"City of Angels?" is the eleventh episode of the third season of Lucifer.
Summary[]
"In a flashback episode that takes place when Lucifer first came to LA, Amenadiel comes to retrieve his fallen brother, but is shocked when he is mugged. Amenadiel enlists Lucifer's help to track down the mugger and Lucifer, in turn, offers his assistance - but only in exchange for a favor. Meanwhile, Chloe and Dan - who are still married - investigate the murder of an MMA fighter, Aidan Scott, at the hands of the same killer who mugged Amenadiel."[1]
Plot[]
The episode opens with Lucifer happily walking down a street LA, wearing a suit inspired by the 1977 movie, Saturday Night Fever, once the height of fashion. A woman passing by remarks that his suit looks like one her grandfather had, Lucifer is surprised, saying that it was all the rage the last time he visited. When she asks if he's in town on business, he replies, “Pleasure. Always pleasure.”
Lucifer is then seen indulging himself with at least a half a dozen young women in comfortable rental. Amenadiel then appears prompting his brother to complain that for a being who can control time, Amenadiel has terrible timing. Amenadiel tells him he must go back to Hell, and Lucifer reluctantly agrees to do so if allowed to say his goodbyes, “I mean, that's just manners, isn't it? Not that you'd know.” Amenadiel grants him ten minutes and goes outside. While waiting on the street, a passing jogger cheerfully compliments Amenadiel's “dress.” A moment later, the angel hears gunfire and a masked man rushes up, apparently surprised by Amenadiel's presence. He shoots the angel, who, startled, collapses. The man steals his necklace and then runs off.
When Amenadiel recovers, he realizes the necklace is missing and goes inside to change and tell Lucifer he should wait for his return. He then heads to the police station to report the theft to a young uniformed officer, Chloe Decker, “I respect the rule of human law, which is why I'm seeking your assistance in a matter of utmost importance.” He provides her with an approximate value; “Priceless beyond measure,” and a sketch of the suspect – which looked rather like a jack-o-lantern. Chloe believes she is being pranked.
While taking Amendaiel's statement, Chloe stops to take a phone call from her husband, Dan. He tells her that he can't make date night because he just picked up a murder case. When Dan then tells her where the murder occurred, she says a robbery just reported was in that area and wonders if the two cases are related, when she turns back to Amenadiel, she finds him gone.
Amenadiel returns to Lucifer and as he knows humans better, asks for his help. Lucifer is in his element, he will grant a favor for a return favor to be named later. They head to a patio bar where a news report on the shooting gives Lucifer his first lead, a familiar bosom seen beside the victim's photo. Amenadiel recognizes the victim as the jogger he saw, and thinks that whoever killed Aiden Scott stole his necklace, and if they find the murderer, they find the necklace.
Chloe heads out to the robbery location and finds a key fob, the fob leads her to the gym where the shooting victim, Aiden Scott, was training. She talks to Gil, the owner of the gym and Aiden's trainer, and learns that he had recently butted heads with promoter, Tio Sorrento, and his tattooed thug.
The owner of the breasts Lucifer recognized is Misty Canyons, a well known porn star, who was also Aiden's girlfriend. Lucifer is a fan, and she tells him, "If you really want to rebel, move to LA...I have never been happier, freer.” Once she is told Aiden is dead, she informs Amenadiel that Aiden was offered money to throw his next match, but he refused, he thought he could win fairly. She doesn't know anything other than where the fight was supposed to take place, Rico's in Hollywood.
Tio Sorrento's place, Rico's, becomes the focus of all the investigators. Lucifer says he could get used to such a place. Chloe enters and spots the tattooed man described by Gil, and chases him down, while meanwhile, the angels speak to Tio and convince him to allow Amenadiel to fight in Aiden's place after he knocks out the former heavyweight champ with one punch. Lucifer then explains to his brother, “our killer/necklace thief undoubtedly murdered Aiden Scott for refusing to throw his fight. So, in order to flush out our killer/necklace thief, we need to get them to approach you the same way that he or she approached our dead fighter.” He tells Amenadiel he must not show his celestial strength or use time manipulation, but learn to fight like a human, “Give us your worst.”
Watching Amenadiel train, Lucifer tells Tio that nothing is more important to him than cash. Tio offers to pay him if they agree to take a fall. Lucifer then knocks him out, and takes him back to his hotel room for questioning. Amenadiel says Tio claims not to know anything about the necklace, and suggests torture. Lucifer says that he usually delegates that kind of work, so he popped down to Hell to bring back Mazikeen.
She tells Tio, “I'm a demon, and I've risen from the bowels of Hell to torture you.... I'm here for the truth.... Asphyxiation? Electrocution? There are so many ways I could hurt you. I just can't decide. Wow. I'm on fire, aren't you?” She then jumps Tio, and discovers he knows nothing. Her only lead they get is that someone placed an anonymous bet of $500,000 on Aiden losing. Amenadiel thinks that whoever placed the bet is the murderer and the one who stole the necklace. Unfortunately, Tio only communicated with that guy through burner phones and dead drops. They have Maze persuade Tio to convince the anonymous better to take the same deal on Amenadiel losing. The plan is to wait at the money drop and whoever shows up is the killer.
Chloe pays a visit to Charlotte Richards and lets her know her client, Tio should cooperate with her investigation. Charlotte tells her she is a high end attorney dealing with such families as the Sarkasians and Sovolovs, and Chloe is a ticket writer. Chloe calmly suggests, “I thought the Sarkisians and the Sokolovs were at war over their bookmaking operations. I wonder how they'd feel if they knew that their lawyer was double-dipping." She gets Charlotte's assistance, and Tio swears that he didn't kill Aiden, and agrees to drop off the money to aid the police.
As Ameneadiel prepares for his fight, Lucifer comments that he is surprised, “I didn't expect you to be so happy to lose your first fight ever, Brother. And to a human, no less.” Amenadiel contemptuously says the fight doesn't count since he will lose deliberately. He then thanks Lucifer for his help. Lucifer says, "That's why you asked me, someone crafty, smart...." but when Amenadiel adds "evil" Lucifer is stunned and hurt, “Evil?” Amenadiel says, “if you want to find a deplorable criminal, you just ask a... well, you know what I mean, Luci.”
He enters the ring, and the announcer says that after a scratch, Lucifer Morningstar will be his opponent. Lucifer is furious, and they fight viciously for a few moments, as Lucifer taunts his brother, “You're just as bad as me, Brother. Pride is your sin, too.” Amenadiel then stops fighting, refusing to continue. Lucifer is then declared winner by the ref.
Dan and Chloe stakeout the money drop, and wait for the murderer to show up and take his winnings, as do Amenadiel and Lucifer, who tells his brother that his swallowing his pride and taking the loss was impressive, and wonders if time on Earth has softened him. Sorrento drops off the money, and a few moments later, Gil shows up to take it. Chloe goes after Gil, but there is the sound of wings, and although she finds the money bag, Gil has vanished.
In the hotel room with Amenadiel and Lucifer, Gil is questioned. He does not recognize Amenadiel, and has to be told who he is. He offers to get him a new necklace, the theft wasn't part of the plan – the murder had been an accident too. He says that Aiden was like a son to him, but that he wanted to fix the match, bet on it, and earn some money. Aiden refused the deal, and Gil wanted to scare him, but Aiden fought back, so Gil panicked and shot him. He shot Amenadiel, too as he didn't know how much he had seen. He then tells Amenadiel that his necklace was in the gym, in the safe. Lucifer, however, isn't done, he is angry Gil killed someone he considered a son, flashing his devil face, he makes Gil sorry. They then drop Gill off at the beach moments after taking him. He babbles to Chloe and Dan, "I did it. I killed him. I killed Aiden Scott"
Amenadiel meets Lucifer at Rico's, the club is empty, and Lucifer seems to be studying the place. He tells Amenadiel “I've realized something here in this City of Angels...that I really am no longer one anymore, and if that's true, then why am I still trying to please Father? Eons - eons - spent condemned to my fate in Hell, and yet I'm still trying to seek His approval, still playing a part in His play. Well, no more, Brother. He abandoned me, so why shouldn't I abandon Him? It's time I fully accept how everyone else sees me: the rebel. As a wise woman once said to me, 'If you really want to rebel, move to L.A.'" Lucifer then says the favor Amenadiel owes is to leave him be. When Amenadiel objects, Lucifer asks if it isn't a sin for an angel to break a vow. Amenadiel warns his brother about his choice, and Lucifer simply replies they will know where to find him. Amenadiel leaves, Lucifer looks around and says, "This place could use a piano."
That night, Lucifer and Maze visit the beach, and he unfurls his wings. A weeping Maze cuts them off, as he stares challengingly upward.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar
- Lauren German as Chloe Decker
- Kevin Alejandro as Dan Espinoza
- D.B. Woodside as Amenadiel
- Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen
- Tricia Helfer as Charlotte Richards
- Aimee Garcia (credit only)
- Scarlett Estevez (credit only)
- Rachael Harris (credit only)
Guest Starring[]
- Chris Mulkey as Gil
- John Charles Meyer as Tio
- Taylor Black as Misty Canyons
Co-Starring[]
- Stephen Adekolu as Aiden Scott
- Devon Alexander as Frazzled AD
- LJ Batinas as Homeless Dude
- Sonia Beeksma as News Anchor
- Paul Cheng as Other Fighter
- Chris Franco as Stunt Ref
- Julian Haig as Tailor
- Jordan Kilik as Bartender
- Louis Lay as Receptionist
- Myrasol Martinez as Front Desk Girl
- Raquel Pomplun as Sexy Jogger
- Tyler Seiple as Pianist
- Jason Simpson as Emcee
Featured Music[]
- "American Funeral" - Joseph Angel
Trivia[]
- The episode was originally named "Eenie Meenie Minie Me".[2]
- Lucifer is the one who says the title in the episode.
- This was one of 4 episodes filmed as part of season 2 but planned and shown as a standalone episode in season 3.
- This is the first episode where Lucifer and Chloe do not interact with one another, something that would not happen again until season 5.
- Both Lucifer and Amenadiel were indirectly responsible for Chloe getting promoted to detective.
- Lucifer did seem to feel a presence (from Chloe) while they obliviously stood beside each other in Rico's.
- Until the events that transpired in this episode, Amenadiel had never been defeated in combat. As Lucifer makes this claim, it is true.
- Amenadiel is revealed to have left Lucifer and Maze alone for five years.
- It is revealed that the reason Lucifer brought Maze to Earth in the first place is to track down Amenadiel's necklace.
- Off-screen, Lucifer traveled to Earth-1, briefly bringing John Constantine back to open a portal to Earth-666's Hell to liberate Maze.
- Though Post-Crisis, since the multiverse was recreated to keep the mortals of the universes ignorant of each other again, it seems this was changed to Lucifer bringing Maze himself.
- Crisis on Infinite Earths revealed that this episode took place on the previous version of Earth-666.