Fox hasn’t announced if Lucifer will be sticking around for a fourth season, however season three episode 23 makes an excellent case for why this smartly written, well acted show needs to continue. Season three episode 23 begins with Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) and Dan (Kevin Alejandro) waking up after spending the night together, and Charlotte admits she’s happy Dan revealed his feelings. They get up and help her kids make breakfast when suddenly a man with a gun barges in, face transforming into a different criminal she defended as he shoots the kids and then Dan.
Of course, that was just a nightmare, and fortunately, Dan’s next to her in bed to provide comfort.
Lucifer (Tom Ellis) visits Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris) and she wants to know if now he’ll spill the complete truth to Chloe. He doesn’t think there’s a need since she broke it off with Pierce. He doesn’t want to push things. Plus, she’s on the rebound. He just wants things to get back to normal. In fact, he decides to “do” normal – not just say it.
Chloe (Lauren German) arrives at a murder scene and Ella (Aimee Garcia) immediately apologizes for the bachelorette party from hell. Meanwhile, Lucifer’s also on the scene but he’s, bizarrely, playing the piano. He wants things to get back to normal and this is supposed to remind Chloe of their beginnings as partners. Chloe agrees she wants to normalize life again.
The victim, Devon, is baseball superstar Forest ‘King’ Clay’s wife. Instead of concentrating on their new case, Lucifer’s stuck in the “be normal” mode and reliving his greatest hits with Chloe. He lights up a joint at the scene, simply because he did that once before in their early days together.
Chloe, sticking with the case and trying not to worry about her weird partner, wonders about the broken lock, and apparently, it wasn’t a home invasion because nothing was taken. Forest was home at the time but was knocked out and is currently at the hospital.
And less than a quarter of the way into the episode, Lucifer utters the episode’s title. When Chloe finds a shell casing, Lucifer says, “That is perfect, detective. My shenanigans leading to a break in the case – that is quintessential Deckerstar.”
Elsewhere, Amenadiel (DB Woodside) and Charlotte toast to splitting up Pierce and Chloe. Charlotte thinks she’s still going to Hell, but Amenadiel tells her to celebrate the tiny victories. But then Charlotte reminds him he’s mortal right now and he realizes if he dies, he’s not sure he’ll make it to Heaven.
At the station, Charlotte spots Forest Clay (Doug Savant) and she confesses to Lucifer that Forest is in her Hell loop. She knows he must be the killer.
Forest goes over his story with Chloe and his lawyer, Ben Wheeler (Colin Egglesfield). He explains he saw a person with a gun and a mask before he was hit. When he came to, his wife was already dead. He doesn’t recall anything that would help them find the killer.
After the interview, Charlotte informs Chloe and Lucifer that 13 years ago she was given a bag to incinerate. The bag belonged to Forest Clay. She knows there was dried blood on the duffel bag, but never looked inside. She truly believes she helped cover up a murder.
Lucifer believes Charlotte’s telling the truth. He then explains the honest-to-goodness actual truth to Chloe. Lucifer says Charlotte went to Hell when she died, and Forest was in her Hell loop. He’s now in her nightmares. He goes on to explain that Dan’s in the loop now too, which is an interesting development. Charlotte laughs and says it’s nonsense, and Chloe of course just ignores the beans Lucifer just spilled.
Over at Lux, Amenadiel’s day-drinking and Lucifer wonders why. Amenadiel confesses he thinks humans and celestial beings aren’t that different. Everything Amenadiel has believed about why he’s on Earth has all been a guess. He now believes that he and Lucifer should judge themselves and they have control, not their dad. Lucifer pooh-poohs that revelation, saying if it’s true then Amenadiel should just sprout wings right now. He should be able to if he controls such things. Amenadiel’s forced to admit he hasn’t finished reasoning it all out.
Dan and Chloe go over Forest’s history and he’s clean. However, Ella reveals the cut on Forest’s face didn’t come from a gun like Forest said. He lied; the wound was caused by something sharp.
Lucifer and Chloe return to Forest’s place and question him about the murder. Lucifer does his mind trick and Forest admits he wasn’t there. He was with Mia, a bartender from his country club.
Mia (Emma Bell) comes to the station and confirms Forest’s alibi. He was injured when he fell out of bed and shattered a lamp during sex. Mia also reveals Devon had a long-term affair with her CEO.
Over at Pierce’s new place, Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) tries to sneak up on him but Pierce (Tom Welling) is aware she’s there. She has her demon blade ready to use, but he has a gun and so it’s a standoff. Pierce has something important to talk about that doesn’t involve either of them killing each other. He reminds her only Lucifer can fly her down to Hell, and his new plan is that they need to kill Amenadiel. He’ll do it if Maze weakens him. That should piss off God and they can frame Lucifer for the deed.
Next, Chloe and Lucifer head over to Devon and Forest’s company’s office and confront the CEO. He denies the affair and says they only spent a lot of late hours together getting their new shoe line ready to launch before a knock-off hit the stores first. They worried about corporate spies and even chased one from the place recently but didn’t catch him.
Chloe thinks maybe the corporate spy was actually stalking Devon, not the sneakers.
Amenadiel acts like he needs a lawyer and has an appointment with Ben Wheeler. Charlotte’s also at Wheeler’s office and she causes a scene when she confronts him with the realization there are consequences for what they’ve done and who they’ve defended. She also explains Hell is real and of course Ben calls for security.
After Charlotte’s escorted out, Amenadiel pretends he’s decided not to use this firm. Outside, Amenadiel confirms he got what they came for.
Ella, Chloe, and Lucifer look at the security video and find the spy on camera four times. However, he’s keeping his face hidden and they can’t identify him. As they’re talking, Dan receives a package. It’s a waffle maker he got for Charlotte because she doesn’t have a good one. Lucifer’s pleased Dan’s back to his douchey ways. Then Dan pulls out a bracelet with a waffle charm, and Chloe and Lucifer agree it’s the better choice of gift.
Charlotte and Amenadiel look over the info Amenadiel retrieved from Ben’s computer. There’s a list of 14 non-disclosure agreements. Forest’s been paying $300k to $400k to each woman. Charlotte thinks she figured out who Forest killed when she threw away the evidence. But, she still can’t prove he’s the killer.
After leaving Charlotte, Amenadiel finds Maze crying in the parking lot. She claims she has no one and everything’s ruined. He assures her it’s not too late to fix things, giving her a hug as they talk. He also declares he’ll always be there for her. That bit of news causes Maze to stop just inches away from secretly injecting him with some substance.
Lucifer arrives at Chloe’s and wants to play Monopoly with her and Trixie. He thinks it’ll transport them back to a happier time. He even wants them to land on the same spaces, but Trixie says playing exactly the same game as before isn’t fun.
After Trixie leaves to do her book report, Lucifer grabs Chloe and makes her dance. Chloe gets upset, believing Lucifer’s making fun of her. Lucifer explains he just wants them to get back to normal, but Chloe admits that right now normal hurts. She asks him to leave and Lucifer looks heartbroken.
The next day at the station, Chloe’s excited to show Ella that the spy wasn’t necessarily after Devon. He seems to have been shadowing Forest, and Forest might have been the intended target. Chloe’s a bit hyper and looks like she hasn’t slept – which she hasn’t. She admits it’s not because of Pierce. She thinks it’s actually about Lucifer. Chloe confesses to Ella that Lucifer’s why she said yes and then no to Pierce. (Yes, Chloe! You figured it out, even if it took massive doses of caffeine to come to that conclusion!)
Chloe and Ella return to talking about work when Charlotte comes in and claims she’s figured it out. AJ Agholor is the spy on the video surveillance. He went to jail in 2005 for a murder Forest actually committed. She explains how she figured it out and that AJ just got out of prison.
Maze returns to Pierce empty-handed and Pierce accuses her of going soft, something no one should ever say to a demon. She beats the crap out of him when he says he’ll kill Amenadiel himself.
Chloe brings in AJ (J. Anthony Pena) and lays out her case. She even reveals she knows he didn’t commit murder in 2005. AJ confesses the woman who was killed was his ex-fiancée and she broke off their engagement because of Forest. She wanted to leave Forest, but Forest killed her first. Unfortunately, there was never any proof that Forest was the murderer.
Lucifer arrives and catches the tail end of the interrogation. He’s noticeably upset Chloe caught the bad guy without him.
Chloe tells Charlotte she has an idea how to get Forest.
Maze continues to beat up Pierce, but he gets in a few good licks. She’s about to kill him when he explains that he’s arranged it so that Linda will die if Amenadiel doesn’t. Maze is distracted and Pierce grabs the syringe which fell during the fight and injects Maze. Maze passes out.
Forest’s at his place with Mia when Charlotte drops in to tell him she knows about the NDAs and about how he abused each of those women. Mia has already told Charlotte about how Forest really got the cut on his head while he was strangling her. Forest wonders how much they want and Charlotte tells him all of it, since he’s a murderer. She springs the name of the murder victim on him and reveals she’s the one who was told to get rid of the bloody duffel bag. She lies and says she kept it.
Forest still believes he can pay them off and acts like he’s getting his checkbook. Instead, he grabs Mia and threatens to kill her.
Lucifer knocks on the door and then hears the commotion inside.
Forest confesses to the murder and Charlotte refuses to help him. Chloe appears, gun drawn, and confirms they set this up and recorded everything. Forest finally lets Mia go and Chloe’s able to place him under arrest.
Lucifer watches from outside, knowing Chloe handled this without him.
Later, Charlotte and Amenadiel look out over the City of Angels and share their stories. Amenadiel has come to the conclusion everything he’s doing he’s doing for himself. He now believes he took his own wings away. He also confesses angels are as flawed as humans. He points out Charlotte just stopped a serial abuser and a murderer who’ll never hurt anyone again.
As they talk, Charlotte hears something in the nearby bushes. She steps in front of Amenadiel and is shot twice! Pierce runs from the scene as Charlotte bleeds and gasps for breath.
Lucifer compliments Chloe on a job well done and confesses he knows she doesn’t need him. He’s had an epiphany and now understands she’s working with him not because she has to but because she chooses to. He also understands the return to normal thing was just a way of not dealing with the present. In a heartbreaking moment, Lucifer tells Chloe he believes if she saw all of him and knew everything, she’d run away.
He can’t show her his Devil face, but he says in a deeply serious manner, “I am the Devil.”
Chloe holds his face in her hands and tells him he’s not to her. They kiss and then are pulled apart when the phone rings. Chloe answers and learns Charlotte’s been shot.
Amenadiel cradles Charlotte, promising her he’ll get help. She thinks cheating death twice is too much. He asks why she jumped in front of him, and she says it wasn’t for herself – it was redemption. Amenadiel smiles and laughs as Charlotte cries. She asks him to stay with her and he says he will as the light fades from her eyes. Amenadiel cries as he holds her lifeless body.
Amenadiel looks to the sky and then bows his head. His wings spring out in all their glory as he stands, still holding Charlotte’s body. He looks again to the sky and says, “Let’s go home.”
He flies to Heaven with Charlotte.
Her body is still on the ground where she fell after being shot when Chloe and Lucifer arrive on the scene. Chloe cries as she bends over Charlotte. Dan also races to the scene and scoops up Charlotte. He’s devastated as he cradles the woman he loves. She’s wearing the waffle bracelet he just gave her.
Lucifer finds Amenadiel’s feather next to Charlotte’s body. He picks it up and looks toward Heaven.
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 21 “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better” 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
