Lucifer season 3, episode 10 review: The Sin Bin

In Lucifer’s fall finale, a recurring character is not who you think he is.

Lucky is the Devil that he hasn’t died yet again. Lucifer (Tom Ellis) rarely gets a fatal wound, but when he does, detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) seems to always be around. In a change of events, though, this episode, “The Sin Bin,” saw not Lucifer nor Chloe taking the fatal blow, but Lt. Marcus Pierce (Tom Welling), again. He was critically injured a few episodes back and miraculously returned unscathed last episode, just in time to apprehend the infamous Sinnerman. Now we finally know why.

“The Sin Bin” begins with Lucifer and Maze at LUX. Short after, a woman gets kidnapped. We then head to the precinct, where the Sinnerman is being held. Last episode’s cliffhanger saw the Sinnerman spike his eyes out to evade Lucifer’s magic. Indeed, that was no parlor trick. With no way to know what the Sinnerman truly desires, Lucifer insists he gets some alone time with him. That is interrupted when the Sinnerman’s phone rings and leaves a video message for the police to see. A woman tied to a reservoir is about to drown unless Lucifer and Chloe do something about it. Lucifer insists that the best way to save the woman is by breaking the Sinnerman out of the precinct. Chloe and Marcus strongly oppose this. After finding a lead that takes them to the kidnapped woman’s car, the car explodes.

With little time left, Chloe and Lucifer devise a plan to breakout the Sinnerman, as he knows where the woman is at. They succeed, but only with the help of Marcus. After they all save the woman and she confesses to her part in her own kidnapping, Lucifer kidnaps the Sinnerman and takes him to one of his many Los Angeles penthouses. All Lucifer wants to know is why the Sinnerman took his Devil face and restored his wings, but the Sinnerman won’t talk. Not even Maze’s torture methods can make the Sinnerman speak. That’s when the Sinnerman tells Lucifer what he desires: to die by the Devil’s hands. The Sinnerman insists that Lucifer must do so in order for his questions to be answered, but when Lucifer is about to behead him, Marcus enters the scene and guns down the Sinnerman.

Confused, Lucifer connects the dots at the precinct and invites Marcus to LUX. In perhaps the craziest twist the series has thrown at us, Lucifer stabs Marcus in the heart with a dagger. But Marcus survives. Why? Because he is the biblical Cain, the world’s first murderer and an immortal just like Lucifer. While of this transpired, detective Dan further reconciled with Charlotte.

More from TV

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episodes 1 and 2 review: Aftermath
• The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
• 10 things nobody wants to admit about The Walking Dead
• Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
• The Walking Dead: Every TWD spinoff show coming in 2024 and beyond

While this was not one of the best episodes of the season (that honor goes to “Vegas with some Radish”), it was still madly entertaining. Ever since the Sinnerman was first mentioned in the season, I believed he was going to be the prime antagonist of the show, much like Lucifer’s mother was last season’s main villain. It turns out he was just a pawn working for Marcus (now Cain) and it seemingly looks like he’s the real bad guy. This will definitely change the course of the season, perhaps giving Marcus more to do on the show, since he’s been heavy underutilized this first half of the season.

“The Sin Bin” expanded on Lucifer’s mythos and powers. Last episode we learned that he needs to see into a human’s eyes for his charm to work. Hence why the Sinnerman blinded himself. In this episode Maze expanded upon the fact that angels aren’t supposed to kill humans. But we also learned that Lucifer is afraid to do such deed. This was a nice touch to Lucifer’s own character as though he is the Devil, it further proves that his partnership with Chloe is changing him. Even when the Sinnerman has what Lucifer mostly wants, Lucy puts Chloe’s safety over his own desires. The show has joggled with Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship for a long time now. But “The Sin Bin” once more leaves on the sad note that Lucifer and Chloe will never be more than just friends. After the episode “Vegas with some Radish” shone hope into Lucifer and Chloe’s possible romance, this episode takes that all away. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it further emphasizes Lucifer’s personal dilemma with being the Devil and being in love, but the execution feels redundant and a bit silly.

The greatest part of the episode was definitely the incredible plot twist at the end. With Marcus revealed to be the biblical Cain, it’ll be interesting to see how his relationship with Chloe moves forward. Lucifer was just as intrigued when he made the discovery, so it’s also possible that some type of alliance will come from the two. Especially since Marcus seems to be as disapproving of God as Lucifer. Needless to say, it’ll be quite the spectacle when Marcus’s secret is known to Amenadiel and Maze.

“The Sin Bin” was an overall good episode. The kidnapping case wasn’t as intriguing as previous cases, but the payoff at the end was golden. Chloe and Lucifer’s relationship again took a dark turn, but that’ll certainly go back to normal when the season returns. With the Sinnerman out of the way and Marcus revealed to be Cain, anything could happen now. We’ll just have to wait ’til the new year.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Lucifer season 3 returns on January 1, 2018.