'Lucifer' season 5B review: More of a family drama than the tale of a DC character

The much-awaited Lucifer Season 5 part 2 episodes have been released after a wait of close to a year and a half on the part of the fans of the show. The first part of the fifth season ended on a cliffhanger that also saw Dennis Haysbert making his debut as God, who, as per the titular character and his brother Amenediel, was the main antagonist that was working in mysterious ways in order to test his children. How did the initial few episodes take the story of what has become a family drama forward? Read on to find out.

Lucifer Season 5B review

Given that the character has been co-created with Neil Gaiman, one can always expect Biblical references and see characters question the various aspects of the various texts. The first three episodes of Lucifer Season 5B does just that. Right from the moment God himself, the character who Lucifer fandom has been waiting to get as much as a glimpse of since the show premiered, makes a debut, the two characters played by Tom Ellis, namely, Michael and Lucifer, start arguing about which identical twin was better off. Michael quips that Lucifer got an entire realm to himself to rule after he brought on a rebellion in heaven, referred to as The Silver City by the celestial characters of the show.

Lucifer then responds by saying that even though he was the King of Hell, but it was still hell, pointing towards the possibility that even the Devil himself may have grown tired of watching the workings and deeds carried out in Hell after several millennia and how his abandonment from his father affects him even now. This scene, right off the bat, communicates that the key characters will treat the happenings of the Bible as one large soap opera that spans several thousands of years and will keep bringing their past interactions with the family, which have quite literally been taken out of the Bible. Lucifer Season 5 part 2 episodes also toy around with the idea of "Is God an entity to love or is he someone who must be feared?" by showing several characters, quite literally, shivering, after realizing that God himself was in their presence.

One sequence sees Chloe Decker, knowing that she is speaking to God himself, goes on a tirade in which she questions each and every move that God made as a father while punctuating each and every bit of the rant with "Respectfully". At one point, another scene, featuring detective Espinoza, sees him shivering from head to toe after confronting God himself. Espinoza nearly goes on a self-destructive drinking spree after he finds out that for a brief period, he had an affair with God's wife. These parts give a whole new meaning to the phrase "The Divine Comedy". These scenes also try to explore how the gods and other divine creatures are more or less like human beings, which means that they too get jealous, anxious, vengeful, succumb to their emotions and are capable of irrational behaviour.

Other parts of Lucifer season 5B, which see the characters have the long-awaited heart-to-heart with God himself, plays out as little anti-climactic at first, but it takes a few minutes for the depth of the sequences and the questions that Lucifer had been waiting to ask his father since long to hit. These questions are asked and the events of the past are touched upon over a family dinner, giving the scene that sees the beings who essentially either created or destroyed the universe, confront each other, with a  soap opera feel and a drama unfolding amongst the members of one of the most dysfunctional families that some of the characters of the show have ever come across. But, given that the first three episodes were basically character dramas, the one which also explores the complicated relationship between Chloe Decker and Lucifer, the detective and investigative part of the show had taken a bit of a backseat, which means that Lucifer 5B has more of Lucifer the disgruntled son, the abandoned child and the tortured king of hell and less of Lucifer the supernatural equivalent of Sherlock Holmes. Ironically enough, the investigative, as well as the law enforcement part, leaves more to desire.

One of the other things that is commendable is the risk that the makers of Lucifer had taken with the second episode of the series, which plays out more like a long episode of High School Musical the series as it is rippled with dancing set pieces that seem like they have been picked straight out of a Damien Chazelle film. To the credit of the writers and creators, they have found a way to use these pieces to reveal the innermost desires of each and every character and also indirectly communicate the source of the powers that Lucifer possesses. The episodes also see Lucifer trying to discover his inner self and Mazikeen coming one step closer to getting what she desires, which has been handled in a way that was very much expected and unexpected in equal measures.

All in all, if the impression left by the first three episodes and the drama each and everyone who is a part of the Lucifer characters list is to go by, one can say that Lucifer Season 5B is going to be more of a dysfunctional family drama that will follow the template of two prodigal siblings fighting for power, which means that Ellis' Michael will have a prominent role to play. Additionally, one can also walk away with the impression that all the drama and the pageantry that is going to ensue between these celestial beings may come at a tradeoff, and not a favourable one for those who enjoy the detective and the superhero aspects of Lucifer Morningstar, the character. But, on the other hand, it is evident that the previous works of the show's creator (Tom Kapinos of Californication fame) and the creator of the character (Gaiman) has heavily influenced the future trajectory of the show. One can also think of Lucifer Season 5B as a dysfunctional family saga that touches upon the themes of intra-family politics and vengeance-seeking, whose makers have taken notes from the David Duchovny-starrer and American Gods. Given the unpredictable nature of the show, one can't necessarily say how the story will be taken forward, but what it looks like for now will give the viewer more than sufficient reasons to be invested in the show.

Lucifer Season 5B cast list sees the return of Tom Ellis in a double role, Lauren German as Chloe Decker, Rachel Harris as Dr. Linda Martin, Kevin Alejandro as Danny Espinosa, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen, and Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez, amongst others. It sees Dennis Haysbert, who is the most recent addition to the list of the roster of Lucifer characters, as the elusive Almighty. The trailer for Lucifer Season 5B can be found below.

Lucifer Season 5B trailer: