The first half of the fifth season of Netflix’s “Lucifer” finally graced viewers’ screens just a few weeks ago.
The series made its long-awaited return in late August, and proved that it was well worth the wait. Eight episodes, each nearly an hour long, were released at once, while the other half of the season is slated for release in 2021.
“Lucifer” is a show centered around the devil himself, who has more or less abandoned hell to live a luxurious life on earth. He owns a nightclub, lives in Los Angeles and has all the power he wants. When he meets a detective in episode one, he starts working with the Los Angeles Police Department as a consultant and becomes the detective’s partner.
Yes, the show is ultimately about Lucifer solving crime. Yes, it’s very good. This season alone had themes involving fate, free will, trust, abandonment and fear.
The trailer for this season dropped about a month ago, revealing that the main antagonist would be Lucifer’s twin brother, Michael. I’ll admit, I was pretty weary of this storyline at first. We’ve seen the brother rivalry already, and the plots that center around one character pretending to be another tend to be tiring after a while. However, one of the things I loved about this season was that they did not drag out Michael pretending to be Lucifer. It only took two episodes for him to be revealed. I believe this was a smart move by the writers.
I also really enjoyed how the show explored some characters that are sometimes cast off to the side. We were able to see Maze, Ella and Linda’s stories expanded. In Maze’s case especially, the show explored her abandonment issues and trauma. The contrast between her storyline and Linda’s, as a mother who gave up her child years ago, was such an interesting dynamic for this friendship that has developed over the course of the show.
Chloe and Lucifer have been the will-they-won’t-they couple of the show since episode one. While it would have been fun to see them together in the first episode of this season, I think it was much more realistic and intriguing to see Chloe struggling with the fact that she’s quite literally a gift from God made for Lucifer. This is where free will and fate came into play — Chloe has to determine her role in Lucifer’s life and also her role in the world at large.
Some of the best episodes of the season were episodes three and four. Episode three is a meta type episode that takes place on the set of a television show based on Lucifer’s life. Episode four is a noir episode that takes us back to the 1940s and tells us the story of Lucifer and Maze’s mother, Lilith.
The mid-season finale reveals a character who has been mentioned throughout the entire show but has never made an appearance on screen: God. God himself grows tired of watching his children fight, and demands they stop at once. It can be assumed that God will play a large role in the remainder of season 5. In addition to this new character, we hope to see some returning — especially Eve, who left last season after a brief romance with Maze.
Overall, the season lived up to its hype and did an excellent job exploring existing characters, taking new creative risks and leaving the audience in suspense. Season five is often the point in shows where quality begins to decline, but “Lucifer” has done just the opposite. I look forward to the rest of the season being released, it should be a hell of a time.
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