Lucifer’s Lack-Luster Last Season

With the end of Lucifer comes the end of celestial wars, biblical drama, and the devil solving murders in his spare time. Netflix’s Lucifer has had an eventful run, from being cancelled halfway through the series, to being revived on Netflix, then being delayed due to Covid, and finally closing with season 6 this past month. However, I’m not so sure it should have had that final season at all.

 

If you aren’t familiar with the show, Lucifer is about the devil himself (Tom Ellis)  coming down to earth where he suddenly finds himself working as a consultant for the LAPD. He fights crime alongside Chloe Decker (Lauren German), a fantastic detective who he eventually falls in love with. Inevitably, in addition to solving murders, Lucifer is typically tasked with fighting some sort of celestial Big Bad every season. The show often plays with the contrast between darker themes and a light-hearted tone. It also puts a fascinating spin on various Bible stories. In just one instance, Eve–yes, the Eve– ends up leaving Adam for Mazikeen, a woman she met on earth who also happens to be a demon from Hell. 

 

Lucifer Morningstar is God.

 

This is how we were left in last season’s finale, after a long battle with Lucifer’s brother, Michael, who also wanted the throne. Lucifer is struggling with taking on the responsibility, when his angel daughter from the future shows up. This is where the season lost me, as well as the reason the finale was so anticlimactic and nonsensical.

 

The addition of Rory as Lucifer and Chloe’s child was unnecessary. She was there to add unneeded drama and to force a certain ending otherwise wouldn’t have made sense (and honestly, didn’t anyway). While her scenes with Chloe and Lucifer were heartwarming, that was all her character added. There wasn’t enough time to give her character much depth outside of her relationship with Lucifer, which I found unfair to her character. The rest of the main cast have been series regulars for years, and in comparison Rory’s character fell flat. 

 

Rory has time travelled back in time to express how angry she is with Lucifer for abandoning her. The rest of the season is spent trying to figure out why and how Lucifer would do this, especially because he felt abandoned by his own father. We find out that the reason he abandons her is because Rory herself–from the future–asks him to. This is because it supposedly leads to Lucifer finding his “greater purpose”: being a Hell therapist for damned souls. In abandoning Rory, Lucifer is forced away from Chloe, leaving fans of the show unsatisfied. Lucifer and Chloe have had to fight countless obstacles to be together, and forcing them apart at the last second feels as though the show is trying to force a tragic ending. 

 

This is all because of a “time loop” that isn’t explained very well. Rory acts as if she’s some expert on time travel despite only time travelling once, and doing so accidentally. She had no idea what changing things might do, yet she seemed determined to keep Lucifer out of her early life. Much of the season focused on Hell loops, and how they might be broken. So why couldn’t the same happen for a time loop? It seems the show didn’t want to give us a happily ever after, but also couldn’t commit to a tragic ending. 

 

Another point of contention is that Chloe already has a daughter who has become like a daughter to Lucifer as well. However, she is ignored for most of the season. I can understand her lack of presence for scheduling reasons, but we don’t even see Trixie at her mother’s death bed in the future, nor is there an explanation of why she isn’t there. 

 

Finally, this season suffered from the lack of a Big Bad. Sure, it gave us more time for character goodbyes. However, bringing back an insignificant human villain from last season, who killed one of the main characters already, to wreak havoc in the last second was uninteresting and anticlimactic. 

 

That isn’t to say that everything in the finale was bad. Chloe and Lucifer’s relationship was a focal point, more than ever before. They challenged parts of their past, which strengthened their story and relationship. Additionally, Lucifer’s goodbyes to each of his friends was both heart-warming and wrenching, as we as the audience felt like we were in his shoes, also saying goodbye to these beloved characters. It was a very smart way to evoke emotion from the audience. Despite the unsatisfying ending of some characters, others had perfect conclusions.  Ella, Lucifer’s close friend and forensic scientist for the LAPD, finally finds out about celestials, and starts her own program for women in STEM. Amenadiel, Lucifer’s brother, becoming God was another strong choice–one I thought was obvious from the start. Something that surprised me was how well-written Dan’s character was this season. Previously, he was Chloe’s annoying ex husband who was unlikable and bland compared to the rest of the cast. However, the way he was included in the season as a ghost added great comedic relief this season. Watching him have one last

 interaction with his daughter in order to find peace was one of the best scenes of the season, if not the entire series. Linda was given an overdue spotlight this season after sort of being sidelined as the therapist/mom for so long. Against all odds, Maze and Eve rode off into the sunset together. At least we had one “happily ever after” ending. While the time-travelling daughter storyline wasn’t very good as a whole, It was interesting to watch Lucifer be confronted with a version of himself: a rebellious daughter who resents her father for abandoning her was Lucifer in season 1. 

 

I was personally disappointed by the ending of a show I loved so much, but there were absolutely  enjoyable elements. I can understand why others might enjoy the finale if they were more focused on the characters’ development rather than the story itself. While the story got lost a bit, the show’s previous seasons were strong enough that I am confident in saying I will look back on this show fondly.