Warning: spoilers abound!
Ok, I watched the latest episodes when they first dropped, but I’m writing this review so late because, honestly, I couldn’t figure out what to say. Let me be clear that I did like most of the episodes in this latter half of the season (though the musical episode fell a little flat). God deciding to retire and the angels, including Lucifer, fighting for the throne was a fun storyline. I actually wish there was more focus on it - the drama in the last couple episodes was fantastic. But there was one thing, one issue that Lucifer was dealing with that tainted the entire experience for me.
In the very first episode of the show’s return, Lucifer sits down to a family dinner with God and the other angels who are on Earth. During this meal, Lucifer asks if God actually loves them (the angels) and God evades the answer by stating that if Lucifer has to ask, then he (God) has failed as a father. This prompts Lucifer to accuse God of being incapable of love. I called bullshit on this immediately and, several episodes later, was proven right. Even so, the accusation causes Lucifer to believe, because he is God’s son, he is also incapable of love, therefore, cannot say “I love you” to Chloe. Nonsense though it is, Lucifer believes it, so it becomes a thing that the new couple have to work through (though he does eventually say “I love you” in the last episode).
I take issue with this “conflict”. Not because of any religious reasons, not because it was awkwardly forced into the story, but because of the implication behind introducing the idea in the first place. By accusing God of being incapable of love, Lucifer implies that God is a monster, the worst of the worst. Which is reflected even more when Lucifer so easily applies the idea to himself - especially when he already sees himself as monstrous. And you know what? Maybe, in the context of the show, God is a monster. If that’s the direction the show wanted to go, then fine. But absence of love does not a monster make.
There are different kinds of love: familial, platonic, etc. And there are people out there who struggle with feeling, even the very concept of, love. That does not make them bad people. Love is not the end all, be all of the human experience. An inability to love is not a shorthand for monster. And implying that in “Lucifer” ruined my enjoyment of the show.
The thing is, “Lucifer” is not the first show to do this. It certainly won’t be the last. It’s one of the tropes I hate the most, purely because of the message it sends to people who struggle with this sort of thing. I’m disappointed “Lucifer” included it.
3/10
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