Lucifer (Tom Ellis, EastEnders, Rush) and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside, 24, Romeo Must Die, The Temptations) start the season off by looking for anyone their mother could be possessing. They don't have much to go on, but their list consists of people who briefly died around the time their mother escaped her prison. Lucifer thinks he is on the right track when one of Detective Chloe Decker's (Lauren German, Hawaii Five-O, Chicago Fire) murder cases seems to be a message to Lucifer, but the duo's unique brand of crime-solving quickly reveals that this case is far more mundane than that.
Lucifer's mother ends up in the body of a high profile attorney by the name of Charlotte Richards (Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactica), and when the scene where Richards was murdered comes under Chloe's caseload, Lucifer has to get pretty clever with his words in order to keep Charlotte's true identity a secret, at least for now.
Meanwhile, Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt, Spartacus: Blood and Sand) has developed quite an independent streak after giving up her ticket back to Hell in order to save Amenadiel and starts on a journey to discover exactly what she wants to do during her time on Earth. Her budding friendship with Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris, The Hangover, Diary of a Wimpy Kid) lets both women break out of their comfort zones and develop into stronger characters that aren't as defined by their interactions with Lucifer.
On the police force side of things, Chloe's ex, Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro, Southland, True Blood, Arrow) has been demoted as a punishment for his involvement in last season's Palmetto case, and while he finds himself mostly being a gofer for the detectives on the force, he still ends up being a major help in many of Chloe and Lucifer's cases. In an odd twist, Dan ends up building a friendship with Amenadiel and some rather amusing interactions between the two play out. Given that Amenadiel has a few issues of his own to work out, the new friendship might just help the eldest angel in several ways. This season also introduces a new forensics scientist, Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia, Dexter), a quirky woman full of faith that ends up being not only an invaluable member of the team, but also an amusing counter to much of Lucifer's sardonic comments about God.
Outside of the overarching plot involving Lucifer's mom and her plans, the season is littered with quite a few interesting cases. One involves a shooting at a zombie-themed wedding, while another could put Lucifer's club, Lux, at risk as the owner of the block is killed and his heir isn't interested in keeping the club running. In another case, Chloe has to interview Lucifer's recent lovers (of which there are many), while another is centered around a mental institution where a man claims to be God (Timothy Osmundson, Galavant, Psych, Supernatural) and seems to know things about Lucifer that no mortal should.
While Lucifer: The Complete Second Season doesn't have a lot in the way of extras, what it has is fun for any fan of the show. Besides a few deleted scenes and an amusing gag reel, there is also the 2016 Comic-Con panel, always a favorite in my household, and a featurette that focuses on Los Angeles' role in Lucifer. In this featurette, the cast and crew talk about the symbology of the city, what it means that Lucifer has chosen to make LA his home away from Hell, and even their first impressions of the city as each person moved there from their home town.
Where Season One was all about establishing the characters and getting to know them and their abilities, Lucifer: The Complete Second Season develops those characters even more, and with the introduction of the angels' mother, a new dynamic was added that gave the entire season a much stronger driving focus than the first season had. Not to mention the fact that The Complete Second Season will even answer one of the questions in the show that has been around since the first episode, exactly why does Chloe affect Lucifer the way she does. If you had any reservations about the show in Season One, this season makes the entire series a much stronger show and definitely one worth watching.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a copy of the DVD. The opinions I share are my own.
