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The Curse of Lucifer: Plausible Ideas with Poor Execution

Season 6 spoilers below.

Before I start, I want to make it clear that I am in no way saying that "Plausible Ideas with Poor Execution" applies to every single plot point in Lucifer. It doesn't. If it did, I wouldn't watch it. But this is an issue that, in my mind, has plagued some of the show's storylines, including those in S6.

A prime example of this is Chloe's betrayal in S4. It's totally feasible to me that she would react the way she did. But a lot of fans found it unbelievable after everything she and Lucifer had been through together, and as a result, the character received a lot of hate for it, and I mean a lot. The reason? Because the writers failed to set it up properly. Kinley's manipulation of Chloe was inadequate, to say the least. Suggesting that Lucifer doesn't lie is the biggest lie of all is excellent, but the rest of it? A book which Chloe herself points out is circumstantial evidence, and...? There were options that would have been far more convincing to the audience - involving Trixie and playing on Chloe's instincts as a mother, for example. S4 was a tight season with only 10 episodes, but the issue was never extra time. It was what we were shown in the scenes that we got. Which is exactly the problem we have with S6. So let's move on to three things about that finale, shall we? 1. Lucifer and Chloe had a choice. Lucifer chooses his daughter's wishes over his own desire to stay on Earth with Chloe and raise her. A beautiful and poetic parental sacrifice... or it would have been, if not for the way it was handled. How to make it seem like your character had a choice? Don't have them make it under duress. Here's Lucifer's side of that conversation with Rory: "Rory, no! I'll miss your childhood. I'll miss your life! Please... No. Please don't do this. Don't. I can't! Don't MAKE ME do this. I can't." Do they need to show how desperately Lucifer doesn't want to leave them? Yes. But having him beg her not to make him is entirely the wrong way to go about it if you want the audience to come away with the impression he had any choice in the matter. By including those two words, they left the fandom completely divided on this issue. (And I mean that literally - there was a poll on Twitter which came out 50/50.) And then there's the fact they give Chloe no agency whatsoever. She merely stands there while Rory and Lucifer (if you go with the view that he had a choice) decide her future for her. The rest of her human life is considered nothing more than a blip, without any thought to how time is perceived by mortals. One desperate look at Chloe from Lucifer, and one nod in return from her, would have included her in the conversation. Instead, she is left out of the equation entirely, as though it's assumed that because she's a mother, her choice is automatic. There is definitely an argument to be made that they could have changed their minds afterwards. But Rory knew what she was doing when she had Lucifer give his word. We've only seen Lucifer break his word once, and that was when he thought he was putting Chloe in danger. This time, by breaking it, he thinks he would be putting the Rory he knows in danger of disappearing. Which leads me on to... 2. Rory doesn't want to change I think we can all understand this. How many of us would want to be erased? Sure, I can give you reasons aplenty as to why I think Rory should have sacrificed herself, but that's not the point of this post. The point is, the reason Lucifer and Chloe do as she asks is because she wants to stay as she is. But the writers make that difficult for some parts of the fandom to understand, because outside of being an angsty teenager, her character is barely established at all. Here's what we know about Rory: 1. She's older than she looks. Despite being written as an angry 15 year old, she's actually older than 20. It's not until the end of the show that it's revealed she's between 40-50 years old. 2. She likes her cool wings, because they remind her of her mom. 3. She loves and idolises her mom. 4. She is angry at and hates Lucifer enough that she self-actualised time travel to come back and kill him. His disappearance "ruined her life."

So why should the audience care about her enough to prioritise her wishes over Chloe and Lucifer's happiness? She's a brand new character, and we know almost nothing about her. She's 50 years old. What kind of life does she have? Does she have a career, a partner, passions, hobbies, other than liking to drive her dad's car really fast? Instead of making it clear why Rory doesn't want to change, the writers are more successful in making it seem like she has a childhood she would want to change, especially after seeing how happy her mom is with Lucifer. This isn't helped by the focus not being on Rory changing, and far more on her desire for Lucifer to help souls in Hell (more on this later). She gets one throwaway line on the subject: "That you won't change me!" I won't lie, the scene is so hectic that I actually missed it the first time around. It wasn't until later, by reading interviews, that I realised this was supposed to be the main motivation for the decision. Finally, it's made clear in the season that Rory doesn't know how time travel works. In one moment, she can't reveal the future in case anything changes. In the next, she’s not only telling people what happens, but also saying the future is set and nothing can be changed.

So when Rory says about her changing, she actually has no idea if that will be the case. Lucifer is already set in a universe where if reality is changed, the core of people remains the same. As was stated in the AU episode, they make the same choices, have the same passions. The audience knows this, and it makes the idea harder to swallow. 3. Lucifer wouldn't have realised his calling without Rory travelling back in time If Rory never travels back, then she never brings Dan to Earth, giving Lucifer a chance to unintentionally help him to Heaven. He also never helps Rory, meaning he never reaches the conclusion that he wants to help free souls of their guilt. Except... by the end of episode 3, the writers already have Lucifer halfway there. Hell, the beginning is established at the end of season 5, with Lucifer talking about how unjust the situation is. He helps Mr. SOB get to Heaven by taking him to the source of his guilt. He is actively trying to find a way to help Dan when we kick off season 6. By episode 3, he is investigating the loop of Jimmy Barnes to try and find a way to help him. Has he succeeded yet? No. But he is working his way towards it, and it does his character an injustice to say that he wouldn't have gotten there without Rory. All it would have taken was one conversation with Maze for him to realise why putting Dan in his own kind of purgatory wasn't working. Or further therapy and discussion on the subject with Linda. There are many, many ways for him to get there, with just a little help. In order to sell the idea that the loop has to happen, and that Rory has to be there for him to understand his calling, she needed to be far more instrumental in the process. In conclusion: Do I like the end of S6? No, I think anyone who follows my Twitter account already knows that. But perhaps I could have accepted it more if what they were trying to achieve was presented more effectively. A clear choice made by a parent to save the future child they have fallen in love with, who in return is sacrificing a childhood where she could have been raised by both her parents, so that her father can help other people. But that's not what we got, and it's one of the reasons the fandom will forever be at odds over it.

Things I loved about S6

Spoilers below the cut:

Keep reading

"Hangover From Hell."

Dan wakes up in Lucifer's bed.

I had the most insane thing potentially happen since the time Tom Ellis came out on stage at LUX wearing my goddamn shirt XD.

I'm not gonna jinx it.

Probably.

medusa but her hair is an anaconda

I made a new thing.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087591

Based on multiple panels and answers from this past weekend.

Canon friendly

Found on Twitter <3

season 5 edit.

One eternity later.

Me: my sewing deadlines are entirely self imposed.

Also me:

I drew a thing.

This fic murders me. Still. I love it

truth (like blood under fingernails)

Apparently my ideal douchifer aesthetic is “I don’t know if we moved in together and at this point I’m too afraid to ask,” so please enjoy the thrilling next installment thereof.

Rating: Explicit Word Count: ~50k Pairing(s): Luci/Dan Summary: Dan knows exactly who Lucifer is when he makes a deal for help fixing Palmetto—which makes it even more annoying that he ends up liking him so fucking much. The Devil is real and Dan just crawled into bed with him.

Read here on AO3!