"Maybe I can't control my guilt, but I sure as hell can channel my anger."
Lucifer had one hell of an act to follow with the absolute powerhouse that was the last episode. So how did this reworked series finale turn out?
I really wanted to love this episode, but I don't think that I do. I don't even think that I like it when it's all said and done. There were just so many things about our big, climatic confrontation that left me cold, and while there was more to the episode than that, it really overshadowed everything.
This was reportedly the only episode affected by Covid, and you could really see that once both sides faced each other. It was such a large venue and it just felt so empty. There was no sense of the epicness that I was expecting, at least not until Lucifer and Michael finally started their duel. The delaying tactics also annoyed me rather than amused me.
I had really hoped that more angels would join Lucifer's side, especially once Zadkiel announced his support and Michael killed Remiel. I understand that Michael's whole superpower is fear and how powerful fear can be, but still. All it did was make the angels into one, passive entity and I had hoped for more from them.
And this is a massive personal pet peeve, but I really hate the "burst into song during a final battle to confuse your enemy and buy yourself time." I'm fully aware that this is entirely a personal dislike, but it just never works for me. Also... did Lucifer lie during it? He knew that God wasn't there making them sing. I think he lied.
I was also very confused about what the plan actually was. Lucifer was going to distract Michael so that Chloe could grab Amenadiel's necklace and then... what? Ah well. I did really enjoy Azrael's brief appearance as a harbinger of death. Her face and Lucifer's horror as he realized that she wasn't there to support him was just beautiful.
Chloe's death didn't necessarily have any emotional impact for me, (mostly because I was half-convinced that this was part of the plan to sway more people to Lucifer's side) but what it led to was wonderful. Lucifer didn't care if he would be disintegrated the moment he entered Heaven. If there was even the smallest chance that he could save Chloe, then he was going to take it.
Lilith's ring has been a fairly consistent through line during both halves of the season so it was only fitting that it was what gave us our happy ending. It was an incredibly blatant wedding metaphor, but subtlety has never really been Lucifer's style. All that really mattered was that Lucifer finally told Chloe that he loved her. Their relationship has finally... "completed" is the wrong word, but it really did feel like an ending. I could leave this show and have faith that they would be able to work through any other problems that the world throws at them.
I don't know how effective a villain Michael ultimately was. He was such a nonentity this back half, but he gaslit God? He knew, somehow, that Gabriel was going to be sent to Mom's universe so that he could get the Flaming Sword? Yes, Dan was a happy accident, but he still perfectly manipulated things so that Chloe would feel guilty and go to Hell? These were a lot of major things that we were told as opposed to shown, which really hurts my suspension of disbelief. It just felt too convenient and overpowered.
I did like that Lucifer cut off his wings, though, as opposed to his head. Everyone gets a second chance, a chance at a happy ending, if you'll let me be far too cheesy. It really put Michael right where Lucifer was at the beginning of the series, didn't it? I appreciate the narrative symmetry. And it was incredibly satisfying to see Chloe kick his ass after everything that he's done to her. I was so happy that she got her own moment to be powerful and stand on her own.
And, of course, we got one hell of a final image. I would have used Lucifer holding up the Flaming Sword as the picture up top if it wasn't such a massive spoiler. I loved everyone kneeling before him too, including Maze. I wouldn't have expected a demon to kneel before the ruler of Heaven, even with their existing relationship.
So where do we go from here? Where should we go from here?
Ella still doesn't know the Truth, but I think I'm okay with that now. Her faith is such a massive part of who she is, and a very key part of faith is that you don't know something for sure. That's the whole point. I don't want her to lose that. Not when it gave us such a beautiful scene of Ella praying and asking for a sign that things are going to plan.
Amenadiel has a career as a cop in his future, so we'll probably still have some kind of procedural element to the show, even if it isn't as much of a focus anymore. How can it be? Now that Lucifer is God, he's omniscient. Right? I'm assuming that the bulk of Season Six will be about any changes that Lucifer institutes, many of which he's mentioned over the past few episodes. Michael will probably cause some kind of trouble. Maze will be cute with Eve and possibly be Queen of Hell.
I'm a little concerned; I won't lie. But I'm also hesitantly excited. Oh my me, indeed.
Random Thoughts
Michael had the episode title.
It was nice to see Lee again, even if his appearance felt very random. At least it gives Dan a way to get out of Hell.
I had completely forgotten about the bus crash until the demons showed up at the final battle.
Remi was buried at the same location as Uriel, which was a nice touch.
Okay, how cool were the demon blade bullets? Such a clever idea.
I also had no idea that Lucifer was cosplaying as Michael. I loved that reveal.
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An Honest Fangirl would like to thank everyone who has read along with these reviews and left comments! They make her soul happy and she can't wait to see you all again for Season Six!
Fangirl, you are awesome. Congratulations on finishing 5B so quickly! I was even inadvertently on your schedule, since I just saw this one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally agree with your points. It would have been hard to beat the previous episode anyway, but at least it had a completely different flavor. For me too, the highlight wasn't the battle for the sword, it was Lucifer in Heaven with the not-wedding ring for Chloe. And I really loved that she got to be with her dad.
I just might have to do a rewatch before the final season.
It was so apt, the fear and lies vs love and truth, wasn't it? Almost too on the nose for our times. And in the end, love wins, and is even the reason Lucifer wins, which is sort of surprising because God had trouble saying the word love to all his kids before he left. Anyway, I loved the same moment that Billie loved.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding plot threads: Dan's in hell; Ella doesn't know; Trixie also may not know. What will the demands of being God be like for Lucifer? Will he ever trade places with Amenadiel, who really ought to be God? Will the responsibilities give Lucifer some appreciation for his father?
Also, I loved Maze's outfits (but I always love Maze's outfits).
Thanks for guiding us through the season, Honest Fangirl!
It's pretty obvious that Amenadiel should be God. Maybe that's their series-ending endgame, and that's what we would have gotten if the series had ending with this episode. It would make sense.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following along with me!
ReplyDeleteVictoria, I never considered the idea of truth/love vs lies/fear, but you're right. Michael really is the dark image of Lucifer in every way.
And I don't know if Amenadiel should be God. He doesn't want to be, and likes being "boots on the ground" as it were. He would definitely do a wonderful job with it, but it wouldn't make him happy. (Granted, I don't think that being God will make Lucifer happy either. Wonder if they'll end up with a "no God, true free will" type of thing?)
Maybe the position of God doesn't have to be permanent? While Charlie is on Earth, it makes sense for Amenadiel to be there too, in a human role. But he could take it on after Charlie grows up and eventually dies.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with this review.. There was alot to love but also alot was just meh. But I cant put my finger on why certain things didnt work.
ReplyDeleteI also hated the dance misdirection, my last acceptance of it was Guardians of the Galaxy, seeing it increasingly used is annoying and is also making me retrospectively hate the Guardians final battle.
Overall season 5 was a great season when you put the whole thing together. Think it had alot of the series highest highs and a few of its lowest lows.
Next season hope there is more Ella, especially with Lucifer. Miss their Bro sis bond since the episode they had to find Chloe. I want Ella to find out maybe through Azrael but no one else knows she knows. That way we could retain Ella not knowing but it would still have the dynamic that's he does not. Think you made a good pint about Ella and Faith, so I would understand that direction as well.
More Maze and Trixie and Eve. Incidentally I want Maze running hell and she could make Dan the Maze she was to Lucifer.
More Linda and her daughter
Weirdly, less Deckerstar..Season 4 and 5 have completely focused on the pair and its mostly been great but ANOTHER season of it would wear thin.
Also hope they do an episode or arc in Charlottes world.
Somewhere Jensen Ackles & Mark Pellegrino are jealous of the Lucifer/Michael fight.
ReplyDeleteI too hated the delay dance. Stupid. And Chloe standing wide open holding the key, like that? Beyond stupid for a seasoned detective.
However, I gave to say that I loved Michael's battle armor.
COVID ruined what could have been a majorly epic season finale. They were going to use a different possibly more intimate venue for the war, but instead they had to have one where the cast could be outside, thus the Memorial Coliseum. Overall I loved episodes 15 and 16. I cried and/or was happy in just the right places, despite any flaws in character development or storyline.
ReplyDeleteMani, I loved reading all of your comments! Yeah, I didn't quite notice it while I was watching the episode, but looking back, pandemic protocols really hurt this episode. It'll be curious looking back over this period of TV in general and if we'll view it kind of similar to the 2008 Writer's Strike and the impact that that had on so many different shows and 'What Could Have Been.'
ReplyDeleteThis was the first Lucifer season ender that I didn't enjoy...honestly, the whole end of season arc hasn't worked for me. It just seemed so artificial. Why does it have to be either Michael or Lucifer? It's not surprising that the other angels aren't on board with Lucifer (they hardly even know him), but nobody seems to have a credible pro-Michael argument. This "oh, he's been God's right hand man for so long, he's practically used to running the show" makes no sense because AFAIK, Amenadiel was his right-hand man until a few years ago which for eternal beings is nothing.
ReplyDeleteI never bought Lucifer wanting the job. The idea that he wants to be God to be "worthy" of Chloe is ridiculous. It won't make him a better person, it'll just make him more powerful.
magritte, I disagree about Lucifer (I agree about Michael). Lucifer was banished from Heaven and forced into Hell for who knows how long. He has felt unworthy for a long, long time, especially of Chloe. We have seen it before.
ReplyDeleteExcellent review! I agree there was a lot to like here, but my overwhelming response was "meh," too. Knowing that this was a COVID episode really helped me understand that it could have been better, if the world weren't undergoing its own slow-paced apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteFangirl, I agree that we'll talk about the COVID years the same way we do the writers' strike. Then, 500 years from now, it'll be a random factoid in some Television History class, the same way we're all vaguely aware that Shakespeare wrote some plays during a plague, but we don't tend to think too deeply about it.
Also, at the risk of getting sanctimonious: the idea of some very human-ish angels using physical fights and electioneering to determine who gets to rule the entire universe is really horrifying.