‘Lucifer’ Season 5B Review

After months of waiting, the second half of Lucifer‘s fifth season finally came out on Netflix. These episodes immediately follow where we left off, i.e. God’s arrival on Earth. Warning: major spoilers ahead.

Full Recap

Like, I mentioned, the show picks up right where they left it. God comes down to stop his children, namely Lucifer, Michael, and Amenadiel, from fighting. The fight disperses and God unfreezes time, where everyone in the precinct just thinks there’s just been a big earthquake. After Chloe catches up with him, she assumes Lucifer changed his mind about her but she later realizes Lucifer’s just going through some family drama. There continues to be a different case of the week, but it really becomes more about the relationships.

In the second episode back, Lucifer delivered their musical episode, aptly titled “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”. The episode even has a reason behind why everyone’s singing. Turns out God’s making everyone sing, just for his own amusement (mostly). Everyone in the main cast sings in the musical episode except for Chloe. It’s entertaining to watch but honestly a little cringeworthy. But I suspect they (and by they, I mean the writers) meant to do it that as Lucifer both hates and loves the fact that everything’s turned into a musical.

Lucifer and Chloe, AKA Deckerstar

At the start of the season, Lucifer and Chloe are together but Amenadiel froze time right before Lucifer could tell Chloe he loved her. After Amenadiel unfreezes time, Lucifer’s not even at the precinct anymore, leaving Chloe confused. But, of course, Lucifer’s more distracted by his family drama, not even realizing that Chloe’s concerned about their relationship. That is until she brings it up. He, however, isn’t too concerned about their relationship until after he goes to family dinner. After that, he believes that his father’s incapable of love, which must mean that he, too, is incapable of love. But Chloe isn’t buying it.

So, for a while, Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship is in a weird limbo state. It’s clear they’re both interested in each other as they continue working together but Lucifer’s still hesitant. After a few episodes, Chloe’s had enough as their relationship starts to affect Trixie, who isn’t happy with Lucifer. After “leaving for Florida” (i.e. Hell) for a few months and seeing Chloe being sad over their relationship. When Chloe confronts him, Lucifer decides to be impulsive and officially says that he and Chloe, are in fact, a couple. While Lucifer’s impulsive decision may seem a bit reckless, it ends up working out (unlike most of his previously rash decisions).

God and his Children

After having family dinner with his children, God decides to stick around for a bit but tells Michael he’s no longer welcome on Earth. During his stay, he decides to see what Lucifer does in his day-to-day life. However, Lucifer’s not too thrilled about it as he just thinks he’s being too judgemental about every aspect of his life. But God just sees his comments as taking an interest in his life. After Lucifer suspects that his father insulted the coffee he made him, they go to Linda for a therapy session.

Both God and Lucifer make their points but in the end, Linda starts talking about her own problems. Namely, her problem with Amenadiel, as he’s unhappy that Charlie’s just a human baby. Opposed to being an angel. So, God and Lucifer’s therapy session doesn’t really give them anything useful. Instead, God decides to make himself human for a day to experience life as, well, a human. As comical as it is, God decides to tag along on that week’s case and unfortunately ends up ruining a police sting. But by the end of the day, he goes back to retrieve his powers. Interestingly enough, we find out that he left them in Charlie’s (Linda and Amenadiel’s baby, as well as his grandson’s) care.

Linda Gets Closure

 For Linda, she struggles with figuring out what to do now that she knows who her daughter, Adriana, is. She wants Adriana to be the one to reach out because she believes it should be her choice. But her motherly instincts kick in and we find out she’s been following Adriana for a while now. It all comes to a head in the season’s 13th episode, “A Little Harmless Stalking” when Linda confesses to a murder. And if it weren’t already clear, it’s a false confession. At the scene of the murder, Linda’s already there, waiting, and immediately confesses to the killing.

However, everyone knows she’s lying. Later, we find out that Linda followed Adriana into the house to find the dead body. She’s clearly just trying to protect her daughter but it’s not long until Adriana turns herself in. The case chases the detectives all over (as always) and it’s eventually revealed that Adriana became part of a robbery gone wrong. Turns out Adriana’s gone through her savings and is in debt after taking care of her (adopted) mom. Everything works out in the end for Adriana’s case and they arrest the right person. Even though Linda tries her best to hide from her, Adriana spots her at the precinct and suspects there’s more to the story. After the case is over, Adriana shows up on Linda’s doorstep and realizes she’s her birth mother.

God’s Retirement Plans

With everything going on, Lucifer and Amenadiel grow suspicious of how careless he’s been with his powers. And that’s when God reveals that he’s starting to lose control of his powers. Later, he ultimately decides it might be time to retire. He has Amenadiel and Lucifer keep his retirement a secret for a while but while Amenadiel would be the obvious choice to take over as God, he decides he doesn’t want to. So, of course, Lucifer decides he wants to be the one to take over to prove that he’s worth Chloe’s love. However, they later find out that God’s not actually losing his powers. Instead, Michael’s been gaslighting him, making him think that he was losing his powers. As for God’s retirement plans, he doesn’t really seem to have any so Lucifer takes it upon himself to figure it out for him.

At first, Lucifer tries to find him a retirement home and a new partner but he’s uninterested. Then, he figures out what God’s been wanting this whole time. Lucifer enlists the help of his sister, Gabriel, to bring their mom back, who obviously goes back to using Charlotte Richards’ body. But Lucifer aptly mentions that she only has enough power to come back this one time. After a brief talk, Lucifer’s parents decide that they’re both moving to her universe. Unfortunately, that would mean that they can never come back. Although Lucifer’s made his feelings clear about both of his parents, he still pleads for his parents to stick around, as does Amenadiel. But they’ve both made up their minds. So, they say their goodbyes and it’s here that God forgoes his mysterious ways and tells Lucifer that he loves him and is proud of the man he’s become.

Michael’s Plan

While Michael was clearly the focus in the first half of the season, he’s not really around for the second half. But, again, God told him he was no longer welcome on Earth so he respects his father’s wishes. For the most part. Later, Ramiel (Lucifer’s sister) comes down to inform Lucifer that Michael’s been rounding up their siblings to favor him as God’s successor. So, Lucifer starts trying to persuade his siblings, specifically ones that could later become swing votes. Unfortunately, he’s not all that successful in convincing them. After Lucifer puts God’s retirement plan in motion, we later find out that Gabriel’s been working with Michael. Specifically, she retrieved Azrael’s blade from their mom’s universe, which has the ability to kill angels.

But Michael wants to make it into the Flaming Sword, which he can only do with all the parts (Azrael’s blade, the Medallion of Life, and the key). The only one he’s missing is the key, which used to hang around Amenadiel’s neck. However, Amenadiel buried it with Caleb, the kid that died last season. So, naturally, he digs up Caleb’s grave but the key’s no longer there. Instead, a fence named TJ has it, who also happens to be part of one of LAPD’s murder investigations. But it turns out the key has a different effect on humans (much like Azrael’s blade and the Medallion of Life did in human hands). The key gives humans superhuman strength so getting it back from TJ proves to be difficult. So, Michael hires mercenaries to retrieve it from him. 

Michael v. Lucifer

But Lucifer and Chloe only realize Michael doesn’t have all the pieces when Ramiel shows up. She doesn’t get a chance to say much though because after she arrives, she falls over and dies. So, they get Ella’s help in locating the last piece. Unfortunately, Dan gets involved and dies in the process, which admittingly made me very emotional. To make matters worse, Michael finally gets all the pieces for the Flaming Sword. All of it then lead to an official vote and battle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Knowing that Michael’s going to have most of the siblings on his side, Maze goes to enlist the help of some demons. When they get to the empty arena, Michael’s already there waiting with most of their other siblings wearing a Game of Thrones-inspired battle outfit.

But Maze still isn’t there so Lucifer, Amenadiel, and Chloe try to distract them all until Maze gets there. When asked who else would join Lucifer’s side, his brother Zadkiel (archangel of righteousness) as well as an unnamed sister go to his side. After seeing the majority of them choose Michael, Michael announces himself as God. However, nothing happens so that’s when Gabriel suggests that maybe the vote has to be unanimous. So, of course, he says the solution is to kill the opposing side. But because Maze still hasn’t arrived, they hilariously try to convince everyone that God’s forcing them to sing and dance (to the tune of “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer). But none of them fall for their rouse. Then, Maze finally shows up with Eve and a small army of demons, and the fight between Lucifer and Michael begins.

Maze’s Journey

 As for Maze, she still wants to ask God for a soul. Now that God’s on Earth (and sticking around for a while), she has the chance to do so. Right before family dinner, Maze asks him for a soul, which he already knows she’ll ask for (as he’s all-powerful and all-knowing). In response, he tells her that she’s perfect the way she is and can’t help her. Maze then angrily shows her demon face to him and tells him that she thinks it was a mistake to make demons. Moreover, she just thinks God doesn’t want to admit he’s wrong. As conclusive as this seems, Maze’s desire for a soul doesn’t end there.

Still infuriated, Maze follows God around to kill him. Thankfully, she doesn’t go through with it. She tries to excuse her behavior but God doesn’t buy it. By the end of their conversation, Maze realizes that she’s growing a soul. Later on, Eve shows up on a case as a bounty hunter. Eventually, they both realize they want to be together but Maze initially has an ultimatum. After Eve gets shot, Maze tries to give Eve her mother’s immortality ring but she refuses. Eve, unlike Maze, understands the gift of mortality but Maze just doesn’t want to get hurt again. After Dan dies, Linda and Amenadiel comfort her. Their talk makes her realize that being with Eve is worth the risk of getting hurt again. So, she goes back to Eve and they finally get together.

Lucifer Goes to Heaven

Michael uses the Flaming Sword to fight whereas Lucifer later gets Zadkiel’s staff, which is made of the remains of the Tree of Life. While there’s a full army on both sides, Amenadiel stops Maze from jumping in so both sides watch Lucifer and Michael go one-on-one. The fight looks to be going Lucifer’s way as Chloe pulls the key out of the Flaming Sword, extinguishing the flame. But right when things seem to be looking up, Azrael (the Angel of Death, as well as Lucifer’s sister) appears to foreshadow Chloe’s death, opposed to Michael’s, which is what Lucifer initially thought. Michael stabs Chloe with Azrael’s blade (as it no longer is the Flaming Sword without, well, the flame) and informs Lucifer that she knows Dan’s death isn’t her fault. That then proves that Chloe’s going to Heaven because she no longer feels guilty about Dan’s death.

Heartbroken, Lucifer vows to go up to Heaven to get Chloe. But Michael reminds us all that Lucifer’s banished from Heaven, which means he’ll die if he tries to Heaven. But it’s Chloe so he doesn’t care and flies up there anyway. Meanwhile, Chloe’s death sparks a lot of outrage on Lucifer’s team and Maze finally lets the demons fight. It then starts a big fight between the angels and demons. Lucifer, however, makes it up to Heaven but realizes he’s only alive because he’s wearing Lilith’s immortality ring (which Maze gave back to Lucifer after Eve refused to take it). After Lucifer finds Chloe in Heaven (who’s having a picnic with her dad), he realizes the immortality ring isn’t going to be enough for both of them. So, he gives the ring to Chloe and finally tells her he loves her as he incinerates into nothing.

The End of the Battle

When Chloe returns to Earth, she’s still holding the key and manages to get the blade from him. Right before she slits his throat, Lucifer surprisingly returns. Given that this battle was to the death and he technically died, he gets Michael to kneel. Instead of killing him, however, Lucifer just cuts off his wings and announces there will be no more killing. Then, everyone kneels, which results in a unanimous vote and it’s assumed it means that Lucifer’s now the new God.

Final Thoughts

 Overall, season 5B Lucifer was an emotional rollercoaster. The fifth season really gave us our first look at Lucifer and Chloe as a real couple. The last three episodes of the season made me ugly cry like you wouldn’t believe. It all started with Lucifer’s mom showing up just for her and God to leave. As if that wasn’t enough, Dan dies and Amenadiel tells us he ended up in Hell. With all the bad things he’s done in the past, it makes sense why Dan still feels guilty. However, given that there will be one last final season, I’d like the writers to explore that. Then, there’s the big battle between Lucifer and Michael, which is just epic. And Lucifer’s sacrifice for Chloe made me emotional all over again.

As serious and emotional as this season is, I love that Lucifer moved away from being a procedural show and focused more on the supernatural/celestial elements. But the writers still kept the humor in the show, which, as Tom Ellis puts it, is their saving grace. Now that Lucifer’s God, it means he can change the rules on how Heaven and Hell work. I look forward to seeing how the show will change, knowing that the writers will still keep the same humor Lucifer‘s known for.