Strong female characters #1 - Mazikeen of the Lilim from "Lucifer"

Many women complain that there is a lack of strong female characters in television and movies. I respectfully disagree on that, especially when it comes to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery. What is however true is that most of these characters are supporting characters and therefore often don't receive the attention they deserve. 

In the past I have listed some of these characters but I feel that they deserve more than just a paragraph in my blog and therefore I will start this new series about strong female characters. I hope you will enjoy. 

Only recently have I started to watch the tv show "Lucifer" and got immediately hooked. While all characters are engaging and perfectly portrayed I have a particular fascination for the character of Maze or Mazikeen of the Lilim as her full name is. 

If you have not yet seen Lucifer season 5 part 1 yet, be aware that spoilers will follow. 

When the viewer first meets Maze, she is cold, withdrawn and overly sexual as fits her demon nature. She is described by Lucifer as "hell's worst torturer" and there is not much to her beyond that. Although she works as a night club bartender she seems completely out of place and it is clear that there are basically two reasons for her to remain on earth: First her loyalty to Lucifer, which makes her also extremely protective over him and that she simply can't get to hell without him. She is also a competent fighter, who can hold her ground against Lucifer and Amenadiel on several ocasions. 

Over the course of the first two seasons, we see her evolve. This is mainly triggered through her friendships with Dr. Linda Martin, who guides her to become more socially and Chloe Decker's daughter Trixie, who is probably apart from Linda and Lucifer the person Maze cares about the most. 

A lot of people have criticized her character for her apparent duplicity against Lucifer, which while in essence is true, the question is: Does he deserve any better? 

If we take a closer look at her relationship with Lucifer, it becomes evident that he actually doesn't deserve a lot of loyalty from her, because he simply hasn't earned her loyalty. 

She is very protective of him, especially when she learns that he is vulnerable around Chloe. However he rarely reciprocates this. He still treats her as a servant during the first two seasons and not once cares about her feelings. He decides to cut of his wings, even though he effectively takes away Maze's chance to go home. Regardless of her own wishes she cuts his wings off, only keeping a feather as a fail safe. She effectively puts his wishes and needs above her own. This feather will also make the change in her character evident at the end of season one, when she selflessly uses it to safe Amenadiel. 

In season 4 and 5 the relationship with Lucifer worsens further, as he even stops confiding in her. She used to be his lieutenant and best friend. Through no fault of her own looses this status to Chloe. In addition he literally discriminates her stating "you are just a demon". Of course Lucifer is the lead character but his behaviour towards Maze is horrible. How could Maze be expected to remain loyal to him, when behaves like this towards her? As a fan I hope that during the second half of season five Lucifer finally starts seeing how Maze has evolved and acknowledges her feelings, as he did once at the end of season two after Linda explained it to him. Unfortunately the show decided to now explore this further. 

Maze hurts a lot of her friends like Linda and Trixie during season three when venting. Her remorse is another step of her evolution. It is in Linda's office after she beat up Cain's thugs and run to Linda to save her from a perceived danger, we can see how sorry she is and how much she cares about her friendships. Linda says to her her actions speak volumes she doesn't have to say it, but Maze disagrees. She says that actions are easy for her but it is words that are hard, that is why she has to say it. 

Maze refuses to take the easy way out that Linda has offered to fixing their friendship and instead choose the hard way, to make sure it really counts. This is one of Maze's defining moments and certainly her most human one. She has no problem with physical pain and vulnerability it is emotional vulnerability that is hardest for her and for Linda she is willing to go down this route. Is there any greater proof of real friendship and love?   

Emotionally she is struggling, trying to make sense of her feelings and to get along with them. In a way she is like a teenager, which is also why her loyalty might be shifty. She is trying to fit in and find her place in the world, which pretty much is the definition of adolescence. 

What brought this change about? Personally I believe that Maze already has a soul, without being aware of it. God either granted it to her unknown to anybody or she has grown it by her actions. Truth be told I would be disappointed if the writers wrote this any different. The reason for her wishing to have a soul is not so that she can live after death but because she wants to find a soulmate. Maze craves love above all! 

It is only through Lesley-Ann Brandt's nuances performance that Maze becomes such a fascinating character. As mentioned before Maze is not big on words, which is why Lesley-Ann Brandt has to rely a lot on facial expressions and body language, which she does flawless. I haven't seen any of her other work, but I am certainly looking forward to it.  

Maze is apart from Lucifer the character that has grown most. She is selfless when it comes to the people she loves and when she is finally doing something for herself, teaming up with Michael because he has promised her a soul, she is vilified by everyone. In my opinion she deserves her happy end, maybe reuniting with Eve but definitely happy .