How do you say goodbye to a show like Station 19? That’s a nearly impossible question the cast and creative had to answer when crafting the series finale, which airs Thursday, May 30, on ABC. At the start of production, the network announced that Season 7 would be the Shondaland firefighter drama’s last, giving new co-showrunners Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige limited time to figure out how to wrap up storylines and deliver a meaningful farewell for the show’s dedicated fanbase.
“We really wanted a satisfying ending. We wanted to serve the show with the honesty and the beauty that has already been the show and pull that forward,” Clack told TV Insider on the Station 19 finale carpet. “We wanted to pull some of the community aspects and pay it forward. We want all of this to continue in the world, all of the good that we believe we are bringing to the world.”
We also asked Clack, Paige, and the cast how they would advise fans to emotionally prepare for the final episode. The answer was unanimous: get some wine and a lot of tissues. Jason George recommended that fans view the episode as an occasion to celebrate.
“Upgrade. Have yourself some wine, but maybe also have some champagne and tissues because it will be an event,” he said.
The Kleenex recommendation is stressful, especially since the penultimate episode ended with both Theo (Carlos Miranda) and Maya (Danielle Savre) in grave danger. Savre promised that fans wouldn’t be alone in getting emotional over how the show ended.
“It’s going to be sad no matter what the final episode is. I am going to be bawling my eyes out. I was bawling my eyes out multiple times [on the last day of filming. I think we all were,” she revealed. “The only way you can really prepare is to hopefully embrace the last episode and what the writers really gave our fans.”
While saying goodbye is hard, the audience can rest assured that the cast and crew have done everything they can to deliver a worthy series finale. Clack wrote the final episode and Paige directed the final hour.
“It is the biggest, hardest hour of TV I’ve ever done,” Paige told TV Insider. “I just feel so humbled to have landed this plane. I feel so grateful that we all got to be conscious about the end together. As painful as that is, it’s been such an honor. It’s such an honor to co-lead this show with Zoanne and to shepherd this extraordinary cast and these unbelievable writers.”
“There’s nothing you guys can do to prepare because when I read the script for the finale, it was so complex and so difficult,” Jay Hayden added. “They were trying to achieve so much that initially, I was skeptical. How are we going to do this? Only after shooting [the episode] and watching Peter Paige navigate through it, I realized, ‘Oh, this is going to be heartbreaking and so fulfilling.’”
With the final episode almost here, the cast and crew have started to contemplate about the future and how they hope Station 19 will be remembered by the audience and within the pop-culture zeitgeist as a whole.
“I hope the legacy of the show is that we were able to tell inspiring stories. I hope that we were able to influence and motivate our audiences to be better in this world,” Jaina Lee Ortiz explained. “And we’re honoring first responders.”
George hopes that fans remember the show for how multi-dimensional it has been.
“I think we always were trying to have fun, entertain the hell out of folks, bring the sexy, but I think we were also trying to talk about something that was meaningful, whether it be race, or sexual assault, or gender, or the gender pay gap.” he said. “I hope it sparks conversation and deals with these things responsibly. Hopefully, people go back and rewatch and rehash those conversations because we haven’t fixed those problems yet.”
Meanwhile, Miranda reminded fans that even though Station 19 won’t be producing new episodes, you don’t have to let go of the characters and your favorite stories just yet.
“It’s beautiful art that has been created. It’s going to be on Hulu so I hope that people can always revisit it and rewatch their favorite episodes and come hang out with the characters again,” the actor declared. “These stories resonated with so many people, it’ll always be there for them to come see it again.”
So you’ve heard it directly from the source. The only way to prepare for the Station 19 series finale is to stock up on your favorite comfort drink, surround yourself with boxes of tissues, and remember you can always visit Station 19 again.
