present as Boyd said his piece with Ellis before heading into the woods with…
Pegah Ghafoori Talks From “All Good Things…”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode] Tonight on From, Fatima’s anniversary celebration turned into a Colony House of horrors when a misguided Kevin let his monster bae in and she promptly killed him and left the window open for her crew. While the party devolved into terror and sent everyone running,…
Shaun Majumder Talks From “Book 74”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight on EPIX’s From, Father Khatri made a bold move, kidnapping Sara instead of turning her in, and then recognizing her as a vessel for some big messages. That startling realization speaks to him on multiple levels–as a man of faith, a man trapped in…
Avery Konrad Talks About Sara’s Struggle in From “Silhouettes”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Over the course of the season so far on From, we’ve witnessed Sara’s battle against the voices telling her to to do terrible things, and tonight we saw her unravel further, threatening the Matthews and lashing out in a moment of terror with horrifying results….
Hannah Cheramy Talks From “Choosing Day”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight, on EPIX’s From, the Matthews participate in the show’s version of the sorting hat, choosing where to call home–the town or Colony House. At the end of the episode, Julie makes the decision to split from her family and instead settle in with Fatima…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…
3 Moments of Goodness from Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Johnny and Dora”
The most satisfying part of this season’s finale has to the Jake and Amy kiss. Well, they kiss three times but the last one is the best one — and it means something. The Charles and Rosa dynamic was also great. I love how she’s convinced he doesn’t know anything…