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The following contains all the spoilers from the sixth and final season of Netflix‘s Lucifer.
Season 6 of the twice-resurrected Lucifer largely hinged on the arrival of the titular devil’s grown daughter, with Chloe, from the future. Played by Deadpool‘s Brianna Hildebrand, Rory came bearing a big ol’ chip on her angel wings, given that her father had been MIA for her entire life.
Rory thus brought with her a prophecy of sorts — that Lucifer (Tom Ellis) would disappear from Earth on a specific, imminent date. Surmising that only death could take Lucifer away from their child, he and Chloe (Lauren German) set out to proactively solve one last case, “the murder of Lucifer Morningstar.” But in the end, they realized that Lucifer needed to voluntarily exit Chloe’s life — if only for 60 or so years — so that he could realize his true destiny, not as God but as a ruler of Hell who doubles as therapist, helping the damned comes to terms with the guilt that landed them in the land down under. And upon Chloe’s death at an old age (where she was briefly played by Guiding Light‘s Jean Carol), she reunited in Heaven with Amenadiel, who then flew her down to be Lucifer’s “partner,” once again and forever.
TVLine spoke with showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich about how they turned what was supposed to be a one-act coda at the end of last season — back when Season 5 was going to be the “final” season — into a whole other 10 episodes, after Netflix surprised them with a Season 6 order. Plus, why the bittersweet Deckerstar twist in fact underscored the couple’s incredible love.
TVLINE | First, please speak as candidly as you can about how what was originally supposed to be just a Season 5 coda informed, and blossomed into, a 10-episode Season 6.
ILDY MODROVICH | It’s one of those things where in hindsight, once we had done Season 6, we realized, “Oh my gosh, if we had ended at Season 5 we would have missed the intimate kind of farewell that we got to tell in this final season.” Things like Dan’s (Kevin Alejandro) journey — in that final act of Season 5, he was going to go from Hell to Heaven, and instead we got to live in Purgatory with him for 10 episodes. We got to see him wrestle with that self-imposed guilt and try to figure out what was causing it, and that was a really satisfying and cathartic way to say goodbye to Dan.
You can go through each character and see the same kind of ups and downs of it. You had Ella (Aimee Garcia) finding out the truth, finally, but it wasn’t about “What?! There are celestials?,” because she’s our character of faith. Instead, we got to go through how that impacted her, which was, “Wait, my friends didn’t tell me?! How come they left me out?”
TVLINE | So in the original 5B coda, Ella never found out?
JOE HENDERSON | In the 5B coda, she found out in a completely different, fun way. In the 5B coda, we had set up that she was going to be watching Charlie, and when Amenadiel and Linda (DB Woodside and Rachael Harris) walk in, Ella’s like, “Hey guys, I don’t know how to tell you this….” — and she lifts Charlie up and his wings are out. They were like, “Ella, we can explain…,” and she is like, “No, actually I kind of get it.” We like the idea of a beginning as an ending, but it was so much more rewarding to explore to explore the heartbreak of being left out, and that sense of “Why wouldn’t anyone tell me?” Thank God we got to tell that story, and all these other stories. (Read Aimee Garcia’s take on Ella’s “perfect” moment.)
TVLINE | Would Maze and Eve (Lesley-Ann Brandt and Inbar Lavi) have ended up in Hell as they first planned, holding really sad dinner parties?
ILDY | [Laughs] They were going to ride off into the sunset on a motorcycle; that was their final beat in Season 5. What we got to do instead with Season 6 was go through the ups and downs of before a wedding, like, “Wait, do you love me for this reason or for that reason? Are you only into me because I’m going to be the Queen of Hell?” [But Eve says] “No, I like you no matter what you do!”
TVLINE | Similarly, were Lucifer and Chloe originally going to end up in Heaven, all happy and shiny? I can’t imagine the original coda had enough time to chronicle his about face.
JOE | No, it was all there! We dramatized Lucifer and Chloe, in particular, and a lot of other stuff as “scene-lettes.” We had Lucifer sort of processing the fact that as much as he wanted to be God, he wasn’t right to be God, that there was something he was better suited for. Amenadiel in turn realized that being God was actually what he wanted…. Another perfect example: We were able to dramatize what work Chloe needed to do on Earth and how important it was, and really feel that sense that she has unfinished business here and that that is not only OK, it’s beautiful, because this is a window of time [when she and Lucifer will be apart], but they will be together forever.
TVLINE | As far what you did do, I have to imagine that at least some “Deckerstar” fans will be saddened that Lucifer and Chloe ended up spending many decades apart. And the introduction of the Rory character very specifically dictated that outcome. Talk about your decision to commit to such a bittersweet set of circumstances.
ILDY | I think that it felt right, because it really felt like the proper final chapter of Lucifer’s whole journey. He started out as this selfish teenager, so to end up as the parent of a teenager who felt abandoned and hurt, and to suddenly be like, “Oh wait, I’m causing this?” And when they make the sacrifice together as parents, when Chloe and Lucifer decide, “This is what we have to do for our kid,” that’s love. The fact that both of them were making that sacrifice didn’t diminish their love for each other, and hopefully that’s what people will feel. It didn’t break their love or lessen it in any way, it only made it bigger and stronger to us. And in that final moment, when she knocks on the door in Hell, it’s bigger because of that time apart, weirdly.
TVLINE | What’s a few decades apart when you’ll spend eternity together!
ILDY | Right!
TVLINE | How long ago did you decide that Ella would eventually put together a murder board?
JOE | Once you realize Ella is going to find out the truth, the fun of it is: “Ella’s going to have a murder board.” [Laughs] And we do have a number of fun Easter eggs in there, including, “Dan is a centaur?” That’s an ongoing joke from the writers room, because in the original Lucifer comic there are centaur people on a different planet. Our ongoing joke is that when Mom built her other world, it’s all centaurs, which we reference a bit in Season 5. But in my canon, she has also Centaur Dan, who she rides around on. So when God goes to that world, I’m sure it got weird! [Laughs] But the fun of it is Ella’s the only character who ever figured it out on her own. We wanted to give her her own realization, and since she is our forensic scientist, it made sense for her to put the pieces together — which means one last, awesome murder board.
TVLINE | And Dan the Frog was the main catalyst for that?
JOE | Dan the Frog, yes, is the catalyst.
TVLINE | I was realizing that because Dan came back the way he did, he served to facilitate your final denouement, the fiery showdown with Le Mec (Rob Benedict). Which was the chicken, and which was the egg?
ILDY | It’s almost hard to remember, but I’m pretty sure that Dan was the first thing. We knew Dan was going to come back, and it was pretty late in us figuring out the season that we realized he was going to take over [Le Mec’s] body.
JOE | A big part of it was we knew we wanted to bring Le Mec back, because he was the person who killed Dan and Rob Benedict is amazing. Part of the puzzle became: We barely saw this guy last season, so how do we spend time with him and get to know him, so he’s a formidable villain? And how do we remind people of what he’s done? We had this Dan story, and Dan was going to have to confront him, so we started to combine the two. And at some moment we realized that the best way to remember who Le Mec is is to have him be Dan and explore that. Rob Benedict is a very funny actor, and his Dan impression is just amazing. By the way, Kevin [Alejandro] directed Rob playing Dan!
TVLINE | Le Mec was right there at the playground with Trixie (Scarlett Estevez). Would it have been too dark if she was the daughter he kidnapped?
JOE | Well, we had kidnapped Trixie before. But the truth of it is that [Rory’s abduction] worked backwards from one simple idea, which is: Rory had the mystery of “Why would my dad leave me?,” and we wanted her to confront the idea of “Maybe it was my fault?” That’s where that connection comes from. And [Lucifer disappearing] is because of her, so the arc is: My dad left me…. He must have had a reason…. What if I’m the reason?… Oh, I am the reason but it’s a good reason.
TVLINE | How did Linda’s book end up doing?
ILDY | Best seller, of course!
JOE | I have the hardcover and the paperback.
TVLINE | Lastly, for how long did you know what the show’s very last line would be?
ILDY | For a long time — ever since we came up with the idea that Lucifer was going to be a “therapist” to turn Hell into a “rehab center,” basically, and we knew that Chloe was going to join him in Hell — because that was essentially her Heaven…. The word “partner” was one they used throughout the whole season, and once they decided they were going to do this together…. You can say “I love you,” “I missed you,” whatever, but what felt right was they were solving crimes in Episode 1, and now they’re solving people’s guilt. Together.
I might be in the minority but I just did not care for how it all played out. I was very disappointed that AGAIN he left Chloe. She got left by him every season just about and it just got old. They literally made a comment about it!
I also felt this season was a copycat of what the flash did with Nora. She went back in time to find her dad after he “abandoned” her her whole life.
Overall, the show ended up being just okay for me. But looks like most people enjoyed it so great!
You’re not alone. The end was the must stupid thing in tv. Was worst that GOT.
It was not worse than Game of Thrones. If you think that, I question whether you saw the GoT ending.
Well that’s my opinion. You have yours. Your is as good as anyone else. Feel free to wonder what I watch and what I don’t. I stand by my opinion: that ending was garbage.
I agree! Season 6 wasnt good IMO. Full of plot holes all over the place, terrible “storylines,” with the exception of Dan. The whole Rory thing is impossible to watch…she never goes to hell her entire life to find her father, except right before he leaves it? And the time loop story is trash, them knowing whether its when she first arrives or at the end breaks the time loop thereby being able to change how she’s raised which instantly changes the future…it was a dumb ending. Michael isnt on Earth, but hell? Carol and Adam performances and stories are really bad. Maze/Eve story is boring that really progresses no where. Amenadiel does nothing interesting except be a cop until the very end of the season??? Season 5 is a far better series ending. As much as I love this show, 6 for the most part (aside from Dan) a bad ending IMO
I love and hated it!!! What really pissed me off was amendial can fly back and be there for important moments…..but why is lucifer not allowed too….because his love and daughter tell him no!!?!!! And if they didn’t want him to see Rory he could pop in when she was sleeping and watch over her or be with Chloe butttttt nooooo!! Rolls eye
To me it seemed overly petty especially since amendial was allowed to be part of her upbringing…,
The situations with Nora on “The Flash” and Rory on “Lucifer” had some significant differences. With Nora, she knew why her father had vanished (a “Crisis”), and her resentment was toward the mother (Iris) who raised her (and suppressed her powers), and not toward her absentee father (Barry/The Flash). Additionally, Nora didn’t at any point want to kill or do harm to either of her parents. Further, Nora’s time travel trip wasn’t a closed loop. She changed the timeline and ultimately winked that version of herself out of existence.
I didn’t like this part of the season at all. I felt like they needed to have more procedural episodes. Also, I didn’t care for his daughter at all and I didn’t like the fact that she was there only to show him he could change people and to seal his fate of going back to being the devil. He could still have popped in and out and helped people. Blah back part of the season!
Yeah, there was really just no good reason that Rory’s life needed to play out the exact same way. It would have been really easy to have Lucifer have a day job in hell and be home for dinner. This felt really contrived.
You mean like by changing things, Rory never gets angry enough to go back in time, so Lucifer never figures out his true calling? Not to mention that Lucifer always tells the truth, so he would have to break his promise if he went back to Earth. Or that’d mean he leaves his “patients” alone for hundreds of years every time he goes back to Earth because of the difference in how time is perceived?
The whole needing to be away for 60(?) years made zero sense. If god can come back to see his son there is no reason Lucifer can’t.
It actually would have been better if she came back and found out he was there his whole life, and said he decided to lie this one time.
I said the same thing. Also, Rory never went to hell to find her father or heaven, she is an angel she can go and talk to him. But, time travel is more logical. I’m still rolling my eyes.
Tell me about Dan going to heaven and leaving her daughter with a killer.
Why did his daughter never fly down to hell her entire life to see if he was there? We know she can because we saw her do it.
Because she didnt know he was there
i was also disappointed in how the final season played out. After all the build-up last year, we never got to see what it would be like for Lucifer to take his father’s place? (Or even Amenadiel, for that matter — we just saw him sitting on some throne.)
The thing about angels answering prayers, badly, could have been interesting, too, but they never really went anywhere with it.
Then there’s the whole idea of Lucifer “counseling” people in hell so they can get to heaven. This was like “The Good Place” if it never got past season 2. Are we supposed to believe that people were being tortured for thousands of years because they couldn’t get past they bad things they did in life, until Lucifer finally decided (pretty much on a whim) to start helping them? And if it’s “guilt” that keeps people in hell, well — we all know a lot of good people who feel more guilt than they should, and a lot of bad people who don’t feel any.
“Lucifer” has never been very good at exploring the theological issues it brings up. (Unlike, say, “Supernatural,” which at least tried.) But there really wasn’t much else going on in this final season — for one thing, very little of the L.A. detective work that makes this show unique — so what we got in the end had some good moments, but overall was kind of a bore.
I’m so disappointed. It was bad enough that they tore Lucifer away from Chloe and his daughter, but they actually made Chloe remember and go through every time Lucifer left her only for him to do it again and in a big way. The very least they could have done was show more of their reunion and maybe a reunion with Rory in heaven. All I can see is the goodbye scene and the “happiness” of their reunion is forgotten in the pits of despair of their goodbye.
I feel like the idea that Lucifer couldn’t have come to the realization of what his calling was without Rory betrays the character growth he went through over the seasons. Even before she showed up this season, he was on his way to learning how to care about people he didn’t have a connection to, and learning how to help them.
And establishing that Amenadiel could be literal God AND working with Chloe to fix the police AND coparenting makes the idea that Lucifer can’t come up for at least special days look silly.
HORRIBLE. The writer made Lucifer the thing he hates the must: an absent father. The logic behind that decision was the stupider thing ever en tv. And, we are supposed to believe that Amenadiel (God) has time to visit his family, but Lucifer (a therapist in hell) has none?
Rory never went to hell to try to talk or kill her father? She went back in time because that’s more logical and the way anyone would act (rolling my eyes).
Trixie was MIA the whole season and wasn’t show even at the very end. If the actress was busy, they could bring an older actress to cover the spot, just like they did with Chloe.
Dan went to to heaven and leave behind a mass murderer with his kid, like a 3 m from her, yeah, totally logic that one.
The season was sooooo boring. First time watching Lucifer that I forward scenes.
The acting wasn’t great but I blame the poor script for that.
Still don’t get how Lemec found Rory and captured her.
Yeah- I didn’t understand that either. It’s not like he found her there, because when she woke up, she asked where she was and then asked it they were at 10th and Swanson
We also saw that a few rhino tranqs were able to knock her out. The show made it clear that she has the vulnerabilities of a human from her earthly half.
So agree with Sara’s comment above. Such a rip off from ‘The Flash’. The writers could have done a much better job with the final season. So many things just didn’t coincide with the the previous seasons. A child would never intentionally ask her father to abandon her mother and let’s not forget Trixie too! Why was Trixie completely left in the dark?
I absolutely agree with the ending.
I do think there’d have been better ways to get there.
If Chloe was pregnant with Rory when Lucifer disappeared, and Rory appears to be in her early 20’s in the future scenes and at Chloe’s death bed, how is it 60 years that they were apart?
Rory explained in one of her first scenes angels age differently.
I really liked the first half of this season, but it went downhill from there. There were so many good ideas in it for 10 episodes. Amenadiel ascent to being god, the angels helping out, Lucifer getting more empathic through his own experiences, and there even could have been a good storyline with Mazikeen, Eve and Adam. I mean he is as old as time, and he gets from Male toxicity to fully understanding guy in one episode. There was no need for the time travel story with Rory, there were enough characters and possible storylines. And I would have preferred to see more bonding between Lucifer and Trixie as stepfather and daughter or that her moms friends are demons and angels. I love the original Sandman comic with it’s theological themes, but they made Lucifer a procedural series, and it worked. And that’s why I would have preferred a happy ending on earth, where Lucifer and Chloe and the gang would stay together. But that’s just me. Btw where did this investigation from Ella into their friends came from? Maybe I can’t remember but did she suspect something in the last season?
Like they said,frogs falling from the sky set her off.
That set her off, but where the hell did she find any of the specific information?
OK – I thought it was just me who didn’t get that. I mean, granted Lucifer has always said he who he was to anyone who’d listen, but I do feel like we missed a step where she actually decided to build the board. She had that conversation with Amedandiel about her missing socks and he said he would’ve felt it if the world was ending, but that was it.
I’m sorry, but I cried like a baby. If you all are upset over the nitpick points, you are overanalyzing it. Look at the whole picture. Lucifer grows up, falls in love, matures, and comes full circle. Rory learns the truth of what happened to her father and understands not only what, but why her father stayed away. As for her not going to hell, maybe that was a 1 time thing due to the time travel. Up until finding out why her father was gone, she didn’t know anything. Lucifer not going back was a choice to save the souls in hell, too many people to leave and remember time moves differently in hell. Months are millennia. Just my 2 cents. I loved and hated it. Thought it was a proper good-bye. Hated that it is the end.
It’s not just that rory never visited hell, which is a big problem. However, lucifer finding out why he abandons her breaks the time loop period! Like how she wont reveal reasons in the beginning of the seaon…anyone knowing the future changes it. He (and everyone but rory) can never find out why he abandons her for it to make sense, which of course makes no sense for his actions. Time travel stories tend to go badly and this one is really bad. S5 was a far better ending IMO…other than leaving Dan in Hell, it wraps up the characters far better.
I totally agree.
Lucifer should have been able to return to earth as his brother did for important events. That would have been more touching. Then reunite in the end as the show portraits.
The final season was easily its worst. Pretty boring. There was hardly any threat due to the lack of a big bad. It was good to see Ella and Dan get some really good material and the finale 20 min or was solid.
Brilliant series finale. Not perfect. But the most satisfying and best ending to a tv series in a very, very long time. Kudos to the showrunners, writers, production staff, and actors. Lucifer will go down as one of the all-time greats.
Some peeps just can’t get over themselves. Mostly peeps are miffed because a thoroughly enjoyable show has come to an end and there’s no reason to beg/demand extra seasons – so they have to go all hyper-critical to avoid dealing with their own sense of loss (of the show).
Grow up peeps, accept that this was a COMPLETE wrap, unlike so many cancelled shows that never get around to wrapping up the series properly because they don’t get that extra season to do so.
And you should be thanking the folks at Netflix for doing it for YOU !
People can be appreciative of the extra season wrap and still have critical comments about the quality of that season. Stop gaslighting.
Charles Moore – couldn’t have said it better.
Come on guys Lucifer could travel back and forth from hell to Earth and the last season he could not
Epic fail
agreed
I think this was probably the best ending any series gave us in a long time. It was HAPPY. The 100 was a superb ending too.
i hated the Rory story line. there were so many good parts to the season but the Rory story was wrong in so many aspects. seriously could have done better.
Series finales rarely work. Look at GOT or Battlestar Galactica. Two massively popular series that stumbled at the end. But, I didn’t feel that way with Lucifer. The finale was that rare creature that I actually found satisfying to watch. You can nitpick about certain details or lack of explanations for certain obvious questions, but most of those are the sort of things that only a fan would worry over. Like life, you will never know all the reasons why. Sometimes you just have to accept them. In any event, I for one was very happy with the ending. Well done.
Maze said she wanted to control who did the torturing when she became the queen of hell? Did she feel now that some humans were unjustified in going to hell
The worst series finale ever! Let’s state the obvious question. Bottom line, like several comments made, why couldn’t Lucifer reign over hell and be in Chloe and Rory‘s life? It’s terrible Chloe had to go through life alone without Lucifer and Rory with no father? Amenadiel came to her whenever he wanted to. How Anybody loved the ending, I’ll never understand.
there should have been several more seasons of Lucifer…so much could have happened with Lucy and Chloe, more solving murders, a wedding, not leaving Chloe all those years…he could run Hell and come back to earth for his family.. like Amenadeal was able to.do…
Best series ended fsr too soon…lost alot of revenue that could have been.
Lucifer had me hooked. A fantastic series with enough twists and turns to keep everyone on their toes. I’ve binge-watched since the first episode and now feel lost having come to the end!
People who keep saying he can just “come back” I pose something interesting… when I was taking comparative religious studies they talked about “time” actually being on a loop not linear which is why most humans can’t understand afterlife etc. Anyways if that’s true, in order for Lucifer to be saved and to save Rory (potentially again if there is a past) all the events needed to happen as they did plus she credits him with saving her soul! I can barely hide Christmas presents from my 3 year old I doubt they would hide him from her forever as well lol then everything would be ruined.