Warning: Spoilers for Lucifer season 6.
Lucifer’s co-showrunners open up about the ending of the popular series, explaining why they avoided a happy ending. Blending fantasy and police procedural, Lucifer premiered in 2016 and followed its titular devilish protagonist as he abandoned Hell to live in Los Angeles. The show initially begins with Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) working as a consultant for the LAPD and gaining feelings for his partner Chloe (Lauren German). But, as it has progressed, more mythology and serialization has been gradually introduced into the procedural.
Lucifer has had quite a run, surviving a cancellation by Fox to be picked up by Netflix where it has become a hit. In its highly anticipated sixth and final season, which premiered on September 10, Lucifer makes a huge decision. For the sake of Rory (Brianna Hildebrand), the future daughter he shares with Chloe, he embraces his calling of helping the souls stuck in Hell work through their guilt and get to Heaven. Chloe, however, remains on Earth and it’s only after her death that the two are reunited for eternity. In a new interview, co-showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson shed light on why they favored this particular ending.
Speaking with TV Guide, Henderson noted that Chloe and Lucifer were partners for eternity and their bond transcended a more traditional conclusion like a wedding. For her part, Modrovich explained why she felt a bittersweet sendoff was more fitting than an overwhelmingly happy farewell. Read Modrovich’s quote below.
“The difference between [Deckerstar] and another couple is that we had immortality to play with. So we knew they would be together forever, no matter what. And we kind of like to reside in the bittersweet and gray areas. A resounding happy ending just felt wrong, but so did something tragic. So the ending was our sweet spot by having them sacrifice something, but to then ultimately end up with each other.”
Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship is indeed unique in that they’ve spent most of the series as fairly platonic partners. While they have pined for each other at different times over the course of 6 seasons, they’ve consistently cared for each other and found their way back to one another despite the sort of setbacks that would likely doom other couples. In a sense, the finale honors this unique bond that the two characters have developed by not simply offering them the ending of a typical romantic relationship.
In a broader sense, the Lucifer finale represents the latest attempt in genre television to grapple with what it means to lose loved ones and spend a finite amount of time on Earth. The storyline of Chloe reuniting with her partner after death brings to mind how the Winchesters brothers met again in Heaven at the end of Supernatural. It also recalls how the finale of The Good Place centered around questions of existence and what it’s like to move on to something unknown. These are the sort of subjects that don’t always lend themselves to wholly happy endings. But a bittersweet touch seems quite fitting.
Source: TV Guide