Lucifer Season 6 Review- Sentimental, Sappy, And Darn Near Perfect

Lucifer Season 6 is a delightful, teary goodbye for the series brought back from the brink of cancellation not once but twice. It shows what perseverance, cast chemistry, and good writing can do when given the chance.

The Fox series that found a new home on Netflix years ago has come a long way. The series inspired by Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels was always fun. In the beginning, that was due to the magnetic likability of Tom Ellis. If you are going to do a show about the Devil, he better be either scary or sexy as hell. Not only has Ellis’ Lucifer been funny, but early on, he showed he wasn’t your traditional fallen angel. In fact, he may have been one of the only truly honest characters on the series about Heaven, Hell, and Earth in between.

Ellis’ charm and ability to be both sarcastic, self-absorbed, and intensely empathetic was nothing short of mesmerizing. Over the course of the last five seasons, the rest of the ensemble characters all saw their own personal growth and became the heart of the show. The entire ensemble cast informed what the show became instead of simply being the gags Ellis played off of. When Lucifer made the move to Netflix, the rest of the cast blossomed. They got the time needed to expand their backstories and explore their motivations. That continued into Season six, where two characters developed into the people we wanted them to be.

Season six was one of the rare examples of a truly satisfying ending to a series. It was emotional, heartfelt, and offered the chance for the cast to say goodbye to characters they love and the viewer to tearfully send them all back to the afterlife where we might get to meet them someday. No one was left out, and even a few new celestial faces show up to cause some trouble before the season ends.

Through six seasons, we watched as Luci grew to love Chloe. Through that process, he learned to care for the humans he was charged with torturing and came to love himself eventually. As the original fallen angel, he has always struggled with his father’s abandonment. It’s why he rebelled in the first place and why he rose from Hell to LA later on. In the beginning, it seemed he was just a cheeky, superficial celestial intent on carnal pleasures and the occasional bit of manipulation to help out the detective he was falling for. But all of that was a facade for the real Lucifer, who is honest to a fault, kind, caring, and self-critical.

What an interesting word, fallen or falling-falling in love, falling for a lie, or falling from grace. They all mean different things but derive from the same source. A lack of control is necessary for all of them. Lucifer embodied all of these at one time or another. Unfortunately, Lucifer only ever saw the negative connotations. He never realized to fall makes you human, and recovery is where the divine is found. The finale of the six-season allowed him to see that God had a plan after all finally. He had faith in the rebellious angel who would one day use his skills to redeem others. Of course, sacrifices had to be made, but ultimately everyone got their happy ending.

The last ten episodes of Lucifer are a love letter to fans. No stone is left unturned; no plot beat left out. Characters we feared were gone for good, got a reprisal, and the inventive writing even gave the viewers a Scooby-Doo episode of sorts, which plays out like a road map to Lucifer’s life. Of course, the episode shouldn’t work. In all fairness, it’s ridiculous, but it works because of the absurdity, which is a touchstone for the series.

The very intimate story of who Lucifer is at his core plays out in easily the tightest of all of the seasons. After last season’s big battle and Lucifer’s ascension, the need to solve a procedural crime each week was relaxed. There is still a little mystery-solving, but the show was no longer constricted by it. Episode six even tackles the racial issue that has plagued Chloe’s workplace without being reductive, exploitive, or unrealistic. It was fair, and probably much more true to what is happening in America today. To take such a light approach to such a heavy subject on such an over-the-top series is a high wire act that somehow pays off.

Now the focus is on the entire group and what the future holds for them. There are surprises, tears, fears, and a whole lot of laughs. The series about demons, angels, and humans focused rightly on all our flaws and insecurities, but through Maze’s redemptive arc and her queer-positive love affair with Eve, we saw hope. Hope for her and hope for ourselves.

We can all use a little positivity right now more than ever. It feels like we might be bracing for the apocalypse, but at least we know there will be someone waiting for us on the other side. Ella(Aimee Garcia) who has always been the spiritual center for the series is often treated as a mascot, but in season six she gets her due. Kevin Alejandro is nothing short of brilliant as Dan who died tragically last season, but whose story thankfully isn’t done. Alejandro does his best work of his career bringing Dan’s arc full circle.

Rarely do series get the finale right. So many of them try too hard to be clever or not hard enough. Some of them simply run out of steam, and the entire thing just fizzles out. There are even those that obviously ran out of material episodes ago and are desperately trying to drag out plot beats that were long dead. Miraculously Lucifer does none of those things. Arguably, the series lost its way a tad in the back half of Season 5, but the ship was righted with a stellar last season that gave the Prince of Darkness his final moment in the sun.

Ignore the detractors. Lucifer was never for the masses, it was for the devoted fans that love it. For those fans, season six lets us shed our demons for a little while indulging in We will miss you Luci, Chloe, Dan, Ella, Amenadiel, Linda, and Maze. You restored my faith in tv writing and gave me high hopes for what Netflix can do with Manifest, the latest drama to get resurrected from the dead.

Lucifer Season 6 is out on Friday on Netflix. Find all our Lucifer coverage here.