'Mom' Producer Explains Decision to End Series With Allison Janney's Emotional Final Scene

Mom has officially wrapped up its eight-season run on CBS. After eight seasons and 170 episodes, the fan-favorite sitcom, starring Allison Janney, Mimi Kennedy, Beth Hall, and Jaime Pressly, aired its series finale Thursday night, and as fans took to social media to react, executive producer Gemma Baker opened up about that emotional closing scene. Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Mom series finale, Season 7, Episode 18, "My Kinda People and the Big To-Do."

The CBS comedy's farewell episode was filled with ups and downs and plenty of laughable moments. The episode not only saw a wedding, but also the tragic news that Bonnie's husband Adam was diagnosed with early-stage cancer. The episode concluded with an emotional scene of Bonnie's final share at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Discussing that emotional speech, Baker told Entertainment Tonight "it just felt right" to give the character that final share, something that had become a signature aspect of season finales.

"It was a tradition that we sort of stumbled into that we ended every season with Christie doing a share, with the exception of season 7, which, due to COVID, ended two episodes before we knew it was going to. And so it just felt right to give Bonnie a share at the end of the episode," Baker said. "From the beginning, we realized that shares gave us a unique opportunity to really hear exactly what the character was thinking and feeling, and to be able to express it in a way that you don't normally get to do."

In her speech, Bonnie emotionally discussed her eight-year journey, reflecting on how when she "walked in that door eight years ago I was so filled fear, self-loathing, shame," but now, several years later, "I kinda like me. I kinda love me." Declaring, "my name is Bonnie and I'm a grateful alcoholic," the speech saw the character reflecting on how much she has grown and changed. Baker, who revealed the speech was the last scene the show filmed, said the speech was "true for all of us working on this show and how much we loved this job and how much our own lives have changed during this time."

Baker added, "what her share hopefully tells the audience is that no matter what, she's going to be able to get through whatever life throws her way and that she's going to rely on her friends." Noting the newcomers in the meeting, a mother and daughter who were "pretty much if not exactly where Christie and Bonnie sat in the pilot," Baker said, "that hopefully gives a sense that those characters are going to go on a whole journey as well. And that the story continues, even though we might not be watching it every week."