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A little side observation on Luci and Trixie. Going to open this with a quick disclaimer: Yes I know the last thing a network show would 'show' is any sort of harshness towards a child Trixie's age, but the script writers didn't have to have a 'child' character unless it brought something to the narrative. It's not like cute child characters are a major draw for the 18-45 demographic. In another chapter of how this show can be subtle (when it's not dropping anvils) is the dynamic between these two and what it showcases about Lucifer's character. We know he doesn't lie and he has no reservations of telling adults and angelic brothers where to get off but Trixie is different. It would be easy for him to flat out say to her face "I don't like you, I find you tedious and beneath my notice, go away" after all, from what he 'says' to Chloe about children, you'd think those words would be pre-programmed on his lips. But when actually faced with a child (an 'innocent' not a bully like the other girl was painted to be) he ties himself up like a pretzel to keep from being either physically or emotionally crushing. We've seen him throw fully grown men through glass and this week he cloths-lined the brother without a thought, yet every time Trixie throws herself on him and hugs him, though he reacts all "Eeek!" he's incredibly tolerant with her, hell this week she grabbed his fingers and was tugging him along to go look at a 7 year old's bird report and he was going. Counter balance this with the way he held on to the money with a grown man yanking on the bag with all his strength and there was no give to Lucifer. He wouldn't even have to use angelic ability to hold his ground when Trixie tugged him away, just stand firm and say "No, I'm going to talk to your father a moment", especially since he'd be facing off with Detective Douche, which we know he LOVES to do, but instead, off he goes. Where Lucifer is quite sharp with adults who vex him, with Trixie he usually tries to distract/re-direct her, setting her up on the bed with Chloe in the pilot, the silliness with the doll in the second episode, now bacon. Anything rather than a direct, "I don't like you, stop talking to me" but at the same time he's never patronizing. His distraction techniques are either genuine (save some of this unpleasantness for your mother, here you go) or so awkward/ridiculous that they're amusing. It's a quick/subtle nod back to what was pointed out in this week's write up of TV. This version of Lucifer isn't the being who "makes" humans do anything. He's a punisher of the guilty but he's not an evil sin maker; humans can do that all on their own (again the theme of Free Will and what you do with it). When faced with a child who is still an 'innocent' (hey she has the internet, loss of some innocence right there) he's flummoxed but goes out of his way not to bring harm to her.

I enjoyed this episode, even as I was face palming at Lucifer being his impossible self. The bacon and Trixie ... can we just have an episode of Lucifer and Trixie? I know, it would probably be overload but Tom Ellis and the young actress bring an adorable whimsy to that dynamic, even when Lucifer is being horrible about children. Again, looking at the source material they are sticking to that with the lack of wings. He did give up his wings in the comics and had to go through a difficult trial, powerless, to get them back. So the concept of Lucifer 'humanized' is actually not that far off from the source material. Now, he's less enamored of it in the comics and works hard to get his full powers back but that is part of the story, so having it be part of the TV show makes sense. Also, if it cuts down on the special effects budget, well you know the execs at Fox are going to like that, let's be real here. Mazikeen vs Amenadiel .. more please! That was a really well choreographed fight and I'd enjoy seeing more of those. I also like the theory that Lucifer got 'injured' because it was Chloe who pulled the trigger, though from the previews next week that doesn't look like it's the case. It's interesting that they hinted at the fact that maybe it's because Chloe doesn't believe in/fear him is part of what interferes with his influence over her. I'd rather they go that route with it than some 'she's part angel' angle. And to give the devil it's due, I actually for the first time enjoyed the chemistry between Chloe and Lucifer when she tried to touch the scars on his back and after she shot him/he lied for her. Baby steps!

Speaking to the topic of his powers (and let's face it a TV special effects budget) I have been speculating about something. The following is PURE SPECULATION, NOT ACTUAL SPOILERS I wonder if they're going to go the route of Luci losing his powers for the remainder of the season? That maybe they've given the audience (and Chloe) a taste of his abilities in these first 3 episodes, then plan to remove them and leave Luci to navigate his 'retirement' with just his wit. Sort of "Okay, go back to Hell and get your powers back. Stay on Earth and you're going to do so as a mortal human." I'm thinking about the source material, book 2 when he goes to get his wings. While not powerless in that realm, he is completely out powered by the individuals he has to negotiate with there there, so effectively powerless, and has to get his wings back through pure wit and cunning, which are regarded as two of his greatest powers. It could be an interesting twist, rather than just 'he's lost his powers long enough for Chloe not to believe him' and would give an arc beyond the police procedural for the story to follow. PS: Moderators, I apologize if speculation should not go in an episode thread but I didn't see a speculation topic for this show.

Yep, in the source material it's pretty obvious that while Lucifer doesn't pass up an opportunity to needle Michael, he has a great deal of affection and respect for Michael. His brother is one of the few beings who Lucifer seems to love, unconditionally. This is part of why Lucifer takes to watching over Elaine Belloc, since she is Michael's daughter. Again, this is all digging into source material and may or may not end up having anything to do with the tv show. Also side note, in the source material, all angels except Michael are sterile. So Luci could easily be shooting blanks. And one thing I forgot to mention in my first post. I did like one part of Chloe this episode, which wants to give me hope for the character. When Lucifer had tossed the guy through the window and went to advance on him, her reaction to his absolute fury. It's interesting to see her respond to him when he drops the charm and genuinely gets angry, like those are the moments when I see an interesting dynamic between the actors/characters. So I'm a little worried that next week is going to be the trope of 'Luci looses his powers, just as Chloe starts to believe in them, so Chloe won't believe him and we go back to 'will she/won't she' dance. This is something I actually liked about the first season of Sleepy Hollow, is they didn't draw out Abbie coming to accept what Crane was saying, they developed it and then pushed on with the story telling, instead of hanging false tension in the dynamic.

I may be the lone voice of dissent but I find myself getting into the groove with this show and this episode went by very quickly, which for me means an engrossing story. This is NOT to suggest it doesn't have it's flaws, as have been pointed out but I don't mind suspending my disbelief to enjoy the parts I do like. :) I did miss Amenadiel this week and I agree, Trixie and Lucifer interactions are always gold. I actually enjoyed Lucifer and Dr. Linda this week, with them exchanging gibes as he went out the door, it really did feel like a proper FwB relationship, verse her just drooling ridiculously on him. I also enjoyed Lucifer realizing about displaced anger regarding his impostor vs Alisa's murder. Considering the source material, I wonder if that's going to play into Lucifer's issues with his father. While the show is deviating from the source material (because let's face it, the actual source material could only be produced on Netflix or ShoTime) it may be important to remember that Gaiman's Lucifer was never meant to be a "DARK EVIL CHARACTER". If anything, like someone mentioned last post, he's chaotic neutral. In a nutshell (again the source material is a lot more complex in terms of themes) he was a huge supporter of Free Will but wanted it for angels, since humans were getting it. His "father" needed him to fill a "role in the play" and so Lucifer ended up in Hell. Going back to the pilot and his question to Amenadiel "Am I inherently evil or is dad forcing me to fill a role in his play". But I will say the show is so back and forth, between the bad stuff that makes it cringe worthy and the subtle nuances that just get lost in the groaning of "oh Lucifer is having another orgy, yay." As for what Chloe was looking at in the video, as mentioned in two different posts up above: 1) Lucifer (Tom Ellis) is a very slender man, maybe 170lbs-180lbs max. 2) He threw ... didn't shove, didn't grab, didn't do more than press his fingers to the agent's shoulder and THREW a 200+lbs man, 10+ feet, through a glass wall and he never moved while doing it. A normal human, should have had to grab that agent's lapels and at least throw his weight into shove him but Lucifer just stood there and never moved beyond the flick of his fingers. So she's watching him do that, over and over trying to figure out how the heck he managed it. He shouldn't be that strong. Anyway, I'm enjoying the show and except for Chloe, I'm enjoying all the characters together and don't mind escaping my day for an hour with them. Do I wish this show was on something like Netflix or Shotime with a set run of 10-13 episodes? Oh yeah! But it's not, (and Fox makes me cringe on general principle) so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Paddling about in the shallow end for a moment. I laughed at Lucifer's final reaction to Amenadiel's visit to his home. The look of "I am too sober for this..." after the apple falls was perfect. But then I'm enjoying all of Luci and Amenadiel's interactions, they both try to be big grown up angels but they snipe like two siblings in the sandbox.

I need to go back over the Vertigo comics but as I remember, in them Lucifer was just so bored with everything human/earth he couldn't be arsed to do anything that required his powers. That was the explanation for why half the time stuff happened around him and he was just like "whatever." Kinda like a bored older sibling watching toddlers careen around on the playground. Having Lucifer being engaged and curious by all the police stuff, makes for better TV watching but I agree they need to address why he's not using his own angelic abilities in some of these situations or appears ineffective in others. He really should NOT have had to call his 'brother' down to slow time, he should be able to do that (or something equivalent)himself but didn't and we've already discussed why his mojo seemed spotty in the pilot. That said, I personally liked the way they chose to give the audience a hint of what Luci could do, when he wants to be sinister, in checking in with Jimmy. Personally I'm betting Luci did more than just show his true face, because he says something like "we're going to talk..." and he was pretty annoyed. Also Jimmy is seriously messed up now! Also I'm looking forward to next week with him putting some guy through a window with what looks like very little effort. So maybe we'll be getting to see more and more of what's going on with his abilities as the series progresses?

This show gives me whiplash. Some of it is really subtle and strong and draws me in, then parts of it is just so juvenile and puerile that I cringe. But to speak to one of the positives, which is Lucifer and Trixie. It may be deliberate or a happy accident (seriously with these writers I just can't tell) but Lucifer being unable to figure out how to deal with Trixie is an interesting and imo subtle nod to the idea that he's probably had almost 0 contract with children while in Hell or at least extremely minimal contact. I don't want to go too far into the "born without sin/born sinners" theological debate, but I just had that thought as part of the reason why he's all "Urk I don't know what to do with you small human type I've never had much interaction with what are you????"

Given that I also adore both of these actors and their characters, and now Mr. Ellis? I second this theory! :)

Just to weight in on the source material side of things and the "Father" comments. In the DC comic [btw spoilers if you haven't read it] the angle taken is that God had a plan. Part of his plan involved then concept of Hell and Lucifer as the ruler in Hell, without Lucifer really having much of a say. When we catch up with Lucifer, he's decided that he wants what "Father" gave humans, Free Will. The choice to make his own destiny, which means NOT following "Father's" plan of being ruler in Hell. The angelic host is thrown into a bit of a tizy by this because (among other things) Free Will is a gift "Father" gave humans, not his angelic children. They (as angels) are supposed to keep following the script. To which Lucifer says "Nope. I like this Free Will idea, oh and have you all not noticed that "Father" hasn't been around for a few millennium? Peace I'm out like a Free Will trout." So from the DC comic perspective the argument is really over Free Will and God gave it to humans, rather than angels and Lucifer's gotten tired of that deal and wants Free Will himself. Anyway, I like Tom Ellis, the hints of his issues on the heavenly/hell side of things and I like the child and the therapist. Chloe ... I like the idea of her but like someone else has said, I'm not interested in buying into what the actress is selling.