REVIEW: ‘Lucifer’ Season 5 Had Potential

After having to wait for more than a year, fans everywhere are excited that Netflix has released the first part of Lucifer Season 5. This season was originally supposed to have sixteen episodes, but it was announced in October 2019 that it would be divided into two parts. Since season four focused heavily on the fallout of Chloe (Lauren German) finding out who Lucifer (Tom Ellis) really was, I’m quite excited that Season 5 will be longer. Longer seasons tend to bring up several obstacles for shows in terms of plot, but the division aims to give a break to make the season flow more smoothly. More episodes will also give the show a chance for plot elements to develop as much as they need.

Lucifer Season 5 picks up two months after the events of season four. Lucifer has been ruling over hell while Chloe has thrown herself into her police work. However, things start to take a dark turn for Lucifer’s friends on Earth when his twin brother, Michael, impersonates him. Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) pleas with Lucifer to return and deal with Michael. Meanwhile, Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) tries to deal with having been abandoned by Lucifer and Eve (Inbar Lavi). Amenadiel and Linda (Rachael Harris) deal with the difficulties of being parents. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) delves into his spiritual beliefs to cope with Charlotte’s (Tricia Helfer) death. Ella attempts to move past her attraction for “bad boys.”

I was left in complete suspense at the end of season four. Lucifer and Chloe had just admitted how they felt for one another but Lucifer had to return to hell. My only expectation for this season was for the show’s central couple to finally get together. However, I quickly began to lose my patience with how long it took for them to be an official couple. Season’s three and four focused on the challenges and obstacles of them being together. It doesn’t make sense for yet another season to continue the same story. This does not mean that I wasn’t excited to finally see them make their relationship official. The focus can now be put on them being together and the certain obstacles that’ll arise from this.

One of my main worries about Lucifer Season 5 was that Amenadiel and Linda would become side characters since they had a baby in season four. It’s often the case that couples in TV shows tend to have storylines that are just based on their kids. However, I’m glad that Linda and Amenadiel were given several moments to shine. Linda, being haunted by a major decision she made when she was younger, worries about being a good mother. We’re shown more of who she is outside of just being part of Team Lucifer. Amenadiel, worried about the safety of his son, makes multiple attempts to make the world a better place. However, he quickly discovers that no angelic powers will make this happen. It grounds his character more rather than continuing to be the same character since the start of the show.

One of the more interesting aspects of Lucifer Season 5 was Mazikeen’s character development. In the latter half of season four, Maze had developed feelings for Eve but nothing came about since Eve left to explore the world. Throughout this season, Maze deals with feeling abandoned by Eve, Lucifer, and even her own mother. It was interesting to see her go through this since she always puts on such a tough personality. However, her dealing with abandonment issues lets fans know that her time on Earth has broken the walls she’s had for such a long time. Unfortunately, this means that Maze ends up making some poor decisions that are making me appreciate her character less and less. I hope that the second half of the season handles her character development better in a way that doesn’t compromise everything she’s done in the previous four seasons.

While Dan and Ella are fan favorites, I’ve been disappointed with the lack of storylines that their characters have been given. Fortunately, Ella is given a big story arc in the latter part of the season. It was a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed seeing her character shine. As for Dan, he started off as a cop who wasn’t afraid to break the rules in season one and I hoped that the series would’ve gone deeper into this. His character leaning more towards more religious beliefs to cope with Charlotte’s death, while interesting to watch, seems a bit too late. I’d imagine that this would’ve had a bigger impact had it been done in the previous season.

The main highlight of the show was seeing Tom Ellis also playing the role of Lucifer’s twin brother, Michael. Seeing the trailer that was released earlier in the summer, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this decision. However, I was completely blown away with what I saw. The scenes with Michael and Lucifer are very captivating, especially because of Ellis’ natural charisma. I don’t think that any other actor could’ve pulled off the role of Michael. I could tell how much dedication Ellis put on to bring this new character to life while also not losing the essence of what makes Lucifer such a great character. I’m excited to see more of Michael in the second half of the season.

The biggest issue for me this season was the entire fourth episode, “It Never Ends Well for the Chicken.” The episode sees Lucifer tell Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) a story about his time in New York and helping out Lilith (Brandt), Mazikeen’s mom. The show took a creative turn as the entire episode is in black and white. It’s meant as an homage to the old gangster films from the 70s.  Even with this creative decision and the backstory into Mazikeen’s mom, the episode felt out of place. It felt like a filler episode, which I had hoped wouldn’t be an issue anymore since the show was now on a streaming service. I feel like they could have brought in Lilith in a much better way rather than dedicating an entire episode that doesn’t quite add anything to the plot.

The season four finale set up the potential for Lucifer Season 5 to be the best season of the show yet. However, I was ultimately let down by what I saw. From the cat-and-mouse game that deals with Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship to Mazikeen’s character being changed, Season 5 was disappointing. Ellis playing two characters and Ella’s story arc wasn’t enough to make this season memorable. That said, the finale of this season sets up many directions the show can take to make improvements. The cliffhanger also lets fans know that the show will be stepping into uncharted territory, which I’m really looking forward to.

Part One of Lucifer Season 5 is available to stream now, exclusively on Netflix.