The second half of 'Lucifer' season 5 left us with so many cliffhangers!
Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Lucifer 5B on Netflix!
The second half of Lucifer season 5 premiered on Netflix on Friday and, boy, did the show leave us with several cliffhangers (would we expect anything less from this delightfully devilish series?) and one major tragedy. RIP Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro).
In the final moments of the season, we also watched Lucifer (Tom Ellis) seemingly become God but not until after our favorite devil finally muttered those three special words to Chloe (Lauren German). And don’t think we didn’t notice which finger of hers he slipped that ring on… because we did.
ET Zoomed with showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson to break down all the jaw-dropping moments from 5B and get some insight on what the sixth and final season of Lucifer looks like.
ET: We have to break down that finale. Lucifer seemingly becomes God as everyone in that massive fight takes the knee. Is he God? What are we meant to believe?
I.M: I mean, that's what it looks like!
J.H: That sounds like a great reason to tune in for season 6!
ET: What does that mean for season 6? Lucifer as God?
J.H: I think the challenge of our show is Lucifer is always trying to deal with his own insecurities and live up to his own expectations and the expectations of people around him. And I think something like that, something like facing the idea of becoming God, is definitely something that he wouldn't admit would freak him out but would probably freak him out like crazy. So that sounds like something we would definitely be playing with at the top of the season.
ET: He's not sure how he was able to come back from heaven after he gave Chloe the ring. How did he come back? What types of forces are at play here?
I.M: Well, our whole show really is about exploring self-worth and the way we feel about ourselves and taking responsibility for our actions. And in that moment -- even though we know we've always known Lucifer loves Chloe -- he not only said it, but he showed it in the most selfless way he possibly could. He was willing to sacrifice himself for somebody else. He's never done that on that level before. And so, in that moment, he felt completely worthy. And that was the first time he felt completely worthy. And so he was worthy of being in heaven.
ET: Let's talk about that big "I love you." We've been waiting for it for five seasons now. Why was that the perfect time for him to say it?
J.H: think exactly what Ildy was saying. We wanted the "I love you" to be more than just about the two of them. But to be about Lucifer discovering that he was worthy of love and loving. So much of the season 5 arc is him exploring what it means to love, what it means to put down his barriers. The two steps forward, one step back of vulnerability. And we wanted him to not only realize that he loved Chloe, which deep down he knew, but he couldn't deal with. But also realize his own self-love at the same time. It's the chicken and the egg. How does he get out of his own way to admit his love while also admitting that he's worthy of love? And sometimes it's action, as opposed to introspection. Sometimes you just have to do something heroic and impossible to realize that you were worthy of love, and of loving, all along.
I.M: Yeah, he wasn't thinking about it and that's why it was so pure and real and true. You know?
ET: I don't know if anyone else noticed this, or if this was intentional, but he does put the ring on her ring finger...
I.M: Interesting! Totally arbitrary. [laughter]
J.H: Wow. Weird! Yeah...
ET: Is it meant to be an engagement ring also?
I.M: I mean, it's a gesture of love.
J.H: Our thinking is, we just, we love the symbolism. But it's much more just about the gesture of love and the idea of saying I love you, while also having the absolute perfect metaphor within that.
ET: So it wasn't super intentional to put it on the ring finger?
I.M: I mean, it was. We were like, let's see, which one should we put it on?
J.H: It was intent. We're not saying they're engaged. We are saying that it was very intentional as a metaphor.
ET: Are we going to see them in a full blown, PDA-filled, couple in love in season 6? Or could there be an engagement?
I.M: I'm going to say those are two different questions.
J.H: Let's take the first one.
I.M: The first one is, yeah. I mean, we're going to see a lot more of Lucifer and Chloe together. And then as far as an engagement goes… you have to just tune in and see. I can't answer that one.
ET: Lucifer chooses not to kill Michael. He says everyone is worthy of a second chance. Instead he cuts off Michael's wings. What does Michael's journey look like in season 6?
I.M: Every season, we try to tell a story with a good beginning, middle and end, and a tease of what's to come. And a lot of season 5 was Michael's story. So we will definitely see Michael again in season 6. But the story is not about his journey anymore. His journey is mostly complete. It's more going to be about how our other characters move on. We will definitely have a sense of where he is and where his growth is going to be going. But that moment is so much more to us about Lucifer getting that growth, realizing the idea of redemption, taking from Amenadiel in particular. I mean, Michael killed Remiel [who is] Amenadiel's closest angel sibling. And even Amenadiel was willing to say that he deserves mercy. And it was important for us to have that moment between the two brothers. But also for Lucifer, just really to grow in that moment.
ET: Is there another big villain that we should look out for in season 6?
I.M: Always. I mean, we always look for a new big bad. Although the other big bad in tandem is usually Lucifer himself because he's his biggest enemy always.
ET: Will we see more of Dennis Haysbert as God, or his version of God, I guess, in season 6? Could there be two Gods?
J.H: Dennis is in a completely different dimension. God is now in a completely different dimension and cut off from the world. So I'll just stop there.
ET: OK. That's fair. Chloe has decided to step back from her role as a detective. Will that remain throughout season 6? And how will her and Lucifer's dynamic shift if they're not currently solving cases together?
I.M: Well, there was a lot of discussion, I'll say this, at the beginning of the year. Because we are a cop show. We are this fun, you know, devil solving crimes. But there was, we had just formed the room after, right in the wake of George Floyd's murder. And that was on everybody's mind. And everything that was happening. So we kind of wanted to address it. And at the same time, we also wanted to just step away a little bit from the LAPD. So because Chloe had just left her job, we sort of found different cases that weren't necessarily solving crimes. They were solving different, maybe things in personal stories. And, you know, there are still some cases. But you'll see.
ET: Amenadiel is joining the police academy. So walk me through that decision, and how that will affect things in season 6.
J.H: We had talked a lot about George Floyd's murder and our role in the sort of copaganda, if you will. And so one of the things we'll do is we're using Amenadiel's story in season 6, Chloe's story, and all of the characters' stories to explore our role in that, the role of the LAPD, and really dig into that. We use Amenadiel as a POV character to explore that. So it's something that we hadn't planned on digging too into that level, and things happened and we realized it was a story that we had to tell, and wanted to tell. And was important to tell within our show.
ET: Shifting gears a little bit, Dan dies... Now that Lucifer is God, could we see Dan move from hell to heaven now that we know that is something that can be done?
I.M: That's an interesting, interesting, idea there.
J.H: Unfortunately, Dan is dead. And on our show, we can't go to heaven or hell. So, unfortunately that's the last time anyone will ever see Dan Espinoza. *Laughter*
I.M: Bye Dan!
ET: He told me he [Kevin Alejandro] is in season 6!
J.H: Dan Espinoza is our favorite character to torture every season, and the opportunity to torture him for one more season. Sure. Sounds like fun.
ET: Will we see him in heaven?
J.H: It's a good question.
I.M: Oh god, that is a good question. Just don't know.
J.H: It's a great question.
ET: What could heaven look like? I only ask because we saw Chloe in heaven, and it was her having a picnic with her dad. And so I'm just curious what he looks like in hell and what he looks like in heaven.
J.H: Me too!
I.M: It's many different things. I mean, we'll say this about heaven. I think clearly heaven sort of works a little bit like hell. We saw that Chloe's version of heaven was exactly what we saw, this pastoral setting, having egg sandwiches with her dad. But the difference is the doors are all open. So you can, you're not in your own private hell. You're able to visit other people. And basically there's a room, there's a room full of cotton candy. There's whatever you want.
ET: Eve and Maze seem like they're going to give their relationship a real shot at the end of 5B. What does that romance look like moving forward? I feel like people are always rooting so hardcore for Maze!
J.H: Eve will be in season 6. We love writing both characters. And we love writing the two of them together.
ET: Another character that I love is Ella. It's crazy to me that she still does not know that Lucifer is Lucifer. Will she find out? Will she find out he is God?
I.M: We can say this about Ella. She is our one character of faith. And so it's been, we've wrestled with it a lot. Does she need to know? You know, because she believes. So, does she need to see it? No. Because she believes it in her heart. So whether or not we go there in season 6 is still to be determined.
ET: She did have a tough go in the romance department, especially at the beginning of season 5. Dan, before he sadly passed away, wanted to set her up with Carol (Scott Porter). We saw them meet at the funeral. Is there hope for Ella's love life? Will she get a happy ending?
J.H: Initially that was a role that we were, that wasn't going to be quite as big as it ended up becoming. Because we were literally, we had found out about season 6, Ildy, correct me if I'm wrong, like a week before we shot that scene. And so Scott Porter is actually a very good friend of mine. And so we were scrambling to find someone who we might want to write story for in season 6. Because it's like, oh, we're introducing this character that we don't know how much we're going to want to do with it. And Scott very wonderfully stepped up. And in one very simple scene directed by Ildy we all just fell in love with him. So he will definitely be a fun part of season 6. And it does seem like we're setting up some sort of connection between him and Ella, which would sure be fun to play with.
ET: Thinking about how 5B ends, what is your message to fans and what should they look forward to about season 6?
I.M: When we were first graciously offered a season 6, we racked our brains and we did a lot of soul searching. Because we just didn't want to peter out, you know? We feel this responsibility. And we thought we had this epic perfect ending. And so after talking deeply about it, me and Joe, and the writers' room, we found another chapter that we realized we had to tell. It was, it became so apparent. We're like, "Duh!" But it just fell out of the sky. And so I think that our fans will be very glad we got season 6. Because this story needs to be told in order to complete Lucifer's entire journey.
J.H: I'll just say season 5 is our big bombastic season. Season 6 is our love letter to the show. And we stick the landing. I really do believe it.
ET: How would you describe the final season?
I.M: Emotional, beautiful.
J.H: Bittersweet.
I.M: Gets you in the heart in the best way. Like, I get chills just thinking about it. I feel, yeah. We're pretty pleased.
ET: It's going to be here before we know it -- we're going to have to say goodbye to this show. Sadly. What are the chances of a Lucifer spinoff series?
J.H: From your lips to Warner Brothers ears!
I.M: Yeah. If you want to call them up or...
K.K. Have there been discussions about which character you think would warrant a spinoff of their own?
J.H: We always talk about it. We haven't actually ever been able to pitch anything. But it's always a conversation and the show does well. It would be nice to tell more stories. It's not happening yet, but we're about to go off the air. So that would be really nice.
I.M: You just never know.
ET: And then my last question. Is there a time jump after season 5B into season 6?
J.H: That's a good question. The answer is-
I.M: I think, can we say?
J.H: Yes.
I.M: Yes.
ET: How much of a time jump?
J.H. Yes. [Laughter]
ET: OK. Haha. That's fair. I was just curious if we're going to see these characters in older makeup? And are we going to see where their lives play out?
I.M: Oh, interesting!
J.H: We're not going to jump that far.
I.M: Yeah. We just start with Lucifer and Chloe in the old age home. Just doing… Water aerobics. Yeah. Why not?! [Laughter]
Season 5B of Lucifer is now streaming on Netflix.
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