Fans of Lucifer will be getting four less episodes than they originally thought this season. Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that the Fox show will only be airing 18 episodes this season, with the remaining four episodes that have already been filmed will air as a part of the already announced third season.
Co-showrunner Joe Henderson also confirmed the news, saying that some of the character driven episodes that were cut from the current season will air during season three. “We designed this season to be an 18-episode arc because we originally were going to be 18 episodes. But then we got four more! Surprise! So we decided to create four episodes that let us play around a bit. Dig deeper into the character stories, play with format a bit, etc.”
Henderson continued, saying the removal of the four episodes won’t change how the season was going to end. “End of season 2 is still exactly what we planned. And it is crazy awesome, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
As of now, it’s unclear as to where the four episodes will air during season three, but Henderson said the episodes are very character-focused, so they won’t feel like standalone episodes.
It’s also unclear as to how many episodes Lucifer‘s third season will have. Henderson said there will be at least 22 episodes, but it’s too early to tell if there’s going to be more episodes that Fox will order.
Lucifer focuses on the devil (Tom Ellis) himself as he abdicates his fiery throne in hell because he’s getting tired of it. He moves to Los Angeles and opens a club called Lux and joins the Los Angeles Police Department as a civilian consultant and specifically works alongside Chloe Decker (Lauren German) as they fight crime together.
For its second season, Lucifer is averaging a 1.08 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic in the Nielsen’s live and same day rating, according to TV by the Numbers.
The season finale of Lucifer will air on May 29 at 9 p.m. on Fox. The show returns from a hiatus on May 1, which will be the first new episode to air since Jan. 30.