Lucifer’s sixth and final season is set to tackle some real-life topics, The Black Lives Matter movement and Police Brutality. The fifth season on Netflix’s Lucifer, hasn’t yet debuted but fans of the beloved series are already getting a bit of insight into the show’s sixth season.
The fantasy series imagines a world in which Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has abandoned hell to work as a civilian consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department. The series originally premiered on Fox before moving to Netflix.
“We started looking at the fact that we’re a cop show and in what ways have we contributed”
Ahead of the Season 5 premiere, Series executive producers Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson ultimately came to the conclusion that it was time to take a stand within the narrative of the show.
“When we got back to the [writers] room, we started looking at the fact that we’re a cop show and in what ways have we contributed or not addressed the systemic issues of the police department,” executive producer Ildy Modrovich said in an Zoom Interview. “And we decided we wanted to speak to it. So we’re actually doing a story that speaks directly to it, and we’re super excited about it.” Modrovich said, referencing the criticisms TV police dramas and comedies were forced to face head on earlier this year.
Modrovich admitted that she will personally be writing the particular season 6 episode. “I feel nervous about it because I want to get it right,” she added.
“What we did want to do was speak to the cultural reckoning we’re all going through”
As the writers continue to plan out season 6, executive producer, Joe Henderson said the team felt like it was their “responsibility” to address and add to the conversation surrounding racial injustice.
“What we did want to do was speak to the cultural reckoning we’re all going through and, I think, we’ll be continuing to go through. And our place in it and our responsibility to say something,” he explained.
“And go at it through our characters’ eyes from an emotional place and not a preachy place,” Modrovich added. “To really look at the situation socially, emotionally and have it resonate on a deeper level than just words or rhetoric.”
“I can just say everybody’s very passionate about it”
Along with a diverse writers room, the cast has also been included in conversations about the episode. In order to make sure everyone involved feels comfortable with the outcome.
“We have a lot of voices in the room. We’re a pretty diverse room, so it’s taken a lot longer than most episodes to break because we have talked about everything. There have been many tears shed,” Modrovich said. “I can just say everybody’s very passionate about it, so I think that’s what we’re doing to get it right. We’ll probably fine-tune it forever and be working on it until we shoot it.”
Henderson added, “We spoke to [the cast] about it and engaged them in that conversation as well. You might have noticed that our cast has been tweeting about it quite a bit. It’s very important to all of them too.”
“Normally we pitch them their stories and a little bit of mythology, but this is a thing that almost all of them asked about. So we’ve listened to them and we’ve tried to make it as much of a conversation as possible and a listening exercise,” he continued.
Will Lucifer address COVID-19?
Despite the Season 5 finale itself being disrupted by the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Modrovich and Henderson noted that Lucifer won’t address the COVID-19 pandemic at all. “As far as the pandemic goes, nope,” Modrovich said. “No one wants to talk about COVID on Lucifer.”
“If you see injustice anywhere, you have a responsibility to right that injustice”
Earlier in July, D.B. Woodside, a Lucifer alum, was candid about the Black Lives Matter movement. And the importance of fighting for equality in the current climate.
“The movement is extremely important, and we all have to push this change that we really wanna see,” Woodside told. “Listen, I think [for] anybody that’s Black, this has been a really challenging time. I think what we’re learning is, is that there’s a whole lot that white people didn’t really understand, didn’t know. And perhaps some of that was because they didn’t take the initiative to really know, to really find out.”
“So what I’m saying now to people is, if you see injustice anywhere, you have a responsibility to right that injustice. You have a moral obligation,” he continued. “Those of us who are privileged enough to do what we do, I think we, especially, have a bit more responsibility to reach out and to use our platforms for good.”
Other Shows Addressing BLM
Lucifer isn’t the only cop show planing to include the Black Lives Matter movement and issues of police brutality in upcoming episodes. NBC comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been upfront about addressing the racial reckoning the country has been undergoing since the May death of Minneapolis man George Floyd. “We had some somber talks and some really, really eye-opening conversation about how to handle this new season,” cast member Terry Crews said in June.
While the final season of Lucifer doesn’t have an official premiere date yet, we’re getting a whole batch of new episodes in just a couple days. Part 1 of Lucifer Season 5, 8 episodes, premieres on Netflix on Friday, Aug. 21.
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