Like many shows on TV, Netflix’s Lucifer took a hard look at how they could support the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. According to Entertainment Tonight, showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson ultimately came to the conclusion that it was time to take a stand within the narrative of the show.
“When we got back to the [writers] room, we started looking at the fact that we’re a cop show and in what ways have we contributed or not addressed the systemic issues of the police department,” said Modrovich. “And we decided we wanted to speak to it. So we’re actually doing a story that speaks directly to it, and we’re super excited about it.”
The episode will reportedly take place in Season 6, which has yet to go into production due to COVID-19 shutdowns. That does, however, mean the show’s writers have plenty of time to really give the subject matter the time and attention it deserves so they get it right.
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“What we did want to do was speak to the cultural reckoning we’re all going through and, I think, we’ll be continuing to go through, and our place in it and our responsibility to say something,” Henderson added. “We spoke to [the cast] about it and engaged them in that conversation as well… You might have noticed that our cast has been tweeting about it quite a bit. It’s very important to all of them too. D.B. [Woodside] was one of the people in particular that we really engaged with it – Lesley [Ann-Brandt] with Tom [Ellis]. Normally, we pitch them their stories and a little bit of mythology, but this is a thing that almost all of them asked about, so we’ve listened to them and we’ve tried to make it as much of a conversation as possible and a listening exercise.”
Modrovich, who will be writing the episode, said while she was nervous about tackling this issue, she wants it to come from an emotional and social place rather than a “preachy place.”
Lucifer Season 5 premieres Friday, Aug. 21 on Netflix.
Lauren German and D.B. Woodside, Lucifer