Lucifer, S2 E7, “My Little Monkey”
Written by Jenn Kao
Directed by Tara Nicole Weyr

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“Hunting humans is a job! Who knew?”

In this, the seventh episode of the second season of Lucifer, we finally find out that Maze is a better detective than Decker, Lucifer, Douche, and the entire Los Angeles Police Department. No one is surprised.

Contrary to previous trends, the murder mystery moves front and center on Lucifer this week. The story revolves around the shooting death of Decker’s father 16 years ago. He was a uniformed beat cop who was shot during a robbery gone wrong in Koreatown. Or at least that was what everyone believed.

The warden grants the man convicted of shooting Decker’s father a furlough to attend his granddaughter’s christening. Decker fiercely objects to this. While being transferred, the prison truck in which he is riding is ambushed, and the driver, a prison guard, and the convicted cop killer are all executed. An angry Decker followed the truck after it left the prison, but lost sight of it on the roads, so that she did not see what happened.

The daughter of the man convicted of killing Decker’s father shows up at Decker’s apartment and points a gun at her. She blames Decker for her father’s death, just as Decker blamed the woman’s father for her father’s death. When Trixie inadvertently creates a distraction, Decker grabs the woman’s gun. The woman explains that her father arranged for some lawyers to send her a video upon his death. In the video, this alleged cop killer states that he is completely innocent and he wants his daughter to know that. Decker realizes that the video was filmed three minutes before her father was shot, and all the way across town. The man convicted of her father’s death was innocent. Decker, oddly enough, has a lot in common with this woman; they both lost their fathers, and they both have young daughters. That kind of connection counts for something. Decker does not have the woman arrested because Decker recognizes that they are both daughters of tragedy.

Since it was clearly some sort of a hit, it appears that the story of how Decker’s father was killed is not as simple as it seems. The investigation leads the team to a Russian mafioso who arranges fall-guys for murders by paying off the families of men who volunteer to confess to the crimes they did not commit. Such an arrangement was made with Decker’s father’s killer and again for the furloughed prisoner’s killer.

Meanwhile, Lucifer is so overcome with self-loathing that he tries to be someone else. That someone else turns out to be Detective Douche. Lucifer feels that all he does is hurt the ones that he loves so maybe he better try being someone else for a while. Detective Douche seems like an unlikely choice, since he’s made enough bad choices to earn his nickname. Lucifer must feel that even being Detective Douche is better than being Lucifer Morningstar. He dresses like “Dan” and copies his mannerisms and even his walk. This is probably the only way that Lucifer could be more annoying and obnoxious than he already is. Somehow skinny jeans with a jacket over a sweatshirt just doesn’t suit Lucifer; I’m sure everyone who watches the show expelled a huge sigh of relief when at the end of the episode, Lucifer reappeared in his own clothing.

Maze needs a job, so she applies for a variety of things for which she is completely wrong and would never get hired. She dresses for an interview to be a kindergarten aide in full-assault dominatrix black leather. She didn’t get a call back. Next she applies for a job which involves dressing up as a French maid, also involving black leather, but that job actually involved real cleaning, so that’s out.

Both Lucifer and Maze are out of their element. They have found themselves in situations they didn’t anticipate and don’t know how to handle. They’re both trying to find their own niche. Sometimes the process of finding one’s place in the world consists of, over and over again, finding where one doesn’t fit. That’s part of the human condition which they are just now beginning to explore.

Dr. Linda also must learn to negotiate some new experiences. Ever since Lucifer showed her his true face, she has holed up in her office and avoided both Maze and Lucifer. It must’ve been quite a shock to learn that everything they told her was true. It might even be a bigger shock to realize that everything they stand for is true, too. If Lucifer and Maze are real, then the whole theology is real as well. That’s even more disturbing.

When Decker went to the prison to protest the leave granted to her father’s alleged killer, he smiled at her in a funny way as he walked through the gates. Later, she realizes that he was not smiling at her; he was smiling at the assistant warden standing next to her. Decker’s father had discovered that the warden was involved in all kinds of hinky activities, so the warden had him killed and arranged for someone else to take the fall. Decker, Douche, Lucifer, and what looks like the entire LAPD descend upon the prison to arrest the warden, but he has already escaped. All the usual measures are put into place to find him, but none turn out to be necessary.

When Decker arrives home at her apartment that evening, Maze has the warden tied up with his mouth taped shut. Maze has thereby found her place in the world. She and Lucifer offer Decker the chance to take real retribution and get revenge for her father’s death. Though Decker is tempted, she does not shoot the warden. It’s enough for her that she untangled the real story of her father’s death. Perhaps a quick death would also be too kind since he will certainly suffer much more being an inmate in the prison he used to run.

Lucifer envies Decker’s relationship with her father, even though it was cut short. Lucifer’s “job” was to work for his father, meting out punishment to those who deserved it. Decker could have taken it upon herself to punish the man who tore her family apart, but she chooses to rely on the legal system instead. This episode resolves many of Decker’s issues surrounding her father’s death.  In contrast, Lucifer’s daddy issues are still out there.

Maze’s talent for tracking down wayward humans literally pays off. Though Dr. Linda previously refused to see her, she goes to Dr. Linda’s office and invites her out to celebrate. She pushes her very first check ever under the door, but Dr. Linda still won’t speak to her. Just when Maze gives up, Linda relents and opens the door. She asks Maze how they can possibly be friends. Maze explains that she and Lucifer are just the same as they have always been, so what is the difference? It’s not much of an explanation, but it’s enough. The two friends reconcile.

Finding the truth of one’s existence forms the main theme of this week’s episode. Detective Douche suggests that life consists of one long series of mistakes. In a way, that’s true. Lucifer reverts to his normal persona and wardrobe, and Maze finds that her skills can be useful. Decker finds out the truth about her father’s death, which must feel like a resolution of some kind. Dr. Linda begins to accept the strange position in which she finds herself. While not as emotionally hard-hitting as prior weeks, this show, which was all about adjustment, provides an adjustment to the new direction of the storylines on the show. It may be coincidence but the focus on Decker in this episode could be because this episode was written and directed by women. For a while it looked like Decker and the police cases were going to take a backseat; it may be that there are more surprises in store in the future.

Grade: B+