S03.E22: All Hands on Decker

[MostlyC]

Quote

When Chloe takes time off, Lucifer is forced to work with Dan on a murder case involving a dog show; Charlotte and Maze have differing ideas for Chloe's party; after a wild night, Chloe rethinks a life-changing decision.

[jewel21]

Are the writers getting high before penning these scripts because it feels like they are... Or I should be high to enjoy them? 

The whole Bachelorette party was ridiculous. First from Chloe acting stupidly giddy and wanting to get married in three weeks time. Like seriously, what the hell is the rush? Then Maze throwing that ridiculous party, and the party bus antics... I just found the whole thing lame. I did like Linda, though, and her wanting to fight Maze, heh. 

I'm glad Chloe finally came to her senses and broke of the engagement but I wonder what was going on in her heard before she finally decided to stop acting like a twelve year old. Trixie is more mature than Chloe at this point. 

Such a weird episode. 

I liked Dan and Lucifer working together. And the dog was cute. That's really all I've got. 

[Shades of Red]

Definitely a weird episode.  Trixie at the bachelorette?  How can she be in the same room as Maze?  Why is Maze at Chloe's party knowing what she's done to Trixie?  Chloe getting married in three weeks?!  WTF?  I understand why she wanted to marry him, but not the time frame or the lack of introduction to Trixie.  It looks like the introductions happened off screen given that Trixie was comfortable enough with him to go back home with him.

I'm glad they didn't draw out the "we're getting married" thing, but honestly, to have it all end so fast, why even go there in the first place?  Filler episode if I ever saw one.

[DEL901]

Maze in pearls.  :)

[Kelda Feegle]

That episode was so excruciatingly awful that for the first time ever I didn't finish it.

[paulusar]

Great episode. I loved it.

[janeta]

-ices my mental whiplash-

 

ok, i've missed something—what happened to Charlotte's husband and kids?

[Gigi43]

WTF was Trixie doing in the same room as Maze? Wtf is the point of all this?

 

I thought  Chloe and Dan had an actual  wedding I recall him mentioning blowing  off the planning for something?  I mean not that continuity or character history matters anymore.

 

On a positive note I love Mastifs (dogs with wrinkly faces in general are my ultimate soft spot) so the shots of her in the car with Dan and Luci are adorable.  

 

I think  I need to pull up Priest Walks Into A Bar or Good Day To Die on hulu to make sure I'm not imagining this was once a great show.

[UNOSEZ]

Maybe I'm not remembering but I thought all Maze did was say something mean about Trixie to Dan that Trixie overheard... Was there something else? 

[ParadoxLost]

22 hours ago, Shades of Red said:

Definitely a weird episode.  Trixie at the bachelorette?  How can she be in the same room as Maze?  Why is Maze at Chloe's party knowing what she's done to Trixie?  Chloe getting married in three weeks?!  WTF?  I understand why she wanted to marry him, but not the time frame or the lack of introduction to Trixie.  It looks like the introductions happened off screen given that Trixie was comfortable enough with him to go back home with him.

I'm glad they didn't draw out the "we're getting married" thing, but honestly, to have it all end so fast, why even go there in the first place?  Filler episode if I ever saw one.

It felt like they want to set up a game changing finale and suddenly realized they didn't have enough episodes left to get there.  So Chloe decided to get married, decided she had to plan the wedding right now, had to have the bachelorette party, and had to break up all in about one episode.  It made no sense from a character perspective and screamed that they were just trying to move plot along.

I'm feeling the same way about Maze.  Something is off there with why she is doing what she is doing.  Her reasons seem a little thin.  But they've at least set that up a little better than Chloe being willing to say yes to Cain's marriage proposal.

15 minutes ago, Gigi43 said:

On a positive note I love Mastifs (dogs with wrinkly faces in general are my ultimate soft spot) so the shots of her in the car with Dan and Luci are adorable.  

A few things I know about Mastifs (or one particular Mastif)

1) they are sweet

2) you will find their drool on the walls seven feet from the floor

3) if they crap in the house at night, the smell will wake you up even if you are on the other side of the house

[Gigi43]

The crap I didn't know about. The drool is partly why I've had 2 Boxers in a row not a mastif, still a lot but I'm sure not nearly as much. Any way I'm happy to see the show at least didn't go with a small show dog that usually gets associated with these competitions.

 

Even more on topic: I don't remember the last time Luci directly treated Trixie as a pet. Another fail.

[Miles]

I'm mostly sad that Maze turned into such an asshole. She used to be one of the more fun characters. I know she is demon from hell, but her holding a grudge for so long over something relatively minor, in the grand scheme of things, seem unlike her.

Also she loved Trixie. I don't buy that she would say such things to her. Although the writers seem to have forgotten about that again, there basically is no other explaination.

I wish the writers weren't so shit this season. *sigh* I mean this show was never high art, but they at least used to get the characters and their relationships right and those were really entertaining. Now it's just a mess of one out of character moment after another.

 

2 hours ago, janeta said:

ok, i've missed something—what happened to Charlotte's husband and kids?

Like half a season ago she mentioned that her husband left her and took the kids, because of her erratic behaviour.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Miles

[Commando Cody]

That was a weird transition from the tea party to the bus party. They all ran onto the bus and I wondered what happened to Trixie. Also, I didn't think Trixie could tolerate being in the same room as Maze. I don't remember anyone mentioning that Chloe was going to a sleepover until they showed her with Pierce.  

I don't have much on this episode except that I used to like Maze. Now I'm thinking will someone please take her back to Hell and leave her there. 

[statsgirl]

Maze is acting like a three year old -- she won't let anyone else play with her toy Amendial even though she doesn't want him any more, she was rude to Dan about Trixie which Trixie overheard because she was having a bad time, and she wants to take her knives and go home but she can't and she's taking it out on everyone around her.

Maybe all demons have the maturity of 3  year old children, I don't know.  But the show needs to come out and say it that's the case.

[CheshireCat]

27 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

 

Maybe all demons have the maturity of 3  year old children, I don't know.  But the show needs to come out and say it that's the case.

I'm under the impression than there are a lot more characters on that show who currently have the maturity of a 3 year old... Chloe isn't exactly acting mature and Lucifer isn't either.

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Maybe I'm not remembering but I thought all Maze did was say something mean about Trixie to Dan that Trixie overheard... Was there something else? 

That's enough.  If I had kids and someone said something like what Maze said, I wouldn't want them around and neither would my kid.

[AnimeMania]

What is wrong with Maze, why did she "cock-block" (what would be the female equivalent "cunt-block", I'm not sure) Linda first with Amenadiel and now with the water polo guy. I am not sure why Chloe and Linda weren't upset that Maze was even involved in the bachelorette party.

[dwmarch]

I found this episode amusing despite the standard formula. You know, the one where Lucifer gets some good advice, completely misinterprets it, acts like an ass for 99% of the episode and then comes to an understanding at the end which he does not get to share because the other characters are still upset over what an ass he was. I thought we were headed that way in this episode but it took a swerve at the end.

I never thought I'd see Ella rocking leather pants and wow did she ever look good! Chloe's leather pants were pretty meh but Ella was rocking it! Speaking of leather, how did we have three of five women wearing it and Maze was not among them? The other characters should have known what was up just by the fact that Maze was wearing something a human being would wear!

[flyingdi]

Ugh.  If someone, anyone, on this show doesn't grow an effing brain soon, I'm out!

[chrisvee]

Between the terrible writing and the chemistry-destroying power of Tom Welling, this show is seriously bad.

Character arcs for Chloe, Maze and Charlotte are dreadful.

[Damselfly]

9 hours ago, Miles said:

I know she is demon from hell, but her holding a grudge for so long over something relatively minor, in the grand scheme of things, seem unlike her.

If you're referring to what happened between her and Linda, it really wasn't something minor, though. Linda deliberately lied to Maze for weeks. She let Maze give her a thank you gift for being so understanding about Maze's problem with her and Amenadiel, knowing that she had already broken the promise she given Maze about that before she even made it. She betrayed Maze's trust and their friendship in a really big way by doing all this.

It's also important to remember that Linda wasn't 'just' Maze's friend. She was also the one Maze chose to teach her about human interactions, and to help her adapt to life with humans. With her lying, Linda betrayed that teacher/mentor relationship, too. And she made Maze question everything she had learned and believed about human friendships. Because if her best friend, her teacher could do all that to her, how can Maze trust any of the others?

But Linda went one step further than that. When Maze refused to forgive her instantly, Linda tried to shift the blame for what had happened onto Maze. She claimed that she had to lie to Maze because of Maze's violent nature, never mind that Maze has never, ever been physically violent with her or any other of her human friends. Linda pulled the classic abuser argument: you made me do this bad thing to you.

[MostlyC]

I thought this episode was full of hilarious one-liners, so I enjoyed it.

[Ria]

What a mess. I don’t even understand what is going on. Chloe is special, why? Cain’s mark went away, why? Maize thought it was because Chloe fell in love with him, why? Maize thinks framing Lucifer will get her to hell, why?  Because Lucifer will be forced there? Why can’t she get over this pettiness after months? Chloe was going to marry Pierce, why? And a two minute conversation with Charlotte while drunk made her see the light? Lucifer is in love with Chloe, what does he hope for? Marriage and a white picket fence? 

The biggest problem is Chloe. She has become the center of too much of the show and she is far too dull (and sorry to say, the actress not talented at all) to do anything but drag everything down. Lucifer has chemistry with everyone in the show except for Chloe. He had more chemistry with the dog than with Chloe. His mooning over Chloe has completely ruined him. What happened to the irresistible, suave owner of Lux and his kickass bartender? 

The soap opera, love triangles and jealousies have to go. If the show doesn’t revamp over the summer and get back to what it was, I’m done. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Ria

[MDL]

Quote

What is wrong with Maze, why did she "cock-block" (what would be the female equivalent "cunt-block", I'm not sure

A coworker told me that his teen age daughters informed him that the corresponding female equivalent term is "clam jam".

I'm not sure if I am more enlightened or disturbed by this knowledge!  :)

[sharifa70]

I liked the Lucifer and Dan scenes. It’s always fun when they try to be each other.

Dan: “I’m here to take your money and your women” (or something like that) made me giggle.

The bachelorette party bus was a far, far cry from the bar scene last year when the female characters got into a brawl.

Also, the bachelorette party in general was just weird and awkward, but not in a good way. Like others here, I just didn’t understand where that was coming from.

I get that Maze is a demon, but her character has just gone off the rails this season. I hope the writers don’t end up painting her into a corner with no way to get her back.

Charlotte has grown on me. Maybe because more and more she’s reminding me of what I used to like in Maze? That last scene with Dan was sweet. He has been a nice surprise, especially because I hated him SO MUCH in season 1.

[Mabinogia]

52 minutes ago, Ria said:

The biggest problem is Chloe. She has become the center of too much of the show and she is far too dull (and sorry to say, the actress not talented at all) to do anything but drag everything down. Lucifer has chemistry with everyone in the show except for Chloe. He had more chemistry with the dog than with Chloe. His mooning over Chloe has completely ruined him. What happened to the irresistible, suave owner of Lux and his kickass bartender? 

Seriously. I don't get when or why she became the center of the universe on this show. Everything would be better if she were just not there.

[NJRadioGuy]

My DVR's "30-second jump" button sure got a workout last night. I got through it (how, I don't know) in about 15 minutes give or take.

WAKE UP, writers, you're losing your audience! This show is now hot garbage, and one (very small) step away from a steaming mastiff turd.

[Bruinsfan]

The ONE redeeming feature of this episode was Charlotte bringing up all the ways Chloe's love life is completely screwed up.

[Ria]

1 minute ago, Bruinsfan said:

The ONE redeeming feature of this episode was Charlotte bringing up all the ways Chloe's love life is completely screwed up.

I thought the best scene was the dog sitting serenely in the front seat while Dan got the back. 

[sharifa70]

1 minute ago, Ria said:

I thought the best scene was the dog sitting serenely in the front seat while Dan got the back. 

I loved that bit, though I’ll admit my first thought was “puppies go in the BACK seat!” 

[Rushmoras]

Seriously? The case of the week is related to a fricking dog show? Hahahahahahah, Castle did it better. Everything else - are they trying to actively cancel theshow or what?

Well, Ok, I liked Maze's confrontation with Pierce in the end and Pierce looking at Lucifer like he was going to kill him, but that's that.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Rushmoras

[Damselfly]

18 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

It felt like they want to set up a game changing finale and suddenly realized they didn't have enough episodes left to get there. 

To me, a lot of this season feels like the writers have some sort of list of fanfiction clichés that they are crossing off one by one. And it doesn't matter how illogical and out of character everybody has to be, or how bad it makes the characters look, as long as they get their desired scene/situation.

Like the highschool reunion, and now the bachelorette party, and earlier Lucifer singing in Vegas with a bunch of showgirls around him, or that monopoly playing with Trixie and Chloe that was shot like they were having a romantic date.

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that at least they aren't going for "bride leaves groom at the altar to run off with her true love".

[CheshireCat]

1 minute ago, Damselfly said:

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that at least they aren't going for "bride leaves groom at the altar to run off with her true love".

The season isn't over yet. Apparently, the remaining episodes would be plenty of time for Chloe to fall in love and get engaged...

[kikaha]

At the end, Cain had the same look on his face I imagine him having right before his famous fight with Abel.

He and Lucifer are both real confused, though.  Cain didn't lose his mark because Chloe loves him.  He lost it because he loves her.  For probably the first time in his millenia-long life, he cares for someone else more than himself.  (Or did, until she broke up with him.)

Similarly, Lucifer doesn't lose his power around Chloe because she loves him.  He lost his power from the very start, before she barely knew him. 

Agree with everyone who thinks the show has fallen a long way.  Found myself skipping large sections this episode, mostly interested in seeing the end. 

[jhlipton]

Unlike others, I don't think Lauren German is a bad actress -- I see flashes of good acting under all the dreck.  I think the writing and directing is far more to blame.

[ParadoxLost]

3 hours ago, Damselfly said:

To me, a lot of this season feels like the writers have some sort of list of fanfiction clichés that they are crossing off one by one. And it doesn't matter how illogical and out of character everybody has to be, or how bad it makes the characters look, as long as they get their desired scene/situation.

Like the highschool reunion, and now the bachelorette party, and earlier Lucifer singing in Vegas with a bunch of showgirls around him, or that monopoly playing with Trixie and Chloe that was shot like they were having a romantic date.

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that at least they aren't going for "bride leaves groom at the altar to run off with her true love".

It also feels a bit like the last couple episodes were divided up and written by committee.  I can't put my finger on it but the different storylines going on in an episode and across episodes don't hand together very well.  Its a bit like everyone is a lead in their own story whereas before Chloe and Lucifer were clearly the center and everyone else were supporting that story.

Now it seems crowded.  We've got fan favorites and we've got bigger name (in sci fi tv) as guest stars all being pushed forward and Chloe is taking a back seat and going from point A to Z without hitting any of the beats in-between and while Lucifer is front and center, his story doesn't seem particularly coherent.

18 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

Unlike others, I don't think Lauren German is a bad actress -- I see flashes of good acting under all the dreck.  I think the writing and directing is far more to blame.

I don't think Lauren German is bad either.  I will say though that there is a definite problem and I realized that when Lucifer made a stop to become the Detective and I was having a hard time figuring out what he was imitating.  Decker hasn't really left much of an impression on me.

[Mabinogia]

26 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I don't think Lauren German is bad either.

I don't think she's bad, just mediocre. She lacks the charisma to rise above the bad writing where some of the others are able to. I tend to like her best when she's a competent cop, but this love triangle crap is really showing her weakness as an actress and is doing her no favors at all. German just isn't a romantic lead for me. She lacks "it". Watching this doesn't make me want to see other things she's been. And unlike the other characters, I'm curious what Chloe would have been like with a different actress playing her. Maybe I would have bought two immortals falling in love with this mortal if the actress playing her was a bit more dynamic or had a bit more life to her. But maybe they are telling her to be bland and dull. I just can't imagine why they think that is a good idea. 

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I don't think Lauren German is bad either.

I don't either. I just think that she has no chemistry with Ellis (or Welling) and Chloe is a bland character. German doesn't do anything for me that makes Chloe more interesting and there is nothing about German that seems to support Chloe's specialness. I think they designed it like that on purpose: they seem to have wanted someone who could be the person next door to be special because of the unexpectedness but it's not working the way it is written because they're just telling us and not showing us, not with the actress and not with the writing. But none of that has anything to do with German's acting abilities.

[Kelda Feegle]

German is just meh to me as an actress, even in the behind the scenes and bloopers videos she's pretty bland. 

That stick on mark of Cain is totally going to fall off at a significant point.

Great Dane owner here, we see your mastiff drool and raise you a couple of feet, lol. She was adorable in the front seat. I did think the episode had Best In Show vibes.

[jhlipton]

3 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

She lacks the charisma to rise above the bad writing where some of the others are able to.

I see flashes of charisma every now and then.  Not often and not consistently.  I think a more competent actress would have worked better and Nicole Beharie was available, dammit, as was Ebonee Noel.  Black Baptists treat Satan as more of a physical presence, so the dynamic would have been a bit more interesting, too.

[enoughcats]

From the brief glances we see, Trixie is growing up fast.  

Is Chloe pulling her hair back tighter?  In one scene I didn't recognize her, It was easier to recognize Maze with hair do number Mary Tyler Moore.

[Emma9]

Cram the love triangle sideways; for me, the really sad aspect was that Chloe still doesn't have female friends who have her back. Maze and Charlotte were pushing own agendas, Dr. Linda was busy trying to get laid, and even Ella was more focused on throwing her own ideal party.

Considering that's been a running theme for Chloe before (and one I personally empathize with), it bothers me that the show will never give it as much importance as 'Oooh, but will she end up with Lucifer?!?!?'

Almost as much as it bothers me that Maze now cares more about fucking him over than repairing her bond with Chloe and Trixie.

 

16 hours ago, Damselfly said:

If you're referring to what happened between her and Linda, it really wasn't something minor, though. [snip]

Concur with your post; while I hated what that storyline did to both of them, Linda's lying read worse than Maze getting hung up on an ex. And I absolutely think Lucifer takes her for granted and would enjoy seeing him get his comeuppance for that. But her taking her anger out on the characters who did consistently care about her is pretty damn crappy.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Emma9

[tennisgurl]

Well, I did like Dan and Lucifer on the case together, especially at the end where Dan showed up at the killers house drinking scotch, Lucifer style. That was a lot of fun, and I do enjoy their dynamic a lot. And that dog was super cute, especially when he was just chilling in the car with Lucifer and Dan. 

Other than that, I just dont get Chloe/Cain, even if it looks like the marriage is going to be going forward. At least, thats what I think they were saying at the end. Chloe has just become so ridiculous, giggling like a moron about her wedding in three weeks, and being all goofy over some guy who she thought was a total prick until a few weeks ago. Also, haven't they only known each other for a month or so? Why is she so in love with him now? Why is Cain so in love that it shattered a billion year old celestial curse? Really? This also almost Once Upon a Time levels of people falling into super duper magic love in about five minutes. The whole plot is just so lame. 

And, why was no one else telling Chloe that she was rushing it? Seems like a pretty logical thing to bring up? Also, remember when Maz was a fun, and even complex character? Who had fun relationships with Trixie and Linda and Chloe and Dan and Lucifer? Those were good times. Now she is just pissed off all of the time, and its just boring to watch. I almost miss the long period of time when Maze wasn't around anymore. At least she wasn't having her character ruined. 

I will say though, I loved Dr. Linda being willing to throw down with Maz for cockblocking her. And Linda knows what she really is! 

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I think a more competent actress would have worked better and Nicole Beharie was available, dammit, as was Ebonee Noel

I don't know Ebonee Noel but Nicole Beharie would have been great. I think she can do tough female cop but with a bit more liveliness.

 

8 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I will say though, I loved Dr. Linda being willing to throw down with Maz for cockblocking her. And Linda knows what she really is! 

Linda is easily my favorite at this point. Partly because I do love the actress, but also because she knows what the celestials are, had a breakdown, which is natural, about it, and now treats them as friends/family/just people. Again, I'm still rooting for Dr. Linda Martin: Shrink to the Angels (and Demons) spinoff. lol

Take everyone but Chloe and possibly Cain who can continue to star in the average cop drama this show has become.

[CaptainTightpants]

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

And unlike the other characters, I'm curious what Chloe would have been like with a different actress playing her. Maybe I would have bought two immortals falling in love with this mortal if the actress playing her was a bit more dynamic or had a bit more life to her.

My personal pick has always been Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica fame. She has personality to spare and could do a competent/complex detective in her sleep. And she tends to have chemistry with everyone and everything so I think she would have been great opposite Tom Ellis who has the same vibe. 

9 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I think a more competent actress would have worked better and Nicole Beharie was available, dammit

And I loved Nicole Beharie in Sleepy Hollow! She has a great grasp of comedic timing and would have been great on this show.

I have to disagree with other posters upthread. I think Lauren German simply does not have the chops to improve the material. Which is making her stick out because the rest of the cast including Trixie, is rising above. But it might not matter much longer because I have never seen a good show die so fast! I am having trouble understanding how it went from wonderfully enjoyable to a steaming pile with the same writers and cast on board. But I am real close to not bothering with this anymore.  

[hoopznyo]

I miss the devil that interacted with Father Frank and punched a hole in Linda's office wall. 

[Bruinsfan]

I would give folding money to get Ellis or Alejandro drunk in a bar and ask them what the hell happened behind the scenes to deep-six the quality of the show so badly in the past year. (Probably wouldn't work with Harris or Wood because they're generally still getting decent writing, and might not be aware of how far the overall production has fallen.)

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, hoopznyo said:

I miss the devil that interacted with Father Frank and punched a hole in Linda's office wall. 

Oh god, me too! He was such a great character. Oh how the mighty have fallen. How did he go from that to a lovesick, petulant child man?

[sinkwriter]

Quote

That stick on mark of Cain is totally going to fall off at a significant point.

Does it matter anymore? Didn't Maze figure it out when Ella let it slip that she'd given Pierce advice on where to get stick-on tattoos? Maze knows his mark is gone. He better watch his back. She's mad enough at everyone that she'd have no issues with killing him; it's just a matter of how she's going to do it and who she'll hurt in the process.

Then again, Pierce is mad at Lucifer now, and he knows that Lucifer's weakness is being around Chloe, so Pierce might end up trying to hurt Lucifer. We'll see what happens! I think they only have two episodes left in the season, is that right?

[CuddlerOfDragons]

Yeah, just two left.  There's meant to be another two that are being held back (like the four from season 2), if the show gets cancelled will we have to buy the DVDs to see the 'extra' episodes?

On a lighter note, I thought Dan 'doing' Lucifer was much better and funnier than last season when Lucifer 'did' Dan.  I loved that he showed up at the killer's house, broke in and sat drinking scotch in the dark even though Lucifer wasn't around to see it.  Maybe he could keep doing this stuff; after all, the 'desire' thing seems to work if he just asks people!  Oh and I don't think Chloe ever rescued Lucifer with a swat team - maybe she just doesn't care that much!!