Lucifer: Boo Normal; Once Upon a Time
May 28, 2018 7:01 PM - Season 3, Episode 25 - Subscribe

As Lucifer and the team investigate the murder of a child psychiatrist, Ella thinks about a big childhood secret that she's been hiding. Then, in Part 2, an alternate dimension is visited where Lucifer not only has never met Chloe, but is granted the freedom of choice.
posted by oh yeah! (14 comments total)
 
I'll check in the morning to see if any of the recap sites are going to write up these last two 'bonus' episodes, figured I should get the thread open first.

I'm glad I haven't deleted the finale from my Tivo yet, as I don't want my last impression of these characters to be their alternate-reality counterparts. And I can imagine how much hate the episode would have gotten here had it aired as yet another S3 filler episode, whoever decided to hold it back for next season made the right call. Ella's episode was fun though.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:11 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]


Ironically, Boo Normal is some of the best of Lucifer, IMO, at least in terms of the story, writing, and showing understanding of what the show really is. I take some issue with the editing, as the pacing is off a bit, but a fun little story that ties into the mythology without being too serious is the sort of thing that made Lucifer a great show.

Don't get me wrong, occasional seriousness and "heavy" action is needed to balance it all out, but one thing that has gone missing in recent years is light television that isn't straight comedy. Things that don't demand your full attention at every moment and hours of thought and discussion to fully understand every nuance have their place, and Lucifer fit the bill in a way much less objectionable to me than stuff like Big Bang Theory and its ilk.

I'd be pleased as punch if someone picked it up, but given that it is in many ways the antithesis of a tentpole production, the odds are longer than long that it will happen. Never mind that Netflix and its competitors desperately need more background shows. (Amazon just got a bunch of classic game shows, which helps some, but some new stuff would be nice to have as well)
posted by wierdo at 12:47 AM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]




I'm of two minds about this. I it was both frustrating seeing it now, and watching an episode that didn't advance the plot of the finale (which we knew it wouldn't do), but at the same time it was a bit of a coda, "proving" that Lucifer and Chloe are a pair that didn't need any interference to come together, which I guess is sort of sweet.

Overall, I liked the slightly different look (hair and make-up) of the characters, but I really hated God's voice. I guess they were trying to play up the similarities between him and Lucifer (in terms of accent) but there was no need for that as none of Lucifer's other siblings speak the same way. I also thought it was a bit weak sounding for the character. I guess I was expecting it to be more authoritative and not as sly.

Actually when it first came on, I thought they were trying to convince us that Lucifer wasn't himself, or wasn't the devil, and that another celestial being had taken over the role, so they picked somebody who was similar to Ton Ellis in delivery, but wasn't Tom Ellis.
posted by sardonyx at 2:20 PM on May 29, 2018


Sorry, I should indicate that comment was for episode 26. Apparently I watched them out of order. Now I've got to view the episode 25.
posted by sardonyx at 2:23 PM on May 29, 2018


Gawk! Now I feel like an idiot. I didn't realize Neil Gaiman was playing God. Fine, I'd have used him too if I were in charge, so all of my criticism can go right out the window (even though my reactions still stand).
posted by sardonyx at 2:28 PM on May 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


So, these were supposed to air in Season 4. I know the "what if" episode was its own little timeline bubble and, by design, wasn't really related to anything that came before. But did anyone else think it was strange that in the Ella-sees-dead-people (or -archangels) episode the Chloe/Lucifer relationship seemed unchanged?

The only nod to Chloe seeing <spoilers> Lucifer's true face </spoilers> in the season series finale was when Ella fessed up to seeing Ray-Ray. Chloe said something about how she'd also seen weird stuff most people wouldn't believe.

(I also thought the "voice of god" was a little strange until I saw Gaiman in the opening credits.)
posted by mon-ma-tron at 6:11 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


So, these were supposed to air in Season 4. I know the "what if" episode was its own little timeline bubble and, by design, wasn't really related to anything that came before. But did anyone else think it was strange that in the Ella-sees-dead-people (or -archangels) episode the Chloe/Lucifer relationship seemed unchanged?

The AV Club recapper pointed out that they didn't share much screen time in the episode, since they paired off Chloe with Ella and Lucifer with Dan. And, considering that the show's writers seem to believe in the stupid 'Moonlight curse' and were always going to come up with some new roadblock to keep Chloe & Lucifer apart, I have little doubt that season 4 would have had a long stretch of episodes of Chloe 'needing space'. And whoever the new S4 'unexpected character from Lucifer's past' was going to be would surely have become Lucifer's excuse for keeping his distance.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:20 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]




I only have one thing to say in response to that news: "SQUEEEEEEEE!!"
posted by wierdo at 4:11 PM on June 16, 2018


I just noticed Netflix has added Lucifer S1-3, guess I know what I'll be binging over the holiday break :-)
posted by oh yeah! at 8:38 PM on December 17, 2018


Well, just finished my S1-3 rewatch binge. S1 and S2 were a delight to re-experience, and S3 was just as interminable the second time through as it was the first time. Also, they moronically stuck to the broadcast order of putting these last two episodes at the very end. They really should have slipped "Boo Normal" back into the S3 lineup somewhere, despite how it would add to the lack of momentum for the season, or saved it to stick into S4 somewhere as planned when they thought they'd get Fox renewal. Ending with "Once Upon a Time" is anticlimactic but at least works in continuity since it's an AU. But anyone watching this show for the first time via Netflix is going to get whiplash going right from all the world-changing events of "Devil of My Word" #24 with dead Charlotte, dead Cain, and Chloe having seen Lucifer's true face to the "Boo Normal" status quo of everyone back at work as if nothing has happened (aside from Chloe's line to Ella after her 'I see a ghost' confession of how Chloe has seen some strange things too), rather than them all having to scramble to cover up Pierce's murder by Lucifer or prove it was justifiable self-defense by exposing Pierce as the Sinnerman & murderer of Charlotte. Dan should be a grieving wreck still, not off being subjected to Lucifer's usual mocking schtick.

It was fun revisiting all the old threads as I made my way through though. I see from the cast & Lucifer Writers Room twitters that they've wrapped filming on all 10 episodes of S4 already, so, whenever it is in 2019 that they start streaming it will probably be all at once. I kind of hope that Netflix will do it as a weekly release instead, so I get some time to savor it instead of zooming through it in a binge-post-athon weekend, but, we'll see. If the writers haven't learned their lesson on all the mistakes they made in S3, maybe S4 will be best viewed in one go.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:05 AM on December 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Folks, imagine binge watching these episodes years later and going, "WHAT THE HELL" when these come on? So confused.

Like Ella's "ghost" reveal was brilliant, but definitely should not be a one off islanded revelation, y'know? And that Rayray was actually Azrael? Adorbs. But the islanded thing...uh, Chloe is kewl with weird shit now?

Lost it on Neil Gaiman as God. Loved it. Loved that Lauren German actually seemed to be having fun for a change.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:26 AM on November 13, 2021


Been binging this and I would have quit watching several episodes ago if not for this comment this comment. Tom Welling is a fine actor, but so lacked charisma in this role that charisma drained from my own stats as I continued watching.


The last episode was nice until the end. It goes against everything shown of Lucifer's character that he would listen to an extended infodump on any topic except about himself.
I'm spraining myself reaching for an explanation, but perhaps this is a Mary Sue episode with Ella and Raerae alternating being the scriptwriter insert character, and the scriptwriter desiring Tom Ellis' undivided asexual attention.
posted by othrechaz at 6:22 PM on September 24, 2022


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