‘Lucifer’ Season 3 Episode 17 Recap: Let Pinhead Sing!

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 17 Recap
Tom Ellis and Aimee Garcia in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 17 (Photo by Erik Voake / FOX)

Fox’s Lucifer writers rewarded Lucifans with a treat by creating an episode that once again allowed Tom Ellis to show off his singing voice. Season three episode 17 was set in the music world with Chloe (Lauren German) and her partner, who’s acting more bizarre than usual in this episode, attempting to keep a superstar singer safe.

The March 12, 2018 episode begins backstage at a packed concert with Axara (Skye Townsend) preparing to hit the stage wearing a mask. She’s surrounded by backup dancers and as the crowd gets into the number, an explosion occurs on stage. It turns out the diva isn’t dead; it was a dancer wearing Axara’s mask who bit the dust.

Over at Dr. Linda’s office, Lucifer tells his friend/therapist he’s done trying to help Cain and now he has time to buy the pet shark he’s always wanted. When she suggests he’s backing off because he’s worried about Chloe getting hurt, Lucifer fails to notice she’s actually referencing her dysfunctional relationships with Amenadiel and Maze. Lucifer thinks he understands her point and decides maybe he should stop poking the bear (his dad) for a while.

At the station, Marcus Pierce (Tom Welling) is strumming a guitar and singing “Dust in the Wind.” He sounds depressed and Ella (Aimee Garcia) arrives to cheer him up, wearing a Snow-Flakes T-shirt. She has a present – a compliment box – and inside are positive notes about him to cheer him up. When she pulls out the notes, they’re all compliments about his really nice arms.

After leaving his office, Ella commands Dan (Kevin Alejandro) cheer up Pierce. Dan knows Pierce isn’t a fan of his, but Ella gets him to agree to try anyway because she refuses to take no for an answer.

So, it turns out backup dancer Jill switched positions with Axara at the last minute, and they’d never switched positions before the attack. Ella determines a firework killed Jill and it was definitely meant for Axara. The backup dancers are concerned it’s too dangerous to continue the tour. While this discussion’s going on, Lucifer’s lost in his own world. He’s figured out that if he removes Chloe from his spotlight, then he can keep poking his dad without worrying about her getting hurt.

Next, Chloe and Lucifer talk to Axara’s bodyguard, Bob, who for some reason Lucifer calls Rob. Bob joins them to talk to Axara, and she informs them an ex-backup singer named Patrick might want to hurt her. She and her friend/assistant Cece (Jillian Rose Reed) reveal Patrick threatened her just last week.

Linda (Rachael Harris) arrives at Maze’s place with a gift for her former BFF. It’s a hatchet to bury the hatchet. She apologizes through the door, saying she broke up with Amenadiel because no man is worth losing their friendship. Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) doesn’t reply.

Chloe and Lucifer talk to Patrick in the interrogation room, and he’s accompanied by his lawyer. Chloe tells Patrick they know he had a backstage pass, but he claims he wasn’t fired. He hated working for Axara because she was a b*tch, and Lucifer does his mind trick and gets Patrick to admit he wanted to be a better version of Axara which couldn’t happen if Axara was dead. Patrick has a solid alibi since he was doing his own show at the time of the murder.

Chloe, Lucifer, and Ella look through Axara’s social media and Lucifer surprises Ella with a shirt that reads “World’s Greatest Forensic Scientist.” Ella loves it and Chloe just looks confused. Ella reveals there are a zillion suspects, but Chloe says the killer had to have an all-access pass. They discover the winner of a contest for a backstage pass the night of the murder was Benny Parker, an obsessed fan.

Lucifer and Chloe head over to question Benny, and Lucifer’s acting weird. Chloe thinks Lucifer’s realized the job is super dangerous and his fear of losing her is making him focus on other people. She’s fine with that if he needs to “reverse Oprah” her. Lucifer says he’s not afraid…he’s just spreading the love.

They try Benny’s door and discover he’s dead on the floor of his apartment.

Back at the station, Ella reads Benny’s suicide note. He claims to have lived for Axara and now he’s died for her. They believe it’s a murder-suicide since he had time to plant the firework that killed Jill.

Lucifer shows up at the station with a bunch of hats and T-shirts from Axara, plus an autographed photo for Ella. Axara’s thrilled they’ve solved the case and her show can go, and Lucifer even sings out like Axara while holding a bobblehead. Chloe informs him the case is definitely not closed yet.

Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) meets with Dr. Linda, but Linda’s sidetracked. Charlotte asks what’s on her mind and Linda admits she’s having a fight with a friend. Charlotte reminds her that mediating conflicts is her specialty. She’s super excited to help Linda, although part of the giddiness could be from the drinks at lunch.

Ella fills Chloe in on the news that Benny died before the firework exploded. His suicide was staged before the concert at the Bowl which means the killer is still out there. Lucifer’s continuing his celebration of everyone but Chloe, naming a temp Employee of the Month.

Dan and Marcus commiserate over beers at Lux. Dan tries to get Marcus to open up about what’s bothering him, admitting he’s in a much better place himself after opening up and talking about his problems. Marcus explains life is an eternal wasteland, a dark void, a beaten dog on the side of the road… Dan looks stunned and replies, “Maybe we all are just dust in the wind.”

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 17 Recap
Lauren German and Tom Ellis (Photo by Erik Voake / FOX)

Chloe and Lucifer visit Axara to inform her she can’t perform tomorrow night because the killer’s still out there. She’s getting acupuncture as they talk, and Lucifer declares, “I say we let Pinhead sing!” As they debate whether or not it’s too dangerous, bullets fly and Chloe covers Axara’s body to keep her safe.

The police hunt for the shooter while Lucifer comforts Axara. Chloe tells her there’s no show because she’s under 24-hour protection. Ella arrives with a gun and she’s going to head back to the station to check it out. Lucifer volunteers to stay with Axara, suggesting they keep her safe at his penthouse. Chloe agrees but tells him if she’s not safe then his duties are revoked. Lucifer laughs like a teenage boy at the word “duties.”

Axara practices with a dancer while bodyguard Bob watches over her in Lucifer’s penthouse. Lucifer arrives home with smoothie supplies and asks what he can do to help her. She wants to know if he can play the piano, and they sit down together on the piano bench to sing. She says his A Flat is out of tune and decides to take a break rather than sing off-key. Lucifer then volunteers to make her a smoothie without washing the vegetables and they get into a tussle over the blender, with both covered in smoothie as a result of their argument.

Chloe brings Axara’s manager to the station because it turns out the gun recovered at the shooting is his. He explains he has an insurance policy on Axara, but it doesn’t make sense that he would kill her. She’s worth more to him alive than dead. Despite his protests, Chloe places him under arrest.

Charlotte mediates a meeting between Linda and Maze. Maze is pissed Linda lied to her, and Linda wishes she could take it back and apologizes. She tells Maze she misses her. Charlotte wants to know if Maze has anything to apologize for, and she claims she doesn’t. Maze didn’t do anything, according to her, and Linda finally has had enough. She’s angry Maze called dibs on someone she didn’t even have feelings for. Maze counters with, “I’m a demon. What do you expect?” Maze refuses to admit she did anything wrong and thinks Linda forgot the hoes before bros rule. Linda reveals Amenadiel is the one man she cared about in a really long time and yet she gave him up because of their friendship. Maze responds, “Go to hell,” and Linda’s done with mediation.

After they change out of smoothie-covered clothing, Axara wants to have sex asserting it calms her down before a show. Lucifer doesn’t want to have sex and says he’s not in the mood. Axara doesn’t think he likes her and he admits he’s only helping her because he’s trying to take his mind off Chloe. Axara wonders why he’s trying to convince himself he doesn’t like Chloe, but Lucifer says it’s because of his father. He’s afraid his dad will come after who he cares about. Axara assumes his all-powerful dad works in politics and tells him no one would come between him and what he’s passionate about in life. He thanks her for the advice and makes them another drink. When he returns, she’s gone.

Ella delivers a toxicology report to Chloe, and it shows Benny was forced to eat vegetables along with the pills that killed him. He was fed kale and raw turmeric, and it sounds like the smoothie that Axara drinks. They decide the manager isn’t the killer.

Dan and Marcus continue to talk, and then he waves over Amenadiel. Dan had no idea Marcus and Amenadiel know each other, and Dan heads out to a food truck to give them time to talk. Amenadiel tells Marcus this ends now, he’s done letting him defy his father. Marcus agrees, saying he’s done trying to end his curse. Amenadiel is sort of happy since he passed his test, and Marcus wonders if that’s the case, why aren’t his wings back? Amenadiel thinks maybe it’s a multiple part test, and Marcus is amazed he can have faith and hope when he’s on a loop of endless suffering.

As they talk, Axara begins singing at the piano. Dan reminds Lucifer Axara’s supposed to be in lockdown, and Lucifer rushes to retrieve her. Axara doesn’t listen to Lucifer and drags him into a duet on “I Will Survive.” They wind up grabbing the mic from one another, trying to upstage each other. Someone hands Lucifer his own mic and they continue singing. (We have had entirely too little of Tom Ellis singing this season!)

Song over, Axara says no one will scare her from the spotlight. Axara’s friend Cece approaches with a knife, angry that Lucifer was supposed to keep Axara safe and instead she’s put herself back in the spotlight.

Cece can’t believe Axara won’t stop performing even after people have died. She’s upset Axara keeps adding more shows, and Cece’s tired of sharing her with the public. She reminds Axara they used to perform to Beyoncé when they were younger, just the two of them. Cece confesses she loves her, and Axara can’t believe Cece would try and trick her like this.

Chloe arrives, demanding Cece drop the knife. When Cece turns to attack Chloe, Lucifer smashes her to the floor. Lucifer has a knife in his shoulder, but he’s not even aware of the wound because he’s worried about Chloe. She tries to control the bleeding and Lucifer holds her hand against his chest.

Amenadiel and Marcus watch this and Amenadiel tells Marcus this is why he’s got to have faith. “If my brother, the Devil, can have that…” Marcus finishes his sentence, “Maybe I can too.”

Back at the station, Marcus is in a much better mood. He congratulates Chloe on solving the case. Chloe has VIP tickets to Axara’s concert as a thank you gift and Marcus invites himself to be her +1. Chloe agrees.

Lucifer arrives, all bandaged up and back to his normal self. He’s decided he can’t control the world around Chloe and then he notices she has tickets to Axara’s show. He wants to know when he’s supposed to pick her up, and she breaks the news Pierce is going with her. Lucifer, disappointed, walks away saying he’s heard Axara’s amazing live.

Lucifer watches Pierce flirt with Chloe at her desk before they walk out of the station together. He looks incredibly sad.

Maze unwraps Linda’s hatchet and breaks it in half.

Lucifer visits Dr. Linda and he’s devastated. ”I think I made a horrible mistake,” he confesses.

More on Lucifer Season 3:
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 1 “They’re Back, Aren’t They” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 2 “The One with the Baby Carrot” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 3 “Mr. and Mrs. Mazikeen Smith” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 4 “What Would Lucifer Do?” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 5 “Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 6 “Vegas With Some Radish” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 7 “Off the Record” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 8 “Chloe Does Lucifer” Recap
Lucifer Season 3 Episode 9 “The Sinnerman” 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 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