Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 is Great… Aside from the Michael Problem

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the entirety of Lucifer Season 5 Part 1.

Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 is overall a very strong eight episodes, and it absolutely excels when it comes to character. There’s so much focus on exploring and diving deeper into everyone during these eight episodes. Everyone gets more of a focus and a deeper arc; no one is pushed off to the sidelines.

One of my favorites, surprisingly, is Dan. Yes, okay things fall through the cracks at the end when he tries to kill Lucifer, but more on that later.

During previous seasons, Dan has been more of comic relief, and we normally only really saw him through the lens of his failures or Lucifer’s numerous pranks.

On Season 5 Part 1, Dan’s attributes really get a chance to shine. He helps out a lot of people, and we see more of his friendship with Amenadiel and even Lucifer.

Here are a couple of my favorite Dan and Lucifer moments from this season: Lucifer actually accepting Dan’s bracelet, the two of them working together to solve the case, and, of course, the impromptu ¡Diablo! script read.

Dan brings a lot of heart and humor to this season, and it’s wonderful to see him be included more. Who are you really loving during Season 5 Part 1?

Of course, we have to talk Deckerstar. Their progression into becoming more of a couple really works, even though Michael tries to throw a wrench in things. He tries the deception route by posing as Lucifer, and then he reveals a secret.

Hallelujah! Chloe being a miracle is finally brought up again! It was starting to feel like we were never going to get answers on that little tidbit.

It’s a very interesting complication to throw at Deckerstar now, but honestly, the way Chloe manages to work through it, with some help from Amenadiel and some nuns, is perfectly done.

Lilith: I’m not talking about sex, Lucifer. I’m talking about an emotional connection.

Lucifer: Oh, absolutely not. It would take a literal miracle for me to want something like that, and I’m fairly certain my father isn’t handing those out anymore.

She doesn’t brush the miracle news off; it does rattle her and makes her question her entire existence, which is completely understandable.

But on Lucifer Season 5 Episode 5, “Detective Amenadiel,” when Amenadiel works through learning about his gift, he is able to theorize that Chloe seeing the real Lucifer is the gift. Not only does that explanation make sense, but it comes late enough that Chloe accepting it feels right and not rushed.

It’s a very satisfying conclusion to this miracle bombshell we’ve been waiting for years to happen, and it makes the love Chloe and Lucifer share even sweeter. She’s the one person who doesn’t see her desires in him; she only sees (and wants) him for who he is.

Before diving into the issues this season faced, we have to take a minute to praise the delightfulness that is the premiere, Lucifer Season 5 Episode 1, “Really Sad Devil Guy.”

It’s expected that Lucifer being separated from Chloe would bring the angst. However, Lucifer also has some fun with it as seen on “Really Sad Devil Guy.”

Lucifer trying to solve the same case as Chloe is fascinating and wildly entertaining. It gives the show a chance to really explore more of hell through the hell loops. Lucifer gets to visit the crime scenes and other scenes of importance, but they are all through the dead guy’s memory.

Aside from knowing it exists, has demons, and isn’t extremely pleasant, we haven’t really gotten to know or see much of hell. “Really Sad Devil Guy” changes that and shows us that hell is kinda like The Office but with torture.

The fact that all the demons know that as soon as a soul turns up with ties to or information on Chloe to bring that soul to Lucifer is hilarious. I’m picturing Lucifer talking about Chloe as many times as he can to as many different demons as he can. He probably raved about his time helping “the detective” on her many cases.

While there is lots to love about Season 5 Part 1, there are some hiccups.

As soon as it’s revealed that they are dealing with a serial killer on Lucifer Season 5 Episode 7, “Our Mojo,” it feels as if this is a bit too serious of a case for Lucifer. It’s just not what they do. The cases work better when they are a bit wacky, unusual, or have some kind of a personal tie.

The Whisper Killer case is Lucifer trying to be a show that it’s not. The random shot of the unsub is straight out of Criminal Minds. It doesn’t work at all, and it feels weird even writing unsub when it comes to Lucifer.

The mojo mystery and banter that is featured in “Our Mojo” is much more Lucifer‘s speed, and then the serial killer reveal attempts to take the show to a darker place where Lucifer and Chloe trying to mojo someone doesn’t fit the tone anymore.

And that fun and silly tone is what makes the show what it is.

Don’t get me wrong, Ella has some amazing badass moments as a result of the predictable twist that Pete’s the original killer. Seriously, he is too nice, around too much, moving too fast with Ella, and then as soon as he says he has a box of research in his house, even more red flags go up.

The serial killer case is only there to try to ramp things up a notch so that we would believe that Chloe is taken by the unsub, but instead, it is very obvious that Michael is behind her kidnapping.

And now, we have to talk about Michael who is the biggest issue with Season 5 Part 1.

First off, it would have been better if the trailer didn’t spoil his presence in LA. There’s such a great moment on “Really Sad Devil Guy” where you would have believed Lucifer came to rescue Chloe if the trailer didn’t spoil Michael posing as Lucifer on Earth.

The main issue with Michael is that he is boring. He just doesn’t work as a big bad. He’s not engaging.

There’s too much history that isn’t properly conveyed to where we truly fear him. Basically, he admits to tuning into the Lucifer show from heaven and plotting. The true proof of “evil-ness” is that he manipulated Lucifer back before he fell. *Cue ominous music*

It just doesn’t work. Seeing him poke and plant fears helps us see that he’s a manipulative jerk, but honestly, our view toward him is a lot like everyone else’s — we’re just annoyed by his presence. It’s unfortunate that there’s clearly so much more Michael to come in Part 2.

However, Tom Ellis does deserve praise for the amazing work he does portraying Michael. The accent alone is so unnerving.

Now, back to the Dan issue.

It’s safe to say that a lot of us have been wanting to see Dan and Ella, mainly Ella, told the truth about Lucifer. And so while it is initially exciting that Dan sees Lucifer’s devil face, everything from there falls flat.

The problem is that whatever Michael tells him about Lucifer is done offscreen. We go from Michael appearing to Dan on “Our Mojo” to Dan walking into Lucifer’s penthouse with a gun. We missed some steps there.

We really needed to see Michael plant all those fears into Dan’s mind because him showing up, trying to kill Lucifer, and spouting nonsense doesn’t fully work. Dan and Lucifer were in a good place for the first time in forever, so it would have been nice to see more of Michael planting fears or more of Dan’s headspace even before Michael shows up.

And then he goes on a bender and is absent for the majority of Lucifer Season 5 Episode 8, “Spoiler Alert,” which doesn’t help. Were you disappointed by how Dan learning the truth is handled?

Another tangential Michael issue involves Maze. Honestly, I can’t decide how I feel about Maze teaming up with Michael. I can’t get behind her decision to betray Lucifer at all, and that’s mainly because Maze is going through so much but processing it internally.

Lucifer: Quite a unique fellow, aren’t you? There’s a word to describe you, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s like a shower but French.

Yes, we get some great scenes with her and Linda where the subject of Maze’s anger towards Lucifer is broached, and Ella even offers up a pep talk, but Maze never voices her pain and frustration to Lucifer, and so we don’t really get to see the full extent as to how much she’s feeling betrayed.

If we would’ve gotten that, it might have been easier to understand why Maze teams up with Michael. The simple fact that Lucifer kept Lilith from her and didn’t take her with him to hell doesn’t seem like enough to justify her teaming up with Michael.

Stray Thoughts

• The girls’ night out scenes continue to be absolutely amazing.
• The noir episode is a lot of fun; Trixie and Lucifer need to hang out more often.
• It’s wonderful to see Tricia Helfer again.
• Lucifer not having to go back to hell just because Amenadiel heard that hell doesn’t need a guardian anymore is a cheap way out of what was a big issue on Season 4.
• Amenadiel and the nuns? AMAZING!
• I forgot how heavy-handed the show can be with the case paralleling issues Lucifer and Chloe are facing. Let’s tone it down.
• The fact that the actors from ¡Diablo! work the case run into Lucifer and Chloe while doing so is hilarious.
• Talk about an ending! Also, how is all the damage to the precinct going to be explained?
• Kevin Alejandro does an amazing job directing “Spoiler Alert!”

What did you think of this episode of Lucifer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

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Kevin Alejandro Discusses ‘Lucifer’ Season 5 and That Pivotal Dan Moment [Exclusive Interview]