Lucifer 606 — “A Lot Dirtier Than That”
At its core, Lucifer is and has always been a police procedural. Lucifer being the devil is just one component of a larger story. There have been many true-to-life moments over the course of six seasons, and one big moment was when Amenadiel learned firsthand about dirty cops and police brutality toward Black people in the season 4 episode “Super Bad Boyfriend.”
In “A Lot Dirtier Than That,” Amenadiel goes out on his first patrol as a beat cop and arrives at a murder scene. The detective in charge is James Rybin, the cop who pulled a gun on him when he was having ice cream with Caleb. Despite the report that Dan filed on the incident, Rybin somehow got promoted instead of punished and is now in a place of power. And he’s exactly the kind of guy you don’t want in that position.
Amenadiel has been aware of problems in the police force for a long time, but he’s never seen the inner workings of “The System” and how its doing a grave disservice to the disenfranchised people of the community.
Ghost Dan is there watching over Amenadiel but he’s powerless to do anything other than offer advice. When Amenadiel talks to Chloe, she makes excuses for “The System” at first but then she starts to see the bigger problem in the force and that she’s been part of it for a long time. Amenadiel is now armed with the knowledge he needs to start doing things in a better way and change that system. It won’t be easy, but it’s a positive step.
This is a heavy episode, but it’s poignant and very necessary given everything that’s happening in the world. The writers crafted a story with a lot of power, but it doesn’t preach; rather it poses questions and forces the viewer to think about race and privilege. It’s easily one of the best episodes of the entire series and D.B. Woodside delivers a powerful performance that will have fans talking for years to come.