7 Harsh Realities About Chloe Decker’s Character In Lucifer

Chloe Decker may be a central figure in Lucifer, and one half of the Deckerstar relationship, but her character is also kind of terrible in many ways. Lucifer began airing in 2016, and it quickly amassed an adoring fanbase. The show provided a novel and fun alternative narrative about the King of Hell in a way that was engaging, exciting, and light. Considering the show is based on the comics by Neil Gaiman, it makes perfect sense, but it took a talented cast and crew to make the series into what it became.

However, even when considering everything that can and should be praised in the series, it has it’s flaws, and one of the characters that is the most frustrating throughout Lucifer is Detective Chloe Decker. This is not to suggest that the fault is on actress Lauren German’s end, as she does a great job delivering the character, but Chloe can be inconsistent, irresponsible, hypocritical, and at times downright cruel. The fact that her personality appears to change drastically between seasons as well suggests that the character was not well-developed, and the result is a deeply flawed and frustrating character.

7

Chloe Decker Is Obsessed With Her Work

It’s OK to be dedicated to work, but Decker often takes things too far. Being career-driven and motivated can be an incredibly positive thing, but when it comes at the expense of having no other identity, it can become a problem. Decker almost never talks about, or does anything that does not directly connect to her work. Her friends are all work friends, or people she has to see due to other circumstances, and every relationship that she ever has is with people that she works around, because she doesn’t have a life outside of work.

Realistically, a work-life balance is an essential thing for anyone, as without it, they risk burnout and losing track of things that matter outside a job. Decker’s job is incredibly important, tracking down criminals and solving murders, but it’s not like she is the only detective in the state of California. Despite this, Decker never switches off from her work, and regardless of whether she is home with her daughter, or on a date or a girls’ night out, she usually has her attention on a case rather than the people right in front of her.

6

She Is Not Loyal To Lucifer

Decker is frequently shown to have some degree of loyalty. She is loyal to her job, loyal to her ex and the father of her child, and she stands by the things that she deems of worth. However, after multiple seasons where Lucifer and Decker grow closer together, and Lucifer saves her countless times, it’s remarkably easy for Chloe to cast her “friend” to the side as soon as she is faced with something she doesn’t understand. Lucifer is the literal devil, and he’s never hid that from Chloe, but when he reveals his true form, she turns on him.

True, it’s a difficult thing to believe, and Chloe surely thought he was just joking the whole time, but her response was a complete overreaction. Even if screaming at his face, and initially running away could be written off as shock, Chloe sustains her anger and hatred towards her friend by running away to a priest who is determined to kill Lucifer. From what the series shows, she didn’t have any hesitation about hanging her friend out to dry, despite the relationship they formed, and the fact that he had saved her life on multiple occasions.

5

Chloe Tried To Kill Lucifer

But then, Decker takes things a step further by actively becoming a part of plans to kill him. She tries to poison him, and leads the religious fanatics straight to him in an effort to have him murdered. It is only at this point that she even begins to express doubts about her actions, and the fact that she is so willing to make these rash decisions is a huge betrayal to Lucifer. Again, for three seasons, Lucifer has been clear about his identity, and even pointed out that Chloe would struggle to accept him if she believed him.

In these moments, Decker reassures Lucifer that she will accept him. Of course, it’s unbelievable, and no one could willingly promise to accept this revelation, but some sort of doubt, or mercy on her end would have been nice. Instead, Chloe is ruthless and cruel, willing to go to extreme lengths to destroy the person who has done nothing but show her kindness and love since they met. Whatever the case, Chloe’s attempts to kill Lucifer were terrible, and she deserved to lose his trust and respect, but she didn’t.

4

Chloe Often Leaves Her Child Alone

As cruel and cutthroat as she may be to her supposed friend and lover, Chloe’s lack of respect or concern for another relationship is even more damning. Chloe is a single mother, with an intense job, but the fact that she spends so much time away from her daughter, Trixie, frequently pushing her off on to her father, or other babysitters, so she can work more, is extremely problematic. Trixie is one of the sweetest, kindest and most mature kids of her age, but her mother is rarely there to support her.

At times, Trixie finds more comfort and friendship in companionship with a demon than she does with her own mother. Even Lucifer, the King of Hell, is able to make a connection with the young girl, while her mother appears to remain distant and rarely puts time into their relationship. There are moments where this improves, but more often than not, the relationship between Trixie and her mother is a negative one, with the blame falling squarely on the shoulders of Decker.

3

Chloe Sabotaged Trixie And Maze’s Friendship

Trixie begins to find comfort and support in other adult role-models because, obviously, her mother is rarely there for her. So, when she befriends the demon from Hell, Maze, it could be a really dangerous relationship. However, thanks to Trixie’s maturity and intelligence, and Maze becoming softer in Lucifer, the two form a close bond and develop genuine love for one another. But Chloe’s jealousy and selfishness get the better of her, and she chooses to sabotage the relationship.

When Maze thinks Trixie is upset with her, Chloe pushes the idea and drives a wedge between them. It’s an odd choice for Chloe to choose to step up as a mother by trying to destroy a friendship that her child has made with someone who is arguably giving her more attention and admiration than her mother has in recent years. While Chloe chooses to pay more attention to her own work and romances, she isolates her child by trying to destroy the connection she formed with Maze.

2

Chloe Is Selfish And Jealous

Chloe’s selfishness and jealousy ring true in the previous sections, but it also deserves its own section. Chloe pushes people away or drags them in at will to serve her own purposes. Even the relationship with her ex-husband and the father of her child is often overlaid with Chloe’s manipulations and controlling nature, which makes her appear more tyrannical than tender. When it suits her, she will use people like Dan or Maze to take care of her child, but as soon as it doesn’t, she changes the rules and pushes them away.

Likewise, when Dan is killed, Chloe chooses to focus entirely on how she is feeling and what she has to do to feel better, instead of considering anyone else, like her daughter Trixie. Chloe returns to work almost immediately, causing her child to be left alone and afraid, with her mother willfully choosing to go into work in the place that took her father from her. Chloe also displays jealousy around Lucifer when Eve returns or when he works with Ella early on. Chloe simply doesn’t acknowledge her feelings for Lucifer until she feels jealousy.

1

Chloe’s Hypocritical Attitude About Work Relationships

On the point of Chloe’s relationships, she appears to display negative opinions about workplace relationships early on, which makes sense considering the breakdown of her marriage with Dan. However, when people like Pierce come into the picture, she quickly rushes into a new relationship with the officer who is clearly her superior, which crosses numerous lines and boundaries about workplace relationships. In fact, she gets engaged to Pierce shortly after beginning their relationship. While this is not an inherent issue to fall in love quickly or to simply have romantic relationships at work, it shows a lack of consistency.

Chloe fails to exhibit any strong sense of character or stand by her own opinions. Taking this a step further, it puts her relationship with Pierce into question, considering how willing she was to jump into a romantic relationship with someone who was a superior officer. It’s possible that Chloe again had selfish and ulterior motives as she saw a relationship with Pierce as being favorable to her career. Whereas a connection with Lucifer would fail to serve her career, and could be seen as one of the reasons she chose to push him away for so long in Lucifer.