Lucifer season 5 and the case for a split-season model

There’s a chance you’ve heard the news — Lucifer is coming back for a season 5! For many Lucifans who burned through season 4 in a single weekend, this was news that was a long time coming. It’s a proof of concept to Fox that there was so much more value in this show than they realized, and it also validated Netflix picking it up in the first place.

Yes, we do understand and are acutely aware that season 5 is the last — but that doesn’t take away from the victory we have with 2 more seasons that we wouldn’t have gotten without Netflix jumping into the ring. Think about how few shows actually end up making it to this point in the first place — it’s not a lot.

New Lucifer video: Watch our reaction to the initial renewal news in our video below! Remember that you can subscribe to CarterMatt to stay up to date with all of our Lucifer videos and view our official show playlist for any videos you may have missed!

The larger question that viewers still have revolves around the episode count. On the surface, our assumption is that it will be similar to season 4 — ten new episodes that encapsulate another fantastic arc. If this is what we get, it’s hard to be upset over that. Maybe, if Netflix is feeling super-generous, we’ll get thirteen — remember the days when that was considered a short order for shows? It feels like Game of Thrones doing ten-episode seasons from the get-go (and that’s before the past couple of years) really altered the paradigm of what to expect from seasons of shows. Longer seasons is not always better for the storytelling.

Let’s have fun here and get a little crazy — what about doing a split-season model? In the past, we’ve discussed the idea of Lucifer having a final season of sixteen episodes, split into two halves. This is our ultimate preference, and it’s also the most realistic of the scenarios that are out there. We also feel like there are reasons for Netflix and Warner Bros. to consider it…

1. It keeps Lucifer on the air until late 2020 – Think about releasing the first half in the spring next year and then the second half in the fall. Who’s going to hate having more episodes year-round? For the cast, a part of the benefit here may also be that it keeps them employed until most likely the spring of next year, but also potentially enables them to be available for the next pilot season.

2. It gives the creative team time – Based on where we are at present, it’s ludicrous to imagine Lucifer ending like this. The devil can’t stay in Hell forever! There has to be a proper way to get the character out of there … and also back with Chloe. We also want to see a good bit of time with these two characters actually together.

3. It allows Netflix to have viewers on the service for a longer stretch – We’re more than aware that they have plenty of other shows, but Lucifer has performed quite well in what data we’ve seen. (Sidebar: Netflix doesn’t release official info — we take whatever we can get when it comes to performance statistics.)

Odds are, we’ll get more info all about the season 5 episode count soon — fingers crossed that it suits our fancy.

While you wait for more Lucifer scoop…

Check out some of what one of the executive producers had to say about season 5 ideas over at the link here!

What do you think about the idea of Lucifer being split up into two half-seasons of eight episodes? Share now in the comments. (Photo: Netflix.)