Ava DuVernay Unpacks Final Season of ‘Queen Sugar’ | EUR Exclusive

*The seventh and final season of Ava DuVernay’s award-winning drama series “Queen Sugar,” returned Tuesday, September 6 on OWN.  

Based on the book by Natalie Baszile, the series, per Wiki, centers on the lives of three siblings in rural Louisiana (Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Kofi Siriboe) who must deal with the aftermath of their father’s sudden death and decide the fate of his 800-acre sugarcane farm. 

Per Variety, returning recurring cast members are Ann Nesby, Tanyell Waivers, and Vivien Ngô. New to the series are Kaci Walfall, Lamman Rucker and guest star Vanessa Bell Calloway. This season’s returning guest stars are Glynn Turman, Amirah Vann, and Brian Michael.

Seven female directors who previously worked on the series returned for the final season, including Kat Candler, Stacey Muhammad, showrunner Shaz Bennett, Patricia Cardoso, Aurora Guerrero, DeMane Davis and DuVernay, who directed the pilot and the second episode of season one.

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“Not much is ever in our favor, but we are still here.” The Bordelons are back one last time, and ready to face whatever comes their way as a family.

Season 7 will premiere on Tuesday September 6 at 8|7c only on @owntv. #QUEENSUGAR pic.twitter.com/7UoIkCuXfU

— Queen Sugar (@QueenSugarOWN) August 29, 2022

DuVernay had this to say about the past seven seasons of the show in a statement shared on Oprah Daily: “To write and produce seven seasons of a modern drama centered on a Black family is a radical act in our industry and a triumph that has far exceeded every hope I held. Now I feel strongly that the story, which began as a sunrise of a suggestion from Oprah, is ready for its sunset as a dream fully realized. Queen Sugar has been one of the true joys of my career, and my gratitude is buoyant and boundless.”

When “Queen Sugar” launched in 2016, DuVernay vowed to hire only women as directors, and she did just that by employing 41 women, 39 of which earned their first TV directing credit via the series.

So many secrets uncovered…Prosper and abs?

Have you listened to the official #QUEENSUGAR podcast yet? Check it out on @amazonmusic! https://t.co/mttKIz85FL pic.twitter.com/FkWFrqibJR

— Queen Sugar (@QueenSugarOWN) September 9, 2022

EUR’s Ny MaGee had the honor to speak with DuVernay during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, where she was asked if fans will be surprised by where some of their favorite characters end up when the series ends.

“Shaz Bennett was the showrunner this season…and was my close collaborator in terms of thinking about how do we end this saga. And we had a lot of conversations about what feeling we wanted folks to have at the end. And the word that really came up a lot was satisfied,” DuVernay explained. 

“It doesn’t necessarily need to be expected. It may be something off the beaten path, which I think is the case for some of the characters. But are you satisfied? Does it feel like, yeah that’s right, I can see that happening,” she continued. “And so that was what we strove for. That was our goal. And I feel like as I walked off the set that final day directing the final episode of the final season, the final scene, I felt deeply satisfied. I did not feel sad. I didn’t feel like something was being lost. I felt like the whole story was gained and it was a beautiful end. So I hope that audiences feel the same.”

Shaz admitted that she “felt sad” during the last day of filming. “I don’t want it to end,” she added. 

“When we first started, it was all about how’s it going to end? The fans of this show are so devoted. I started as a fan. This family is so beloved that we wanted to make sure that at the end we really gave them a nice landing.”

Standing as a unit will be the only way that the farmers can win.

Catch up with the first episode #QUEENSUGAR on DVR, On Demand, and on the Watch OWN app now! pic.twitter.com/21ZsKXZVXI

— Queen Sugar (@QueenSugarOWN) September 9, 2022

DuVernay said some of the key moments this season are… ”Ralph Angel and Darla have the baby and so the baby is here and how that changes things for them,” she shared. 

“The ongoing saga of the farm that you saw in the first scene, Ralph Angel is not on the farm. He is working another job. This is a big, big first. We’ve never seen that. The only time we’ve seen Ralph Angel really work not be on the farm and not be connected to the land in some way was at the very beginning when his father was still alive when he was still, you know, kind of living a life that was not on the up and up. And so those stories feed into all the storylines for all of the characters as they try to kind of reconcile, you know, where their end is,” DuVernay explained.  

“I hope you’ll be happy with it. We tried really hard,” she continued.

Watch new episodes of “Queen Sugar” Tuesdays at 8|7c on OWN. Previous seasons are available to stream on Hulu.

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