‘Lucifer’: D.B. Woodside Makes His Directorial Debut in Season 6 of Netflix Series
Lucifer season 6 gave fans many binge-worthy and jaw-dropping episodes to unpack. From discovering who Rory (Brianna Hildebrand) really is to Lucifer (Tom Ellis) finally coming to terms with becoming God, the Netflix series has fans hooked from the first episode. Season 6 also marked D.B. Woodside’s directorial debut. Woodsides has been known for playing Lucifer’s brother, Amenadiel, since his first season introduction. After six years, Woodside got to direct episode eight of season 6 before saying goodbye.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers about Lucifer Season 6.]
‘Save the Devil, Save the World’ reveals the celestial truth to Ella
Episode eight of Season 6 finally revealed the existence of angels and the celestial to Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia). At the beginning of the season, Ella started her own investigation realizing the people she trusted most were hiding a big secret. She finally concludes Lucifer really is the devil. The bizarre occurrences around the world are symbols of an oncoming apocalypse. Episode eight starts with Ella showing her findings to the main characters and confirms her story.
The episode takes an exciting turn and has fans delve deep into what is causing Lucifer to not commit to his new role as God. With the help of Linda’s (Rachael Harris) manuscript of their past five years together, Lucifer, Ella, Chloe (Lauren German) find the root of his problem. While reading the book manuscript, Ella comes face to face with how much everyone kept from her.
Ella feels betrayed and admits she lost her faith when Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) died. Her heart is heartbroken to know everyone knew Charlotte was in a better place but her. By the end, Ella regains her faith and gets to see something she has always dreamed of.
D.B. Woodside Directed Ella’s Biggest Moment in ‘Lucifer’
Before the premiere of season 6, D.B. Woodside shared on Twitter he would be behind the camera for one episode. Woodside would come to direct one of the series’s most pivotal moments with Ella. Ella has been the one character throughout the series with true and unwavering faith. Her devotion to her faith often surprised Lucifer.
Ella was a shining beacon of hope throughout the series but lost it all when Charlotte was killed. Woodside wanted to give the character her moment of absolute faith that she needed. In the episode, Lucifer jumps off the roof to activate his wings. Amenadiel goes to save him. As Ella looks on, Amenadiel gracefully spins in the air as his angel wings manifest. For the first time, she sees real angel wings and a symbol of the celestial.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Woodside explains that angel wings have been used since the first season. When it comes to Ella, it has a different meaning.
“But for me, I went, ‘No. You know what? This is season 6. This is our person of faith. This is someone who has had faith their entire life, true faith.’ I composed that moment and painted that moment and came up with a launch into it, came up with the camera movement, came up with the music. And it was something that was wasn’t scripted, but I think after the writer saw it, Aiyana White, she was blown away by it. And I think a lot of people were.”
Directing episode 8 came with some challenges but rewarding moments
Woodside admits directing an episode of Lucifer comes with its challenges. He was with every cast member at every moment of the day. The episode did not have many scenes that required the cast as a whole, and Woodside shot and directed multiple scenes with one or more actors. The episode gives the characters their own stories to follow.
“You just see all of us in an episode on our own journeys. So a lot of that stuff is shot separately, independent from each other. In this episode that they decide to give me, I’m working with all of them, and that’s the majority of my episode. We do break off here and there, but even the way in which they break off, all of the actors, the cast, the characters are within the same space.”
The scene where Ella sees her first angel wings proved to be one of Woodside’s most rewarding moments. He explains having Garcia trust in his vision and being eager to help bring it to life was what made it all worth it. Woodside admits, “I would probably say that’s one of my favorite moments as a director, is conceptualizing that entire moment and having Aimee buy into it and trust me. It’s just beautiful, and I really can’t wait for people to see it.” Garcia adds that they got to a moment where they felt they had done right by the show, its characters, and its loyal fans.
