SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the series finale of Peacock‘s Bel-Air
The final episodes of Peacock’s Bel-Air dropped early this morning. And while there’s sadness around the goodbyes, there are plenty of happy surprises and endings, leaving viewers content to have tuned in across four seasons.
The series, a dramatic reimagination of the ’90s hit series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is based on an idea by filmmaker Morgan Stevenson Cooper, who turned it into a viral trailer. As we told you earlier this morning, Will Smith, who played a character of the same name in the OG series, appeared in the final moments of Episode 408.
In Episode 407, Janet Hubert appeared as Iris, Vivian’s (Cassandra Freeman) doula, who helped bring the adorable baby Nicki into the world. It’s a beautiful tribute to Hubert, who played the original Aunt Viv on Fresh Prince.
In brief, the show ends with Will (Jabari Banks) getting into UPenn and leaving the nest earlier than expected after he was accepted into the summer business program. His cousin Carlton (Olly Sholotan) has plans for some fun before going off to Morehouse College for his own college career. At the same time, his younger sister, Ashley (Akira Akbar), inspires her parents to move away from Bel-Air to Baldwin Hills, with a speech she reads in front of her class about how she has felt disconnected from her culture.
Our Q&A with writer, showrunner, and executive producer Carla Banks Waddles, breaking down all of the above and more, can be found below.
Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey, Jabari Banks as Will, Cassandra Freeman as Vivian, Olly Sholotan as Carlton, Coco Jones as Hilary in ‘Bel-Air’
Peacock
DEADLINE: It was so exciting to see Will Smith appear in the finale. Can you share whether or not it was the plan all along for him to appear?
CARLA BANKS WADDLES: When we pitched the season out early from the writers’ room, he was a part of it. We were like, “This is the season. We want him in the finale, and we know he wants to do the show. We’ve always wanted him on the show, and now’s the time, because there’s no more show after this.” But we didn’t know if it would happen because of his schedule and everything. So we had two endings, even though we knew we wanted him to be in this ending, there were two different versions, just in case. We found out about two weeks before that he’s going to be able to get back to the States and do it. As you can imagine, he’s got an uber-busy schedule. We had days when we had given up hope, and others where we were like, could it be? I’m just glad that it worked out.
DEADLINE: Could you explain what that alternate ending without Will would’ve looked like?
BANKS WADDLES: It was pretty much the same with the boys on that vista. It would have been more of them saying goodbye to LA, and “we’re going to be okay going into this future and feeling good about it.” So it was more of a scene focused on the three of them. Or, Will Smith himself walks in and says, “You’re going to be okay.”
DEADLINE: So, Will was definitely future Will speaking to his younger self?
BANKS WADDLES: We’re leaving it open to interpretation and imagination. Was someone there? Is it Santa Claus? We don’t know. I love for it to be open to interpretation. The cast probably has their own version of what they think it is. But this advice of talking to your future self and having that be a gift of what you see yourself to be, and that it’s all gonna come together. It’s gonna be a little messy, it’s gonna be a little bumpy. Life is gonna life, but it’s gonna be okay.
DEADLINE: I have to imagine that after four seasons together, these goodbyes were tough for all of you behind the scenes. What insight can you share into that?
BANKS WADDLES: I think specifically that finale and not wanting to say goodbye was the toughest. It’s the biggest goodbye of our lives. So much of that feeling was bleeding over into the filming of those final scenes, where everybody was saying goodbye. We filmed out of order, so everybody was emotional. I remember saying, “Well, guys, we’re actually supposed to be happy in this scene, basically a joyous moment. So I don’t think we should be crying here.” But they were feeling all the feels, you know.
Janet Hubert as Iris in ‘Bel-Air’
Peacock
DEADLINE: What can you share about Janet Hubert’s appearance in Episode 7? What a beautiful tribute to her.
BANKS WADDLES: In terms of vision for the season, just like Will Smith was on our wish list, Janet Hubert was also. And I knew that Cassie, who plays our Aunt Viv, had met her already. [Janet] just loved on her and hugged her and said, “I’m so proud of what you’re doing with this new character of Viv.” Cassie was like, “Could we get her?” And I said, “I hope so.” Knowing that we wanted to get to the birth of this baby at the end, she just felt like the right person, the right energy. There was something very poetic about OG Aunt Viv and our Aunt Viv delivering baby Nikki together. There’s something that just felt very special; she just embodied that role. I remember us all looking to each other and saying, “She’s perfect.”
We had a conversation before filming, just about the scene and what she wanted to do, and she wanted to bring a little bit of her own birth story into it. The one line where she tells Aunt Viv, “I feel your stress, don’t bring your baby into the world feeling it too,” that came from Janet Hubert. She wanted to share that message from her own birth experience. It was just great having her on set. It was fantastic. And I think she enjoyed it too, and felt the love that we all had.
DEADLINE: I know Bel-Air just finished, but are there any plans, or would you like to revisit the show one day as a special, or have any ideas for spinoffs?
BANKS WADDLES: Anything is possible. I think the way every story ended, it felt like a new beginning for all of those story lines. And even though you’re not going to be on the journey with those characters, you feel like they’re going to be okay. [Regarding spinoffs], nothing that I’m aware of, but you know, things happen quickly in this business, Rosy, so anything can happen.
