‘Lucifer’ Season 3 Episode 21 Recap: “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better”

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 21 Recap
Lauren German and Tom Ellis in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 21 (Photo Credit: Fox)

Fox’s Lucifer season three episode 21 kicks off with the death of a talented ballerina. Alone while practicing her routine, she’s attacked from behind and choked to death.

The action at Pierce’s place picks up right where season three episode 20 left off. Lucifer (Tom Ellis) can’t believe Pierce’s mark is gone, with Pierce (Tom Welling) explaining his plan must have worked. He thinks Chloe’s love is what made his mark disappear, the same way Lucifer can bleed in her presence. Pierce admits he tried to stop her from saying she loved him, but Lucifer believes God took the mark away as a way to screw with him. However, Lucifer’s more than happy to kill Pierce at this point since that’s what he’s always wanted. Lucifer picks up a rock, says, “Let’s rock and roll,” and is about to do the deed when Pierce stops him.

Chloe (Lauren German) shows up at work and it’s obvious to Ella (Aimee Garcia) that something’s wrong. Chloe’s wearing sunglasses at work and Ella figures out she’s been crying. Chloe admits she and Pierce broke up, but she doesn’t really understand why. It could be an intimacy thing and she blames herself, but Ella won’t let her get away with that. She wants to go yell at Pierce, but Chloe stops her.

It was only a temporary halt in Ella’s mission as once Chloe walks away, Ella yells at Pierce anyway. He claims he broke things off so as not to hurt her but then he suddenly realizes he can now actually grow old with her. He wants to win her back!

Chloe meets Lucifer at the ballerina’s murder scene and volunteers to be a sounding board if she needs one. Just then Pierce rides up on his motorcycle and Lucifer wonders why he’s not dead yet. Pierce apologizes to Chloe in person and admits he’s not used to feeling this way. He blurts out, “I love you,” and Chloe’s speechless and doesn’t know how to respond. She doesn’t say it back and claims they’re just words. She no longer trusts him. (Wise move, Chloe.)

Ballerina Reina Markova was a prima ballerina who liked to rehearse alone. Ella estimates she’s been dead for 10 hours and Lucifer compares that to the time of death of Chloe’s relationship with Pierce. Turns out Reina was killed with shoelaces – but not her own. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) arrives and is happy to hear Pierce is a thing of the past.

Chloe warns Lucifer that her relationship with Pierce is none of his business. She’s not sure if she’s taking Pierce back. As she’s walking away, she scratches Lucifer and he bleeds. He’s pleased to see the blood, believing it means he’s still important to Chloe.

Lucifer barges into Dr. Linda’s office, happy Chloe still makes him bleed. He catches Linda (Rachael Harris) up on Pierce losing his mark and says that Chloe’s love is what makes him vulnerable and made Pierce vulnerable. If Chloe cares for them, they can be hurt or killed. But since he can still bleed, that must mean Chloe’s on the fence between him and Pierce. He needs to tip the scales in his favor to save her from Pierce. He decides that means he needs to show Chloe he’s better than Pierce in every possible way.

After he leaves her office, Linda wonders if maybe this time she actually should have stopped Lucifer from whatever he has planned. (Yes, Dr. Linda – follow your instincts on this one!)

Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) pays a visit to Pierce at work and he confirms they’re calling off their plan. He explains he broke up with her and that he no longer wants to use Chloe. Maze doesn’t want their plan to end because her side of the arrangement has always been to hang Pierce’s murder on Lucifer which will wreck his life. It’s the only way she can get back to Hell. Pierce doesn’t care; the plan is off.

A pissed-off Maze leaves, but she’s not giving up on her plan.

Lucifer brings Chloe a latte and a single lemon bar. Dan walks up, grabs a lemon bar from a full tray on Chloe’s desk, and munches away. He spits out what’s left when Ella arrives and explains Pierce baked them.

Ella reports the ballet shoe had traces of olive oil, Evian, and beeswax. Lucifer jokes, “So the killer’s a bumblebee with expensive taste.” However, Chloe and Ella know ballerinas use different means to condition their shoes.

Chloe and Lucifer head over and question Amber Fontaine, Reina’s understudy. (And, yes, that is Robert Roldan from So You Think You Can Dance as Miguel, one of the dancers.) Amber claims the killer must have stolen her shoes from her locker which was also Reina’s locker at some point. She claims she’s not ready to step into the spotlight and wanted to learn more from Reina. She then reveals Reina was going to host America’s Next Prima Ballerina but decided not to.

Chloe thinks they need to find out why Reina turned down the hosting gig.

When Chloe and Lucifer exit the studio, they discover Pierce has filled Chloe’s car with roses. That prompts Lucifer to meet with Amenadiel (DB Woodside) to devise a plan to get rid of Pierce. Amenadiel nixes any plan that involves killing Pierce, and then Lucifer decides killing Pierce isn’t the goal. The goal is for Chloe to pick him over Pierce, and Amenadiel’s all in on that plan. Lucifer believes they need to prove to Chloe that Pierce isn’t the man she thinks he is. And then it slips out Pierce is the man behind Sinnerman, something Amenadiel didn’t know.

Next up, Chloe, Lucifer, and Ella watch a tape of choreographer Myles Drucker, the creator of America’s Next Prima Ballerina who lost his leg in a car crash. He lost a lot of money when Reina backed out of hosting, and Lucifer wonders if he took it in stride. (Nope, not a single laugh from Chloe or Ella at the now one-legged Myles’ expense.)

Chloe and Lucifer interrogate Myles at the station and he doesn’t care Reina is dead. He calls her unprofessional and claims he didn’t want to work with her. Lucifer uses his Jedi mind trick to learn Myles wishes the car crash didn’t happen, confessing the car crash didn’t crush his leg. He admits the accident generated sympathy and made his career. He also admits he wears a prosthetic leg over his perfectly fine real leg.

Myles received a video threatening to expose him unless he gave Reina a job, but it turns out Reina didn’t send the video. The video was sent from her email address and when he confronted her, she got angry and quit because she didn’t want any handouts.

Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) is relaxing at a hotel, drinking and preparing for her eventual trip to Hell. Amenadiel stops by to ask her to help him prove Pierce was behind Sinnerman, explaining Pierce was leading a double life. He then explains he wants Pierce out of the picture so Lucifer can be with Chloe. Amenadiel lets Charlotte in on the secret that Chloe was placed on this earth to cross paths with Lucifer, and bringing them together is his final task. If he gets them together, God will restore him.

Charlotte figures out that if she helps Amenadiel, it might put her in God’s good graces. She immediately springs into action.

Lucifer’s proud of himself for getting so much info from Myles. They have nothing left to do that evening on the case and Lucifer suggests they go for a drive as he’s walking Chloe to her car. She laughs but then becomes very quiet when he offers her the keys to a car he bought her – a Mustang G.T. 500. She can’t believe he got her a car and then figures out Lucifer thinks he’s competing with Pierce. She hands him back the keys and tells him, “It’s not about stuff.”

Maze is at Chloe’s place when Chloe wakes up. Maze apologizes and wants back in the house, saying she heard Chloe and Pierce broke up. She offers to hurt Pierce for her ex-roommate. Chloe admits she’s confused and then lays out what happened. She admits she doesn’t know what to think and doesn’t trust Pierce. Maze says she never trusts anyone. Trixie interrupts Maze and Chloe talking, and then immediately leaves the room.

Dan calls Chloe with the news that the email with the video was sent from an address belonging to William Sterling, chairman of the board of LA West Ballet. Chloe heads over to the place to check it out and Lucifer’s already there because he wanted to take things off her plate. Sterling’s not there and Lucifer says an attractive neighbor let him in.

There are photos of Sterling with Reina all over the place as well as her lingerie. Her old costumes are in the closet, too, and Lucifer believes this is all because Sterling’s a sicko stalker. Chloe, on the other hand, thinks it’s because Reina lived there with Sterling.

Just then Sterling arrives and Lucifer immediately slams him against the wall. Chloe tells Lucifer to let him go because he and Reina were having an affair. Sterling claims Reina was the love of his life.

Chloe asks if he sent Myles the blackmail video, but he denies knowing anything about it. Since the email came from this physical address, he thinks someone might have snuck onto Reina’s computer.

Meanwhile, Amenadiel and Charlotte spy on Pierce as he sits with a known fence. Charlotte’s willing to do whatever it takes to find out about the envelope the fence hands to Pierce since she’s working with God. When Pierce leaves, Charlotte steals a motorcycle claiming she’s doing so for God.

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 21 Preview
Tricia Helfer as Charlotte in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 21 (Photo Credit: Fox)

She races after Pierce and follows him into a parking lot. Pierce figures out he’s being followed and confronts her. Charlotte whips off the helmet and makes up a story about how she’s attracted to him and wanted him since he broke up with Chloe. He stops her, saying he’s in love with Chloe.

Chloe, Ella, Lucifer, and Dan watch the video which exposes Myles’ lie. The video was on Reina’s computer, but they can’t trace who created it. If the killer wore gloves, they won’t get anything from Reina’s computer.

Their discussion is interrupted by a call from Pierce. Lucifer tries to hit ignore but Chloe answers. They eavesdrop as Chloe talks to Pierce. He wants her to meet him at his place that evening, promising he won’t bother her again.

Lucifer knows Chloe’s about to make a decision and asks if he can share some thoughts before she does. She agrees and tells him to spill whatever he wants to say. Dan and Ella continue to listen in so Lucifer asks her to meet him at his place in one hour.

Lucifer lights candles and has dinner and wine ready when Chloe arrives. Chloe’s confused and Lucifer says all this is to help her make an “appropriate” decision about her/their future. He wants to ask her a very important question: “Isn’t this better than anything Pierce could do?” Chloe’s stunned that’s the important question he wanted answered and hurt he did this just to show up Pierce. With tears in her eyes, she asks why he’s doing this to her. She can’t understand why he would care who she’s with. Lucifer says it’s because Pierce doesn’t deserve her. She asks who does and he replies, “Someone better.” (Damn you, Lucifer! Tell her what she wants to hear!) The phone rings and it’s Dan and Ella saying they have a lead. They spotted a figure in the window’s reflection in the video and have figured out the person who shot the video is Miguel. (SYTYCD’s Robert has the honor of being the episode’s big villain.)

Chloe and Lucifer arrive at a performance and Miguel’s on stage. He got rid of Reina so he could be with her understudy, which is obvious to Chloe and Lucifer when they watch Miguel and Amber dance together. Sterling arrives and screams at Miguel for taking Reina away and then fires a shot into the ceiling.

Chloe instructs Sterling to drop the weapon (he doesn’t) and Lucifer gets in between Sterling and Miguel. Lucifer believes Miguel didn’t want to kill Reina, he just wanted to get her out of the way. Sterling thought Miguel cared for Reina and Lucifer explains she was an obstacle to Miguel’s being with Amber. Reina found out Miguel blackmailed Myles to get her out of the company and onto the show, and she threatened to ruin his career. Miguel wouldn’t be able to dance in the company with Amber ever again, and he couldn’t let that happen. Chloe wants to know why Miguel didn’t tell Amber the truth, and Amber confesses she has feelings for Miguel.

Lucifer addresses Miguel, telling him he could have had everything he wanted if he just revealed to Amber how he felt. Miguel’s placed under arrest and led away. Lucifer watches Chloe leave and realizes he also blew it by not expressing his feelings.

After being stood up by Chloe, Pierce heads over to her place. After he leaves, Charlotte and Amenadiel look for the envelope he received from the fence. It’s on the table but it’s empty and they realize he took the contents with him. Amenadiel thinks they’re too late but Charlotte won’t give up. “You don’t quit when you’re doing God’s work,” she says.

Lucifer’s at home, alone, drowning his sorrows when Dr. Linda arrives and apologizes. Lucifer admits he screwed things up by trying to get Pierce out of the picture instead of telling Chloe how he really feels. Linda wonders why he’s so afraid and he confesses it’s because neither he nor Chloe have a choice. This is all part of his dad’s master plan to toy with them. Linda thinks that’s an excuse and that he’s taking Chloe’s choice away by not telling her how he feels. Linda reminds him they’re all just guessing what Lucifer’s dad’s really responsible for. She asks, “What do you truly desire?” He replies, “I want her to choose me.” (Another heartbreaking performance by Tom Ellis.)

Lucifer drives to Chloe’s but Pierce has beat him to her place. Pierce admits he screwed up and wants to make things better. He confesses she gives his life meaning and asks if she’ll let him spend the rest of his days making it up to her. He gets down on one knee and proposes. Chloe says yes. (That sound you heard at 8:59pm on April 23, 2018 was Lucifans across the country screaming at their television sets.)

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 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 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