Warning: SPOILERS for Lucifer Season 5, Part 2.
Lucifer‘s family dinner in season 5, part 2’s premiere revealed the amusing reason why most food tastes like chicken. God (Dennis Haysbert) arrived on Earth at the end of Lucifer season 5, part 1, and the shock of His showing up completely unannounced broke up the destructive brawl between his three sons, Lucifer, Michael (both played by Tom Ellis), and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside). Naturally, God decided to call a family dinner to bring His squabbling clan together for a peaceful meal.
Surprisingly, Lucifer‘s human characters like Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro), and Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris) took God coming to Earth and taking a mortal form in stride. Although, Linda certainly had to get used to the idea that the Creator of Heaven and Earth was now in her home and met His baby grandson, Charlie. Both Linda and Amenadiel learned in Lucifer season 5, part 1 that Charlie was mortal after Michael gave the baby a cold. This means that Charlie can’t fly, won’t live indefinitely, and he can’t enter Heaven as a celestial being. Since Linda was the first of Lucifer’s human friends to learn he is the Devil, she’s had the longest time to get used to the idea that Biblical beings are real and have become an inextricable part of her life. However, God’s dinner party at Linda’s home gave her another surprise: the secret of chicken.
In Lucifer‘s “Family Dinner,” God lovingly prepared a roast chicken feast for His family on Earth, which included Linda as the mother of His grandson (although Dr. Martin slyly tried to bow out of dinner but was foiled, to her and Amenadiel’s chagrin). Lucifer arrived late with a souffle, “risen perfectly, just as [God] likes ’em,” before Linda said an awkward, rambling grace that thanked God for everything, including oceans, napkins, shoes, and life. But it didn’t take long for the dinner to disintegrate into chaos as Lucifer and Michael argued over their ancient grudge and the Devil questioned God’s love for his children. At the height of the uncomfortable awkwardness, God’s “Old Testament wrath” created a thunderstorm, and Linda broke into laughter when she realized that chicken is God’s favorite and, “That’s why everything tastes like chicken.”
Food “tasting like chicken” is a very common way for people to describe a new or particular food to others, especially if they are resistant to try it. It’s rare to find someone who eats meat who completely dislikes chicken, which is one of the most versatile and relatively healthy meats. It’s also significant in Lucifer that God decided to roast a chicken for the first dinner with Lucifer present in millennia, especially when many people consider turkey, ham, or even lamb a protein more fitting for holidays and special occasions. Yet God chose the more humble chicken in His hopes to bring his quarrelsome family together for a pleasant meal.
Although God didn’t confirm or deny Linda’s conclusion that chicken is His “favorite,” the perceptive Dr. Martin is usually correct and God did offer a knowing smile. Later on, God gained respect for Linda’s skills as a therapist and the almighty even adopted what He thought was her catchphrase: “Can you smell what I’m cookin’?” Lucifer has a great deal of fun using the show’s version of Biblical characters to address many of life’s great mysteries and questions so unless God says otherwise, He is indeed the reason and the answer to why most food tastes like chicken
