S05.E14: Nothing Lasts Forever

[paulvdb]

Quote

Lucifer angles to be his father's successor. Ella makes a painful confession. Chloe investigates a murder at an aquarium.

 

[StarBrand]

Ella's giddiness describing death by shark was adorably funny.  At least until Dan mentioned how much she likes dark stuff.  NOT what Ella wants to hear right now.

[pootlus]

The ending made me bawl my eyes out.  I was not spoiled for Tricia coming back and it was just perfect.

Honestly thought Michael was going to stab Gabriel with Azrael's blade there at the end, maybe she's a useful patsy to have around.  Not too bright though as I mean, come on, Michael has 'bad guy' written all over him.

[Gigi43]

You can tell they really thought this was the final season and wanted to really deliver to the fans in this episode (I think they only edited the final two scripts when they got word of season 6.) God/Penelope, God/Charlotte/ God/Ella meetings were all interactions that with great pay off. But I wish Ella was given actual confirmation of divinity. Of course Lucifer and Dad at the end delivered a satisfying moment for our Luci. 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Gigi43

[Peace 47]

For chunks of this episode, I just want to write a reaction of “lolol” because there were so many funny moments.  So funny that at a table of God and Lucifer, the owner comes over and identifies the VIP as Penelope!  And Dan being so okay with Lucifer becoming God!  And DB Woodside has such great comedic timing.  Even a little line to Maze, quizzically asking “So you’d rather be a puppy murderer?” made me giggle.

But then I wanted to cry when Ella was at her therapy session pouring her heart out (I really wanted Linda to counsel Ella on dealing with intrusive thoughts and how that doesn’t make someone “bad”).  I also wanted to cry when Ella was talking to God, and how God’s words to Ella could have been uttered directly to Lucifer.  Very emotional.  

And of course wanting to cry turned into actual crying with Mum’s goodbye to Amenadiel and God’s goodbye to Lucifer.  Definite tears there.  I think that I was in the minority in taking issue in prior episodes that Lucifer was so “shout-y” in his reactions to God, but I thought this episode dialed it back very well, even before the final reconciliation.

However, if this is how they planned to end the show, even before getting season 6, I have to say that the final reconciliation felt a little tiny bit rushed.  No discussion of the rebellion (how God felt about it; Lucifer’s guilt over it), and I would have liked a little clarification on how it seemed God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence held him back from interacting with his family. Doesn’t bode well for Lucifer-as-God.

I did not miss Michael while he was gone and wasn’t overjoyed to see him back again.  How does God stand for Michael having tried to gaslight him?  How is that gaslighting even possible when God is omniscient? My head hurts.

Really engrossing episode though!

Edited May 29, 2021 by Peace 47

[StarBrand]

I felt really bad for Ella in this one.  I was wondering how they would explore this "dark" side of her, and they didn't do it the way I thought they would.  I had thought they might have her spin out of control into self-destrictive behaviour.  But she just dove back into her job, although she did feel compelled seek therapy with Linda.  I guess it makes quite a bit of sense she choose the career she did.

Still, being scared of your own thought process must be horrifying.

Edited May 30, 2021 by StarBrand

[Peace 47]

There were a few little niggles in this episode that bothered me a bit that relate to my feeling that the episode was a bit rushed.  As an episode nestled in an entertaining back half of S5, I would still give it like an A-, but there were some aspects that didn’t really connect for me with other seasons and the emotional arc of the show.

(1) Gabriel being able to go over into Mum’s universe.  I know that the original S2 method of crossing universes (the flaming sword) was a macguffin itself.  So it’s not that I think there was any better way to reach Mum than to have Gabriel go if, in fact, Mum must be reached.  But!  I thought that the fact that Gabriel could go really, really undercut the sadness, and the maturity, of Lucifer’s decision to tell his mother to go into the other universe in the S2 finale.  Back then, his mother had to “move forward,” even if it meant Lucifer could never, ever see her again.  It lessens the impact that her quick, uneventful return could be done in the name of God’s happy ending when her ending was a fresh start from an ex-husband who seems to have banished her to Hell and then absolutely refused to respond to her at any point that she tried to contact him.  And Lucifer’s ending with her was that although he loved her, and she loved him, she could never really be the mother he wanted/ needed her to be.  There was such a finality to all of that.

(2) I wish that there had been more explanation for God’s past actions, not in the name of over-explaining past plot points from S1 and S2 that 75% of the audience isn’t even going to remember, but in the name of working out this dysfunctional family dynamic analogy.  Like, Chloe made it a pure joke in the musical episode that God threw his son out of the house and wouldn’t speak to him, but there was no real reckoning of that particular misery between Lucifer and God.  Mum said in S2 that God had wanted to wipe Lucifer from existence and she was the one who got God just to send Lucifer to Hell instead.  (Some say she is just a liar, I know.)  The fact that God had a “plan” for Lucifer (and whether the plan was actually a good one or a hurtful one) was never hit hard as an emotional beat.  It was much more oblique.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Peace 47

[DoctorAtomic]

Did they name an angel handjob? 

It's hilarious that Lucifer thinks he could be god. His issues aside, no way he has the attention span. 

Edited June 1, 2021 by DoctorAtomic

[DoctorAtomic]

So, Chloe is going to become the new God then. 

[thuganomics85]

Love that Amenadiel's response to Lucifer's concern over God throwing a retirement party with the angels in broad daylight was basically "Dude, this is L.A.!  I doubt anyone is going to blink over a bunch of strangely dressed folks grilling out!"  And, of course, God was wearing a "Let there be burgers!" apron.  He's such a dad!

Wasn't expecting God's exit to be this way, but it is fitting.  Props to them for not having Tricia Helfer's name in the credits, which made Charlotte's return a good surprise.  The good-bye scene was greatly acted all around.  Granted, this is one of those shows where anyone can come back despite the odds, so even if they are claiming it was a one way ticket, I can easily see either God or Charlotte showing back up again someday.

But while it might be a fitting retirement for God, it certainly sounds like this was all part of Michael's plan, which is not good at all.  And now he has Azrael's blade.  This potential civil war/fight to be named God is going to get nasty!

Maze's soul has gotten so strong now that she can't even resort to puppy murder to prevent her torture loop from being her breaking Eve's heart over and over again!  Glad for the puppies at least!  Although, I really want to know what Amenadiel did with all of them still around.  Linda might have had quite the surprise coming home to that!

Ella really seems to be barely hanging in there, but that scene with God was very nice.

I love that Dan's response to finding out Lucifer might be the new God was basically "Well, that kind of makes sense in an odd way.  Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened lately.  Certainly not to me..."

As I find myself saying with a lot of these cases, who knew that the aquarium game could get so deadly?!

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm amazed Chloe didn't find out about the prank on Dan yet.

[tennisgurl]

Love Gods dorky dad barbeque with all of his angelic children, complete with "Let there be burgers" apron, and how Lucifer was like "this is LA, no one will look twice at a bunch of weirdos grilling out in the park" and getting to see more of the angels. Of course Michael is behind everything, what a dick. I am surprised that he didnt stab Gabriel as soon as he got the angel killer knife, I guess he needs all of the support he can forget in the Silver City. 

Poor Ella, she really needs a lot more time with Linda. Its not her fault she has thoughts that she cant control. 

You can really tell now that the show thought it was ending soon, it gave us a lot of things that many viewers have wanted for awhile, like God finally telling Lucifer that he loves him, seeing Tricia as Mom again, God giving Ella a much needed pep talk, and the big moment where God and Mom go away together. While Michael has apparently been pulling strings, I still think that this is all a part of the long game, and whatever happens next is a part of the grand design even with God retired and in another world. 

Dan is so chill about Lucifer possibly becoming God, its not even the tenth weirdest thing that has happened to him this month. Just going with the flow now. 

I have really been liking this second part of the season so far, its been striking a good balance for the most part between the drama and the comedy, as well as the real world stories and celestial events. 

[madmax]

Great episode (great run of episodes), but is Linda the only therapist in LA?  Wouldn't that be awkward as hell to a) give therapy to all of your friends and b) know everyone's secrets?

[Anela]

1 hour ago, madmax said:

Great episode (great run of episodes), but is Linda the only therapist in LA?  Wouldn't that be awkward as hell to a) give therapy to all of your friends and b) know everyone's secrets?

I was thinking the same thing. 

[Enginerd]

On 6/3/2021 at 5:13 PM, madmax said:

Great episode (great run of episodes), but is Linda the only therapist in LA?  Wouldn't that be awkward as hell to a) give therapy to all of your friends and b) know everyone's secrets?

These people and their issues are an absolute gold mine though, so it makes good business sense if not exactly sensible sense to keep them all as clients. There is no end to their need for therapy. Plus, I think talking to the literal devil and an angel and a demon and the various people who know them and do or do not know their identities is so fascinating to Linda as a psychological study that she can't give it up. You can't get that kind of novelty with regular clients.

[JH Lipton]

On 6/3/2021 at 5:13 PM, madmax said:

Great episode (great run of episodes), but is Linda the only therapist in LA?  Wouldn't that be awkward as hell to a) give therapy to all of your friends and b) know everyone's secrets?

The Law of the Conservation of Characters

[DoctorAtomic]

For an in-show excuse, the rest of them might think that seeking out another therapist and 'breaking them in' with everything might be too much work, or the new therapist might have them institutionalized. Best not to push their luck.