Season 1 Episode 6
‘Favourite Son’ is Lucifer’s strongest episode so far in the first season, and not just because it opened with Tom Ellis playing the piano and singing Sinnerman whilst scenes of a robbery were interspersed with scenes at Lux. In an earlier therapy session, Dr. Linda mentioned how people often go to LA to reinvent themselves. Now, the devil on vacation had to confront who he was and who he wanted to be. It was not the first time that Lucifer showed his anger, but this time, the slipping of his mask happened in front of an innocent, a woman who was genuinely trying to help him. Unwittingly egged on by Amenadiel to say the very things that would open Lucifer’s wounds and trigger a strong reaction from him, Linda watched as the man she had so strongly desired put his fist through her wall.
Through Linda, Amenadiel made his arguments. Lucifer was God’s favourite son. He was sent to hell not due to a banishment, but because he was trusted to do a most difficult job. Before he was Lucifer, he was Samael, the Lightbringer. Every single word was designed to pierce the wall Lucifer created between himself and his Father.
Amenadiel’s interference with Lucifer’s therapy happened at a time of great stress. Excellently fusing the show’s case of the week format with Lucifer’s overarching story, Chloe and Lucifer’s case was a homicide of a guard at a storage facility. The only thing missing was a container that belonged to Lucifer.
Lucifer had always professed that he did not lie, that he hated liars, but this one time, he came very close to violating his own code against lying. Yes, there were Russian dolls in his container when it was eventually found, but hidden behind a panel was a storage for his wings, now missing. Someone now possessed an object of divinity, a piece of Lucifer he went to great lengths to separate himself from but that which he kept close enough so he could access it if and when he wanted to.
With the final shot of Lucifer’s angel wings hanging in a still untold location, Lucifer the show finally felt like it was standing on sure creative footing. Lucifer the character may still struggle with his identity, but Lucifer the show has embraced that it was more than a case of the week moderately interesting mystery.
The transformation was very much helped by the fact that Lucifer the character was so perfectly cast. Tom Ellis has nailed every single incarnation of Lucifer so far — smarmy club owner, justice seeker, disappointed disappointing son, king of a land of torment. Even when Lucifer was being his version of charming, the danger of him was never far from the surface. He found humans amusing, but he was secure in his belief that he was above them. Now, one of them may have dared steal from him. As the episode progressed, Lucifer’s anger grew deeper, until his outburst at Linda’s office. The people around Lucifer did not fully understand how dangerous he was, but we (the audience) do. That made his fury all the more frightening.
It was also notable that Amenadiel, the ‘good’ angel, used a rather underhanded way to get to Lucifer. The tactic of befriending Linda then using their bond as therapist to therapist to manipulate Lucifer’s therapy was frankly something that Lucifer as he was popularly believed to be was more likely to do. Yet, through the six episodes so far, Lucifer was presented to us as someone who preferred the direct approach and was relentlessly, often hilariously, honest. It was the dutiful Amenadiel, the Amenadiel who carried himself with the calm of a righteous warrior, who lied, repeatedly, unblinkingly, to accomplish his mission. It was chilling to watch Lucifer lose his temper with Linda within arm’s reach, but it was just as chilling to watch Amenadiel casually chatting with the unsuspecting Linda.
Lucifer was always a show that happened on two planes, the human and the divine, but at this point, more than Chloe, it was Linda’s presence that accentuated this. She was the first human to be privy to the deepest philosophical differences between the warring angelic brothers. From a character introduced as someone who tried to demonstrate her practice of hot yoga whilst talking to police in her office, Linda has quietly become the show’s most affecting character six episodes in. Her vulnerability whilst talking to both Lucifer and Amenadiel was stark, but her professional mind at work was still evident. Kudos to Rachael Harris.
The episode ended with a cliffhanger but it was also Lucifer's most satisfying episode of the six so far. Clearly, I have already seen all of Lucifer's episodes up through the fourth season but doing these recaps are allowing me to note things about the show I did not previously note during my binge watch. I feel that, after such a strong episode, this is a good time to take a break from my Lucifer recapping duties (I have been writing these recaps one after another). Also, I fell asleep in the middle of writing this recap so I know I am tired. Thank you so much for joining me in these recaps. Till next time!
Strays
♕ Dan finally realised that he needed to make more of an effort with Chloe and Trixie.
♕ Renny, a member of a biker gang Los Diablos, jumped off a building after seeing Lucifer's devil face, and before he could give information on who had the wings stolen.
♕ Chloe admitted for the first time that she liked working with Lucifer. Lucifer became an official civilian consultant for the LAPD at the end of the previous episode so this is their first case together where Lucifer had an official role.
♕ I love the choice of Sinnerman by Nina Simone during the robbery scenes that opened the episode. Segments of Sinnerman were also used in the heist movie The Thomas Crown Affair (1999).
Director: David Paymer
Writer: Jason Ning
Original Air Date: February 29, 2016