After escaping cancellation, audiences can finally say goodbye to that dastardly charming man with the horns. “Lucifer” returns for its sixth and final season on Netflix this month, wrapping up its story of love, family, drama and the bizarre politics of Heaven and Hell. 

         At the end of Season 5, Lucifer and his twin brother, Michael (both played by Tom Ellis), battled at the L.A. Coliseum to dictate which one of them would become the new god. Ultimately, Lucifer and company defeat the evil Michael, leaving Lucifer unopposed to take the title of god. Yet as Season 6 opens, Lucifer isn’t quite so sure he’s ready to leave his friends behind. Meanwhile, detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), who agreed to be God’s consultant in heaven, is also struggling, as it seems she has hung up her detective badge. 

         All in all, this season is a bit too simplistic for a finale, and it’s hard to decide if it works to the series’ benefit or as a detriment to the fascinating theories that do come out of Season 6. This pattern of repetition becomes clear in Episode 1, “Nothing Ever Changes Around Here,” as the audience finds themselves smack-dab in yet another whodunit plot while a mysterious ethereal sits in the shadows waiting to get their revenge. 

         If nothing else, “Lucifer” provides imaginative character arcs and its compassionate exploration of the abandonment, rejection and insecurity most of its characters feel is consistent, but surprisingly deep and humane. Under the witty exterior, the show can be quite respectful not just of faith, but of the difficulty of overcoming deep psychological wounds. Of course, this is due to the committed and precise performances from the show’s leads, Lauren German and Tom Ellis. 

         Tom Ellis has always done a marvelous job as Lucifer, and he continues to do so during this final season. We’re able to see a different side of Lucifer, especially once his daughter Rory (Brianna Hildebrand) enters the picture. He now is forced to deal with a myriad of emotions that he can’t control as he meets his daughter from the future when she accidentally traveled back to the present through her angelic powers, furious at her father for abandoning her. This is news to both Lucifer and Chloe, who can’t grapple with the reality in which Lucifer abandons his family after suffering from a similar issue of being cast out of heaven by his father. The emotional subtext is really clustered around Lucifer and Chloe’s future relationship as they don’t know what’s going to happen. 

         For a lot of TV couples, them being together and in love is all you ever need. However, if Lucifer and Chloe lived separate work lives and simply spent their evenings and weekends together, something would be missing and it just wouldn’t be enough. This is why them spending eternity working together helping people, is such a satisfying ending that can’t be beaten. We have to take a moment to praise Lauren German, as she does the best acting this season that she’s done throughout the series, truly selling the emotional gut-punch of this twisted love story. 

         No matter how much “Lucifer” pretends to be something new, it’s not. It’s the same old story that tends to drag people in. It regurgitated the comfortable and simplistic feelings of rewatchability, and for better or worse, that’s the ending we got.