Lucifer star Kevin Alejandro’s teases Dan’s role in season 6

Netflix dropped the second half of Lucifer season 5 last week, and it had some big surprises for fans. Most notably, we were shocked to see that (SPOILER coming in three, two one…) Detective Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro) didn’t make it out of the season alive, instead being gunned down by French mercenaries in the appropriately titled episode, “Is This Really How It’s Going To End!?”

As it ends up, no, it’s not how it’s going to end, but more on that later. First, Alejandro talked to Entertainment Weekly about the buildup to his big death scene. Apparently, it was at least partly his idea:

"I remember having a conversation with [showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich] — because we always have a conversation before we start shooting about where they’re taking each character — and just saying, “I think it could be interesting if you know, this is the end. The audience is really starting to like Dan, really starting to understand who he is. I think it might be impactful if you took that [relationship] away and ended him, and see how that affected the world around him.” And they may have already had that idea and that helped them move forward with it. Or I might’ve had a little bit of influence on what they thought should happen as well. So I think it was a collaborative decision, in my opinion, as to what happened to Dan."

As for the day itself, it was as heavy as you’d expect. “We all felt the solemness of the day,” Alejandro said. “We felt the location that they chose was sort of a tomb-like atmosphere. So that added to the weight of the situation as well. And so, just walking into it and feeling that energy and knowing what we’re about to go through and looking into [Lauren German’s] eyes, and not only as Chloe, but as my friend Lauren, it took its own weight. Even though we’re acting, it happened in a real way.”

Dan will be return to Lucifer in a way fans won’t expect

Originally, the fifth season of Lucifer was going to be its last, and indeed, killing a long-time cast member like Dan would have been a memorable way to go out. “[I]t did feel right,” Alejandro said. “And it still feels right.” But it ends up Netflix wanted one more season, and suddenly Alejandro had a problem. “I’m like, ‘What? We just killed me. What the heck?'”

"But you know, Joe and Ildy immediately approached me with, “Hey, it’s not the end, and it doesn’t have to be for you either, because we know how to do this in a respectful way that is not going to lower the quality of storytelling that we’ve already established in the beginning.” And of course, I wanted to be there till the very end. We started this process in Vancouver, and we’re ending in L.A., and I want to be part of the whole thing. And luckily, they wanted me to be part of it as well. So we figured out a pretty interesting way to bring him back in some capacity."

So long story short: Dan will be in the sixth and final season of Lucifer, on which he also served as a director. We jus don’t quite know how yet. “Not the way people expect,” Alejandro said. “Season 5 was Dan’s [ending], really. That’s a journey. And like I said, he is back in some capacity, not the way you expect it, but he’s there. He’s part of the world.”

Dan may be dead, but on a show where the main character is literally the devil (Tom Ellis), death doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t see him again. Last we heard he was in hell, a place Lucifer has some familiarity with. There are ways they could make this work.

Hopefully the final season is as satisfying to watch as it was for Alejandro to be involved with. “My last day on set, I was directing that episode, and it was fully weighted with wonderful emotion, laughs, laughter, tears, and it was perfect,” he said. “I actually showed up for the very last day of shooting, which was Tom and Lauren’s last day and a couple of other cast members, so that I could really bring it home with everybody. And that even proved to be just as perfect, even with the social distance hugs in the final moments of the show. Joe and Ildy respected the fact that I wanted to come back and end the show in season 6 with everybody, and I really got to do it. The whole experience was one of those unexpected dreams comes true.”

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