‘Transplant’: Creator Joseph Kay Teases Series Finale and ‘Heavy’ Decision Bash Has to Make (Exclusive)

Transplant is ending this week after four seasons, and creator Joseph Kay told PopCulture.com what’s in store.

In “Never Too Late to Start Again,” airing on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, “The York Memorial staff reflect on their past and decide on their paths moving forward.”

Last week’s penultimate episode saw Dr. Devi offering Bash Mags’ position at the hospital once his residency finished, as he was the natural fit after Mags. However, before her death, Bash told Mags that he wanted to start his own clinic, so this decision is going to be a tough one. Not to mention the fact that if he accepts Dr. Devi’s offer, he’d be taking over for Mags only because she died.

“With the choice to make, we’ve seen in Season 4 how insecure [Bash] was when he moved his life and came to Canada and tried to qualify as a doctor and essentially failed at it, wasn’t able to get through,” Kay said. “And so saying no to a burden hand, which is a job that pays money and he’s been living broke for a long time versus putting his chicks on himself and trying to hang out his own shingle, that glass is a really interesting thing to explore with the character because it lets us examine, does he think he’s allowed to bet on himself? Does he have that kind of confidence?”

“Both choices are right depending on who you are, but we really wanted to examine that choice and what he’s gonna do,” he continued. “And, obviously, it would be so heavy to take her job. So being offered that choice lets us stay in the wake of Mags’ death.”

While Bash seemed passionate about starting his own clinic, it wouldn’t be surprising if he took the job at York Memorial, not just because of the better pay, but maybe it would be a way to honor Mags. And knowing her, she would want him to take it. Between that and where June and Theo eventually end up should be interesting to see, especially after June was offered a position in Cleveland. They’ve also all gone through a lot over these four seasons, including this season.

That being said, despite Kay always knowing he’d end Transplant after four seasons, he didn’t always know how that ending would come about. He shared they “committed” to the ending before they “started writing Season 4.”

“There were some sort of tentpole things in Season 3 when we were writing,” he continued. “We knew we weren’t gonna end it only about Bash and Mags. We knew that wasn’t gonna be the ending. We weren’t sure about does he leave, does he stay? We weren’t sure how we were gonna structure it. But before we even put pen to paper on Season 3, we had figured it out. So about a year before we started filming.”

No matter how Transplant ends and where the characters end up, it’s going to be an emotional ride for the final episode. The show has meant quite a lot to fans over the last several years, and it means even more to the cast and crew, especially Kay, who has been on this ride since before COVID.

“It’s been a real honor to tell these stories with these characters and this group of actors and writers and directors and everybody,” he said. “It’s just been a real joy to make. We started shooting in 2018. So we made this through the pandemic, and I know we’ve all gone through that as a society in different ways. We’ve struggled through that together and figured out how to keep going. And so we were before, we were during, we were after. And so I think we’ll always kind of hold a certain kind of strength as memory in that way.”

Tune in to the series finale of Transplant on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.