Lucifer Season 3 Episode 19 Review: Orange is The New Maze

This Lucifer review contains spoilers.

Lucifer Season 3 Episode 19

“The last time I took somebody on a celestial Uber ride, the detective almost died.”

Mazikeen insists Lucifer fly her back to Hell. Chloe and Pierce return from a day at the beach. But it’s the procedural aspect of “Orange is The New Maze” that dominates a heart wrenching episode of Lucifer that begins as just another day in the sunny City of Angels and ends with Charlotte learning the truth about her past with the Celestials and Maze accepting the cold truth about her place in this Earthly drama.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been critical of the direction the Mazikeen arc has taken because her reactions to interactions within her circle seem so out of character. Tonight, however, the attempt by a winery owner to frame Maze for murder in retaliation for her son’s prison death, opens the floodgates and the always emotional demon bares her soul revealing the sad truth about her desire to return to Hell. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Maze’s time on Earth has changed her. After all, Lucifer’s connection to Chloe has profoundly altered his approach to how he lives life during his vacation in Los Angeles, and this change goes far beyond any interaction that may or may not be related to his Father. Previously, Maze has simply gone about her business, but now, as she watches those around her, including her celestial companions, form emotional bonds, the feeling that she destroys things around her has sent her to a place that for her is even darker than Hell.

After last week’s debacle with the pot brownies and rock band sleepover, Chloe still pleads with Maze to open up about the demons that obviously haunt her. “I wish you would talk to me,” the detective tells her, but Maze’s issues go far beyond her falling out with Linda and Amenadiel. Though she doesn’t see everything clearly at this point, it’s true that she and Lucifer have much in common. Unfortunately, she’s blinded by the raw emotions of feeling left behind, and though she doesn’t say it to hurt Chloe, her revelation does cut to the heart of the matter. “You’re the reason he won’t take me home.”

It may be an oversimplification to accept Maze’s explanation that she’s accustomed to torturing others, not feeling emotionally tortured herself. Admittedly, it’s a new experience. “Feelings suck,” she admits to Lucifer but not before giving the Devil a little truth as well in a scene that puts on display his continued inability to recognize that others suffer emotional feelings as well. As he struggles with Chloe’s new relationship with Pierce and his conflicted feelings about what level of happiness he wishes for his partner, Mazikeen’s personal truth emerges in no uncertain terms. Now wrestling with the realization that Lucifer sees her as a consolation prize, Maze lays it out there in terms even Lucifer can’t miss. “No one puts me first,” she tells him. “None of  you deserve me.”

And what a great touch to have Maze set out to change her own circumstance by removing herself from what she perceives to be a toxic situation. Is there anything more human than getting on a bus to begin a journey of self-discovery? However, before she can leave the bus station, Pierce appears to present her an alternative. He offers to work with Maze so that they can both get what it is they truly desire. It seems pretty clear that Maze simply wants validation for the person she has become, but what makes this closing scene so intense is the knowledge that Pierce’s relationship with Chloe may not be what it seems.

It’s often said that the truth will set you free, and now that Charlotte has been added to the list of those with celestial being awareness, the timetable for full disclosure may be ramping up. While Maze copes with feelings of inadequacy, Charlotte now faces the stark realization that her belief in the truth as Amenadiel presents it to her can only mean she’s insane. It’s a question that continually looms in the background of Lucifer. Who deserves to know the truth about Lucifer and his fellow celestials, and how will they react to that knowledge? We’ve witnessed Linda’s struggles, but Charlotte must now come to terms with the fact that, for a time, she was Lucifer and Amenadiel’s mother.  Are Lucifer’s wings enough to convince her? Does this create a new bond with her sons and Mazikeen?

Through the first three seasons of Lucifer, Lesley-Ann Brandt has played Maze as a female version of Lucifer, replete with his devil-may-care attitude towards even the most serious of circumstances. Here, Brandt’s emotionally fraught portrayal of a woman at her lowest stands as some of her finest work in the series. When we pair this with Tricia Helfer (Charlotte) and the disoriented woman desperate to fill in gaps in her life, “Orange is The New Maze” features some truly powerful work. Nonetheless, it does appear that the stars are aligning for the inevitable eventuality when Chloe learns the truth about Lucifer and Pierce. Believing the truth is one thing; accepting those who have lied to you is quite another.

Is Pierce lying to Chloe about his feelings for her? He seems sincere, and it’s certainly lovely to watch her renewed joy outside the workplace, hair down, brighter wardrobe. But the crux of the situation still involves a certain competitiveness for Chloe’s affection between Lucifer and Cain despite what the Devil would have us believe. Will she end up collateral damage or be able to roll with the punches. “He’s much older than he looks,” Lucifer tells the detective about Pierce. How long must we wait for her to be brought into the fold?

Tonight’s murder case also brings with it a personal level we typically don’t see on Lucifer as all signs point toward Maze as the killer. What turns out to be an elaborately carried out plot to exact revenge for the death of one of Maze’s bounties, also ends up providing an opportunity for the principals to display their true feelings for her. Lucifer seems intent on believing her guilt, while the one person who has every reason to doubt her, stands steadfastly in her corner the entire ordeal.

Truth stands at the center of “Orange is The New Maze,” but what remains to be seen is whether or not Amenadiel is right thinking that Charlotte deserves to know the truth about her missing time. There’s always been a certain level of consistent excellence with Lucifer, and tonight is no exception. Since it seems that Chloe has always been at the center of this celestial maelstrom, how much longer will it be until Lucifer spreads his wings for her? The train is moving, and it’s unlikely anyone can stop it now.