Lucifer season 3 episode 26 recap: Once Upon a Time

In the second of the two bonus episodes, we learn what life could have been like if Lucifer had free will. Here’s your recap of “Once Upon a Time.”

“Once Upon a Time” begins with Chloe on the run as she is chasing a suspect. Men jump out of a van with guns raised and they shoot her. She falls to the ground, slowly.

A voice tells us that there was a world with a small change that changed everything.

Chloe is about to die, and her old partner (who is actually the same partner who set her up and tried to frame Dan in season 1) runs up. She’s about to die when a voice calls “cut” and the director praises her. The stunt director talk about stunts and he reveals that he might not be there for the final stunt. He asks her out for a drink.

Later, Lucifer plays for a crowd at Lux. When he finishes, Lucifer is there and he watches Chloe come in. Charlotte Richards is also there (she’s alive!), and she is his lawyer. She has the paperwork for his Vegas expansion.

The voice says that the “butterfly effect” can bring people back from the dead.

Upstairs, Lucifer can’t sleep with her. Something is wrong. He thinks he might have been in LA too long, which is why he wants to move to Las Vegas. He opens his safe and reveals tons of cash to use in Las Vegas.

Dr. Linda meets with Chloe, who says she’s frustrated with her life. She talks about work and the car chase, but she’s bored. Linda points out that she has played this role five times before, and she originally wanted to be a role model for women. Chloe remarks that they really reinvented Linda’s office, and the camera pulls back to reveal that the office is a set.

The voice says that things would have been very different if he hadn’t intervened and brought Lucifer and Chloe together. (As he talks, Lucifer goes downstairs and finds a dead body there.) The voice says that he can show what things would be like because he’s God.

Dan shows up to meet with Vick, his partner. Dan goes to talk with Lucifer, who calls him Detective Dildo. Lucifer challenges him because this wasn’t a bar fight, and he’s upset that his Vegas expansion has been blocked because of the murder.

God says that he has a complicated relationship with his son. He reveals that things were different for Chloe because in this life, he moved a bullet slightly and her father is alive. Chloe shows up to see her dad and find out about her friend, the stunt director who died at Lux. She doesn’t think he’d do anything to screw up his dream job. She wants to talk to Dan, but he says this isn’t a movie set.

Lucifer shows up in a red convertible to see Ella, a tattooed version of herself. With a big gun. He’s there to find out about a more “delicate” matter. The gun isn’t loaded, it’s just for look. He has a tool with him that was used in the murder, and she tells him about the tool and says it could have come from a NASCAR tool kit. Crews have coded tools. He’s going to look at the nearest racetrack, and he pays her before leaving.

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When Lucifer shows up, the track security think he’s LAPD, but Chloe is there, too, pretending to be a cop. Lucifer walks up to her and smiles. “Hello, detective,” he says. He knows she’s an actress, not an officer. He’s a fan of her work and wants to know why she’s there. She admits she worked with Strider and doesn’t believe that he died in a bar fight. He introduces himself, and she knows he owns Lux, but he points out that he has a VIP pass and she has a badge that belongs to Warner Bros. As they talk, Chloe is given a pass that gives her even more access than he has. “Game on,” Lucifer says.

Dan is taking money from evidence when Charlotte finds him. She wants to know if he’s tired skimming money, and she’s tired of getting him out of trouble. She tells him about the money in the safe at Lux, and if he can get her in, she can steal the money. He agrees to help so long as she doesn’t get caught.

Chloe looks for Rex, but he’s already on his practice run. Lucifer walks out onto the track and stands in front of the car. He wills it to stop, but it’s Amenadiel who stops the car and freezes time. Amenadiel is there and Lucifer says he has been responding a lot faster lately. It turns out Amenadiel can’t return because he is afraid of being judged by their family.

Time returns, and Rex has been pulled from the car. Track security stops Lucifer while Chloe walks away with Rex. She gives Lucifer a smile and a wave as she walks away.

Chloe demands answers from Rex. She has no problem using violence to get answers, including a shot to Rex’s crotch. Lucifer walks in and blows Chloe’s cover, but Rex can’t hide from Lucifer’s charms. Rex wants a good story, like Strider’s father. People don’t follow cars anymore, and he wanted to create a good story. He opened a management company and offered Strider a job.

Outside, Chloe asks Lucifer how he got him to talk. He says he isn’t a Jedi, but people like to tell him things. She says they’re after the same thing, so maybe they should work together. He isn’t interested, but Chloe knows who Strider was fighting with.

Linda sees a client for her show. She’s like Dr. Phil with boobs. Her assistant gives her things to talk about during their session, but she’s not willing to make her client upset for ratings. She’s torn.

Chloe brings Lucifer to the set, and they see Erica Dunlap, Chloe’s costar. The beef was that Strider wouldn’t testify on her behalf when she got hurt on set, and she’s hoping Lucifer will go to her trailer and work his magic.

When Chloe’s dad shows up on set he knows she might have been playing cop, and he hopes she hasn’t been hanging out with Lucifer. Suddenly the air is filled with Lucifer’s name. He’s sleeping with the actress….

Charlotte shows up to Lucifer’s penthouse and opens the safe. She thinks she’s alone, but as she grabs the money, it’s clear that she is not alone at all. Maze is there with half of her face covered up. Maze wants to know why she wants the money, and it’s not until Charlotte tells the truth that she is satisfied with the answer. Maze frees her, encouraging her to go out and be bad, and she promises that they’ll meet again “somewhere hotter.”

Chloe’s dad is upset that she impersonated a cop. Lucifer emerges from the trailer covered in lipstick. She hoped Lucifer would get the information, but instead her father sends her home. Lucifer tells her that he’s an expert in upsetting fathers. He also reveals that Erica can wrap her legs around his neck, so she was faking her injuries. They’re still back in the game.

They return to Ella’s garage, and she’s upset that Lucifer brought someone, but when she sees Chloe she freaks out because Chloe was a huge inspiration for her. Ella reveals that “Last Lappers” was written on the tool, and Rodgers, who was also on the stunt team, was in a movie called Last Lappers. He could have been working with Strider.

They arrive on set and hope to find Ben Rogers there. They’re thinking that Rogers might have been looking for something to steal … like the $6 million car that Chloe was supposed to drive. Chloe gets into her car and tells Lucifer she trained for this moment. She blocks him in and they confront Rogers, who denies being the killer. When she mentions prints on the murder weapon, he runs off. They chase him, and Lucifer catches him. Rogers says Strider backed out of the deal, and he shoots Lucifer. The Devil Face comes out but Chloe shows up and knocks him out before she can see it.

Lucifer and Chloe are talking when her father shows up. Lucifer says that he underestimated his daughter, and Lt. Decker says she was brave. She wants to know why he pushed her away from being a cop, and he admits that it scared him. He says a parent just wants what’s best for his child. They hug, and Lucifer watches thoughtfully. Lucifer thinks their fathers might not be so dissimilar.

God says that choice is a funny thing. We see Ella with a signed poster, and Maze roasting a new mask for a new inductee in her cult, Linda as she makes her client cry, Amenadiel as he goes to Lux and wants to meet someone but hesitates. Dan and Charlotte drive away, happily ever after.

Chloe and Lucifer share a drink in the lights of Griffith Park. She says the experience of working with him was fulfilling. She might be tired of being an actor, and maybe she wants to be a real cop. Lucifer promises to tag along.

God says that sometimes people are drawn together anyway. But in the end, isn’t he better off for bringing them together?

Next: 10 beloved shows fans saved from cancellation

Will Lucifer be back? That is the big question still up in the air, but we certainly hope the stars align for our handsome devil.

Lucifer recap: Once Upon a Time — What if God was one of us?

By Sarabeth Pollock | May 29, 2018

In the second of the two bonus episodes, we learn what life could have been like if Lucifer had free will. Here’s your recap of “Once Upon a Time.”