‘Lucifer’ Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: They’re Back, Aren’t They?

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 1
Tom Ellis and Lauren German (Photo © 2017 Fox Broadcasting Co)

Fox’s Lucifer season three episode one kicks off with an armored truck driver looking frazzled as he speeds down the desolate highway in the desert. He keeps glancing into the back of his truck and when his gun slips off the front seat, he takes his eyes off the road to retrieve it. He looks up just in time to slam on his brakes, stopping inches in front of Lucifer (Tom Ellis) – wings spread and looking glorious.

Lucifer, his usual snarky self, yells at the driver, “Are you blind?” He then complains about his day as he struggles to get into the passenger seat, initially forgetting to retract his wings. He tells the man to take him to LA, and then he quickly realizes the driver is actually the jewelry thief who he sent out of the store in just his “manties.” The driver’s pissed Lucifer got him put in jail and shows Lucifer his gun.

Lucifer, all smiles, wants a fist bump but the robber’s having none of it. Gun to his head, Lucifer asks about the robber’s desires and he admits he just wants to be free.

Half a dozen cops speed toward the armored truck, pulling to a stop with weapons drawn. Lucifer gets out and introduces himself as a consultant for the LAPD. He says he’s “apprehended this stolen vehicle” and its contents. The cops demand Lucifer get on the ground, but he doesn’t want to since he’s in clean – although laughably too small – clothes.

He gives them Detective Decker’s name and bra size…because he’s Lucifer…and his story checks out. He claims the real thief got away.

Cut to the real thief who’s running in his manties through the desert.

Back in Los Angeles, Lucifer’s home currently resembles a flower store. Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris) is wheeled in and Lucifer’s ecstatic to see her, claiming he bought a little of everything not knowing what was her favorite. She wonders what’s going on, and he informs her this is her new home and Benjamin, the hunky male nurse, is part of the package.

Lucifer claims he just wants to care for Linda, given it’s his fault she’s injured. Linda, however, doesn’t fall for that line. She knows something’s up and so Lucifer shows off his reattached wings. She’s surprised wings can grow back and Lucifer claims they’ve returned, thanks to his dad. “Celestial spanking, if you will. I suppose that’s what I get for giving mom her own universe,” explains Lucifer.

Lucifer’s determined to cut them off again but needs help. He wants Linda to cut them off since Maze is away, explaining it’s just a couple of snips and they’re off. They argue over why his wings have returned, with Lucifer adamant it’s because his dad’s a control freak. Lucifer is angry at being used and says, “I am not his Mr. Potato Head!”

He lets slip God sent someone on earth to return Lucifer’s wings and eventually he’ll track that person down. This fascinates Linda, but she refuses to chop off the wings. As a friend, she asks him to think this through and finally Lucifer seems to agree.

Lucifer shows up at the police station, disappointed there wasn’t a search party. He’s also a bit hurt Chloe (Lauren German) didn’t even know he was missing and she reminds him it’s only been two days. He tells her they need to work on figuring out who kidnapped him, saying his father was behind it. Chloe doesn’t believe him, so Lucifer’s going to take her to the scene of the crime.

Out in the desert, Lucifer can’t seem to find the spot where his body was deposited. He swears he’s not lying and that someone kidnapped him after he left the phone message telling her he was going to come clean with his backstory. Chloe thinks this whole kidnapping tale is just a distraction from him telling her the truth.

As they talk/argue, Chloe spots an arm sticking out of the ground.

The cops make it to the crime scene, with Ella (Aimee Garcia) even lying down in the box which served as a coffin for the dead victim. She’s determined the sun cooked him and only his arm made it out of the ground. Lucifer applauds her story but wants to get to the heart of the matter. Who is the dead guy and what does he have to do with the Devil-napping case? It’s always about Lucifer, isn’t it?

The victim is Steve Banellas, a hotel owner who Lucifer doesn’t know. Lucifer’s also frustrated the cops aren’t living up to his expectations, and Chloe explains the crime scene is on the border with Lancaster and these are Lancaster officers.

Detective Dan (aka Detective Douche) joins the conversation, calling the cops a bunch of tools. Lucifer’s happy his opinion’s been vindicated.

An officer finds a key chain with an A on it, and Lucifer tries to drag Ella away to investigate the find. Ella balks, wanting to make sure the scene is thoroughly examined so as not to disappoint the new lieutenant. She fangirls over seeing him speak at a conference and says he’s a serious rock star. She’s also heard he’s a “total sweetie pants.”

Speaking of Lieutenant Marcus “Sweetie Pants” Pierce (Tom Welling), he makes his entrance at the station and Ella can’t contain herself. She claps while everyone else acts professional. As Lt. Pierce is walking away from the officers, Dan (Kevin Alejandro) introduces himself. It doesn’t go well as Pierce asks if he’s the corrupt cop who got off too easily. Whoa…Dan and Marcus are not going to be BFFs anytime soon.

Up next, Marcus and Lucifer have a go at it. Marcus has read that they had to interview 92 of Lucifer’s sexual partners for a case, so he doesn’t want to shake hands. Looking Lucifer over, Marcus says he doesn’t look reckless and Lucifer takes that as a compliment. Marcus says Lucifer’s file is as long as his Johnson, and Lucifer quickly assesses Marcus hasn’t had sex in a while. Chloe steps in and tries to introduce herself, but that also doesn’t go well.

Ella, however, is still firmly #TeamMarcus.

13 minutes in and we get our first Amenadiel (DB Woodside) sighting. He wants to know what happened and of course Lucifer thinks he’s referring to his own kidnapping. Amenadiel actually wants to know what happened to their mom since Lucifer’s only explanation thus far has been a string of non-sensical emojis. Lucifer explains what each emoji represents and that’s how Amenadiel learns that his mother’s gone. Lucifer gives Amenadiel his necklace back and continues blabbing on about his kidnapping. He doesn’t notice Amenadiel’s upset until after laying out his own kidnapping story.

Lucifer doesn’t care about Amenadiel’s feelings because he’s connected the A on the key chain to his brother. He calls Amenadiel dad’s little bitch, and Amenadiel has no idea what his narcissistic brother is talking about. Amenadiel doesn’t have his powers back; he only slowed time once and that’s it. Amenadiel doesn’t have his wings back either, and Lucifer calls that ironic but decides at the last second not to tell Amenadiel his own wings have returned. Amenadiel points out the obvious; there’s nothing ironic in Lucifer’s explanation about being left in the desert. But Lucifer powers forward, telling Amenadiel to eat some mangos to get his powers back.

Ella interrupts with the news there was a print left on the keychain. Ella nearly knocks Amenadiel down giving him a hug and officially introduces herself. “Any bro of Lucifer’s is a bro of mine,” says Ella, feeling Amenadiel’s powerful bicep. Lucifer finally gets her to stop touching Amenadiel by hustling her out of the room to work on the case.

Before leaving, Lucifer tells Amenadiel he might have a solution to his problem. Amenadiel asks that this time Lucifer use his words when he texts, not seemingly random emojis.

Chloe and Lucifer pay a visit to the murder victim’s hotel. They’re going to meet with Josh, Steve’s business partner and co-owner of the hotel. Lucifer once again shows zero self-awareness when he says Josh and Steve’s purchase of the hotel just to have a place for their decadent lifestyle is absurd.

Chloe and Lucifer make their way through lovely ladies and a few scattered men who are partying on a deck overlooking the ocean at the hotel. Josh is a jerk, complimenting Chloe’s breasts which upsets Lucifer. Chloe keeps him under control while she tells Josh he’s a suspect in Steve’s murder. Josh makes a run for it but is trapped by a locked gate and when Chloe and Lucifer catch up to him, Lucifer tosses him over the railing into a pool.

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 1
Tom Ellis and Tom Welling in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 1 (Photo © 2017 Fox Broadcasting Co)

Back at the police station, Lucifer doesn’t let Chloe get her first question out before he pounds the table in the interrogation room and demands to know why Josh kidnapped him. Josh claims he didn’t, and Chloe takes over the questioning. She shows Josh Steve’s photos from the crime scene and wants to know why his fingerprints are on the keychain found at the scene. He says he and Steve would hire fake kidnappers – it’s their “thing” – but it was just a prank. The more money they made, the funnier the prank. The company was Snatched and they were supposed to grab Steve and eventually let him go.

Josh admits he thought a guy named Lucifer and the “chick from Hot Tub Hotel” were just part of the prank. Lucifer corrects him, “Hot Tub High School – she wasn’t in the sequel.” Lucifer assures him they are really with the LAPD and wants more info on Snatched.

Amenadiel shows up at Lucifer’s and a gorgeous woman is there to give him a massage, courtesy of his brother. Amenadiel heads to Lucifer’s closet to get a towel and finds Lucifer’s now severed wings on the floor.

Ella can’t track Snatched but she does have the dead body of a squirrel that may have been run over by the killers. She has figured out the type of tire, which is rare, but hasn’t tracked it down.

Chloe finally asks Lucifer his connection to this whole kidnapping thing, and he once again blames it on his dad being mad he gave his mother her own universe. Chloe, of course, doesn’t take this explanation at face value and wants the truth. Lucifer, frustrated, says something horrid happened and he found himself out in the desert. Chloe’s still not getting it, and Lucifer says she deserves the full story.

He offers her a seat, closes the blinds, and they kick Ella out of the room. He admits he’s held the real truth back and she deserves to know it. Chloe assures him it will be okay and she’s there for him. Lucifer takes a seat opposite her and although he tries to get all devil-faced, he remains the same handsome man. He doesn’t understand what’s happening and Chloe, angry at being fooled, leaves in a huff.

Marcus is pissed they can’t figure out the kidnapping case and meets with Chloe, Dan, and Lucifer to try and figure out what to do. Lucifer suggests they hire Snatched to kidnap someone, and Chloe says that was her suggestion. Marcus admonishes her that no one likes a credit hog. Lucifer volunteers to be the bait, but they need someone who is “a lot less everything.” Dan’s volunteered because he’s expendable.

Dan gets mic’ed up while Lucifer finishes up the Snatched application. Dan admits he’s feeling expendable but not just to Marcus, to Charlotte. Charlotte doesn’t care about him anymore and acts like she doesn’t know him.

Back at the station, Marcus keeps tabs on the undercover operation.

Before Dan heads out to get kidnapped, Lucifer tells him not to blame himself and that the whole Charlotte thing isn’t his fault. Dan suggests Lucifer just take care of his own side of the street, which gives the sexy Devil an idea.

Amenadiel stops by the station looking for Lucifer and Ella says he’s out on a sting operation. Ella assures Amenadiel that whatever he’s going through is part of God’s plan. She shows him the dead squirrel she’s named Leo and says he’s still valuable. Using Leo as an example, she tells Amenadiel to believe that when God crushes his nuts, he does it for a reason. Amenadiel seems slightly less depressed after talking with Ella.

Snatched is seven minutes late picking up Dan and it turns out that’s because Lucifer changed the arrangements and made himself the target. He’s happy to finally meet the men he thinks are his kidnappers and they don’t understand why tazing Lucifer only tickles. He frees himself and freaks out the kidnappers.

Back at the station, Chloe and Dan try and figure out where Lucifer is. Ella tracks his phone to some bushes, and they all mistakenly believe these are smart kidnappers. They aren’t, and Lucifer has turned the tables and has the larger man seated on top of the small guy, both taped to a chair. He’s trying to get them to explain what they did to his face but they have no idea what he’s talking about. They say they haven’t ever seen Lucifer before, and then explain how the fake kidnapping of Steve went down. He was abducted, taken to the desert, and then their partner, Sam, delivered him safely back to the hotel.

Lucifer gets Sam’s address and takes off, leaving the men still tied up.

Once more to the station we go and Ella and Chloe are discussing the tire tracks again. Dan arrives and says, “We’re screwed.” It turns out the cop who found the keychain was fake. The guy was trying to steal evidence, not find it. Dan’s upset they were fooled, but Chloe reminds him they don’t know the Lancaster cops.

They look through photos from the scene and Dan finds one but the guy’s facing away from the camera. Ella nearly squeals with joy when she notices the van in the picture. The tires are the same brand that ran over poor Leo the squirrel. They run the license to get an ID.

The fake cop’s packing when Lucifer appears at his door. He busts it down and Sam starts crying. Sam doesn’t understand what Lucifer’s talking about when Lucifer starts asking questions about his connection to his dad. Sam claims he was going to swap Lucifer for Steve but when he went to remove Lucifer from the van, he had wings. Sam says he didn’t mean to hurt anyone and Lucifer angrily says to deliver the message that he defines who he is, not his dad. At that, Lucifer’s beautiful wings unfurl once again. Sam freaks out and Lucifer utters the episode’s title. “Oh bloody hell, they’re back, aren’t they?”

Again, he blames this on Sam but Sam is nearly hysterical when he asks Lucifer if his dad is the Sinnerman a huge crime boss he owes
money to. That’s who hired him to kidnap Lucifer and now he’s running because he didn’t finish the job. Sam doesn’t know where to find the Sinnerman and that’s when Chloe and Dan arrive to arrest Sam. Lucifer looks stunned as Sam’s hauled away.

When Marcus stops by her desk, Chloe starts babbling about her partnership with Lucifer and how she doesn’t care if she hasn’t seen his “thing.” She tells Marcus she’s a damned good detective and he finally says the perp was released on bail which means he has friends in high places.

Lucifer arrives home and Amenadiel is waiting, and he lets Lucifer know he knows about his wings. He’s not mad at his brother, he’s angry at himself. He wants Lucifer to be able to talk to him and Lucifer shouldn’t worry about telling him things. Amenadiel claims he’s still God’s favorite son and he won’t fail again because this time he has faith. Lucifer unfurls his wings and Amenadiel is stunned, having seen the severed wings on the floor. Lucifer says they’re tenacious and keep growing back.

Amenadiel says it’s part of God’s plan, and Lucifer thinks it’s their dad’s plan to control him. And then he reveals dad took away his Devil face when he gave him back his wings. Amenadiel asks if Lucifer understands this might mean that dad has forgiven him. Lucifer doesn’t want their dad’s forgiveness and Amenadiel replies, “But brother, if you can be redeemed doesn’t that mean that anyone can? Now, isn’t that divine?”

Lucifer isn’t positive it’s divinity at work. He asks Amenadiel if he’s heard of the Sinnerman because that’s who kidnapped him. Lucifer thinks maybe their dad had nothing to do with his kidnapping and maybe it’s something much, much darker.

As Amenadiel and Lucifer talk, we see Lucifer and Chloe at a murder scene. The victim appears to be Sam.

More on Lucifer Season 3:
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 2 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 3 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 4 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 5 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 6 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 7 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 8 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 9 Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 10 “The Sin Bin” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 11 “City of Angels?” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 12 “All About Her” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 13 “Til Death Do Us Part” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 14 “My Brother’s Keeper” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 15 “High School Poppycock” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 16 “Infernal Guinea Pig” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 17 “Let Pinhead Sing!” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 18 “The Last Heartbreak” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 19 “Orange is the New Maze” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 20 “Angel of San Bernardino” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 21 “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 23 “Quintessential Deckerstar” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 24 “A Devil of My Word” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Bonus Episode “Boo Normal” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Bonus Episode “Once Upon a Time” Recap