© 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. / Courtesy of OWN(NEW ORLEANS) — On the set of Ava DuVernay’s Louisiana-based drama, Queen Sugar, the Bordelon family comes together for the final scene of season three.
The scene, which is rehearsed at dusk, involves the Bordelons siblings — played by Rutina Wesley, Kofi Siriboe and Dawn-Lyen Gardner — and those closest to them in a moment that can be described as a celebration, but also hints at potential struggles to come.
Anthony Sparks, who will serve as next season’s showrunner, helped to bring this season’s rich narrative to life. The show, which Sparks refers to as an authentic “black family drama,” is also extremely thematic, thanks to the genius of its series creator and executive producer.
“Ava DuVernay takes great joy — she has said this– in naming the episodes,” Sparks tells ABC Radio. “And a lot of the episodes [are] actually an homage or drawn from a selection of black poetry. And the same thing is true this season.”
DuVernay made sure to convey that in the season-three finale episode, “From On the Pulse of Morning.” Sparks says the title reveals the true essence of the episode. It also foreshadows the final scene, which he describes as “emotional satisfaction.”
“‘Pulse’ is about a life force and the ‘morning’ is about hopefully a fresh beginning,” he says. “And so, in many ways there are a lot of things, there’s a lot of emotional satisfaction sort of being presented, obviously in terms of Vi [Violet Bordelon] and Hollywood’s relationship in the last episode of the season.”
Sparks continues, “But you will see that there are also the beginnings of new stories that we’re opening up and we’ll probably be following up on in future seasons at the same time.”
The season-three finale of Queen Sugar airs tonight at 10 p.m ET on OWN.
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