Lucifer: The Complete Fifth Season - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

Lucifer: The Complete Fifth Season


Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:




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Movie
Lucifer is simply the show that wouldn’t die. After season 4 the powers that be were considering shuttering the fan favorite show, but instead opted for a 5th season to wrap things up, only for them to backtrack on that shortly after and give a SIXTH and final season to let the devil go out on top. I remember excitedly waiting for Lucifer Season 5 to come out on Netflix, only to realize that they decided to split the season into halves like they are prone to do. Naturally I was a bit upset as this was pandemic and we were bored out of our skulls at home, but I persevered and it was well worth the wait, as Season 5 became one of the better seasons, with probably the single best season finale of the show’s entire 5 season run.

Last we checked in on Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) and his human love Detective Chloe Decker (Laruen German) Lucifer had made a deal to go back to hell in order to keep the demons from spilling out into our world. While it’s only been a short time here on Earth, it’s been thousands of years in the underworld, with Lucifer coming to grips with the fact that he may never seen Chloe again. Up top in sunny L.A., Chloe is trying to deal with her feelings of loss and regret. Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) has taken over Lucifer’s club, and Mazikeen is that Lucifer went “home” to hell without her. That is until Lucifer shows up out of the blue claiming to have been bored and wanting out again.

Something doesn’t ring true to Chloe and the rest, and for good reason. Lucifer is really not Lucifer, it just so happens to be Lucy’s twin brother Michael the Archangel (also played by Tom Ellis), who is down here on Earth to wreck Lucifer’s life in a revenge ply. Throw in Eve (Inbar Lavi) coming back, and God himself throwing his hat in the ring, and we have a whole barrel of cray-cray unfolding.

Honestly, I loved season 4 when Netflix took over, but it had a bit of a darker twist to it. The “fun” of the previous 3 seasons was gone, and Lucifer felt more constrained. Season 5 keeps the darker tone with a ton of family drama between Lucifer, Michael and God (played by Dennis Haysbert), but also brings back a lot of the “fun” drama as well. Also, it happens to end with one of the most spectacular finales of the show’s running, with my favorite ending line of all Lucifer “Oh...my….me”, which changes the entire direction of the show for the final 6th season. It’s not a perfect season, but season 5 is a nice change of pace and makes for a fantastic story arch. One of the only downsides is that Eve’s and Maze’s romance story just feels hamfisted and now well fleshed out. Maze is a fantastic character, but this one is just simply played for kicks instead of being a well fleshed out relationship.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

I’m not sure whether previous seasons were encoded better, or whether it was because I watched seasons 2 and 3 when I reviewed the DVDs on a 60 inch TV, but on my 85 inch Sony X950h I was not that impressed. The season is spread out over 4 discs with next to no extras, so it should have had room to shine. However, even with a 384 kbps Dolby Digital track the image was decidedly soft, I noticed haloing around characters, and shimmering artifacts around title cards. The image was solid enough with good colors and enough detail to satisfy (this is not The Blacklist Season 8 DVD bad), but it’s just not a massive impressor.







Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is pretty much what you’ve come to expect from previous DVD seasons. It’s good, but never wildly GREAT due to it’s compressed 384 kbps lossy dolby digital track. I really REALLY loved the DTS-HD MA mixes, and while the 5.1 Lossy track is good, it just doesn’t have the bass or dynamics of the lossless mix. Bass is generally really good, with lots of impacts during Michael and Lucy’s battles, and surrounds are privy to plenty of ambient noises to flesh it out. Good, never great, but still a solid TV track.






Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel

Final Score: ​

Tom Ellis still is, and always will be, THE PULL of the series. Everyone does well in their respective roles, but Tom Ellis really sold himself as Lucifer Morningstar. I can’t see his face on TV anymore without literally hearing him say “detectiiiiiive” in that spicy, sultry voice of his, and he honestly has outdone himself once more as both himself and Michael. The show has never been a perfect show, but it is a FUN show, and one that Netflix has graciously decided to allow to continue to fruition instead of just killing it off (like they’re known to do). Season 5 is definitely worth checking out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, D.B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris
Created by: Tom Kapinos
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 MPEG 2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: NR
Runtime: 900 Minutes
DVD Release Date: May 31st 2022

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I never saw this series so I will have to start from season 1.. Will have to binge this as they say.