Lucifer Season 5 Episode 4 Review: It Never Ends Well for the Chicken
Berea Orange
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Chloe got a major bomb dropped on her and it seems she's not yet over it.
In Lucifer Season 5 Episode 4, Trixie shows up to Lucifer's without her mom for game night.
First things first, YAY for more Trixie content.
Trixie: Grown-up problems. Not interested. Also, who cares where my mom is?
Lucifer: Well, me for one.
Trixie: It’s game night, and Trixie’s in the house.
Trying to get things back to the way things used to be, Lucifer had a night of snacks and Monopoly set up. Since it was just the two of them, though, Trixie convinced Lucifer to tell her the story behind his ring.
This episode was a fun, black-and-white, noir detective story. Lucifer tells her the true story about the ring, with a few different faces. Except for one, that is.
The story begins in 1946 at the Garden Club in 1946, where Lilith (going by "Lily Rose") is known as the best chanteuse on the marquee. Maze is the spitting image of the mother of demons, too.
We will love any episode where we get to hear Lesley-Ann Brandt sing.
Lucifer apparently owes Lilith a favor, so she cashes in by enlisting his help in locating her stolen ring. Humans believe the ring grants immortality, not knowing Lilith simply keeps it for sentimentality from her days with Adam in the garden.
Lucifer is not very keen on helping at first. I mean, since when does the devil solve crime?
The Devil, solving crime. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
Lucifer
This was before his days with Detective Decker, so naturally he enlists the help of a private detective, Jack Monroe.
Our sweet Trixie requested a gender-balanced narrative, so Jack is played by none other than Chloe Decker in this story.
Jack and Lucifer seek to find out who stole Lilith's ring and start at the club. Who else would know what goes on in a club better than a bartender?
The bartender, Gertie, is played by Dr. Linda Martin. Many people consider bartenders just as good as therapists, as they've heard it all before. So this role is perfect for her.
Linda says a guy named "Lucky Larry" was seen lurking around Lily's dressing room. He is probably the one who stole it.
Jack and Lucifer head outside to meet with an informant. Instead they are met with Mr. Stompanato's henchmen.
Trixie: I thought you said Mr. Stompanato. “Mr.” is a man.
Lucifer: Did you or did you not request a gender-balanced narrative? I’m simply following your instructions.
Yes, Ella is Mr. Stompanato. Yes, it makes little sense. And yes, we are ignoring it on account of how funny she is in the role. Stompanato warning them to stop asking questions in his club is meant to be threatening, but instead we can't stop laughing.
The next surprise guest spot is Jack's wife, Shirley, played by none other than Tricia Helfer!
Tricia Helfer was such a great addition to the cast in seasons two and three. Dan is still feeling the loss of Charlotte to this day, so it was nice to see her again, even in a different role.
Apparently Jack and Shirley were having some problems, as Jack just found out Shirley was a call girl when they met.
Well. Aren’t you lucky to benefit from the experience your wife has gained with dozens, maybe hundreds of men?
Lucifer
Jack opened up to Lucifer about this and well, Lucifer will be Lucifer.
Lucifer sees nothing wrong with their situation of course. He instead sees this as a great opportunity. Hey, your wife used to have sex for a living? Surely that will work to your benefit!
Jack doesn't see it that way, though.
So, when you find out the best thing that’s ever happened to you started with a lie, well, it’s like building a house on quicksand. Sooner or later, it all falls apart.
Jack
All Jack can think about is how they started from a lie. Sound familiar?
This is obviously a parallel to Lucifer and Chloe's current situation. Chloe is thinking exactly this right now. She is questioning her connection to Lucifer knowing it was cosmically orchestrated.
Present-day Lucifer is very clearly still trying to understand that.
Back at Jack's, Lucky Larry shows up on the doorstep with a knife in his back. They soon find out he got into it with William Kincannon, "Willy the Sausage Prince."
Of all the characters, Willy the Sausage Prince is the funniest.
Willy is a pompous heir with an inflated view of himself. He loves rare objects and war, but never actually fought himself. You know, because of his asthma.
After finding evidence at Larry's apartment, Jack and Lucifer head to Stompanato's, where they find him dead, his heart removed. A sacred Egyptian symbol, the Eye of Horus, was drawn on his face.
To get details about this, they visit Melvin the Magnificent (Amenadiel). Melvin is very clearly a hack. The missing heart and Eye of Horus, though, are indicative of the fake Ceremony of Anubis he sells to his gullible clients.
It seems they hit a dead-end in their investigation, and Lucifer shares this news with Lilith.
In their conversation, they reveal how Lucifer acquired demons.
Lilith: I gave you an army.
Lucifer: An army I never asked for! And one I didn’t know I needed at the time. But… without them I would have spent eternity alone, and for that, I shall be forever in your debt.
Lilith sent all her children to hell. Although Lucifer didn't ask for this, he needed them. Otherwise, he would have spent an eternity in hell alone.
So it turns out Maze has a mother after all, albeit an absent one.
In laughing about how mortals began the rumor her ring granted the wearer immortality, Lucifer came up with a plan to find the thief. They start a rumor the ring only works with Lilith's bracelet.
They caught Willy breaking into the safe, but he's not the only one after the ring.
Both Gertie and Willy learned about the ring from Melvin the Magnificient. Gertie hired Lucky Larry to steal the ring, but instead he sold it to Stompanato for a higher price. Stompanato killed Larry out of revenge for stealing his girl’s ring in the first place. Then, Willy killed Stompanato in a real version of Melvin’s fake cult ceremony to make it work.
Whew. All this over a myth.
Gertie did all this to save her dying husband, and Lilith was actually moved by this.
It’s knowing there’s an end. That’s what makes the rest of it count. That’s what connects them to one another. What makes them brave, even when they have no reason to be.
Lilith
Finally, we learn the truth about the ring and the secret Michael dangled in front of Maze.
Lilith decided she'd been immortal long enough, transferred her immortality into her ring, and gave it to Lucifer. He offered her the chance to say goodbye to her chlidren, but she turned him down, not wanting to undo all they'd learned in hell.
Lilith: My children are perfect. They can’t be banished, because they have no home. Can’t be abandoned, because they have no family.
Lucifer: They’ll never be cast out of the proverbial garden.
Lilith: You can never tell them what I’ve done today, Lucifer. Not if they are going to be unbreakable.
Now he keeps the ring as a reminder of an old friend.
The story was sweet and filled in a lot of blanks. Lucifer kept his promise to Lilith, too.
Trixie, though, made no such promise.
As it turns out, Trixie was sent in by Maze to get the story about her mother. No doubt Michael told her what exactly to ask.
Maze wasted no time in going to find her mother and was not met with open arms.
Lilith: What do you want from me?
Maze: I wanted to come and see you. I wanted to know why you abandoned us. Why you abandoned me.
Lilith: I did it to make you strong, and it worked.
Lilith was cold towards her. Maze just wanted to know why she and the rest of the demons were abandoned. Lilith just says it was to make them strong, and she sends her away.
This is not likely to help out with those abandonment issues Maze and Linda were talking about.
Lilith is probably right. Who knows how demons with parents would've grown up. Would they have been ruthless enough to perform their hellish duties? No one knows.
Things are different for Maze, though. She and Lucifer have been living amongst humans for years now. If she were living in hell still, she might think nothing of this. She's not, though.
Maze's time on Earth has changed her. Her relationships with humans has made her vulnerable in a way she never expected and for which she was not prepared.
Is there another spiral coming now that she knows the truth?
Over to you, Fanatics! What did you think of this 1940s noir detective story?
How do you think Maze will react?
Sound off in the comments and tell us what you think!
Berea Orange was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in November, 2020..
