Lucifer - S3E3 - Mr. And Mrs. Mazikeen Smith  

Previously on Lucifer, “The One With the Baby Carrot”

Adventures in Bounty Hunting

Because the new big bad is The Sinnerman, last week I had this idea that all of my recap subtitles would use lyrics from Nina Simone songs (I know very meta) but then Lucifer decided to do a standalone episode about Mazikeen so I guess that will have to wait.

If you hadn’t heard, actress Lesley Ann Brandt welcomed her first child into the world in July which is also around the time that filming began for this season of Lucifer. This is why Maze was missing from the first two episodes of the season, but she returned with a vengeance and a desire for a new mission this episode. Maze’s journey has been finding out who she is outside of Lucifer and she chose the profession of bounty hunter. However, even that has become stale for the millennia-old demon. So she decides to track down Ben Rivers, guest star Chris McKenna, a charming, elusive man who is wanted for shooting two teens in cold blood. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith Go To Canada

Maze’s case takes her to Canada for two purposes. One, to separate her from the team while she finds herself, and two, to allow Brandt to wear some bulky winter coats. It’s easy to tell that some of these scenes were filmed before Brandt went on maternity leave, but I love watching the cast and crew play Hide the Bump with some strategic item placement and wardrobe tricks.

The case takes a turn when Maze finds Rivers, who is just as charming as everyone says, and he tries to convince her that the detective on the case framed him. Since there’s also an assassin tracking him down, his story doesn’t seem that far-fetched and Chloe helps by investigating the detective. Lucifer goes along with her because he sees Maze becoming attached to Rivers and wants to prove he’s a murderer. It’s interesting to watch Lucifer be upset at Maze getting her own life. While he cares for her, he also sees her role as being primarily in service to him and he balks at anything that might change that. He’s happy for her to be independent, but only to a point.

Chloe also sends Dan, who is supposed to be on vacation in Hawaii, to help Maze which has some pretty hilarious results especially when the only weapon Dan has is a snowball. After Maze and Dan save Rivers from the assassins and prove that he’s innocent, he asks Maze to keep running with him and hints that the detective who framed him is working for more sinister forces. She returns to L.A. because now Maze has roots that include Trixie, Chloe, Dr. Linda, as well as Lucifer. It’s a pretty happy ending and they manage to connect the episode to the larger Sinnerman plot with a short scene of a shadowy figure placing Maze’s file next to others labeled Lucifer and Amenadiel. It seems like the Sinnerman has been watching them for a while.

This episode was a clever way to bring Maze back into the fold and allow them to work around Brandt’s pregnancy instead of coming up with random excuses for why Maze is gone. We also got two Trixie scenes so the episode was already a winner in my book. I’m really interested to meet The Sinnerman. Is he celestial? Is he just your run-of-the-mill gangster? How much does he know and how will he use that information? There are a lot of questions that the show is setting up and the Sinnerman seems to have been operating in LA for years, so how did Pierce encounter him in Chicago? Here’s hoping there’s some forward movement on this soon.