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3 Theories on How Tricia Helfer's Charlotte Is Returning for Lucifer Season 5

Is this the real life? Or is it just fantasy?

keishahatchettbiopic.jpg
Keisha Hatchett

Lucifer is ending, but here's some news to soften the blow: Charlotte (Tricia Helfer) is back! TV Guide has confirmed that the sultry attorney will return for the fifth and final season, but there's something different about her. In a photo obtained by TVLine, she's traded in her usual form-fitting pencil skirts for a vintage swing dress and a pearl necklace. It's unclear what brings her back -- Charlotte died at the end of Season 3 -- or why exactly she's dressed like Susie Homemaker, but we've got a few theories.

She's rocking a heavenly uniform. Perhaps there's a dress code in heaven that requires all women to dress like they're in an episode of Leave It to Beaver. If we're being honest, though, that sounds more like a punishment for Charlotte -- who felt most at home in stilettos and a leather jacket -- than an eternal stay in paradise.

It's part of Cain's (Tom Welling) punishment. Demure isn't how we'd describe Charlotte, so her makeover must be a trick of sorts. Perhaps she's an apparition that Cain sees as part of his permanent residence in the underworld. At the end of Season 3, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) points out that Cain feels guilty for killing Charlotte and will torment himself in hell for it. It makes sense, then, that she would be included in his eternal punishment in some form or another. However, this all rests on Welling reprising his role as Cain, and there has been no confirmation of that.

Maybe it's a weird dream. Hell can be pretty lonely -- that's one of the reasons Lucifer returned to Earth in the first place -- so this image overhaul might just be a manifestation of his vivid imagination. After all, Lucifer sacrificed his happiness by returning to his hellish throne in order to save his friends, and he probably misses them a lot. So maybe this is part of some strange dream where Lucifer imagines an alternate world set in the '50s? Anything's possible, Lucifam.

We might not know why Charlotte is back, or if that's even her, but what's clear is that the final season is poised to deliver a truly special sendoff with everyone who made the show the delectably fun gem that it is.

Seasons 1-4 of Lucifer are currently streaming on Netflix.

This story has been updated to reflect confirmation of Tricia Helfer's return.

Tricia Helfer, Lucifer

Tricia Helfer, Lucifer

FOX Image Collection via Getty Images