LUCIFER: SEASON 4

Starring: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro
Writers: Joe Henderson, Ildy Modrovich, Jason Ning, others
Directors: Sherwin Shilati, Jessika Borsiczky, Viet Nguyen, others
Studio: Netflix

After what felt like an interminable Season 3 with 26 episodes and a meandering storyline, Lucifer returns to what made the first season so good in Season 4. After being canceled by Fox, Netflix swooped in on angel wings and produced a tight, story-driven 10-episode season that sees Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis, Isn’t It Romantic, Rush) once more struggling with who he is and who he wants to be.

Season 3 ended after Chloe (Lauren German, Chicago Fire, Hawaii Five-O) finally sees Lucifer’s devil face (and then two more episodes where this is barely acknowledged because why not?). Chloe was so shocked by this revelation that she has taken Trixie and spent a month traveling Europe. Or so she tells everyone when she comes back. In reality, she has gone to the Vatican where she met with a devil expert, Father Kinley (Graham McTavish, Aquaman, Preacher).

Father Kinley tells Chloe about how every bad thing that has ever happened in the history of ever is the devil’s fault (talk about biased reporting). He says that everyone she loves will suffer an unspeakable fate if she doesn’t poison Lucifer so that Kinley can perform a ritual that will send him back to hell. Chloe, of course, struggles to reconcile the good man that she has come to know and care for with the horrors that Kinley is relating to her. This, coupled with the fear she felt at seeing his devil face and realizing he hadn’t been speaking in metaphors all this time, after all.

No season of Lucifer would be complete without some biblical figure showing up to cause havoc. As Lucifer is feeling rejected by Chloe’s inability to accept his devil side, who should show up at Lux but his ex, Eve (Inbar Lavi, Imposters, Prison Break). As in, Adam and Eve, the first human woman in creation. Not to be outdone by last season’s re-imagining of Cain as some sort of highlander hard-boiled detective, Eve is a doe-eyed hedonist who is bored with heaven and, enticed by all the stories she hears from newly dead humans, she returns to Earth looking for adventure in the form of drug-fuelled orgies and a booty call with her ex.

Despite all the personal growth and progress for Lucifer, Eve almost immediately pulls him back into the sex and drugs lifestyle he had at the start of the series (I mean, we all have that ex, am I right?). Only now, he’s trying to balance this wild life with his consulting work with Chloe, sometimes with hilarious results (who knew ass-less dress slacks were even a thing?!). Add to all this, Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside, Suits, Love the One You’re With) got Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris, Suits, International Falls) pregnant with a half-human, half-angel baby, and Dan (Kevin Alejandro, West of Redemption, The Returned) blames Lucifer for Charlotte Richardson’s death.

I love that the show has returned to its roots of looking at the dichotomies of good and evil, religion and morality. This is the stuff that got me into Lucifer in the first place: priests and prophecies and celestial beings and Lucifer’s constant existential crisis. After Season 3 feeling so lost and rudderless, this is a short season that delivers a well-plotted story arc with an epic ending you won’t see coming. Characters that have previously been fairly one-dimensional, like Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt, The Librarians, Single Ladies), really get to explore some depth.

Of course, a lot of the usual hokey stuff is still there. For example, Lucifer making every case a mirror to his current internal struggle or Lucifer and Chloe stopping in the middle of the action to have a heart-to-heart, so if you didn’t like those things before, you won’t like them now. But looking past the tropes is a really fun show that manages to tackle some pretty deep questions about the fundamentals of morality and humanity, with some crazy humor and a kick-ass soundtrack (Tom Ellis has got some pipes!). After the way they finished the season finale, I can’t wait to see what they bring to Season 5!