Lucifer 106 & 107 "Favorite Son" & "Wingman"

And if people who are watching us talk about this probably already know this , but the fact that Lucifer was not supposed to sing , but Joe and LD , the show runners , heard him sing at a when they had a cast , herio , herio , key , and they're like holy cow , you can sing , oh , I can , he can , yeah .

So , and that actually , I feel like in some ways , this is where the show gets it stride , because , I mean , some of it is like we have things that become integral parts of this character , like the singing in this , but it takes a break from the straight procedural and we get into the celestial stuff .

In these two episodes we actually start seeing that there's more than just the human world . Yeah , there were hints of it , but definitely kept them separate up until this point .

I think that , like sets up because it could , it could go several ways , you know . I think that different conceptions of Lucifer I think even in the comic book though I didn't read it , I only read about it suggests that he has some of the kind of higher sense of like , not omniscience or but something in that direction .

But this makes it clear that there is none of that like though they are his wings , like once they were severed , like he actually doesn't have kind of a connection to know that there's something going on around around them . I think that was is also kind of an interesting , you know , starting to build up the boundaries of his power Suddenly , suddenly .

So I thought that was kind of interesting . I also like one of the things about favorite son is that now that we were invested in him you know we watched already five episodes we as an audience are invested in him like he's kind of a dick in this episode in ways that he hadn't been .

I mean , he was kind of flippant in earlier episodes , but like when he shows up and he's like boring , like in the presence of the dead body and close like what you know , like , and he just , he just is much more of a jerk in this episode than he has been before and I think actually even then he is going forward like it's one of those things like how

much jerkiness are we willing to accept from him ? I think this this episode kind of tests that a little bit .

So he obscures the truth with loose with Chloe when he says like it was Russian dolls and like he clearly put the Russian dolls in there . So if he was pressed he could tell the truth . But it doesn't matter , you know . Like it matters to her because she's like what criminal enterprise you involved in ?

But like ultimately it's not anything that she needs to worry about , her is going to affect your life . And so I think that was in the issue that I read . It was a lie that ended up with this , this person being like a damned soul , and you know it was just like that . That . No , that's not okay .

And that's when I decided like I don't think I'm into the comic book Lucifer and that's something that's interesting .

As you continue along the series , he starts to learn the limits of his like well , tell the truth technically , no lie sensibility and how that can be weasley , and he grapples with that , which is something that I don't think the Mill game and Mike Kerry for the comic book necessarily grapples with .

I mean , we've already seen him as an adversarial character , for sure , but the level that we can't trust him , especially given the second episode that we're talking about , given wingman when he comes and is supposedly assisting Lucifer in retrieving the wings and then we find out that it was he who arranged for them to be stolen in the first place and the man

died as a result , like two men died because the actual thief jumped off the building . Yeah , yeah .

Now , I mean he knows Lucifer and Lucifer we have never seen him show that kind of violence towards a woman in like .

So and I want to give a menadil the benefit of the doubt that he was thinking like , oh , he's not gonna hurt her , but I don't know if I'm gonna go with care .

If he can steal from you , now no big deal , it doesn't bother you , it doesn't bother me . And it's just like , wow , he doesn't recognize that she's manipulating him . He hates being manipulated . Yeah , and it has gotten me thinking about the fact that he consistently says he hates being manipulated , and I think in some of it is because he's easily manipulated .

Oh , easily manipulated .

Michael , possibly I mean Michael suggests that he has manipulated Lucifer actually to the rebellion way back in the beginning of time . Because of all of this character building that we've seen , it actually is believable that he would have been manipulated into that .

He's because he is so easily manipulated One of the other really big things that is introduced here that when you and I talked about it offline I was feeling like the show runners were maybe inconsistent about it . But now I've come to an explanation that I feel satisfied with so I want to share , which is the wings and the effect of the wings on humanity .

Like both Emanadiel and Lucifer are , like humanity cannot interact with the wings because they are a sign of divinity and , like the atheist auctioneer guy , like I , can't live without them and thief would suffer .

Nailed it Well , and he nailed the smarmy . Like you know , don't believe in or care about anything , auctioneer as well . So you were saying I didn't want to .

Oh , it's season three , with that amazing green screen scene where Tom Ellis is cradling Lauren German and like shielding her with the wings . Like I remember watching that and being like why even the bad guys , even bad guys , are not gonna shoot at a freaking angel .

And I realized and this is actually I think you and I talked about Adam from season six , that made me kind of realize this the original wings , the first set of wings that were cut off , were literally made by God's hand . But then the replacement wings , like the wings that grow back , were self actualized by Lucifer's cosmic stuff , not by God directly .

And so , while they remain celestial and they were made on earth , true , and they were made on earth and so , though they remain celestial , they are not , like the first set , actually directly from God , and so that difference is enough for me .

I still don't know that like , even like died in the wall , you know psychopath , like never done a good thing in your life would shoot at a literal angel . I'm still not certain about that , but at least I can make sense of that . It's not like driving them insane for having seen did it , so I wouldn't like .

That was a little like insight , overthinking it , moment that I wanted to share with you and our audience .

And I was thinking like that's the first time he's referred to her as his friend and there's , you know , it's one of those like make my friend feel better . But it just there seems to be something like a little bit more there , just in the way he delivers the line .

And then at the end of wingman he and Maze have a conversation where he says like I know this isn't what you signed up for , I know this isn't what you bargained for , but and she goes , but nothing . And it's something that I thought was really interesting and important and kind of undercuts a little bit .

Well , not undercuts , like later on when she ends up betraying him , it shows what the betrayal is .

You know that there is a real friendship there , but you so rarely see Lucifer acknowledge who she is to him and what she does for him , rather than it just being like you're just a demon , and so I thought that that was interesting , like little character moments , that kind of bookended , these two episodes that were interesting .

There was one other thing that I mentioned it earlier and I just wanna mention it here .

So when Chloe meets Menadiel , and she's surprised and like I was trying to think like , okay , are they trying to be quote unquote realistic because people would be surprised , and she is very clearly like blight about it and it's just like , oh , I didn't expect your brother to be so handsome , you know , like covers it , which is probably truly what people would do

. On the other hand , why does it gotta be a surprise ? You know , like he's his brother .

Is it necessary ? And I wish we didn't have to have that because it's just like who cares ? The brothers ?

Like , even if it were just you know , tom Ellis , and if it were , tom Ellis and Menadiel were played more like the way he was drawn in the , in the in the comic , and looked like Legolas , the you know Elvin Archer , with like long blonde hair or something , there still would be like a . There is not a resemblance . And there is .

I mean , look at us , we have Facebook friends who are like wait , which is which ? Like there's a resemblance .

Yeah , so like , yes , and like , I mean I think that I actually think that it was handled in a an appropriate way , because there was surprise , but it wasn't like . You know , how could you ?

But actually , like when we minimize difference , we also kind of we can erase the consequences of difference , and so I'm not sure that I would want the characters to just be like oh yeah , your brother's , of course you are .

I see that , Cause I think that would actually erase which the show actually gets into , the reality of the difference of race later , Not so far , and I think that's an important step , you know , so that we're not like we don't need to pretend that Lucifer , that Tom Ellis and DB Woodside look as though they came from the same biological parents .

We don't need to pretend that .

And I'm thinking of when I meet Jews of color who have to deal with the constant oh you're Jewish kind of surprise . And I guess that's what I'm responding to is more that how frustrating that would be for the people who are in that position , rather than the specifics of how it's handled in the show . I guess it's more that .

But again here's me overthinking it .

Like offline we've talked a little bit about how much women are not necessarily taken at their word and how important it is to just take people at their word and Lucifer to introduce a menadil as my brother and just have it be like okay , nice to meet you , menadil , and for someone , a Jew of color , to say Shabbat Shalom and instead of people who are like

wait , how do you know that you know , or start asking like can you sing the Shema , because I don't believe you , you know . Like that's where it's coming from , more so than the actual .

She didn't say how are you brothers , because that often is then like that Jew of color has to credential themselves and the white Jew feels entitled to ask how are you Jewish ? Which I mean , screw you , like do not , just don't , guys , don't ask , just don't ask , like that Don't ask . Anyway , and to her , to the show's credit , chloe doesn't say that .

She doesn't say how are you brothers , she doesn't even assume how they are brothers . She doesn't say , oh , different , different brothers , right , yeah . She just says , oh , I didn't expect him to be so handsome , you know so , which is again a gracious way of covering that momentary surprise . Right , I mean because we are .

We are acculturated to expect siblings like you and me you're below me in my screen to have facial resemblance . Yeah , and so when you meet two people and you don't assume that they are related and you find out they are , you know it's not . There is no shame in being surprised . It's what happens next .

So like acknowledging that you didn't know and now you do that doesn't feel like a that's fair .

For a little while , I was listening to a podcast where people were talking about Lucifer and one of the podcasters was black and was talking a little bit about some things that were frustrating to him , and he mentioned this as one of them , and I was like I can see where that would be frustrating .

Yeah , yeah , so , and so that's something like I'd like to keep an eye on . Now , speaking of Judaism , san'aiel .

So , no , the original name does not at all mean lightbringer .

I'm not talking about the earliest strata , but from later interpretations it's very clear to me that all of the attributes , all of the attributes of God , are equally essential , and so God's judgment or Dean , like the bit that would be the punisher in that constellation is as important as the bit that would be merciful . And so , no , I don't .

It doesn't necessarily connote it doesn't Not from the name , not from the name .

I was thinking about this too , because I talked to you about like for the way season six ended , but I feel like the show ends up being , in a lot of ways , about the importance of meaningful work and at the very beginning of favorite son , after he's been so rude about the , the debt security guard , and he's , like you know , 40 hours a week , 52 weeks a

year for 50 years . Like this is why , if I wanted to hell , I would have stayed in hell . And yet the , the meaningful work that all of them find , every character finds like work that is meaningful to them . I'm connecting that back to what you're saying . Every , every aspect of God is important because it's all meaningful things that need to be done .

It contributes to a whole right . Yes , yes , and that's that to me is is , I feel like just an important idea that we don't necessarily see Lucifer when he does things with intention , he's , he's happier and he has . So he was reacting throughout these two episodes because he's being manipulated and it's when he realizes I'm being manipulated . What do I want ?

I want to burn my wings . I want to make it abundantly clear this is my home now , and that , I think , is also a really good and important message to be taking from you know , a kind of time television show is like . Instead of simply reacting to the stimulus , stop , take a breath . What do you personally want ?

And one of the things that I actually find most not moving , but like that stays with me from these early seasons , is the image of the , the scars on his back , because they are , in some ways , an image of spite . You know , like he did , he literally cut something off of his face .

Literally did that , but there's also , like when he burns the wings , it's more of a like this is freedom , this is me defining who I am , and the fact that there there's these two meanings to something that's horrific I mean , that's like maiming yourself , basically is really interesting to me , like to the point where , like , I've had daydreamed about getting like

a tattoo of the scar . Yeah , yeah , not about it , and I'm like no , you know , buying a t-shirt is one thing , but yeah , but I just , I find that really really interesting and in its , you know , the redefining yourself with intention is is so freeing in so many ways .

I think that there's that that piece is missing , which is why he keeps doing the same things over and over again , cause he hasn't actually he hasn't actually done any healing around it yet .

Like , you need to define yourself , you need to know who you are , and part of what you're struggling with right now is the fact that you don't know who you are . You're putting on these personas , but who's the real you , which you know ? As we keep watching , we find out , like the the .

Why there's this connection with Khloe is because she can see him without the masks , without any of the persona , and so and so that's that's the thing that I feel like is is really well done and I really appreciate about the show is is is . It's focused on the importance of mental health and mental healing .

But I just don't believe that a persecuted man in the ancient Middle East was fat . I just don't believe it Like right , like it's true that Saul , who became Paul , was , I think , affluent initially , but then he became like .

He became this like crazy prophet for , you know , for the Messiah or the man Jesus who he thought was Messiah , and he was severely persecuted and kept in jail , and like he was not fat by our standards .

if you don't get along with your sibling , like when you have a shared joke , right . About your childhood or about shared experiences . Yeah , yeah , not that we don't get along , because we always do .

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