It turns out one of the best skits from the October 7, 2017 episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live was one that was cut for time. The three-minute video features Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett playing BFFs who head to the local burger joint for lunch. They’re sitting at a table munching on fries and rapping when in walks Gal Gadot. Obviously, they’re distracted by her beauty and when she asks if she can have a seat at their table, they immediately invite her to join them.
However, when she grabs the last fry without asking, they decide she’s not as cool as they thought.
Meanwhile, everyone except for the rapping BFFs are freaking out over the start of a nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. The oblivious rappers have no idea how close world is to nuclear annihilation.
Sarah Paulson as Ally Mayfair-Richards in ‘American Horror Story: Cult’ (Photo by Frank Ockenfels/FX)
The edited cut of FX’s American Horror Story: Cult episode six which aired on October 10, 2017 differs from the version screening on VOD and FX Networks’ FXNOW and FX+. Changes to episode six’s opening scenes were made due to the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas and out of respect for the hundreds of victims. FX issued the following statement the day prior to the episode’s premiere:
“In light of the tragedy last week in Las Vegas, Ryan Murphy and the producers of American Horror Story: Cult have chosen to make substantial edits to the opening scene of tomorrow night’s episode (Tuesday, October 10, 10 PM ET/PT). This opening, which was filmed two months ago and which portrays an occurrence of gun violence that has sadly become all too common in our country, contains a sequence that some viewers might find traumatic. Only the edited version of the episode will air on the FX linear channel, while the unedited version of the episode will be available on the VOD platform of your cable, satellite, or telco provider, as well as on the FX Networks non-linear platforms, FXNOW and FX+.”
The following recap reflects the original cut of the episode and not the edited version which aired on FX.
Episode six of FX’s politically charged killer clowns season of American Horror Story begins with a rally supporting Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) for City Council. Kai’s supporters are chanting and cheering when a gunshot rings out through the crowd. The crowd flees as people are shot. Harrison (Billy Eichner) grabs Ivy (Alison Pill) and tells her to run, but she panics and freezes. Another man tries to rescue her but he’s shot and his blood spatters on the ground.
Ivy screams as police move in and demand the shooter drop the gun. It’s revealed Ally (Sarah Paulson) is holding the gun and she does as instructed, shaking in fear with gunshot victims scattered nearby on the ground. Kai lies either injured or dead on the stage.
Next is a flashback to Meadow (Leslie Grossman) banging on Ally’s door, telling her about the cult before she’s hauled away by an unseen person. Ally quickly locks all doors and windows and closes the curtains. Dr. Vincent (Cheyenne Jackson) calls and tells her Ivy’s concerned about her, and Ally admits she no longer knows who to trust. She swears she’s not crazy and that she’s been targeted. She also thinks Ivy’s part of it. Dr. Vincent suggests she get some sleep and not take any immediate action.
Instead, Ally grabs a knife and mace and heads over to Harrison’s house. She sneaks in a bathroom window and hears grunting. She quietly grabs a set of keys as Harrison and Detective Jack Samuels (Colton Haynes) are having sex on the nearby bed.
Ally races to the garage, pulls the hood off Meadow, and cautions her to be quiet. She frees her from the chair she’s tied to and Meadow grabs her purse on the way out, knocking something to the floor and making noise. Jack sees them and Ally quickly opens the garage door. Ally maces Harrison and then she and Meadow make a break for it. They make it to her car and speed off, arriving at her restaurant where the alarm is sounding.
She shuts it off and then tells Meadow they’ll be fine there until they figure out a plan. Meadow is adamant they need to get out of the state now, but Ally refuses to leave until she gets her son. She demands to know about the cult and about Ivy’s involvement. Meadow explains Ivy has been helping them get in and out of her house, and the plan was to make Ally go crazy. Ally wants to know why Ivy would do this, and Meadow brings up Ally voted for Jill Stein. Or, maybe Ivy just hates her.
Meadow also says there was nothing in the chemical trucks that they drove all over the city. The dead birds on Ally’s lawn were all poisoned on purpose by Meadow’s feeder. It was all a plan to make people paranoid and scared, all so they could take over. Ally says this plan is insane and refuses to believe Ivy’s in a cult. She hates organized religions and isn’t a joiner. Meadow replies, “That’s kind of how it starts. If you already believed in something, there wouldn’t be room for him.”
Next, we see Beverly Hope (Adina Porter) reporting from Town Hall. She’s there to cover the debate, and as Ally watches the news segment, she realizes she knows Kai. Meadow confirms Kai’s behind the plan.
A flashback to December 2016 shows Meadow admitting to herself she’s in love with Kai. Kai loves her artwork and says she’s incredible. He’s also pleased with Meadow’s embrace of everything he asked of her. Kai makes her feel special after feeling trapped her entire life by feminist expectations. A rage had built inside her until Kai set her free. She’s willingly and fully participated in the killings.
However, Meadow tries to leave after noticing how much attention Kai pays to Ivy. Full of jealousy and pissed she’s been manipulated, she tries to leave her house but Harrison and Jack block her escape. She rages at Kai, telling him his plan’s insane and that no one outside of this town knows who he is or cares about the city council.
Kai responds to Meadow’s outburst by telling Harrison to call the police because something terrible happened to Meadow. Harrison and Jack tie her up, while Kai says, “A cat goes missing and there are posters plastered all over the city. You…no one’s even noticed you’re gone. No one gives a sh*t if you live or die.”
Kai continues to taunt her, calling her worthless.
Harrison and Jack toss Meadow into a grave in the backyard. She would have died if Ally hadn’t found her.
Back at the restaurant, Ally is determined to notify the cops or maybe even the FBI. Meadow doesn’t think anyone will listen and the only way to stop Kai is to kill him.
Evan Peters as Kai Anderson in ‘American Horror Story: Cult” (Photo by Frank Ockenfels/FX)
April 3, 2017 – The City Council Town Hall Debate: Kai makes his case for a real change happening on the local level, declaring the monsters are here. Sally (Mare Winningham) calls bullshit on Kai’s speech, labeling him a snake oil salesman. She throws real facts in his face, fighting back against his made-up statistics and fake news. She agrees they need to find the killer, but says Kai’s just trying to scare people. He doesn’t disagree, admitting being scared will keep them safe.
Sally takes issue when Kai calls himself a conservative. She interviewed Barry Goldwater and had conservative parents. “I’ve seen conservatives up close. You’re not a conservative,” says Sally, now also in the center of the debate circle nearly face to face with Kai. She adds, “You’re a reactionary. You use fear and the fantasy of a time that never was when people left their doors unlocked. People like Mr. Anderson and Trump are not the garbage; they are the flies that the garbage has drawn. It’s time that we stop worrying about the flies and we start hauling away the garbage.”
The crowd responds with enthusiastic applause.
Sally won’t let a candidacy of fear take over the election and declares her own candidacy. Kai reminds her the deadline’s passed and she’s not on the ballot. Sally knows that and will officially declare her write-in candidacy. With that, she gets another round of applause.
Another flashback to the day after the presidential election shows Ivy pacing as she tells Winter (Billie Lourd) she saw Gary at the polling station. She knows he cut off his own arm so he could vote. She thinks they’re going to jail, but Winter assures her they’re not. Winter says her brother can fix anything.
Kai watches protests against Trump on the news as Winter brings Ivy to him for a talk. Winter leaves them as Kai makes Ivy pinkie swear. She won’t, and Kai wonders if Ivy’s scared of what the police will do when Gary tells the cops what happened. Ivy gives in and pinkie swears. He explains she must answer all questions once the pinkie swear begins. When he demands to know what fills her heart with dread, Ivy finally admits lying in bed next to her wife. She tries to take it back but Kai laughs.
When he asks when she started hating Ally, Ivy said it was when Ally was delivering their son. Ivy wanted to carry their son but couldn’t, and she resented Ally saying “my baby” like she didn’t count. Oz wasn’t weaned until he was three, and Kai says Ally waited that long to make herself more important. Ivy hates Ally’s entitled bullshit phobias and that she voted for Jill Stein. Kai says Ally sucked all the happiness out of Ivy’s marrow, but being with Winter will make her happy. Ivy also wants Oz but knows she won’t get full custody if she leaves Ally. Kai asks if she thought about killing Ally, but Ivy doesn’t want to kill her because of how it will damage Oz. Kai believes he can come up with a plan that will make the courts refuse Ally custody.
Back to the present, Ally takes Meadow to see Dr. Vincent and wants him to document what Meadow tells him. She leaves Meadow with Dr. Vincent and takes off. (Ally has no idea Dr. Vincent is Kai’s brother.)
Sally’s pouring herself a drink when Ally pounds on her front door. Ally apologizes for being at Sally’s house so late, but has no one else to turn to. Ally reveals there’s a cult and Kai is the leader. She claims the cult is responsible for the murders and all the weird things going on in town. Sally doesn’t respond and Ally continues, assuring her Meadow will tell her everything. Sally isn’t surprised, saying this is what happens when the patriarchy is threatened. She talks about Manson, David Koresh, etc, and how men are told who they’re supposed to be. Ally’s astounded Sally believes her, and Sally says every society that leads with fear has undone itself.
Sally will follow her down this path if it means she’ll win the election. She went to Berkeley and nothing shocks her. Ally wants Sally to talk to Meadow and that’s when the clowns break down Sally’s front door. Ally runs but Sally remains calm, grabbing her gun and standing her ground against the clowns. “Please, one of you a**holes make a move. I’m desperate to make an example of someone,” says Sally, moving her gun from clown to clown.
Unfortunately, a clown surprises her from behind and disarms her.
Ally listens to the clowns from her hiding place.
Sally’s on the floor and spits at a clown who leans down over her. Kai removes his mask, telling her she’s overestimated her ability to control the world. Sally says Kai’s just a “spasm in democracy,” and killing her won’t change the world. Kai takes a seat at Sally’s desk, telling her she’s old since she’s using Facebook. He posts a suicide note on her page, making it sound like she’s now completely disillusioned with the world. He posts it as Sally screams, “No, please!”
Sally adds, “No one is going to believe any of that.” Kai replies, “Of course, they will. It’s on Facebook.”
He shoots her with her own gun. Ally screams from the bathroom as the shot rings out. Ivy, in her clown outfit and elephant mask, opens the bathroom door but doesn’t kill Ally. She leaves when Kai says it’s time to go.
Ally rushes back to Dr. Vincent’s and says Sally is dead and Ivy’s with them. Dr. Vincent reveals Meadow left after they talked. Meadow didn’t say anything about a cult, and Ally’s mad that Dr. Vincent let Meadow go. He doesn’t think Ally actually saw anything and thinks she needs to check herself into a mental hospital for treatment. He doesn’t want to have to commit her; it will look better if she does it voluntarily. Ally says, “F**k you,” and leaves his office.
Back to the scene at the rally, we see the crowd’s enthusiastically cheering for Kai. Beverly’s there with her new cameraman, reporting live from the rally. Kai tells the crowd his opponent committed suicide, pledging he’ll never desert the people like she did. Ally works her way into a position where she can see the crowd and Kai on stage. She spots Meadow in the crowd and screams out to her. Beverly watches as Ally walks toward Meadow, while Meadow is now on the move toward the stage. The crowd chants, “We are the wall!”
Ally watches from behind Kai’s supporters as Meadow shoots a young woman in front of the stage. She stares at Kai, smiling slightly and it appears this is part of a plan. She shoots him in the leg although she’s only yards from where he’s standing.
The crowd runs away as Meadow shoots at random people. Ally screams for her to stop and then tries to grab the gun. Meadow, hands still on the gun’s handle, says, “This is the face of true love,” and kills herself by placing the gun in her mouth and pulling the trigger.
Ally ends up with the gun and is still holding it when the police arrive. She drops it, obeying their orders.
Another flashback reveals that when Meadow was tied up and Kai was alone with her before Jack and Harrison dumped her in the grave, he cut her loose. He said she was everything to him and that she’s the only one who sees him. She was right and they have to accelerate their thinking. Kai thinks only Meadow can make that happen. He tells her he needs to be assassinated, and that she’ll try and fail. He’ll recover stronger than ever. “We’re a Christian country. Everybody loves a resurrection,” explained Kai.
Kai’s plan was to send Meadow to Ally and to tell her the truth about the cult. No one will believe Ally and thus the truth can hide in plain sight. She’ll be labeled crazy. Meadow was afraid she’d crack under pressure from the police, and Kai told her it would be their everlasting secret. She knew what she had to do.
Ally’s taken away by the cops as Kai’s taken into an ambulance. He smiles.
The cast of ‘Mr. Mercedes’ (Photo Credit: AT&T AUDIENCE Network)
AT&T Audience Network has renewed the dramatic thriller Mr. Mercedes for a second season. Season one of the series based on Stephen King’s book series stars Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Holland Taylor, Kelly Lynch, Jharrel Jerome, and Breeda Wool. The first season will finish up on October 11, 2017 at 8pm ET/PT.
Season one of Mr. Mercedes followed the events in the first book of King’s bestselling Bill Hodges Trilogy. The trilogy’s made up of 2014’s Mr. Mercedes, 2015’s Finders Keepers, and 2016’s End of Watch.
Season two will begin production in Charleston, South Carolina in February 2018. The second season will consist of 10 one-hour episodes written by David E. Kelley and directed by Jack Bender. Kelley, Bender, and Stephen King are executive producing along with Dennis Lehane.
“I’m excited and thrilled,” said Kelley. “Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Jack Bender, Brendan Gleeson… this is a special team indeed.”
“Mr. Mercedes is Stephen King writing about the monsters inside his characters rather than outside,” said Bender. “We were extremely fortunate to attract an amazing cast, led by Brendan Gleeson and Harry Treadaway, to bring these flawed, complex colorful characters to life. With Sonar and AT&T, along with great scripts and our talented team in Charleston, I am thrilled to keep telling this story.”
“We’re thrilled that the first installment of Mr. Mercedes resonated with such a wide audience,” said Christopher Long, head of AT&T AUDIENCE Network. “David E. Kelley, Jack Bender, Dennis Lehane, and Sonar did a masterful job crafting a series that honored the original work by Stephen King. We’re excited to have the opportunity to create a second season with this incredible team.”
The Plot: Season 1 of Mr. Mercedes followed a demented killer Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.
The official season five poster for History’s Vikings has been released in support of the series’ upcoming two-hour premiere. Vikings will return on November 29, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT, picking up with the lead characters’ journeys following the murder of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) in season four. The poster depicts the characters that season five will follow: Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen), King Harald Finehair (Peter Franzén), Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), and Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith).
In addition to the new poster, History released short promotional videos for the upcoming season.
Vikings was created by writer Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors) and is executive produced by Hirst, Morgan O’Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, John Weber, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, and James Flynn. Season four of the dramatic action series averaged 7.8 million viewers and, according to History, was in the top five dramas among ad-supported cable programs.
The Plot: Season five begins with Ivar the Boneless asserting his leadership over the Great Heathen Army, while Lagertha reigns as Queen of Kattegat. Ivar’s murder of his brother Sigurd sets the stage for vicious battles to come as Ragnar’s sons plot their next moves after avenging their father’s death. Bjorn follows his destiny into the Mediterranean Sea and Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård) who is suffering from the loss of his wife Helga, takes to the seas submitting himself to the will of the Gods.
Additionally, Jonathan Rhys Meyers joins the cast as Bishop Heahmund, a fearsome warrior who passionately defends both his faith and his King.
The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow will debut season three on October 10, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT with an episode that finds the Legends dealing with Julius Caesar (Simon Merrells) in Aruba. The Legends are going to be spending much of season three fixing time after the events of season two, and during the 2017 San Diego Comic Con Brandon Routh talked about Ray’s contribution to the team’s efforts.
We know the Legends broke time and Ray is a genius. How will he attempt to fix it?
Brandon Routh: “In the second episode we find him with an invention that he’s been working on which helps in that episode, and I think throughout the season, in helping to maintain the anachronisms that they have so they can better deal with them. And I think Ray’s going to be getting back into his inventing roots this season and creating things that can help the team – gadgets.”
Will Ray be involved in a relationship this season?
Brandon Routh: “It would be nice for Ray to have happiness. In what we’ve seen on television of him, he’s only had failed relationships so I think it would be nice for him to have some happiness as far as that’s concerned. Whether we do that or not…I mean, our show is always changing things up and screwing things up, so I’m sure it’s not in the cards.”
Are all superheroes broken by nature?
Brandon Routh: “No. I think they just have different challenges and they have more at stake. They have more influence in certain ways to affect the world and so the consequences are greater. So, consequently, they may be hit harder by the decisions they make because lives are at risk.”
How will Ray be interacting with Zari? Will they see eye-to-eye?
Brandon Routh: “I think they’re going to not see eye-to-eye. I think that’s definitely going to be their dynamic for a while. They both have opposite views about life and about how technology can affect change. I look forward to that (dynamic). I look forward to Ray having some time with her and just one-on-one scenes. Oftentimes our show’s so big that we have huge group scenes and fight stuff, so it would be nice to have just a one-on-one scene.”
Why don’t we get to see much of Atom being little?
Brandon Routh: (Laughing) “It costs money. I mean, that’s basically the reason. We have a show with seven, eight superheroes and everybody’s got powers and it all costs money. It’s a TV show and if we were a big budget movie you would see it a lot more. But I think the work that they do, the amazing stuff that we have seen of miniature Ray is pretty awesome. I always appreciate when they do that and how well they’ve done that. They wait until it’s the right time.”
There’s a lot going on and there’s a change of leadership within the group. Does season three represent a structural reset?
Brandon Routh: “I feel like last season was Sara as Captain Lance. She was for most of the season; Rip wasn’t really the leader that he had been. I see it just as a continuing forward of her as leader. Ray’s fine with that and he’s signed off on her as leader. That continues. We just have new things to deal with and we have to fix our mistake. But, we had to make the mistake in order to save time. So, in a way, we know we screwed things up but they don’t even know how bad they would have had it if we wouldn’t have screwed up time. Eobard Thawne would have taken over the world and they’d all been screwed.”
CBS has given a second season renewal order to the dramatic series, Ransom. Ransom was created by David Vainola (Diamonds, Combat Hospital) and Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, The Man in the High Castle), with Spotnitz, Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Serney, Valerie Pechels, and Odile McDonald executive producing. The series stars Luke Roberts, Sarah Greene, Brandon Jay McLaren and Nazneen Contractor, and is inspired by crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert’s professional experiences.
Announcing the renewal, CBS confirmed the second season will consist of 13 episodes and that season two will be shot in Hungary.
The Plot:Ransom stars Luke Roberts as Eric Beaumont in a drama inspired by the real-life professional experiences of the world-renowned crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert and his partner Marwan Mery. Eric’s team is brought in to save lives when no one else can. He understands criminals better than they do and uses his insight into human behavior to resolve the most difficult kidnap and ransom cases. Despite the stakes, he refuses to resort to violence, even when confronted by some of the most dangerous criminals in the world.
While Eric’s considerable powers of manipulation make him the best at what he does professionally, they often complicate his relationships with family, friends and colleagues. His team consists of psych-profiler, Oliver Yates, ex-cop Zara Hallam, and aspiring investigator Maxine Carlson. Maxine, the newest member, is eager to prove herself but a dangerous secret from her past may pose a threat that even the great Eric Beaumont is unable to resolve.
The CW’s Supergirl returned to kick off the third season on October 9, 2017 with an episode that found Kara having a difficult time dealing with her decisions from the season two finale. She’s come to believe only Supergirl is important and that “Kara” doesn’t matter, nor does her job as a journalist. Team Supergirl spent the episode attempting to reach out to Kara while she kept pushing them away, until the last few minutes of the season three premiere.
Season three episode two titled “Triggers” will have the team squaring off against a new adversary, Psi. Directed by David McWhirter from a script by Gabriel Llanas and Anna Musky-Goldwyn, episode two will air on October 16, 2017 at 8pm ET/PT. The season three cast includes Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, David Harewood as J’onn J’onzz, Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor, Chris Wood as Mon-El of Daxam, and Odette Annable as Reign. The series is executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Sarah Schechter, Robert Rovner, and Jessica Queller.
The “Triggers” Plot: Yael Grobglas (Jane the Virgin) Guest Stars — Psi (Grobglas), a thief with psychic powers, attacks National City. Able to immobilize people by tapping into their worst fears, Psi proves a formidable opponent for Supergirl. Meanwhile, James (Brooks) and Lena (McGrath) are at an impasse, and Samantha starts her new job at L-Corp.
The Recording Academy and CBS are marking the 60th anniversary of the Grammys with a retrospective featuring epic moments from throughout the Grammy Awards‘ past 59 years. The Grammys Greatest Stories: A 60th Anniversary Special will air on CBS on Friday, November 24, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT and will include archival footage as well as special appearances by Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Dave Grohl, Elton John, Bruno Mars, Chris Martin, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, U2, and Keith Urban.
“As we approach this milestone in Grammy history, we are excited to give music fans a glimpse into what artists, musicians, producers, set designers, and others do to make those unforgettable ‘Grammy Moments,’” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “This special will take audiences on a new journey as they relive those extraordinary moments that can only be seen on the Grammys.”
“Never before have we gathered all of the greatest moments of the Grammys, from a half century of award shows for one primetime special, and when you see them put together in a parade of amazing clip montages interspersed with the stories behind the performances, it’s really pretty unbelievable,” said Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammy Awards for the past 38 years.
The 60th anniversary special was written by David Wild, produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures and Ron Basile, and executive produced by Ken Ehrlich.
Details on the Grammys Greatest Stories: A 60th Anniversary Special: “The special will also take viewers behind the scenes of ‘Music’s Biggest Night®’ over the last five decades and reveal secrets about the remarkable performances and unique ‘Grammy Moments’ only seen on the Grammy Awards. Special segments will include reactions from Grammy producers and members of the music community following the tragic loss of Whitney Houston; Aretha Franklin’s unexpected opera performance at the 40th Grammy Awards; and Paul McCartney bringing The Beatles’ legendary album Abbey Road to the Grammy stage, among others.
Kevin Alejandro, Tom Ellis, Lauren German and Aimee Garcia in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 2 (Photo by John P Flexor / FOX)
Fox’s Lucifer season three episode two begins with the sexy Devil (Tom Ellis) starting to strip off his clothes as he makes out with a gorgeous woman. His wings unfurl in all their glory and he apologizes for premature unfurling. She claims to be into cosplay and offers to dress up as the Devil, but he doesn’t want to have sex with himself. Mood ruined, he sends her away so he can cut off his wings.
Lucifer’s talking about this sexual encounter with Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris) and she admits she’s worried he’s self-mutilating. However, Lucifer claims he’s only chopping off his wings because he doesn’t his dad to have any control over him. Besides, what he’s really worried about is the mysterious Sinnerman.
Lucifer notices Dr. Linda’s still in pain, but she wants to concentrate on his problems right now and of course he’s fine with that. He carries on expressing his outrage with Sinnerman, pissed this stranger has stolen his shtick of giving out favors for a price to be named later. Dr. Linda reminds Lucifer he hasn’t done that in a while, and Lucifer doesn’t care. He invented that and doesn’t want anyone else claiming it as their own.
At the station, Chloe (Lauren German) shows Lucifer a photo of Sam’s killer (from the end of episode one) and he’s definitely not Sinnerman. The killer confessed so Lucifer thinks that means he’s working for Sinnerman. Lt. Marcus Pierce (Tom Welling) walks up just then, hears “Sinnerman,” and asks if they’re big Nina Simone fans. Chloe doesn’t want to talk about it and Marcus hands her a new case.
When he walks away, Chloe informs Lucifer Sinnerman is an urban myth. Criminals use Sinnerman to hide their bad behavior, so no way would she tell Marcus they want to arrest Sinnerman. However, if Lucifer has evidence he’s a real person, she’ll look into it.
On to the new case and it’s a bizarre one. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) is already at the crime scene and has learned the victim’s name is JD Woodstock. There’s a book of bad jokes with his dead body, and apparently he was a comedian. Lucifer forgets Dan’s improv is supposed to be a secret and he spills the beans to Chloe by saying the victim and Dan are kindred spirits. Dan explains stand-up is different from improv, and Chloe’s indignant she didn’t know he did improv.
Ella (Aimee Garcia) breaks up the improv/stand-up comedian conversation to alert them as to the cause of death. She recognizes the Woodstock name because he was just in the news blaming comedian Bobby Lowe of The Bobby Lowe Show for stealing his jokes. Lucifer feels sympathy for the victim since his life was apparently stolen and used by another comedian for fame and profit.
As they’re speaking, the camera zooms back to show Marcus is spying on them. He’s listening to their conversations while watching through binoculars. WTF?
Lucifer and Chloe watch JD’s YouTube video in which he says he has proof Bobby is a fraud. Unfortunately, he didn’t post the truth online before he was tortured and killed. Ella doesn’t believe Woodrow and thinks Bobby Lowe is genuine and believable. When Lucifer and Chloe say they’re heading out to interview Bobby, Ella fangirls and practically begs to come with them.
Meanwhile, Dr. Linda and Amenadiel (DB Woodside) meet for a drink so she can thank him for saving her life. She knows she wouldn’t be there without him, given that he slowed down time so she wouldn’t bleed to death. He asks, seriously, how she’s really doing and she claims to be fine. She mistakenly believes he has his powers back and is sorry to hear he doesn’t. Amenadiel thinks dad is testing him and says he’s ready this time.
Amenadiel’s been avoiding doing what he has to do in the penthouse and Dr. Linda offers to help him without knowing what she’s getting herself into. She heads to the penthouse and it turns out Amenadiel needs help getting rid of Lucifer’s wings so that a human doesn’t find them. Linda can’t believe what she’s seeing, calling the sight gruesome.
Dan has a one-on-one with Marcus, attempting to convince his boss he’s not a dirty cop. Yes, he did what he was accused of but he had a reason. It turns out Marcus is glad Dan came to see him because he wants everything Dan’s got on Lucifer.
Next comes the best one-liner thus far in the episode. Lucifer and Chloe are walking through a stage and a giant chicken walks by. “Biggest cock I’ve ever seen,” says Lucifer.
As Bobby Lowe (Kevin Christy) is preparing to tape an episode, Ella, Chloe and Lucifer are ushered over to see him. Bobby’s furious these strangers are on his set, calling Woodrow a failure when he learns his visitors are there investigating the murder. He’s obnoxious, but Ella is so starstruck she doesn’t realize Bobby is a massive jerk.
They stay for a taping and Chloe and Lucifer are not impressed. The show stars Bobby and a bunch of puppets who represent his imaginary friends. Lucifer interrupts the taping, pushing aside a puppet and ripping another’s head off causing a kid in the audience to scream. When Bobby demands Lucifer leave the stage, Lucifer puts a lamb puppet on his hand and does a bizarre lamb-ish voice. Bobby freaks out and tells Lucifer to put it down. It turns out there’s a gun inside the puppet and it goes off, shooting Bobby in the arm. Everyone stares at Lucifer and he holds up his hand, still wearing the puppet. “He did it,” says the show-stopping Devil.
After the audience leaves, Bobby admits it’s his gun and the puppet was one they don’t use on the show. The gun isn’t the murder weapon and Bobby claims once again he didn’t kill JD. Lucifer uses his Devil power and Bobby reveals he wants out of this hell. He hates working with puppets and because JD is dead, he can’t end the show. Bobby admits he did steal JD’s act, basing the show on JD’s life. Now he can’t quit because he’d lose all the money. Plus, he is getting death threats and that’s why he hid the gun on the set. The threats were anonymous and Chloe asks for the emails.
Rachael Harris and DB Woodside in ‘Lucifer’ (Photo by John P Flexor / FOX)
Up in the penthouse, Amenadiel and Dr. Linda place the wings in trash bags, and Linda can’t believe how painful it must have been for Lucifer to cut off pieces of himself. Amenadiel knows he’s being tested since wings are the one thing he desperately wants back. Dad always has a plan and if it was easy, it wouldn’t be much of a test.
Back at the station, Lucifer and Chloe go through the emails and they all threaten Bobby’s life. However, the threats end right after JD posted his video revealing these were his jokes. The guy who wrote the emails must have realized JD was the comedian actually making fun of him, not Bobby, since Bobby didn’t write the jokes.
Chloe says the show started off much edgier and although she doesn’t want to say this out loud in front of Lucifer, she finally reveals it dealt with a guy’s insecurities about his micropenis. Lucifer can’t just let that pass without comment, saying, “Hold me closer, Tiny Donger. So, you say we’re looking for a needle in a penis stack?”
Chloe says when they changed it to a family show, they removed the penis. All this micropenis discussion has led Lucifer to believe the killer is really the victim in all this. Chloe reminds him that’s not how it works.
Lucifer’s home and he rings up Maze about tracking down Sinnerman, but she has a hectic schedule. She then pretends the call’s cutting out and hangs up.
After the call ends, Lucifer discovers he has an uninvited guest at his home: Marcus. Marcus says he’s figured out what Lucifer really is. Marcus doesn’t know why Lucifer calls himself the Devil, and Lucifer assumes that means Marcus thinks he’s the Sinnerman. He’s insulted when Marcus says he’s not that calculating and smart. Marcus looked into Lucifer’s history and now considers him impulsive and short-fused. He also thinks Lucifer’s an idiot, so he came to warn him not to look into the Sinnerman anymore. He shouldn’t throw the name around and he shouldn’t talk about him at the precinct. Marcus came to LA to get away from the Sinnerman after butting heads with him in Chicago. Despite Marcus trying to warn Lucifer away, Lucifer says he’s going mano-a-sinnermano.
Amenadiel and Dr. Linda take the wings up to the trash can on the roof and set them on fire. Linda thinks they should say something as the wings burn, and Amenadiel’s frustration comes through when he replies to that suggestion. Burning the wings pains him in his soul, but Lucifer treated them like trash. Linda doesn’t think Lucifer understands how much this hurts his brother, and Amenadiel agrees. “Everything he does seems designed to hurt me,” says Amenadiel. Linda points out Lucifer’s testing him, and Amenadiel finally sees what’s been right in front of his face all along. His test is Lucifer and it always has been.
The next day at the station Lucifer tells Chloe about his chat with Marcus regarding the Sinnerman. Dan interrupts with news the emails were sent from a comedy club on Sunset and they were always sent during open mic night. Chloe wonders how they can draw out the killer and Lucifer suggests they pull everyone’s pants down and arrest the one with the tiniest weenie.
They go with a different plan and Dan takes the stage for open mic night, determined to insult the killer into showing himself. His act doesn’t start off well, although he does mention the micropenis right off the bat. He’s flopping and Lucifer boos him, saying a micropenis is a medical condition. Chloe eggs him on, with Lucifer delivering jokes about a micropenis from the audience. Chloe keeps checking the audience as Lucifer heckles Dan, suggesting maybe Dan is the one with the “baby carrot.” Lucifer wants Dan to drop his pants and then pelts Dan with tomatoes as he runs off the stage.
After the set is over, they meet at the bar and Dan is furious. “I didn’t want to do this to begin with. I told you stand-up and improv are completely different!” says Dan. Dan wants to know why Chloe didn’t stop Lucifer and she says it’s because someone might have viewed Lucifer’s heckling as sympathetic to their micropenis. She’s right as a man wanders up to thank Lucifer for what he said.
At the station, they show the micropenis dude photos of Woodrow dead and he admits he sent the threatening emails to Bobby. “All the chuckle bunnies talk,” says the comedian, who apparently toured with Bobby before he was famous. Lucifer’s intrigued there’s a term for women who like to sleep with comedians, suggesting he should have “Devil bunnies” or “Lucifans.” He didn’t like Bobby telling jokes about his micropenis on the show but when he found out JD actually wrote the jokes, he wasn’t upset. That didn’t bother him because a struggling comedian using his life as the source for a joke is one thing, but a millionaire doing it is something totally different.
The micropenis comedian says JD had a sad life, but he did just mention a warm-up comic wanted to meet with him about a gig. The warm-up comedian was named Sheila, and Chloe knows that Bobby Lowe’s warm-up comedian is Sheila.
Lucifer and Chloe head back to the stage which is now dark and empty. As they walk by a row of puppets, a tiger follows them. Chloe and Lucifer separate and Chloe finds Bobby beaten up and on the floor. He blames Sheila, saying she was angry because he said he was going to quit. She hit him in the face with her gun. Chloe calls out to Lucifer to let him know Sheila is there and that she’s armed.
Lucifer confronts Sheila and she admits killing JD. She also admits she’s okay with Bobby stealing JD’s jokes since Bobby did them better and since he brought her along for the ride. As they’re talking, Chloe distracts Sheila long enough for Lucifer to knock her out.
Back at the station, Marcus admits Lucifer is right and the Sinnerman is in LA. Marcus has brought the Sinnerman’s murderous thug in, admitting he can’t get anything out of him. Marcus hands him over to Lucifer, suggesting Lucifer can make him talk. Again, he tells Lucifer to shut his mouth about the Sinnerman so others don’t get hurt. He reminds Lucifer Chloe has a kid and no one wants anything to happen to her.
Lucifer heads into the interrogation room to talk with Alonso. He wants to know more about the Sinnerman and why Sam was skewered under the pier. Lucifer uses his Devil mind trick and Alonso says he killed Sam because he didn’t want his girlfriend to sleep with him anymore. He claims to have no idea who the Sinnerman is, swearing he doesn’t know anything. Lucifer believes him.
Lucifer visits Dr. Linda again and he’s still convinced Alonso was telling the truth and was just a deranged jealous boyfriend. Linda changes the subject to talk about his wings. He admits they grew back again and she tells him to stop cutting them off. He agrees because cutting them off is exhausting and messy. He doesn’t want dad to win, and Linda says external factors shouldn’t define him. Lucifer has an epiphany and says, “It’s not about the idea. It’s about the execution. It’s about how I use the wings.” Linda agrees, complimenting him that that’s pretty wise. But then Lucifer adds he’ll just tuck them away and pretend they’re not there. Not so good, says Linda. He also says he does favors better than anyone else and now he needs to get back into the favors game to reclaim his position as the best at it.
The scene switches to find Lucifer relaxing in a booth at Lux as what appears to be hundreds of people line up to see him. He asks each in turn, “What is it that you truly desire?”
Disney and Lucasfilm debuted the full trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi during the Monday Night Football halftime on October 9, 2017. Tickets for Star Wars: The Last Jedi went up for sale immediately following the launch of the trailer, a little over two months prior to the film’s theatrical release. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi includes Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, and Benicio Del Toro.
Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman produced the film, with J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski and Jason McGatlin executive producing. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters on December 15, 2017.
The Plot: In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
