Devil's Advocate: Lucifer Episode 309, "The Sinnerman"

Since the mysterious Sinnerman has been granting favors and stealing Lucifer's gig (not to mention somehow being able to get the drop on him, leave him in the desert, give him back his wings and steal his "devil face"), Lucifer has decided to up his game and get back to granting favors himself. But when he grants a favor to a young man named Joey whose greatest desire is to work for the mob, the result is finding Joey as the victim of a homicide that falls into Lucifer and Chloe's lap.

At first it appears Joey's death is the result of a mob hit. But when Chloe, Lucifer and Charlotte (who is still struggling to become a "good person") interview the mobster Frankie Ferrante, to whom Lucifer introduced Joey, they find that Frankie wants to find Joey's killer even more than they do. But it's when a second victim shows up that Lucifer sees the pattern -- the victims are all people for whom he's done his favors. He's certain the Sinnerman is behind this, and when Chloe dismisses his claims, Lt. Marcus Pierce backs him up.

Lucifer goes solo to track down the Sinnerman, and the trail isn't hard to find because the Sinnerman actually calls him up with an address. Ripping through locks and chains, Lucifer makes his way into a slaughterhouse, where he is lured by a broadcast image of the Sinnerman on a small television set. The door then closes, and Lucifer finds himself trapped in a large freezer.

Let's stop and think about that for a moment. Lucifer has exhibited vulnerability whenever Detective Chloe Decker is around. He can be hurt--he can even be killed. But absent her presence, he's pretty powerful, being an angel and all that. So did he use up his 24 hour reserve of devil-power ripping through chains and locks and fences, making him unable to rip a door off its hinges? Are the walls laced with devilmantium? Never mind, he's trapped and he can't get out.

Fortunately for him, he's found by Mazikeen, who's been trying to track him down to force him to listen to what she has to say and pretend to care. Realizing he's captive, she uses his disadvantage to whine about catching Dr. Linda and Amenadiel "talking" in her office. Linda's her friend, Amenadiel is her ex (one of a million past partners), and seeing them together makes her uncomfortable. That'll be an ongoing subplot for a while, as Linda and Amenadiel try to hide their relationship.

Also, the Sinnerman wears sunglasses, so while Lucifer's "look you in the eyes and find out what you desire trick" would, apparently, work over a camera, they do not work through a pair of tinted 70s Superfly sunglasses.

While Chloe and Marcus stake out Frankie, hoping he'll lead them to the Sinnerman, they pick up someone there matching Lucifer's description of the man who trapped him. That's a little too convenient, right? But it's definitely the right guy, and Lucifer can't wait to "interrogate" him. However (and this is really the best part of this episode), the Sinnerman has found a unique way to thwart Lucifer's vision-based ability, making it impossible for the devil to learn what it is he really wants.

This episode had a large number of good 'bits' in it, but it just didn't flow that well and had a number of logical gaffes that left me scratching my head. Perhaps I was expecting too much from the first real confrontation with the Sinnerman. Or maybe this fellow isn't the real Sinnerman at all, and my theory that Marcus Pierce is the real Sinnerman is still valid. (Someone had to close and lock that door on Lucifer, after all.)