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"Off the Record" is the seventh episode of the third season of Lucifer.

Summary[]

"A reporter seeks revenge after he discovers that Lucifer has been sleeping with his estranged wife. However, when it's revealed that Linda is the reporter's estranged wife, things get messy. Lucifer's reputation and safety are on the line, especially when a serial killer from the past resurfaces."[1]

Plot[]

Reese Getty wakes up in a hospital, and is told he has had a brush with death. He asks a nurse if his wife has visited but is informed that she hasn't. He admits they have been having trouble lately, but Reese remains optimistic, “Second chance at life. Maybe it's not too late to turn things around. Once he is released, he goes to visit her, taking flowers, only to hear her with another man. It is clear that she is in a sexual relationship with this interloper, when he hears the man say, “So sorry to shag and run, darling, but I'll see you next time.”

Reese waits and hides and sees a tall, dark stranger leave. Enraged, Reese tails him to Lux where he watches him all evening, the waitress informs him that the man is Lucifer Morningstar and he owns the club. He is eventually confronted by Lucifer who notices him watching. Reese tells him, “My wife, who's the smartest and funniest person I ever met, and the only woman that I've ever loved, is sleeping with another man. A sleazy, arrogant, womanizing piece of garbage.” Lucifer encourages him to punish the man, “You should destroy him. Tear his very life apart piece by piece.” He then notes Chloe has just entered, and informs Reese that he has been consulting with the LAPD for the last few weeks, then introduces him to Chloe before they head off.

The reporter runs with the idea of destroying Lucifer, and proposes a story on the “con-man” who claims to be the Devil for his newspaper, the LA Telegraph, where he works as a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter. Reese is given the go-ahead, and begins following Lucifer and Chloe on their investigations, claiming that he is writing a story on their partnership, when he is in fact planning to expose Lucifer as a dangerous joke. He discovers more than he bargained for, however, interviews with the police at the precinct are almost universal in their love for Lucifer. He is said to have introduced partners, saved others from debt, and although he may be weird, it's LA.

The only sour note came from Dan Espinoza who thinks Lucifer is stealing his pudding, and doesn't like that Lucifer plays cop with his ex. Reese can sympathize with that. Chloe, however, is having none of it, and tells Reese that he will not be getting her cooperation easily. At their first crime scene, the murder of Poppy Parker, Lucifer proves his usefulness and Chloe comments, “He notices things that normal people are too...normal to notice, but it has a tendency of paying off.” They then realize that the body was set up to expose the victim as a fraud, just as the bodies of a vegan chef choked on meat and an environmentalist drowned in jet fuel had been. They were looking at a serial killer.

That evening, Reese follows Lucifer to a warehouse, and is attacked by a crazy woman who warns him to leave lucifer alone. He is excited he might be on to something and tells her he has been threatened by worse than her. She says, “I guarantee you haven't,” and disappears. When he returns to his office, his estranged wife is waiting for him, demanding that he finally sign their divorce papers – the wife is Linda Martin. He asks for another 24 hours but promises to sign then.

He then sneaks into Lucifer's penthouse, hoping to find evidence he can use, and finds a young woman tied to the bed. Lucifer finds him and, “it appears I've caught you sneaking into my penthouse, so perhaps you should answer that question; what story are you really looking for, reporter?” Reese says he will expose Lucifer as a fraud, and save the woman. Lucifer invites him to do so, though she might object. Reese finds that nothing he thought was going on was actually criminal, Lucifer sympathizes, and asks if he wants to go along to a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to follow up a lead; “I always find catching a killer cheers me up.”

Once they have a suspect in custody, Reese feels deflated, and tells Chloe, “I wanted to write a piece that showed that your partnership was a dangerous joke. That Lucifer was a fraud, but the truth is he's just frustratingly, annoyingly... a charming guy. And you and him, you two work well together. There's no story here.” Then when he is alone in the interrogation viewing room, however, he sees Lucifer alone with the suspect – and then Lucifer reveals his Devil face. Reese is terrified, horrified, but he did hear the lead the Devil got: a user name, truthdog21.

The following morning he goes to see Linda and tell her that her bed-mate is the Devil – something she does not yet know. She gets angry, and tell him her sex life is no longer any of his business and demands he sign the divorce papers, which he does.

Reese then spends the next 18 months stalking Lucifer and his associates in an attempt to find proof that he is the literal Devil, and in that time, only files a dozen other articles with his editor. Finally, Lucifer and Chloe appear at his office door, asking for his assistance. All of the victims of the serial killer had been featured in his paper's style section, and they want access to deleted comments hoping to find truthdog21. Reese agrees to help and Lucifer notes his disheveled state and guesses he still has not punished the man who was sleeping with his wife. He encourages him to think big, then indicates he is off to his own therapy session.

Reese follows Lucifer to Linda's office, bursts in on the session, and shoots Lucifer. Linda his horrified, as is Lucifer whose Burberry jacket is ruined, but he does comment, “You're lucky the detective isn't here; you'd be cleaning my blood out of the couch.” Linda tries to calm Reese, realizing what he has been through, having gone through it herself. She says she knows who and what Lucifer is, but “he's a good man. He's my friend.”

Crushed and confused, Reese heads back to his office where he tears down all the research about Lucifer that he has spent the last year collecting. He then gets the file of the redacted comments Chloe had asked for and discovers the name of truthdog21 – that combined with Lucifer's comment about Chloe gives him an idea.

Reese tracks down the serial killer, Alvin Kapitsky, and says they are on the same mission – to expose frauds. Then suggests they take out the liar and fraud who owns Lux. He then calls Chloe and has her meet him at Lux to hand over the file she asked for.

At Lux, he watches as Alvin approaches Lucifer who is drinking with some young women, Reese smiles as he sees Alvin spike Lucifer's drink with poison. Lucifer is accepting and friendly of Alvin's presence, so much so, Alvin takes the drink from him and offers him his own drink which Lucifer samples. Reese becomes distracted when Chloe shows up, asking her why Lucifer works with her. She tells him, “I think, a long time ago, somebody wronged Lucifer, I think he avoided dealing with it, and...with the LAPD, working on each case, it gives him an opportunity to right those wrongs, to fight back.” Reese misses when one of the young women drinks from Lucifer's glass.

There are screams of help as the woman falls to the floor. When she is pronounced dead, and the poison used looks like the one the serial killer was using, Lucifer is distraught and angry that this was done “under my own roof; my home.” Reese is horrified at the turn of events, but Chloe thinks the killer was after him and she apologizes for putting him in danger.

Reese follows Lucifer to the penthouse where the Devil is brooding, he tells the Devil it is all his fault, “You drove me to do things I never would've done. And now, there's a dead girl down there because of you.” Lucifer is disgusted, sick of taking the blame, and he tells Reese he never makes anyone do anything, and that he takes no part in who goes to Hell and who doesn't. It is all up to the individual; “You send yourselves, driven down by your own guilt. Forcing yourselves to relive your sins over and over. And the best part... the doors aren't locked, you could leave anytime. It says something that no one ever does, doesn't it?” He then uses his mojo on Reese who tells him he just wants Linda to love him. Lucifer finally realizes that he is the man Reese wanted to destroy, and tells him Linda perhaps accepts him and calls him her friend because she knew the truth about him.

Reese then goes to Linda and confesses everything he had done in hopes of the same acceptance. Linda is horrified and says she must call the police. He says she is right and tells her to have them meet him at his office, so he can give them everything he has on the killer. Once there he downs a half glass of booze and is confronted by Alvin who calls him the fraud, the one who should die next, that the drink was poisoned. As he collapses, he laughs and tells the killer, “I caught you.” The police arrive and take Alvin into custody, and a sympathetic Lucifer bends over the dying Reese who says with a desperate hope, “Maybe this will turn things around with Linda.”

Reese wakes up in a hospital, and is told he has had a brush with death. He asks a nurse if his wife has visited but is informed that she hasn't. He admits they have been having trouble lately, but Reese remains optimistic, “Second chance at life. Maybe it's not too late to turn things around.

As the point of view pulls back, Reese's door in Hell is revealed, and his Hell Loop begins again.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

  • Patrick Fabian as Reese Getty
  • John Billingsley as Alvin Kapitski
  • Shelly Robertson as editor
  • Bree Condon as Veronica
  • Fiona Vroom as Nurse

Co-Starring[]

  • Parker Brando as Dude with Neck Tattoos
  • Bianca Caroca as Frisky Woman #2
  • Jessica Garcia as young Woman Poisoned
  • Doreen Gordon as Waitress
  • Keilani Jung as Frisky Woman #1
  • Tori Katongo as Cute Uni
  • Henry Mah as Custodian
  • Christopher Pearce as Barry
  • Edwin Perez as Chad
  • Trent Redekop as Beefy Uni
  • Alla Rouba as Young Woman's Friend
  • Alan Silverman as Grizzled Detective

Trivia[]

  • The episode's title is said by Reese Getty
  • This was one of 4 episodes filmed as part of season 2 but planned and shown as a standalone episode in season 3. 
  • This episode is the first to take place entirely in Hell.
  • This entire episode is Reese Getty reliving his personal Hell Loop. The events start during the first season, when Linda Martin is still sleeping with Lucifer, and go through until the third season, when Reese dies.
  • Lucifer is quite beloved at the precinct, having used his favor gimmick to help out a few officers; paid off a gambling debt and even introduced one officer to his now-husband.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Links[]

Season 3

References[]

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