The fact that so many people had problems with this episode is the exact reason that every TV show should continue doing episodes like this every season. This needed to be said and seen because it's the everyday experience of way too high a percentage of our population. I thought both themes - abandonment and race - were handled well. Excellent episode.
61 Reviews
Pretty good episode
giossteam4 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Shocked by the negative reviews since i really liked this one
Dynamic between amenadiel and his partner was great. Episode worked on amenadiel not knowing how much was out there in the world like he stated previously.
Also enjoyed reiben's character development.
Also enjoyed that he still got reported since he was still incompetent even when wanting to grow out of his problem
Only issue was near the end where the cops were pointing at the victim, felt so forced and unrealistic though it didn't ruin the whole episode for me.
Dynamic between amenadiel and his partner was great. Episode worked on amenadiel not knowing how much was out there in the world like he stated previously.
Also enjoyed reiben's character development.
Also enjoyed that he still got reported since he was still incompetent even when wanting to grow out of his problem
Only issue was near the end where the cops were pointing at the victim, felt so forced and unrealistic though it didn't ruin the whole episode for me.
Good episode
YamiSukeGoat8 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Amenadeel dealing with his trauma was cool- It really goes to highlight his development and character journey. The exploration of race relations and the police is done to death nowadays but I thought it was a necessary part of amanadeels exploration of earth. Like most of the show, this episode has good ideas but is poorly executed. That's mostly my thoughts on lucifer as a whole.
More nuanced than other reviews suggest
eeveenicks14 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'll be the first to say I can't stand preachiness (hated how some things were handled on Grey's Anatomy this season), but I didn't feel like this episode did that. I thought it was really well done and showed some things in a way that made it easy to empathize with.
Amenadiel is on his first day as a cop, and he ends up discovering the racism in the system. It's not just the overt blatant racism, and it shows how there are so many complicated and interconnected issues that it's frustrating to try and fix them all, especially when people at the top are indifferent. There were issues like not wanting to spend tax dollars investigating murders in gang-heavy neighborhoods or of officers being given sensitivity training but it being ineffective since the officers themselves didn't want to change.
The racism is presented in the blatant form of the cops pointing a gun at an unarmed black woman but also in the way complaints get ignored, people don't want to spend money on areas they consider to be lost causes, etc.
One of the worst enemies in this episode isn't blatant hate. It's indifference. The indifference of higher ranking officers to complaints against cops and the indifference shown to people who live in high violence areas whose pleas aren't taken seriously because those areas are written off as lost causes.
But there was also nuance. A black female cop turning down a promotion so she could stay in that neighborhood protecting it and helping people without just jumping to arrest them. Chloe and Dan were well meaning and trusted the system but felt betrayed when they looked into it and saw how often complaints against officers were ignored.
But the cool part is how Chloe takes it seriously and decides she needs to use her more privileged status (particularly as the daughter of John Decker) to get back in the system and change things from within.
The episode doesn't present all cops or all white cops as evil. Far from it. It shows how some may have been less aware of it or trusted that the system would sort things out and get justice for victims of racism (like what happened to Amenadiel in Season 4). It showed people who loved the good work that the LAPD did do and wanted to help make it better and the best that it could be.
Amenadiel takes a powerful stance to help people even if it puts his job on the line. Chloe makes a revolutionary decision in the name of helping people. Amenadiel's partner goes out there every day doing her best to help people even at her own expense.
The episode shows the bad but it highlights the good. It's a hopeful message and a powerful one.
Amenadiel is on his first day as a cop, and he ends up discovering the racism in the system. It's not just the overt blatant racism, and it shows how there are so many complicated and interconnected issues that it's frustrating to try and fix them all, especially when people at the top are indifferent. There were issues like not wanting to spend tax dollars investigating murders in gang-heavy neighborhoods or of officers being given sensitivity training but it being ineffective since the officers themselves didn't want to change.
The racism is presented in the blatant form of the cops pointing a gun at an unarmed black woman but also in the way complaints get ignored, people don't want to spend money on areas they consider to be lost causes, etc.
One of the worst enemies in this episode isn't blatant hate. It's indifference. The indifference of higher ranking officers to complaints against cops and the indifference shown to people who live in high violence areas whose pleas aren't taken seriously because those areas are written off as lost causes.
But there was also nuance. A black female cop turning down a promotion so she could stay in that neighborhood protecting it and helping people without just jumping to arrest them. Chloe and Dan were well meaning and trusted the system but felt betrayed when they looked into it and saw how often complaints against officers were ignored.
But the cool part is how Chloe takes it seriously and decides she needs to use her more privileged status (particularly as the daughter of John Decker) to get back in the system and change things from within.
The episode doesn't present all cops or all white cops as evil. Far from it. It shows how some may have been less aware of it or trusted that the system would sort things out and get justice for victims of racism (like what happened to Amenadiel in Season 4). It showed people who loved the good work that the LAPD did do and wanted to help make it better and the best that it could be.
Amenadiel takes a powerful stance to help people even if it puts his job on the line. Chloe makes a revolutionary decision in the name of helping people. Amenadiel's partner goes out there every day doing her best to help people even at her own expense.
The episode shows the bad but it highlights the good. It's a hopeful message and a powerful one.
Get over it, people
peanut-1815 September 2021
This is an amazing episode - sorry if y'all think it's too "teach-y." People of colour face this crap all the time, and if it takes a show like this to bring it to the attention of a wider audience, then more power to them. This episode brought me to tears, and it should resonate with everyone to wake up to the injustices of this world and then work to make things better.
Cop Amenadiel replaces Lucifer
arundm-0727622 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Is this show about Lucifer or Amenadiel?
And what's with multifaceted PC related issues getting compressed into a 45min show? Can we please not mix politics and entertainment just for the sake of making a "holier than thou" sanctimonious political statement, pun intended*......
Also good to know the world can continue "without God" because the so called "God elect" prefers coddling his daughter who not only has serious attitude problem and throws tantrums like spoilt teenage brat but also time travels from the future! Seriously?
And is Earth now Dan's "new hell"?
Geez please stick to the plot....instead of abandoning crucial storyline and plots that actually are relevant to the show....
Clumsily written episode. Very bad!
Wonder what surprises next episode's wedding drama is going to be about!
And what's with multifaceted PC related issues getting compressed into a 45min show? Can we please not mix politics and entertainment just for the sake of making a "holier than thou" sanctimonious political statement, pun intended*......
Also good to know the world can continue "without God" because the so called "God elect" prefers coddling his daughter who not only has serious attitude problem and throws tantrums like spoilt teenage brat but also time travels from the future! Seriously?
And is Earth now Dan's "new hell"?
Geez please stick to the plot....instead of abandoning crucial storyline and plots that actually are relevant to the show....
Clumsily written episode. Very bad!
Wonder what surprises next episode's wedding drama is going to be about!
I can see why there are 1s and 10s reviews.
GraXXoR25 March 2022
This episode was a straight up politix episode.
Let's just push a message in the faces of our viewers.
What producers don't seem to realise is that most people watch TV to ESCAPE from politics not to be SPOON FED.
There is nothing that a 40 minutes superstition black comedy tale of hight fantasy (Heaven and God etc...) can tell us about the world that we can't garner from far more competent sources.
Please keep entertainment as entertainment and politics as news.
Also, I'm one of the alphabet brigade (LGBTQand so on) but from what I've experienced over the last three decades is the density of GLG is certainly not as high as it's depicted here...
OK, so we can say it's fantasy and gays and good cops (and demons and angels) are portrayed in higher densities than in real life...
I just wish they had stuck to the pre Netflix MESSAGE formula... or if they had just put a bit more than sixth grade subtlety into their characters... Being hit face on in a BLACK COMEDY show really doesn't provide the laughs: It only provides the cringe.
Let's just push a message in the faces of our viewers.
What producers don't seem to realise is that most people watch TV to ESCAPE from politics not to be SPOON FED.
There is nothing that a 40 minutes superstition black comedy tale of hight fantasy (Heaven and God etc...) can tell us about the world that we can't garner from far more competent sources.
Please keep entertainment as entertainment and politics as news.
Also, I'm one of the alphabet brigade (LGBTQand so on) but from what I've experienced over the last three decades is the density of GLG is certainly not as high as it's depicted here...
OK, so we can say it's fantasy and gays and good cops (and demons and angels) are portrayed in higher densities than in real life...
I just wish they had stuck to the pre Netflix MESSAGE formula... or if they had just put a bit more than sixth grade subtlety into their characters... Being hit face on in a BLACK COMEDY show really doesn't provide the laughs: It only provides the cringe.
Of course it's not saying all cops are bad!!
chandak-6945717 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
In response to some negative reviews, Lucifer has shown throughout its run how good cops can be. This episode was about ONE cop made sweeping assumptions of black people and made decisions in his role as police that negatively impact their lives. For all we know he's like this with other ethnicities and/or people of all races from poorer backgrounds.
Anyway, back to the episode. I loved it! It started out a typical episode where Lucifer has the A story and Amenadiel has the B story but part way through that all changed and Lucifer took a back seat for the rest of the episode.
Having Amenadiel's story build throughout the episode to be the climax was amazingly done. The last part was particularly poignant. All of the non-black characters staying silent (aside from Rory and Lucifer singing) was a brilliant touch as there was nothing they could say to help Amenadiel feel better, only Officer Harris understands what he's going through which is why she had the last word.
I was worried when a new series was announced that there would be a shortage of stories, but this episode alone makes it worth it.
Anyway, back to the episode. I loved it! It started out a typical episode where Lucifer has the A story and Amenadiel has the B story but part way through that all changed and Lucifer took a back seat for the rest of the episode.
Having Amenadiel's story build throughout the episode to be the climax was amazingly done. The last part was particularly poignant. All of the non-black characters staying silent (aside from Rory and Lucifer singing) was a brilliant touch as there was nothing they could say to help Amenadiel feel better, only Officer Harris understands what he's going through which is why she had the last word.
I was worried when a new series was announced that there would be a shortage of stories, but this episode alone makes it worth it.
jumping the shark one episode at a time
toku_kkai19 September 2021
I was excited for the final season, BUT please I don't want to see any more save Lucifer hashtags. This show is DONE. The future daughter who is just a pain doesn't make any sense even by Lucifer standards and every episode feels like filler in a 24 episodes season. This episode is really really bad. To be honest I don't care about police officer Amanediel, not one bit. He is not even a father anymore, just an officer. What's this show even about anymore? Some filler until the actual end. No. I don't know if I'll even watch the rest of the season after this s***show. There isn't a story this season. Chloe, Maze, Linda, Amenadiel, Dan... Lucifer are all wasted. This is more random than Seinfeld. Last season there was the war, this season they teased the punk girl who wants to kill Lucifer, 2 episodes in ... it's his daughter from the future, doesn't want to kill him anymore, fill the rest of the episodes with nothing.
Best episode yet
brookewhatley11 September 2021
Cringy episode
Adam-0926518 September 2021
Veering off point of the main story i believe we have just witnessed Netflix giving a political shot at todays society. Concludingly it tought no real lesson only sparking the same bias that white cops are bad people because of an evidently tiny selection of racists and deluded point of views. Disney have done the same thing for years, why can't we just watch some amazing entertainment with great story arcs and powerful acting? Why does everthing have to have a political message? A lot of us watch these shows to get away from all that crap.
The writing for this episode was at a low standard, the Lucifer trying to win over Rory scenes were cute but not enough. The show clearly overshadowed this episode with political tendencies. I get that it was probably to show Amenadiel how bias and arrogant the human race is, and how tough it can be to be a cop in general but going straight to the woke of white cop = bad cop is what made it cringy. This agenda is what sparks innocent people into being attacked and judged, the BLM movement seems to exlude white people from showing humble notions because they are already titled as "racists" even when completely innocent. For people who think anyone against this episode is "white" isn't the case nor possibly true, it was just unnecessary. Instead of feeding the woke how about the writers set an example to how people should act with one another.
5/10 for some of the episode i liked.
The writing for this episode was at a low standard, the Lucifer trying to win over Rory scenes were cute but not enough. The show clearly overshadowed this episode with political tendencies. I get that it was probably to show Amenadiel how bias and arrogant the human race is, and how tough it can be to be a cop in general but going straight to the woke of white cop = bad cop is what made it cringy. This agenda is what sparks innocent people into being attacked and judged, the BLM movement seems to exlude white people from showing humble notions because they are already titled as "racists" even when completely innocent. For people who think anyone against this episode is "white" isn't the case nor possibly true, it was just unnecessary. Instead of feeding the woke how about the writers set an example to how people should act with one another.
5/10 for some of the episode i liked.
Excellent Episode, continuing an older plotline
SallyWilliams13 September 2021
Why should a fantasy COP show shy away from real proplems in the US ? It's not that they are putting it on the menu every second episode, but continuing a story arc from seasons ago is what they did a couple of times before. But this problem of course is something that many "Dear white people" don't want to see, to hear or talk about, just like the 3 monkees. I think it fitted well in the episode about Armenadiel's police work. And it clearly did not deserve a rating of 1. Luckily the crew of Lucifer had the balls to do it this way, Good Choice, Good Story, Good TV !
Wow
SHU_Movies11 September 2021
Stop. All. The. Singing.
mandy-3492719 September 2021
powerful
popcornloungereviews11 September 2021
Hideous
BarnabusRex19 October 2021
Lucifer was one of the best shows on TV. Corny, but so much fun for five seasons.
And now we get to season 6. The whole season so far has been pointless with Lucifer finding one excuse after another not to do the thing that should have ended Season 5. And doing it with added unnecessary goth teenage angst that adds nothing.
Now that right there is bad enough, but then we get to this abomination of an episode which manages to sink the entire season right here and frankly makes me want to abandon the entire show.
Get Woke. Go Broke.
Utter garbage, the plot makes zero sense, main characters are abandoned for random cardboard caricature inserts we care nothing about who make ludicrous and illogical decisions. This is literally unwatchable.
And now we get to season 6. The whole season so far has been pointless with Lucifer finding one excuse after another not to do the thing that should have ended Season 5. And doing it with added unnecessary goth teenage angst that adds nothing.
Now that right there is bad enough, but then we get to this abomination of an episode which manages to sink the entire season right here and frankly makes me want to abandon the entire show.
Get Woke. Go Broke.
Utter garbage, the plot makes zero sense, main characters are abandoned for random cardboard caricature inserts we care nothing about who make ludicrous and illogical decisions. This is literally unwatchable.
Ignore the negative reviews that mention "woke" this is fabulous
mattwilliamdavies12 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is a superb piece of television. Shows how far this show has come.
The main story tries to address the experience of POC in the police and those whom the police should help. In the current climate, it's irresponsible for any cop show to pretend everything is OK, but this manages to get the message that "things aren't right but not every cop is bad" across well.
The Lucifer-centric plot with Rory was more fun. His character has grown more self aware over the seasons but here we see that even though he is trying to be meaningful, his default is always to be superficial and self-centered. It isn't about Rory at all, it's just about how he sees himself as a father and his needs for her to accept and forgive him. Everything is a typical flamboyant gesture and there's no honesty in any of it. It's not until the end when he drops all the artifice that we finally get a glimmer of a connection between the two. Their voices melding perfectly was beautiful.
I loved both threads.
The main story tries to address the experience of POC in the police and those whom the police should help. In the current climate, it's irresponsible for any cop show to pretend everything is OK, but this manages to get the message that "things aren't right but not every cop is bad" across well.
The Lucifer-centric plot with Rory was more fun. His character has grown more self aware over the seasons but here we see that even though he is trying to be meaningful, his default is always to be superficial and self-centered. It isn't about Rory at all, it's just about how he sees himself as a father and his needs for her to accept and forgive him. Everything is a typical flamboyant gesture and there's no honesty in any of it. It's not until the end when he drops all the artifice that we finally get a glimmer of a connection between the two. Their voices melding perfectly was beautiful.
I loved both threads.
Maybe all the 1/10 raters should think a bit
gummo-4303619 September 2021
All the 1/10 reviews complaining about the politics might like the 1915 "The Birth of a Nation" better.
So you don't like being shown what happens in real life every so often in fiction.
It's not new. As far back as the Greek Tragedies, holding a mirror to reality has been a staple of drama.
Star Trek - Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.
By the way, I'm an old white guy in Australia. The same sh** happens here every single day.
Have at me.
So you don't like being shown what happens in real life every so often in fiction.
It's not new. As far back as the Greek Tragedies, holding a mirror to reality has been a staple of drama.
Star Trek - Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.
By the way, I'm an old white guy in Australia. The same sh** happens here every single day.
Have at me.
These conversations need to happen
ilovellamasd16 October 2021
Was it fun to watch this episode? No. It's supposed to be uncomfortable. I'm so glad that the show tackled the topic of systemic racism, especially in the criminal justice system. These conversations need to happen. If you are complaining, you're part of the problem.
CHILLS
kelseysobotka-8702819 September 2021
This episode was so well-written and directed that I got chills from a Lucifer episode for the first time in a LONG time. I came here to leave a rating and expecting this to be one of the highest rated episodes in the series, but it's voted lower by a lot of people because it addressed political issues...ones that have been repeatedly referenced throughout the show for years. Considering Amenadiel's plot line with Caleb and then wanting to become a cop after that to make the world safer for his son, plus years of watching Chloe and Lucifer from the sidelines, it would be ridiculous and lazy if they didn't take the time to write this dialogue into the show. Nothing about this episode was preachy, and it all flowed well into A's story. Not only that, it portrays multiple stories from both sides of the badge. Major props to the show runners for this one 🙌
Crappy filler
tor-claesson15 September 2021
The people giving 1s should be ashamed of themselves
dowgill3k26 January 2022
The people giving a 1 rating because it tries to tackle or highlight racism in the American police force are exactly the reason why shows like this need to have episodes like this. They're ignorant to the fact that racism is rampant through some (not all) of the police in America. This was a brilliant episode.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
