We’re not crying, that’s just, um, smoke in our eyes, that’s all. Yeah, OK, fine. Maybe we are crying after watching Thursday’s supremely satisfying Station 19 series finale. Chances are, you are, too.
Over the course of the action-packed “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” it looked at turns like we might lose Maya, like Vic might be burned to a crisp, like Andy might have gone up in flames. But in the end, the only casualty of the episode turned out to be Chaos Kate, who fell victim to a flaming tornado. (Did anybody really like her, anyway?)
In other developments, Carina finally got to tell Maya that they are expecting, Theo pulled through just fine, thanks, and Ben shared with Andy that he was going back to finish his surgical residency. (So it appeared that at least one of our crossover characters was going to make it to Grey’s Anatomy.) As for Vic and Travis… alas, he told her that his life was in Seattle. He couldn’t move to Washington, DC, with her.
Only — surprise! — when Vic got to the airport, Travis was already there. “As it turns out,” he told her, “my life is wherever you are.” (Are those two not the series’ truest love story?)
Finally, in a flash-forward, we learned that Andy eventually was promoted to chief and Maya, to captain. What’s more, by then among Station 19’s crop of firefighters was none other than a twentysomething Pru.
Throughout the finale, we also got glimpses of what each character hoped might be in their future. Here to discuss the lot of it with TVLine are showrunners Peter Paige and Zoanne Clack.
Maya and Carina Both Carried Children
When things looked bleakest for Bishop, she dreamt of the day that not only her wife but she herself went into labor. Given that in the flash-forward, Maya was also captain, was this our sign to exhale, because she’d really, truly figured out her work/life balance? “It was this beautiful full-circle thing for her,” says Clack. “Their relationship was really on the rocks, and we brought them back together to push through this year. And she had that little mention in Episode 9, where she was like, ‘You know, if [Carina’s IVF treatment] doesn’t work, maybe I’ll get pregnant.’ But it did work, and she still decided to get pregnant!”
Theo Returned to Station 19
Travis and Dom Visited the City of Love
Ross and Sullivan Tied the Knot
While Robert saw himself at a ribbon-cutting for a program designed to help military veterans become firefighters, Ross envisioned a gorgeous wedding for the two of them. But if she was no longer chief in that flash-forward, what became of her career? “If you watch Sullivan’s flash-forward carefully, he says, ‘Thank you to the mayor’s office for being here,’” Paige notes. “And Ross is not wearing a uniform, she’s dressed quite politically. So in my mind, she becomes mayor of Seattle in the not-too-distant future.”
Vic Did Dean Proud
Imagining the day that Crisis One went national, Vic was visited by a vision of Dean. “That flash-forward was a last-minute revision,” Paige admits. “When we finally landed on the Dean of it all, it felt like (a) bringing back a beloved part of the station’s past, and (b) he’s been her North Star. He’s her guardian angel at this point. Giving her that affirmation from him that she has carried the torch and done the good thing, that felt really powerful and beautiful.”
Carina Took a Family Portrait
Maya’s better half pictured the two of them with three kids. Was that the EPs’ way of telling us that “Marina” were on the same page about their future? Absolutely. “Their dreams mirror one another’s,” says Paige. “They’ve both done the work to heal from the traumas of their childhoods and have found their way to each other, happy and whole.” In fact, adds Clack, “the thing that pushes them through the tragedy that they’re in is imagining their future together.”
Beckett Got Together With Jinny
In Sean’s vision, he was happily canoodling with Natasha’s sister. Was a relationship between those two one of the storylines Paige and Clack had to chuck when the series was unexpectedly cancelled? Yup. “We loved the idea of the hijinks of Beckett dating his way into the Sullivan/Ross family and all the hilarity that that would entail. At least we got a little nod to it.” Adds Clack: “There were a lot of things that were a little rushed, should I say, in the last half of the season that we would’ve loved to have played out for longer.”
Andy Reunited With Jack
Herrera’s peek at the future included a glimpse of the past — and her discovering Gibson’s engagement ring back in Season 1. An outta-nowhere twist? “If you sniff around in Season 7, there are little seeds throughout” that maybe the exes were endgame, says Paige, adding that Jaina Lee Ortiz was the first one to suggest Jack as Andy’s endgame. “Some of our writers were very pro-Jack, some were not. Both Zoanne and I required a little convincing.” And hey, if fans aren’t keen on that scenario for the characters, “it’s not written in stone,” Paige notes. “Her flash-forward could have been that she was chief,” Clack observes. “But we really wanted to save that for the last moment.”
Ben’s Kids Made the Grade
No Future for Jack?
Given all that he’d been through, didn’t Gibson deserve to see a future in which he was raising a family or at least being the parent figure that he never had? Yes, and at one point, he had one. “I really loved Jack’s endgame being him heading a foster home for kids,” Clack says, “but we couldn’t fit that in as a separate moment.” Plus, unlike his 19 family, “he didn’t have that moment of terror that was causing him to flash-forward to thoughts of what he was living for.” So he wound up sharing his happy ending with Andy.
Where Was Pruitt?
RIP, Kate
One last question: Was making Powell the one casualty of the finale a way of acknowledging that “Yeah, nobody liked her”? “No, it was not!” Paige exclaims playfully. A lot of characters’ demises were suggested for the series finale, Clack says. Even the idea of everybody going up in flames was floated. “I personally was against killing a major regular character. I didn’t want to live with that grief as the end of the series. But we really needed to show how big and apocalyptic this fire was, how at-risk everyone was. So Kate was very helpful in raising the stakes” without breaking anyone’s heart
