Exclusive: Lucifer star Aimee Garcia reflects on the “perfect ending”

Aimee Garcia (Ella) talks with us about bringing the final season to Lucifer to life, and whether she’d be back for more.

The final season of Lucifer delivers a lot of closure for fans who have been following the journey of these characters from the very beginning. That includes closing out the story of Ella. Winter is Coming had the chance to speak with actor Aimee Garcia about her character’s arc in season 6 and how her story comes to the “perfect ending.”

Ella had been struggling in the lead-up to season 6 after discovering that her boyfriend Pete was a serial killer. Before Dan’s death he suggested she meet his friend Carol, a fellow detective and a stand-up guy. They met at Dan’s funeral, but she wasn’t in a place to welcome him into her life.

There was also the not-so-minor detail that Ella has been hanging out with Celestials from the moment she arrived at the LAPD but had no idea. Her faith was waning at the end of season 5, so she had lots of things to work on before her story came to an end in season 6.

Sarabeth Pollock: “I just talked to [Lucifer co-showrunners] Ildy [Modrovich] and Joe [Henderson] and I told them I watched the entire season and was bawling like a baby at the end. Season 6 is a beautiful, beautiful season.”

Aimee Garcia: “I was also bawling! I binged the entire season until 3:30 in the morning when I had to get up for a comic convention the next day. And I was right there with you. Joe and Ildy deserve all the things because it’s a really special story. And I think it was the perfect ending.”

SP: “What really stands out to me is that season five was supposed to be the ending, but after seeing season six I can’t think of any other way for the show to end. And when I think of Ella’s story, specifically, I’ve always wondered what would happen to her because she’s the believer and has no idea what’s happening around here, so it was so great to be able to explore that.”

AG: “I agree. I think that if season six hadn’t existed, it would have been condensed into montages at the end of season five. But since there is a season six, each of those montages can become its own episode and its own exploration.

“And obviously for me, personally, I loved it. I feel like Ella is such an underdog and at the end of season five it’s like, ‘Well, what character hasn’t figured out that she’s in the middle of Celestials? Who didn’t get the memo?’

“Lucky for me, I feel like this season is a total tribute to the fans. It’s a complete love letter to the fans. And I think it really is, as a fan. I mean, I came on in season two, so I had the luxury of seeing season one as someone who loved the show, and I was a ball of tears. I can’t imagine not having Rory, and not having the scene where Dan speaks to Trixie. And I can’t imagine the Deckerstar moments that we would have been deprived of had we not had a season six. And we have some pretty good Deckerstar moments. I remember watching season six and thinking, ‘Romeo and Juliet, move aside because Lucifer and Chloe just take the cake here.’

“So I totally agree with you. I think it was meant to be, and I think it ended perfectly and there’s nothing I would change. You know, our very own Kevin Alejandro (Dan) and D.B. Woodside (Amenadiel) directed a few of the episodes of the season and I think they were wonderful. So I really feel like it was the perfect ending. And I think it’s such a tribute to the fans that they’re just going to love it. And I can’t wait.”

SP: “There are so many moments in season six that are so special, but at the core of it, it’s what the show has always been. You see characters doing what they’ve always done. So to see Ella being in her element, basically solving this mystery on her own, it was a really beautiful way to pay tribute to who she is.”

AG: “I totally agree. She’s super curious. She has a very analytical mind. Her deductive reasoning skills are off the charts. She’s like a dog with a bone when she has to figure out who killed this person, and if something doesn’t land right with her she’ll take it to ballistics again or take it to the lab and she’ll look it over with a fine tooth comb.

“It makes sense that she would have figured out the end of the universe before the people that created the universe would have figured it out. I think it was also very telling in how she responded. It’s really endearing, funny and very true to her character that she was less concerned about the whole devil and first woman and angel and demon thing, but to lie to her and keep something from her when these people have become her family, that’s the ultimate act of betrayal.

“I think it’s really funny that her priorities are less about the end of the world and more about how they could lie to her. And she’s got FOMO. She’s like, ‘If you had told me, we could have flown to heaven and Maze could have taught me things.’ For her, trust is so difficult and she was able to give these people her trust and they have become her family. And then they have kept this from her for so long that I think it’s such a fun payoff to see her just go off on all of them in a drunken stupor at a wedding, and oscillate between Spanish and English.

“It’s my favorite season. I told D.B. that his episode was my, I think, best performance to date. And he said, try to be still and try to be unlike Ella’s animated ways and try to see what stillness brings. And I said that’s so vulnerable and scary for me. But I trusted, in Ella’s typical fashion, I trusted D.B. and it felt great. I thought Ildy and Joe did such a great job, especially with Ella’s arc this season. It’s so fun.”

SP: “I want to talk about Ella and Carol. Ella has been hurt and Dan tried to help by setting her up with Carol and even though he’s perfect for her, she’s not ready to go there yet. It’s also funny that Ella’s big issue is everyone keeping secrets from her and then she has to go and do the same thing to Carol because she can’t tell him about the Celestials. She has to go through that herself.”

AG: “That’s right. And that’s what I think our writers do so beautifully is that it’s a very organic journey of discovery for the characters, right? So just us as humans, someone could tell you don’t put your hand in the fire, you’re going to get burned. Don’t put your hand in the fire, but what do we do constantly? We put our hand in the fire and then we get burned and then we learn. So sometimes I feel like we have to get burned to learn. What I love is that Ella does come full circle where she has faith again.

“She even tells Lucifer, and it’s one of my favorite scenes in the lab where he says goodbye to her. She says, ‘Look, I get it, I get why you didn’t say something. I did the same thing when I had the opportunity to tell someone I really care about, about the truth and I didn’t, and it wasn’t personal.’ And so one of my favorite things she says to Lucifer is that someone told me, wink wink, that you don’t have to know everything about a person if you know their heart. I think it’s just such a beautiful way for her to discover it on her own.

“And she’s got PTSD, right? I mean, she dated a serial killer, so you’re going to have some emotional hangover from that. It’s never easy. And she pushes [Carol[] away and he has his own demons, right, and he’s trying to go to AA. I think they did such a great job with everyone just trying to figure out their own path in a very organic and not perfectly crafted way.”

SP: “It’s like the old expression of not being able to look for love because it’s usually right in front of you. Carol is right there but she’s not ready to see it. Ella’s journey is so beautiful, and it helps that Carol is also on a journey, too.”

AG: “Yeah, and I think Ella is so relatable because she deals with very human things like when she self-sabotages her relationships. So if I reject you before you reject me, it’s safe. But if I put my heart on the line and then you reject me, that’s really painful.

“ I think Ella, having come from poverty, having come from a family of criminals and her grandma teaching her how to steal cars at an early age, she’s really had to depend on herself so much that she has become a woman of faith. And she’s like, ‘I haven’t been dealt the best card so I’m just going to rely on the big guy.’ So trust is really difficult for her. And I think that’s why she purposefully has chosen these bad guys throughout the series because it’s safe, right? And if you go out with someone who’s just a hot mess, there are no expectations.

“That’s what’s so beautiful about Carol is that he has the courage to put his cards on the table and his heart on the line. That’s why Chloe is my favorite character. She’s the embodiment of unconditional love. And she constantly sees the best of Lucifer and he doesn’t feel worthy, but she sees him as worthy. And how she is as a mother and how she is as a wife and how she is as a girlfriend, how she is as a detective and a friend. That is a character that is so unconditionally loving, and she’s consistent. She always shows up for the people that she loves and Ella shows up for the people she loves but she doesn’t show up for herself sometimes. And she self-sabotages it. So I do think it’s a reflection of how she sees herself when she finally chooses someone who is willing to put everything on the line.

“And it’s just such a personal growth where we’re like yes, you finally like Lucifer, right? That’s his journey from feeling unworthy of his father’s love, or Chloe’s love, to feeling worthy. And so I think it’s a similar journey for Ella, where she goes from feeling like everyone else is deserving of love, but it’s just going to be her and the Big Guy. Because the second she puts herself out there with Pete it ends up being a cluster.

“So she’s just going to keep those walls up and I think it’s beautiful that Carol, with his truth, brings those walls down. More importantly than other people seeing you as you, is you seeing you as you. That’s something we all have to work on. Self-love and self-care. She’s such a giver. It was really nice to see her in the end just give to herself by choosing a really good partner and letting him in.”

SP: “One last question, and this is something I asked Joe and Ildy. Lucifer has been on this journey of being cancelled and then picked up several times, so there have been a few ‘final seasons’ at this point. If Netflix called you and said they want to do a special and want to get the gang back together, would you be on board? Because it seems like in this universe you could make any story happen, even if season six is the end for now.”

AG: “Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. A million times over. I already miss it. (She points to the memorabilia on the wall behind her) These are all things from fans, like dolls they’ve made of her. And I feel like she is such a role model, you know, as this brown woman in STEM who is totally self-made. So I would love to come back with the gang. I’m into it. I don’t know if everyone else is, because I can only speak for myself, but I would be honored if we could get one last, last, last story with our beautiful cast of characters.”

Lucifer season 6 is available now on Netflix.

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