Lucifer 108 + 109 "Et Tu Doctor?" and "A Priest Walks Into A Bar"

Today we're going to talk about episodes 108 and 109 , titles of which are Et Tu Doctor and A Priest Walks Into the Bar . Yeah , so these are two really good episodes . I think the Priest Walks Into the Bar is maybe one of the best episodes of the whole series .

Yeah , it's definitely the best of this season and one of the best in the series , definitely , yeah , all right , so you see where we're going to land on this one . It's a little spoiler .

So let's start with Et Tu Doctor , though One of the things that I mean I think we've seen Lucifer kind of project his feelings onto the cases before , but this one , like more so , I think , than others .

Yes , this was one of the first where we saw just so plainly how things that were playing out in the case were reflecting back to him what was going on in his life . So that kind of underscores the fact that Lucifer really isn't very emotionally intelligent . You know , he's lived for millennia and he has never before experienced jealousy . And why would he have ?

He is the devil , like . He actually says that the devil doesn't get jealous because anything that he's ever wanted he could take , with the exception of the rebellion . That's the only thing he's ever wanted and tried for and didn't get . But even then there wasn't a sense of jealousy .

It was , you know , that was had more to do with power dynamics than wanting something he couldn't have , so it's understandable that he would have this outsized reaction to the case .

That is all about jealousy on multiple angles , and so he gets to see many different versions of what jealousy looks like and kind of try them on himself , before getting the self-knowledge enough to be like yes , that is what's going on , and I need to downplay it a little bit Like he doesn't even he doesn't have the emotional intelligence not to be jealous in

public , if you know what I mean . And so , like that , one of the things that we see him learning is not just the ability to understand his emotions , but also the ability to know how to be socially acceptable with them .

But but in this , in this episode , there's some like reciprocal mutual regard expressed , both for how they do their jobs but also around Lucifer , which I think is a really interesting in this episode about jealousy .

Right , linda , it would make sense if Linda were jealous , right , she sees that that Lucifer has an emotional attachment to Chloe that is bigger than and different than the one he has with her , but there doesn't seem to be any jealousy at all . So I think that's an interesting thing . I do want to talk about Linda .

We mentioned this on an earlier episode about how , like he taught , he describes himself as walking heroin , you know , and in this episode , may says to her it doesn't end well when sleeping with my boss , but and I think this is again where we do such a great job of kind of like tying up things , even if you don't notice them on the first watch through when

he is in her office after she has gotten all the patient files and she won't let him look at them . And he says to her don't you want to help me ? And he , like , looks at her and there is a moment of like , oh , oh .

And it's that , the like , the bringing out the desire moment , and that seems like that's when she switches from wanting to sleep with him to wanting to be the best possible therapist for him .

And I feel like that helps explain why she does some things that are kind of out of character later on , like busting him out of a mental institution in the second season , because she is very intelligent , a person who it clearly takes her work seriously , and yet she does things that are not very smart to help Lucifer on occasion .

And that kind of explains it if we take it as he has activated her desire to help him in a therapist scenario rather than have sex with him , but she still wants to do yes , right , I mean , I think that's in that confession to Chloe , in that moment of confession , chloe , when she says , like that you were sleeping with him , and she's like , oh , I am , I

am , but I think maybe I shouldn't . There's . It's not about like an either , or it's just about which one is stronger when they can't ? both be true Co-exist yeah , yeah , I would agree with that . I think it's .

Also it gives another way of it doesn't end well when he fulfills your desires , just thinking of , like what that's , even when the desire is not sex . There is some fallout for Linda , but again , that's in future episodes , yeah , yeah . So back to this episode .

And well , both of these episodes , I think the untrustworthiness of Amenadio , which just keeps being underscored , right Like these , like clandestine meetings and parking garages with Malcolm , yes , and then the big reveal at the end of the second episode that we're talking about today , which I feel like has been hinted at , especially if you pay attention to the

previously on Lucifer , they make sure to show Amenadio say I just need to find a thug , a pitiful thug , to end you . Yeah , I like that . Can I just say I love Malcolm as a villain . I think he's my favorite villain of the entire series and it's because he is so enjoying himself .

I read something somewhere people were talking about like one of the things they miss about old movies is the villains were just having a ball doing bad shit , and they gave the example of Ursula from the Little Mermaid , and so that's kind of how I feel about Malcolm Like he's just enjoying the hell out of doing horrible things , and I like watching him .

That actor , I think like he's chewing the scenery , but in ways where it's like he died and came back to life . Scenery chewing seems reasonable . The way he reacts to eating , like he takes a bite of a donut he's like , oh my God , did this taste so good before I died ? And the way that he kind of he's so smarmy , so smarmy .

But it's such a gross like terrible villain and I'm so glad when he's defeated . But I just I have fun watching him , cause I feel like Kevin Rankin , the actor , had fun playing him and there's this undercurrent of enjoyment and that also makes sense with his characterization too .

And when later on it's not in these two episodes later on you find out what happened to him in hell , it all like fits in and it's just enjoyable . Well , later on , like in another , in a future episode , Maze even indicates that that sort of insatiable hunger is normal .

It's characteristic for a soul that comes back into a physical body after having been in hell . But yeah , I mean , that's another one of those . We talked in a previous episode about these writers playing long game and I feel like , at least within this season , malcolm's characterization was part of the long game .

You know , like the way he's eating in these couple of episodes actually then gets explained later by what I just said and his behavior in general . I think they really knew precisely what effect having been to hell and come back would have on this already corrupt character before his death .

So and I think they really like they gave it to us in pieces in ways that is very satisfying as a viewer .

Yeah , speaking of the long game , dan in these two episodes , the first time I watched this , when Dan and Chloe kissed in Etude Doctor , I remember being a bit conflicted because I liked Dan so much and I was just like I want them together for Trixie , I like them as a family , but I really want Lucifer and Chloe together and that they pull that rug out from

under you immediately . So you find out that Dan is the corrupt cop and that he not only was involved in Palmetto but he was gaslighting Chloe this entire time to protect himself .

And that's dynamic , like the nuance of that character , because I still after that I was still rooting for him is not quite the right word , but like I between him and Malcolm , I very much wanted Dan to prevail . I very much felt like Dan was , was redeemable , whereas Malcolm was not . But who , boy that's .

That's some pretty dark stuff that he has done and some pretty terrible stuff that he has done to come back from .

And I really actually underscores Father Frank's message in the second , like there's no giving up on anyone , we're all redeemable , god has not forgotten any of us , and so that's like the undercurrent of that message with a character like Dan , who I know , kevin Alejandro has spoken in ways that he thought that Dan was not liked for , and understandably , because he

awful things I think that some people don't like . I mean like the Lucy fan Twitterverse , whatever you know , and not Tumblr , red red red . I have seen several folks on Reddit being like I just don't like him . I'm watching it for the first time and I just don't like Dan . How long I have to put up with Dan , but because I can't please all the people .

Yeah , I really loved Dan throughout During my first watch .

There are one of the things that I really appreciated about the show during my first watch through is how much I love all the regular characters and in different ways and for different reasons , and I thought that was really really well done and giving this character that I had come to really like , even though , like there's some real unpleasant tension between him

and Chloe , you know , which is understandable . They're they're they're separated , they're co-parenting , they're doing some things in front of their daughter that I would prefer not to see co-parents do in front of their daughter , but I really liked him .

This like pulled the rug out from under me and yet I still was able to trust him enough that he could bring himself back and be someone I could root for , and that that's just amazing , particularly considering he's a corrupt cop . And again , some of this is it gets into the copaganda stuff that we've talked about and how , how that is . It's written for me .

I'm a privileged white lady . Copaganda is written to to make me feel good , but it's also very much about the story of redemption that this entire season , this entire show is that I so appreciate , and that you can make not only mistakes but huge , horrible mistakes and still find your way to goodness and still be redeemable if you put the work in .

Yes , I think that Father Frank's message in these , in this , at this point in the series , is really relevant vis-a-vis Dan . Yeah , I think that that's part of that like long game that we're gonna see . He was interesting too .

I don't believe that the writers knew when they wrote the Father Frank episode , but they clearly had a direction in mind that Father Frank said how do you know , the plan is like you know , god's plan for you Lucifer is over . Yeah , I think that that . I don't think .

In fact , I know they didn't know specifically how sex was gonna , you know , eventually wrap up , but even that they had enough wherewithal for that seed to be planted that later bears fruit in season six . I think is pretty remarkable . I saw an interview with the fellow who wrote this episode and he said he had to fight for it .

There were folks at the network who were like not enough cop , not enough procedural in this , too much character , and yet this is everyone's favorite episode of the first season . Yeah , I mean , that's actually what they were . That's this interview that I saw .

That's what they were saying like Tom Ellis , lauren German , aldi , like everybody's like love this episode so much . Something about . There are clearly themes that resonate for the writers of this show , that also resonate for me , and you know , it might be because we're similar generations , similar whatever .

But even the way that Father Frank , as he's dying , says I kept asking why God put you in my path . But now I'm realizing maybe he put me in yours . Like , is that significance ? The ways that we influence others without realizing it Is so there's something about it that I find really like exciting , comforting and satisfying that notion .

You know that we don't even know what kinds of effects we're having as we're interacting with people . I was just thinking about this very thing . Yesterday , someone I follow on Twitter was talking about how , because of YouTube , she's been getting into French club music , and so there was an album that I bought when I was in France in 2000 .

The band was called Tete they are , I believe , black immigrants to France and the album is called Le Rue du Lien .

It's just air of nothing , and I loved that album Like I listened to it so many times , and so I shared it with my friend on Twitter and I was thinking this band has no idea that some random white lady in Milwaukee loves their album and has listened to it over and over and over again and knows all the words in French .

And now I was fluent dish in French at the time , but it's not easy .

Like you know how hard it is to be to know the words of a song you like in English , and so and I was thinking like that's the sort of thing like you put something out in the world , you have no idea where it's going to end up , and it's almost like a message in a bottle and it could mean everything to the person that it ends up with and you'll never

have any way of knowing . And there's something so thrilling about that idea and know exactly what you mean . Like the father Frank makes a difference for Lucifer forever , and you have no way of knowing that , and that's that is so . I agree . It's such an exciting idea and it's something that I have been thinking about . I also with . I was talking to Joe .

For those of you don't know , I have a book that I co wrote with my friend , joe , so I'll see how we were talking about our influences , and it's a book about money , and one of my influences was the Canadian murder mystery cozy written in the late late 70s or early 80s , that I read over and over again when I started , when I was about 11 .

If you probably remember it , the book with the with the arrow on the cover , the Grubbin Stakers Move a Mountain by Alyssa Craig oh , I remember that name .

Yes , all of my one liners come from that book , every single one of them , and the thing is like that author would be so confused to know that I have one liners in a finance book coming out in 2021 , based on a book that came out more than 40 years before . That it's funny , it's ridiculous . So , yes , I totally .

That resonates with me in such an important way and I didn't think of it that way until you said it just like that . I would love to talk about music a little bit in the Father Frank episode as well . Yeah , let's do it . So music , yes . So obviously that's how Father Frank and Lucifer connect .

Lucifer is convinced he and Frank have absolutely nothing in common and he in fact brings into the Lux in order to embarrass him , to make him feel uncomfortable , and Frank is just like . This is home to me . I grew up in places like this and with the scantily clad nuns you know dancing in front of him .

He's too busy , like wrapped up in music , and it's pop music . That's the thing that really . I really appreciate is that it's modern , recent pop music , and I have trouble describing myself as someone who loves music , because in my head there's one specific way to love music .

I'm like , yeah , and they'd be right , but you know , I don't read it , I don't understand it , and so that was something that I really appreciated in the showing that music bridges all kinds of gaps between people . It's kind of a I'm not gonna say universal , but it's a language that we can speak even if we don't speak other languages in common .

I think it also the suggestion of this episode is that the music is real , the connections that the music forges are real connections , like they're not superficial connections , but genuine , authentic relationship is at least initiated through shared music , which I think is also significant . It's not just like , oh , we like the same song and like that's it .

You know they clearly , as we just got finished saying , lucifer and Father Frank have some sort of real connection as a result of this day they spend together . Yeah , well , and it's some of the stuff that we've talked about offline and I like talk about offline that . You know , my husband's not very interested in Lucifer .

The connection that you make with other people who appreciate the same art you do is meaningful . You know there is meaning when you can . You know both appreciate something and , in Frank and Lucifer's case , create something together . You know they're playing together and they're creating this joyful expression of enjoyment and like and the playful teasing of each other .

You know , what's interesting is that when they realize that Chloe is there watching , they stop , yeah , which speaks to the intimacy of the connection and I don't mean sexual , but there was something about it belonging to the two of them , yes . And when they realize there was a third , there it stopped .

They both stopped , yes , yeah , because it wasn't for an audience . And that's the other thing that's interesting , because music you know you think of as music for an audience .

You think of creating art for an audience and sometimes it's just for yourself or you and the person you're sharing it with , and that's also like a really interesting kind of intimacy and connection . The other thing and you know some of this has to do with the fact that Father Frank is Catholic .

A lot of the antecedents of Lucifer in terms of his mythos is gonna be Catholic because of just where the stories come from and how they've been changed throughout the centuries as Christianity is plundered again and again .

But one of the things I get very fascinated by extremes of religion and I can remember reading an essay by an evangelical Christian kid that he'd actually plagiarized from someone else .

It was really interesting where the entire thing was having a dream about all the sins that he'd had and Jesus accepting all of them , and it's a window into a world I don't understand and I find it fascinating .

But the essay , one of the things that he said and I just couldn't get over my outrage was that some of the sins that he had taken part in was all of this music , that he'd wasted time listening to , all of this pop music , and I just remember being like , why is that not okay ? Why can we not experience joy ?

And isn't music a way of connecting with the divine ? I mean like , isn't art a way of connecting with the divine ?

Like , I know I'm not the only person who , upon experiencing an incredible piece of art , music it's happened on occasion with novels , with movies , tv show where I get goosebumps and like that's the closest I feel at a connection to like the creator , other than if I learn a new piece of information about the age of the earth or about the size of the universe .

I get the same with goosebumps , in the same sense of like I am not alone . I mean obviously , but there's more . We are not alone in this . There is something greater and this is a connection to it . And so that's something I really appreciate is a mainstream show that is talking about Christianity .

That made it clear that not only music and it's not just music because it could just be like the kind of music you hear in church , but all music , that pop music , that rock and roll , that , any music that moves you , is a connection to the divine and I , like I so appreciate that , particularly since I know that there is a world out there that thinks that

that is not true . I don't know anything about the specific evangelical thoughts about music , so I'm not going to comment on that , but what's coming up for me is that in the Bible there's a scene where David , king David , is like so ecstatic he's singing and dancing before the Lord because he's feeling so moved by God .

And Mikhail , saul's daughter , sees him and is like yuck , you shouldn't do that , you shouldn't . That is undignified . So what I'm grappling with is the fact that you know , for thousands of years , this debate about the power of music and whether or not it is appropriate has been happening . So throw it back to David and Mikhail .

But also , and also I have Leonard Cohen in my head , leonard Cohen's Hallelujah . David played a chord . David played the Lord .

But the fact that Lucifer an angel within the universe that the show has set up , at one point at least God's favorite son , would be musically inclined , actually makes sense with what you're saying about the power of music , but also with the tradition , in the ways that David , who similarly was a favorite of the , god of Lucifer a favorite , was musically inclined

and hence the Psalms were originally songs and were meant to be , many of them written by King David . So I just think that's interesting . And there are other moments too Laura , david , miriam and the women sing a new song on the song of the sea , after crossing dry land between two walls of water .

So there's definitely like song is and the idea of song is very , very old as a way to praise or engage or connect with the divine . I so appreciate the importance that music plays in the show as well . Listening to the soundtrack from this , I found a whole bunch of wonderful artists I wouldn't have otherwise heard .

I actually this show is what introduced me to Nina Simone , which , yes , I had heard of her and I'm sure I'd heard her songs , but it was what got me to like , oh , I need to look her up and listen to everything she did Amazing character , yeah , amazing , and so the that .

And then having this particular episode where music plays such a central role in the connection between Lucifer and Frank and their commonality , which is embodied by the music , it's like represented by the music , but their commonality is much deeper than that is just really exciting to me in a way that I I don't know , I feel like we don't have a whole lot of

pop culture that well , maybe we do , but that celebrates the importance of art in this way , in the same way the good place celebrated the importance of philosophy , and so that's something that I just I think is really exciting and important and would love to see .

I mean , like there's so many movies about making movies and there's television shows about making television shows and things like that . This is more of a further remove . It's a television show about the importance of art . Maybe I overthunk it , you probably did , but hey , that's what we do . Right , that's what we do .

So you know , the other thing that I appreciate about the Father Frank storyline is that they show us a another example of how to be a good person who's not perfect . He is so very good . He's a very , very good character , good person .

He's doing so much to try to help Conor , the child who he feels the connection to because they were in that car accident together . He lost his child , his child lost their parents , but he lies , he breaks the law , he fights , he hits . Yeah , here we're asked the guy , the drug dealer , the deceased , the original drug dealer .

Yeah , he recognizes his own imperfections . And I just , I really appreciate that example of showing us like , because it would be very easy to make him perfect , and that's something that it's that I think writers fall victim to .

Like , we want to show how good this character is , so like no flaws , and Father Frank has several , has many , even you know when , when Chloe asks him like , why did you break the restraining order ? He's like I , I , I answered Ohio authority .

I'm like you know , in any other character that would really piss me off and that's really not an okay thing to say . But you know , we , we , we understand him to be an imperfect person trying to do good . I'm going to suggest we've overthunk it enough for today , you know , yeah , yeah , do you have any final stray fluffy thoughts ?

I like the fluffy thoughts . Oh well , yeah , I think from Ed to Dr , I appreciate it . Like Chloe says , you really didn't see any similarity . You know , and it's they just have an unspoken agreement . They're not going to talk about the fact that he's jealous Because she says no , I didn't see that . Totally different . You know which .

You know they , they don't lie to one another and yet they agree unspokenly that they're not going to talk about this , which I appreciate it . It made me smile on this rewatch that all my closing PS . I want my closing . I want to say you and I talked about this , I think offline last time . We talked about the Father Frank episode .

That's what Lucifer is playing when Chloe comes to check in on him , is knocking on heaven's door , which was what Father Frank played me describing as this news fest , and I appreciate that on so many levels .

I mean which song it was that he chose , which is , you know , it's a rock song but very religious one in some ways , that he played it because Father Frank played it and he was doing it for himself . He's doing it for that connection to Frank , who is now , we can hope , in the Silver City .

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