Spoilers for Lucifer from now on. Proceed with caution
Lucifer Netflix reached its final chapter and surprised a good part of its fans. Especially for the plot twist which led the main characters into an unpredictable situation. After Lucifer (Tom Ellis) found his “calling” to save souls in Hell, he ended up parting ways with Chloe (Lauren German) in a heartbreaking scene. But in addition, the show took the risk of take its mythological context to another level. One so spacious and well-constructed that it gave the story an iconic ending.
But things could have been very different. How they counted for Collider Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich, the great outcome was the result of several fortunate events. In particular, a surprise renewal of the series while both were writing season 5 and until then, the final. So the producer-writer duo had to dig into their first ideas for the final installment. In addition to creating a way to splice several stories at once to create something completely new.
The solution? An unexpected plot pirouette, which included the arrival of Rory (Brianna Hildebrand), the adult daughter of Lucifer from the future. Besides that, the Show created his own rules for time travel. The result was a tribute not only to the story, but to the fans and their characters. Each of them received a satisfying ending, as well as a kind look at their nature, whatever it was. But especially, the character of Lucifer grew and matured in a whole new (and unforeseen) way in the early drafts of the show.
Lucifer, grow, mature and fly
According to Modrovich, in the first scripts of season five, almost all the events of season six were included. But instead of the deep and moving development, there was something rushed. The showrunner revealed to Collider that season six allowed them to make more creative decisions about it.
“I feel like it was a cathartic season. We were really able to pass the time to say goodbye to these characters that we love. Maze and Eve, in our original season 5 mini-finale, were going to get on a motorcycle and ride into the sunset. But we had a wedding to have. We also have to have a complete journey with them. That is true for all our characters ”, commented Modrovich
But it was not only a matter of small structural changes in the narrative, but of a completely new way of posing the great twists of the end. Chloe’s very painful death not only brought tears to the fans, but surprised by its depth. But again, the great sequence that closes the series owes its effectiveness to season six.
In the words of Joe Henderson, the character’s fate was always the same. Only with one more season, he was able to fully explain why things should happen this way. “It was the idea that Chloe should stay on Earth while Lucifer has a purpose in Hell. They had to be apart for a while until they could be together again. But with season 6, we were able to really dig into the motives. Why does Chloe need to be here? What is the cause you need to fight for? Season 6 shows that both of them will always be partners. But sometimes part of the association of respecting that someone else has something important to do. That you have to support them in that, even if it’s difficult, because maybe it’s necessary. ”
A new face in the back room
One of the points that most astonished in the season finale of Lucifer it was the arrival of his adult daughter. Rory Decker Morningstar became a highlight of the season. And one that was only possible to develop when the show’s writers made the decision to experiment. Of course, the great experiment was create a time travel.
In a pop culture era when Disney turned heads with a show devoted exclusively to time travel, it was a challenge. And so they faced it. But as they tried to decide how to create a credible theory on the subject, they realized that actually Lucifer he didn’t need rules for time travel.
According to Henderson, the decision came by making it clear that Lucifer it’s a Show about their characters. So the time travel was based on that premise. So they made the decision to create a temporary journey that explored emotions, rather than physics.
“Rory had a great mother. She grew up to be a great girl, and we wanted to be able to illustrate that and talk about it. We assumed that Rory would want to go back and confront Lucifer, ”the writer explained. The surprising plot, which left it a mystery why Lucifer had been an absent father, became the season’s knot.
But also, in the way the show managed to show full growth on both Lucifer and Chloe. A risky move that turned the show’s final season into an exciting look at the mythology of its characters.