Lucifer is following in the footsteps of many other shows that have gotten musical for a special episode, and the fifth season promises a devil of a good time in a way that hasn’t been done on the series before on such a grand scale. The long-awaited second day of DC FanDome delivered a first look at the musical episode that will air in the second half of Season 5 as well as some exciting new details, including something that Lauren German will bring as Chloe when Chloe gets musical.
First, what makes the cast get musical in the first place? The clip doesn’t reveal what exactly makes everybody burst into song, but the LAPD team is on the scene of a football referee who was murdered via a poisoned whistle. In the first look at the episode, the cast jumps into an elaborate version of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” starting with Ella and then building to include Lucifer, Chloe, Dan, and a whole lot of backup dancers in the form of football players, cheerleaders, and spectators. Chloe gets pretty cozy with Lucifer dancing up on him, which pretty clearly takes him by surprise, but he’s not unhappy about it!
Lucifer is the only one who notices that Ella suddenly burst into song, and although he joins in the singing and dancing, he is clearly confused about what happened when the song ended, with nobody else seeming any the wiser that something weird was afoot. Lucifer showrunner Ildy Modrovich revealed that the opening “Another One Bites The Dust” number was “so choreographed,” but there were “still moments of improvisation.” Sherwin Shilati, who directed the musical episode, joined Modrovich in teasing some Chloe shenanigans courtesy of Lauren German:
Sherwin: There is a moment that one of the actors does something on her own volition… It was not a piece of choreography. We would be dancing between takes and just messing around, everyone would just be having so much fun, that you discover things in those moments and then you end up putting it in the show. So, you know there’s like 0.05% of improv in there, but it’s in there. It did make the cut.Ildy Modrovich: I think we can say it’s Lauren. A moment between Lauren and Tom.Sherwin Shilati: And Lauren really takes control of the moment.
While neither the showrunner nor the director would spill what exactly Lauren German does "on her own volition" that creates a moment between her and Tom Ellis, German is certainly confident in her moves on Lucifer in the first clip! I don't know that I would expect Chloe to ever be so bold in such a public way if not for whatever is causing the cops, Lucifer, and spectators the burst into a rendition of Queen in broad daylight on a football field.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait to find out what exactly is behind everybody singing. Is it something that is really happening, and only Lucifer (and maybe Amenadiel) can tell because of the celestial status? Or has something been done to Lucifer that the singing and dancing are all in his head? I wouldn't put it past Michael to try and find a way to mess with his head, but this would be a very specific and odd way for him to try and sabotage his twin brother.
Lucifer co-showrunner Joe Henderson explained the process of finding the reason for the characters to get musical, saying this:
Part of the challenge was we were always trying to find the reason. Part of it is, to me, in these musical episodes, you've got to have the story-based reason that everyone breaks into song. And our show has people breaking into song all the time, but it’s because they’re at Lux or because of reasons like that. So one of the challenges is what element can we introduce that is organic to our story, that allows all of our cast to burst into song. And when we found that, and I’m not gonna say what it is, I’ll say it’s genius. That’s when it came together.
The only downside of all the news about the Lucifer musical episode is that there is still no news of when fans might be able to see it. The Netflix show is able to return to production on the final episodes of Season 5 soon, which could mean the second half will be ready to release sooner than expected, but it could still be a while before we get some answers about "Another One Bites the Dust" and the other musical numbers that are on the way.
The good news is that the first five seasons so far are available streaming on Netflix now, and the first half of Season 5 ended on a pretty great and God-ly cliffhanger. You can watch the full Lucifer panel for yourself (including the musical episode clip and a Season 4 blooper reel) on DC FanDome now, and our 2020 fall TV premiere guide can offer you some more upcoming viewing options.
