Lucifer is back with The Detective – so why do things not feel quite right to Chloe?

An episode that allows Tom Ellis to have fun with playing the role, this is one of those stories that’s nigh on impossible to review without spoilers, so you have been warned…

It’s pretty clear from the look on “Lucifer”’s face at the end of the first episode – and the cutback to his down in Hell – that something’s off about our friendly neighbourhood devil, and the early scene, as he practises how he speaks to Chloe, simply confirms that. But it’s a sometimes agonising wait for everyone around him to click what’s going on. His behaviour at the crime scene (another murder on a training Marsbase!), his out of character actions in the interrogation room… they’re all clues that we realise eventually Chloe has been putting together, but as you watch, you wonder how she’s missing things. Maze of course doesn’t – and it’s good to see where her line is drawn – and Amenadiel finally gets there, but others around are drawn in by the new aura around the demon.

The writers put this alternate Lucifer – his brother, Michael – to good use in advancing the plots, particularly with the revelations around Linda, but it’s definitely something that can work for one episode (and its preceding cliffhanger) and not much beyond. Ellis clearly enjoys doing something different – and it seems as if that’s going to be a keynote of the new seasons on Netflix – and I’m intrigued to see how much faith Chloe has lost…

Verdict: A different sort of episode that resolves its key question at just the right moment. 8/10

Paul Simpson