After nearly a year of waiting, Lucifer fans finally have the second half of season 5 at their fingertips. Because of covid restrictions, we had to wait just a little longer for both a premier date and a trailer which is understandable, but the excitement was real the closer it got to it’s release. Buckle up because I have lots to say on this particular topic. SPOILERS AHEAD.
5A ended off with a fight with Lucifer and Michael, with Lucifer partnered up with Amenadiel whereas Michael was teamed with Maze. Just as the brothers stand off, wings flared and ready, when a booming voice says “That’s enough”, revealing God himself at the LAPD. 5B picks up where viewers left off, making it not an entirely new season but merely a continuation of it.
With the appearance of dear old dad, Lucifer spirals in a way we’ve never seen before on the show. As much as he tries to hold it together for Chloe, he can’t seem to shake Dad or push aside a millenia worth of pent up emotions. We see a prime example of this during 5×10’s “Family Dinner”. Michael views Lucifer running Hell as “having his own kingdom” and “being rewarded for bad behaviour” which strikes a nerve with Lucifer. The twins argue who had it worse until God steps in with a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning; “the old testament wrath” as Lucifer calls it. As the season progresses, especially in 5×10 during the musical, we begin to see much more of how deep Lucifer’s hatred towards dad goes. They even share a duet together where Lucifer completely breaks down into tears while asking his father “if you can’t fix me then at least stop trying to control me”. It’s an emotional roller coaster of a ride as we finally get to see the deep rooted hatred Lucifer has for God finally manifest on screen in a way that was only mentioned in previous seasons. It was refreshing to see Lucifer finally vocalize all the things he’s wanted to say but never could. It was a very much needed and long overdue conversation with the man he’s spent hating nearly his entire life. Viewers may find themselves crying along with Lucifer as he finally breaks down and has the cry he so desperately needed to have and get out of his system. As painful as it is to watch, this was necessary for his character growth throughout the season.
In terms of where Deckerstar stands, this is the strongest they’ve ever been together. While Lucifer tends to be more physically protective, Chloe is emotionally and mentally protective as she shows understanding and patience when it comes to Lucifer’s family issues. Sure, the mention of immortality is brought up, but they’re both mature and continue to openly talk to each other through whatever problem that might arise. At the end of the season, we see a well established Deckerstar fighting side by side as the powerful couple that they are, with Lucifer even sacrificing himself to bring Chloe back from Heaven. Chloe then goes full Hulk on Michael when she finds out what Lucifer did and shockingly Lucifer comes back to stop her from killing Michael, telling her “this isn’t who you are”. 5B might not showcase as much physical love as some viewers would’ve liked (ahem…..meaning sexy time) but rather it focused on the emotional side of it which is just as important in any relationship. Lucifer is there for Chloe just as much as she’s there for him. They’re each other’s rocks and it’s beautiful to see how much they’ve grown together since season one.
Because of covid, the CGI in the finale took a little longer than expected but it was absolutely worth the wait. The final fight between Lucifer and Michael was spectacular. Airborne, wings out with a flaming sword, flying around the stadium? It looked phenomenal. I’m glad the crew took their time with this and made it look good instead of rushing through it just to push an unfinished product out. I’m no expert in anything CGI related but this scene was just fantastic to watch. Even the scene where Lucifer stops the chemistry teacher from burning Chloe with the Bunsen burner looked realistic; the way his coat sleeve burned back layer by layer but not burning his skin. It’s very impressive and I got to give a shoutout to the VFX crew for pushing through and delivering clean CGI scenes despite covid restrictions at that time. Fantastic job indeed.
This season also touches base on some heavy topics such as death and emotional trauma. We all know Lucifer has had issues in the past with his father and his siblings but it never quite manifested in a way where we see actually him get emotionally distraught. He thinks he’s broken and is incapable of love which is not true, and Chloe tells him that. The show is proof that people aren’t their trauma and they’re not responsible for what happened to them. Chloe sees Lucifer for who he is and loves him regardless of how broken he may think he is, which in turn when Chloe is broken after Dan dies, Lucifer shows his love for Chloe by being there for her just like she always is for him. It’s never easy to watch a main character die, especially one who’s had a lot of growth since the first season but we can only hope that Dan comes back somehow in the final season.
5B also gave some of the best performances I’ve ever seen so far on the show. With Dennis Haysbert as God, I wanted to hate him (God). I really did. But with these amazing one liners and him just being a complete dad, I found myself enjoying God despite the fact that he did traumatize his kids and neglect his wife. Setting that aside, Dennis gave such an incredible performance as God and since the show is about redemption, God found his own redemption when Lucifer forgave him. Dennis made God a whole vibe in 5×10 when he made everyone sing and dance which is hilarious to watch if you don’t understand why he was doing it in the first place. Moving along, Tom broke me. He really did. When Lucifer broke down into tears after the duet with Dad and his voice cracked multiple times, that was it for me. That was where I drew the line. It was painful to watch my comfort character in distress but that’s what made his performance so good. You either empathize or sympathize with him. Those big Bambi eyes suck you in. It can’t be helped. The rest of the cast also gave us amazing scenes too. DB showcased how much Amenadiel has changed from wanting to bring Lucifer back to Hell to fighting by his side against Michael. Lesley, who plays a seemingly heartless demon, showed how something supposedly evil can grow a soul and love and care just as much as a human (maybe even more so). Rachael, who plays the glue of the show Linda Martin, continues to keep everyone together. Otherwise every character would’ve fell apart many seasons ago. If it weren’t for her, everyone would be a mess. Aimee showed a more vulnerable Ella who is opening up about her dark thoughts. Going from thinking Lucifer was disgusting to now completely in love with him, Lauren brings a heartbreaking scene in the final episode as Chloe who again went from thinking that the weird man who thought he was the Devil was nauseous to loving him heart and soul. Kevin also brought us to tears when after so much character development, Dan was taken from us too soon. While this season gave us some of the best acting thus far, season six, as showrunner Joe Henderson told us in our interview with him and Ildy, “some of our best episodes are yet to come!” so we can’t wait to see what the final season will bring.
However there are some tiny issues I have with the show. Because of the sudden renewal for a final season, the script for the finale had to be switched up a bit. That’s not a problem. But in terms of the whole mojo swap thing we saw in 5A, Lucifer’s invulnerability, Chloe being a miracle, wasn’t really explained and it’s bugging the hell (hah) out of me. The pacing is also a little off, with “Daniel Espinoza, Naked and Afraid” feeling very much like a filler episode. I have no complaints about the episode itself. It was fantastic and Kevin killed it. I’m just not a fan of fillers but admittedly this was a nice reprieve from the emotional episodes that came before it. So it was basically a half-time show but for Netflix. So I’m hoping that we see some kind of explanation for the mojo swap in the final season. Nobody likes a plothole.
I also want to quickly give praise to everyone, cast and crew, for the musical episode. I had my doubts at the beginning since I’m not a huge fan of musicals but this episode was fun, whimsical, and despite having to learn choreography as well as their lines, the cast looked like they had a lot of fun filming and definitely changed my opinion of it by the end. The way they implemented a musical into the plot and made it vital to the storyline was genius. Hands down one of the most fun and engaging episodes.
So what’s next for our goofy, sugar loving crime solving devil? Now that he’s God, is the sky truly the limit? Can he balance his love life and being Lucifer Almighty? We can only hope he gets the happy ending he so deserves. Who knows what the final season has in store for us.
Lucifer 5B is available to stream now on Netflix.
Fandom Lair 