Fantasy crime series Lucifer has had its final season extended by six episodes. The renewal of the comic book adaptation was previously for only ten episodes, the same as the penultimate season, so the extension to 16 episodes will give the Lord of Hell a longer final hurrah.
It previously seemed like we wouldn’t even get to this point when Fox unexpectedly canceled the show in May 2018 after events were left on a cliffhanger of the inevitable but major turning point of Chloe discovering the truth of Lucifer’s nature. After a campaign by the show’s large, loyal, and enthusiastic fanbase - which was joined by the cast and crew - #SaveLucifer had become Twitter’s most widespread trending topic; and a month after the initial cancellation, the show was picked up by Netflix for a ten-episode fourth season.
The news of the extension was first reported on TVLine. Season 4 ended with Lucifer retaking his throne in Hell in order to contain the scourge of demons that had come to Earth, and it’s clear this was always the intention for how the season would end, as showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson stated they had known what the opening of season 5 would be before they had even started on season 4. Of the upcoming season, they also said that they have a “really fun toy to play with” that is going to end up being “a big guiding factor” in how the final season plays out.
Even the renewal for a final season after being saved from cancellation wasn’t enough for some of Lucifer’s insatiable fans, who soon after began clamoring for even more of the show to take it beyond its upcoming culmination. The lobbying grew to such an extent that a statement had to be issued clarifying the situation, letting them know that “a fight won’t change things right now,” but also that “tremendous care and consideration was put into making this decision.”
TV shows being unceremoniously canceled without any kind of conclusion is a disappointingly frequent occurrence (and one for which Fox is notorious), so Lucifer was fortunate for the opportunity to not only be resurrected, but to end on its own terms. Many shows are initially planned out in an arc of five seasons, so Lucifer coming to an end with its fifth season feels like a natural stopping point, and the extra six episodes afforded to the writers will mean that the final conclusion won’t seem like it was rushed. As fun as many shows are in the beginning, they always have the potential to start to stagnate and deteriorate in quality over time, and although there is currently no sign of that happening to Lucifer, there is still always the risk of it. Ending the show now will preempt any potential decline (or avoid the possibility of it being canceled again) and allow the show to go out on a high.
Source: TVLine