‘Lucifer’ Season 3, Episode 23 ‘Quintessential Deckerstar’ Recap: Back To Normal [SPOILERS]

When we didn’t ask for untimely pain, Lucifer gave us “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better.” When we didn’t ask for the literal definition of bittersweet, Lucifer smashed us with “Quintessential Deckerstar.” But we didn’t ask for the large serving of stabbing pain overcoming all the sweet stuff (or is that just me?)

After that bachelorette party disaster last episode, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) wants everything to go back to normal. So, he drags Chloe (Lauren German) down a trip through memory lane. Though he doesn’t exactly get what he wants, he does get his heart’s desire. But, for a high price.

Lucifer Drags Chloe Down Memory Lane

Charlotte wakes up from the same nightmare she’s been having before where her old clients shoot her family one by one. This time, however, Dan was in it too. On the other hand, Lucifer has once again taken Linda’s (Rachael Harris) advice word per word devil style. Taking it from “Easier said than done,” he’s determined to do the back-to-normal thing rather than just saying it.

Erik Voake/ FOX

Lucifer starts his back-to-normal project by acting out the very first time he met Chloe at a crime scene in all places. It makes Chloe smile, but as usual, she’s more concerned about the dead woman who’s the wife of a famous baseball player, Forest Clay.  As Lucifer does his shenanigans, Chloe finds more evidence in the form of a bullet casing.

Meanwhile, Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) celebrate their success over splitting up Pierce and Chloe. As Amenadiel notices Charlotte’s lack of enthusiasm, he reminds her to celebrate the small victories and have faith. However, Charlotte also reminds Amenadiel that none of them know what faith really does. She stuns him when she says that maybe they’re not so different after all, human and angel.

Afterward, Forest Clay (Doug Savant) arrives at the precinct. As soon as Charlotte sees him, she recognizes him as the man in her nightmares. She firmly tells Lucifer that he’s the killer.

Amenadiel Spirals Into Existential Crisis

In his testimony, Forest Clay says that someone broke into their house, knocked him unconscious with a gun, and shot his wife. But, Charlotte is adamant that he’s lying. To support her statement, she tells Chloe about the duffel bag with the dried blood her boss told her to burn in her first year of law interning. The bag belonged to Forest Clay. Since there aren’t any other leads yet, Chloe assures her that she’ll check up on the man.

Erik Voake/ FOX

Lucifer skips out on the boring part of the investigation and heads over to Lux. Surprisingly, he finds Amenadiel day drinking. Amenadiel tells Lucifer about his theory where maybe it’s their own judgment that gives them redemption or not. However, Lucifer quickly shuts it down.

Back in the precinct, Ella discovers that Clay’s cut on the forehead isn’t from a gun but, from something sharp. This leads Chloe and Lucifer to pay the baseball player a visit. Through Lucifer’s mind warp thing, they find out that Clay did lie. He wasn’t home the night of the murder. He was with his mistress, Mia Hartner (Emma Bell).

In the interrogation, Mia explains that Clay got his cut from one of their wild escapades. She also gives Chloe and Lucifer another lead when she tells them that Clay’s wife has been having an affair with her CEO for years.

Meanwhile, Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) tries to carry out her plan to finally end Pierce’s (Tom Welling) life. But, Pierce manages to convince her to join him in a new plan. She wants to go back to hell, and he wants his mark back. And the way to do it is to kill God’s favorite son, Amenadiel.

Dan Gives Charlotte Some Waffle Love

Unfortunately, the boss of Clay’s wife is a miss. However, Chloe and Lucifer find out that there’s someone who’s been spying on her. On the other side of town, Amenadiel visits Charlotte’s old firm as a client. Before he could start laying out the facts about his false chlamydia diagnosis, Charlotte barges in and causes a scene. After that was sorted, Amenadiel follows her out under the guise of a changed and unwilling client. He greets Charlotte triumphantly with the flash drive holding all the information they need to prove Clay is the murderer.

Erik Voake/ FOX

Meanwhile, in the precinct, Dan’s (Kevin Alejandro) most awaited package arrives. In it is his gift to Charlotte: a waffle maker, though he’s choosing between that and a waffle bracelet. Lucifer tells him to pick the bracelet but, Chloe assures Dan that Lucifer isn’t the authority on what women want.

After their little spy thing, Charlotte and Amenadiel check out Clay’s finance records. They find that he’s been sending money to a long list of women spanning more than a decade. One particular woman, Joanne Foles, stands out. Around the same time that Charlotte received the bloody duffel bag, Joanne was murdered. Before they could snoop around further, Dan arrives. Amenadiel gracefully hands over Charlotte’s time and smiles as he sees the bracelet Dan was hiding behind him.

Chloe Stops Lucifer’s Memory Trip

Maze greets Amenadiel in the parking lot and convinces him that she’s upset. Amenadiel swoops in to comfort her. And just as Maze raises the syringe to kill him, Amenadiel tells her that he’ll always be there for her. This time, Maze fails to go through with the plan.

Erik Voake/ FOX

On the other hand, Lucifer tries his back-to-normal trick again. This time, he tries it with the monopoly game. However, as much as Chloe would like to go back to those simpler times, she admits to Lucifer that it hurts. She asks Lucifer to leave, and he hurtfully complies.

The next morning, Chloe arrives at the office nearing a caffeine overdose. Ella (Aimee Garcia) apologizes about the whole “Pecker” shipping thing. And Chloe admits that none of her recent miserable states are actually because of Pierce. They’re all actually because of Lucifer. After that confession, they get back to work. Chloe discovered that the stalker is actually stalking Clay, not his wife. Charlotte comes in and identifies the stalker as A.J. Agholor, the man who went down for Joanne Foles’ murder. He has just been released from prison. And they have reason to believe that he’s seeking revenge for Clay wrongly sending him to prison.

Upon interrogation, A.J. admits to the crime. But, A.J. says that the revenge is for Joanne, not himself. He was supposed to marry Joanne but, she broke it off for Clay. Later on, A.J. found out that Clay was hurting her then the next thing he knew, he was going down for murder. However, the night he broke into Clay’s house, it was his wife that he unknowingly shot. Lucifer arrives just in time to see Chloe closing the case. He realizes that she solved this murder all on her own, without him.  

Pierce Battles the Demon Maze

Maze has failed her job. Because of that, Pierce decides to kill Amenadiel himself. However, Maze won’t allow it. They get into a nasty brawl, and the syringe rolls out from Maze’s pocket. Maze almost kills Pierce but, he tricks her into thinking he’s secured Linda’s death if Maze didn’t go through with the plan. Maze loses focus, and Pierce stabs her with the syringe and injects its full poisonous contents on her.

Erik Voake/ FOX

Meanwhile, Charlotte pays Clay a threatening visit. She reveals that she knows everything about his extensive list of domestic abuse crimes with the help of Mia. And also about Joanne Foles’ murder. Clay tries to bribe her and ends up taking Mia hostage. Amidst the struggle, he admits that he killed Joanne but, tries to defend himself by saying he needs medical help. Luckily, Chloe pops out of her hiding place and saves the day. Lucifer once again arrives late and witnesses how Chloe handles herself just as well without him.

Later on, Amenadiel joins Charlotte at the top of the hill overlooking the city to celebrate this small victory. Charlotte says that she often comes to the place because it might be the closest to heaven she’ll get. For his part, Amenadiel realizes that it was his own selfishness that took his wings away.

Charlotte, on the other hand, has moved on from her own selfishness. When she refused to help Clay, she wasn’t thinking merely of herself but, all the other women who suffered and would continue to suffer under his care. Suddenly, she hears the snap of a twig and shields Amenadiel just in time to save him from Pierce’s bullets.

Amenadiel Takes Charlotte Home

After everything’s settled, Lucifer tells Chloe what he’s realized in seeing her handle everything on her own. She doesn’t need him. But, Chloe wants Lucifer beside her. Lucifer realizes that she indeed chose him. With that, he admits that he’s been hiding his feelings behind all the throwbacks because he was afraid. Lucifer was worried that if Chloe saw who he truly was, she’d run away. But, he realizes that she deserves the truth. In a breath, Lucifer tells Chloe that he’s the devil. But, Chloe tells him that for her, he’s not. Slowly but surely, their lips meet. However, they’re interrupted by the call that changes everything.

Erik Voake/ FOX

As Charlotte takes in her last breaths, Amenadiel holds close in his arms. Charlotte asks Amenadiel to stay with her. Amenadiel promises just before the last breath leaves Charlotte’s lips. He closes her eyes and lets out his tears. Like a miracle, as Amenadiel bows his head, he regains his wings. He holds onto Charlotte and tells her that they’re going home as he flies towards the heavens.

Chloe, Lucifer, and Dan arrive one by one, devastated by what they find. Dan falls to the ground and holds on tight to Charlotte who wore the waffle bracelet he gave until her death. As they grieve, Lucifer finds a very familiar object lying nearby: Amenadiel’s feather.

“Lucifer” continues next Monday, May 14th, with “A Devil Of My Word” at 8/9c on FOX.