Lucifer star Kevin Alejandro on that heavy Dan twist and his role in season 6
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Warning: This article contains spoilers from the entirety of Lucifer season 5B.
Kevin Alejandro's Detective Dan Espinoza has taken quite the journey on Lucifer.
When the show premiered, Dan was a corrupt cop trying to cover up his role in the Palmetto case; however, over the course of the seasons that followed, he worked to find redemption and picked up improvisational comedy as a hobby. (Meanwhile, Alejandro stepped behind the camera to direct in seasons 3 and 5.) Unfortunately, Dan's time on this Earth finally came to an end in season 5.
In the 15th episode of Lucifer season 5B, titled "Is This Really How It's Going to End?!" Dan was murdered by French hitman Rob Benedict, who was working for Lucifer's (Tom Ellis) brother Michael (also Ellis). When Alejandro shot his death scene in winter 2020, he believed that was the end of the line for him since the show's fifth season was supposed to be its final one. But then Netflix ordered a sixth and final season, which means we haven't seen the last of the actor-director on the devilish show.
Below, Alejandro opens up about his death scene, returning for season 6, and more.
Netflix Kevin Alejandro on 'Lucifer'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Coming into this season, which everyone thought would be the last one, did you know Dan would be killed off? When did you find out?
From the beginning of we already knew where our story was going, because that was [heading toward] the series finale. And so, that was the mentality we had going into it. And 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. But it wasn't the end.
So a couple of days before we even ended the season, it was like, "Hey, Netflix changed their mind. You've got one more season." 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.
I was going to ask if you were going to be in season 6.
Not the way people expect. 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.
But jumping back a bit, it sounds as though coming into the season, you had already made peace with the character and felt like this was the right way to tie up his arc?
Yeah, it did feel right. And it still feels right. Look, we've been given the opportunity to go out how we want to go out, keeping the respect for our audience and for the world that has already been created since the beginning. They've done a really elegant job of continuing to tell the story.
John P. Fleenor/Netflix Kevin Alejandro on 'Lucifer'
When we first met Dan, he was a corrupt cop, and then he went on this redemption journey.
He's gotten a real journey. That's one of the things I love about playing Dan is that you really watch him struggle. We all have an internal struggle to do what's right, and we all know what's right. We all know what's wrong. And sometimes we make hard decisions for good reasons that get different results. And he is that person and nothing ever stemmed from, "I just want to be a bad person." It was always from, "This will help X, Y, or Z. Dammit. I messed up. It was the wrong choice." And you see him go through that over and over and over, through his life and also through his death.
Knowing his death was coming, did you do anything specific to prepare?
Not like outright sort of preparation. When it comes to something like that, it's all those emotions that are coming into it. We all felt the solemness of the day. 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'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.
Now production wrapped on the show almost a year after it was supposed. What was your last day on set like?
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. It was perfect. 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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