Season 7 of the OWN family drama Queen Sugar will be its final season. Fans of the Ava DuVernay-directed series were heartbroken when it was revealed that the upcoming seventh season will be the show’s final. Production began in early 2022 for the last call on the beloved show. Since its premiere in 2016, the show has been praised for showcasing Black families in a multifaceted way. The show also made headlines for its decision of having all-women directors, many of whom launched directing careers solely for their roles behind the scenes on the show.
DuVernay, who also directed Selma, spoke about the decision to end the series. Per The Wrap, DuVernay simply said it’s time for the show to come to a close. “To everything, there is a season. And my producing partner Paul Garnes and I have had seven gorgeous seasons making ‘Queen Sugar’ with a remarkable cast and crew, alongside our partners at OWN and Warner Bros. Television,” she said in a statement. “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.”
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Filming for Season 7 has been underway in Louisiana, the same state the show is set in. The show centers on the Bordelon family in the rural south as they fight to maintain the sugar cane farm their father left behind. Among the many themes of the show explored are generational wealth and ownership within the Black community, police brutality, racism, economics, marriage, sexuality and sexism. But the biggest theme of all is the power of love and family.
Season 6 ended with Darla (Bianca Lawson) going into labor with her second child and the family uncovering a major ploy from their longtime nemesis in order to save their land. Season 7 will pick up where they left off and more than likely follow Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla settling in, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) and Davis’ (Timon Kyle Durrett) rekindled romance, Nova’s (Rutina Wesley) budding relationship with her neighbor, Micah (Nicholas L. Ashe) exploring his sexuality, and more of Aunt Vi (Tina Lifford) and Hollywood (Omar J. Dorsey) keeping the family together with longtime family friend Prosper (Henry G. Sanders) at the helm alongside them.
Season 7 is set to premiere sometime this year. DuVernay has stated that she knows how the show will end and always has since she began working on it. Lawson spoke with PopCulture.com in an interview last winter about what her hopes for her character are in its final season. “I hope she continues to thrive. But obviously, it is television, and I suppose it would probably be boring for the viewers if it’s just like… But I like to be surprised,” she said.
