Lucifer Review: S1:E3, “The Would-Be Prince of Darkness”

The title of the latest episode of Lucifer, “The Would-Be Prince of Darkness,” sounded promising. Maybe, I thought, it was referring to political intrigue in Hell—an aspiring usurper of Lucifer’s erstwhile throne, perhaps. No. The title refers to an imposter, a young man using Lucifer Morningstar’s identity to take advantage of the Devil’s profligate pastimes. And this is only the B storyline of the episode.

Episode 3 of Lucifer is almost entirely deprived of any trace of the supernatural, the police procedural element taking over. This week’s crime revolves around the character of Ty, a virgin quarterback superstar who finds himself in hot water when, at the Devil’s insistence, he allows a red-dressed woman at a pool party to take his virginity, only to find her corpse floating in the pool the next morning. Lucifer does not believe Ty is guilty, and so he lends his usual mischievously helping hand to find and punish the true perpetrator.

Early in the episode, Dr. Linda Martin notices that Ty being blamed for a murder he is not guilty of bothers Lucifer. At the end of the episode, Lucifer explains to the sexually satisfied therapist that punishing the wicked—something he didn’t care for when forced to by his Father—is downright damned good fun now that it is on his own terms. Linda, however, suspects that Lucifer’s enjoyment is shifting from punishing the bad guys to helping the good guys. Lucifer promptly pooh-poohs this, but it appears to be the inevitable arc of the show.

As for the episode’s would-be Prince of Darkness, Lucifer gets his feathers quite ruffled by an imposter not only arrogating but sullying his proud name (particularly when it comes to matters of sexual congress). When the would-be Prince of Darkness is brought before the one and only Lucifer in Lux, he is terrified by the various tortures the Devil threatens. Maze is sexually excited by the sight. “This is so hot,” she remarks. “It’s like you’re punishing yourself.” Maze’s excitement is once again short-lived, as Lucifer’s ever-creeping humanity compels him to let the pitiable would-be Prince of Darkness go with a warning.

Particularly ironic was Lucifer snarling to the would-be Prince of Darkness, “We can’t have you running around cheapening the Lucifer brand”—ironic, of course, coming from the much-too-down-to-earth TV character increasingly afield from the larger-than-life comic book character he is based upon.