‘Transplant’ Boss Previews Series Finale: It ‘Feels Like an Ending’

Four seasons ago, this Canadian import introduced Bashir “Bash” Ahmed (Hamza Haq), a Syrian doctor who came to Toronto as a refugee. He joined the staff of York Memorial after saving the life of its chief of emergency medicine and met fellow doctors Mags (Laurence Leboeuf) — who was shockingly killed off in Season 4 Episode 8 — June (Ayisha Issa), and Theo (Jim Watson). Their stories come to an end in the Thursday, July 17, finale.

“Everybody has been asking these big emotional questions of themselves. June is running like she always is, and Theo is flailing like he has been for a while,” previews Transplant creator Joseph Kay. (Watch an exclusive sneak peek above for a look at June in the finale.) “They all have to reckon with the consequences of their choices, which isn’t meant to be ominous. It’s just meant to keep the conversation going, that they’re making choices about their lives and they’re constantly in, like we all are, in a state of thinking about whether they got what they want.”

Kay planned the series to last four seasons and explore how Bash learns to let go of his past. “I would never argue that he’s completely healed from everything that’s happened to him, but it was a window of time where we get to learn about him, his experiences, and feel equipped that he’s going to be able to move on and that he is going to be able to start again,” he explains. “You can’t really tell that story unless you really challenge him emotionally in the present. … In Season 4 is the most emotional, gripping, present tense story that we’ve put Bash through all in service of having the audience feel like this guy is going to be okay, even though he carries a lot of weight.” Mags’ death, after they got back together, is one such way.

“Things get difficult for him because if the show has been about tracing his windy path to recovery and to trying to put his path behind him, it’s not over until it’s over,” Kay continues. The end of the show is about “shaking things up to explore whether he’s made the kind of progress in his life that would allow him to overcome obstacles in a way that would leave the audience feeling good about where he’s been and where he’s going.”

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And for those who are worried about loose threads? This “feels like an ending,” promises Kay. “We went into making the finale, because it was always the plan, knowing that it would be an ending, which gave us the really amazing liberty in this business of writing one. And it absolutely does. You certainly feel after it ends that the people that you’ve watched, they have lives and their lives are continuing, but it feels like an ending in everybody’s case, and we wanted it to be fulfilling and emotional and inspirational.” Inspirational? Sounds just like Bash.

Transplant, Series Finale, Thursday, July 17, 8/7c, NBC