Kandi Burruss’ Absence, Plotting That Wedding and Other Burning ‘The Chi’ Finale Questions, Answered by Lena Waithe — The Hollywood Reporter

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

Logo text [This story contains spoilers from the series finale of The Chi , "The Last Dance."]

Social media is still processing The Chi finale. For the most part, the feedback has been consistently good. Who can argue with an ending where Emmett and Kiesha, whom we first met hooking up as teenagers (with Kiesha getting caught under the bed by Emmett's mama Jada), have a beautiful wedding in the backyard of the home Jada shared with Emmett's father Darnell?

"It's been surreal. I'm just watching it every week, watching how the fans have so much emotional connection to the show," Jacob Latimore, who was 19 when he started playing Emmett and is turning 30 in August, tells The Hollywood Reporter . "The last day of filming was a big emotional day for all of us. The tears are still going as we watch it with the fans, and I think the fans are even feeling the goodbye, too." Related Stories TV Closing Out 'The Chi': Lena Waithe Gets Candid About Giving Her Series an Ending Other Black Shows Don't Always Get Business Paramount CEO David Ellison Reassures Staff Amid Antitrust Suit, Says He's "Highly Confident" in WBD Merger Completion

Birgundi Baker, who plays Kiesha, understands how people feel like they've grown up with their charachters. "I get people all the time [saying], 'I watched you grow up on TV!' That's really the experience we've had with Emmett and Kiesha," she tells THR . "They went from a boy and a girl to a woman and a man. They are parents, they have businesses and real feelings. We've watched their whole life unfold and come together, and unfold again so many times. We've watched their whole life happen on this show."

The Chi took Emmett and Kiesha from stereotypes — with Emmett having children with four women, including two best friends, Kiesha and his ex-wife Tiff (Hannaha Hall) — and Kiesha having two kids with two different fathers in Nuck and Emmett to actual people. "We definitely shined that light on people who feel like they've been a little voiceless," says Latimore. "To show those seeds and that vulnerability, which is why the main characters are so relatable.

"I love that we can be the symbol of love," adds Baker, who is happy with the finale overall. "It brought everything full circle for me. Were paying homage to where we began. We started with Kevin (Alex Hibbert) and the boys [Jake (Michael V. Epps) and Papa (Shamon Brown)], so to end with him being there reminded me of where we came from, how far we've come, and that theme of love."

But as much as viewers agree on Emmett and Kiesha's perfect ending, there are still lingering questions after the series finale of the Paramount + show, which concluded this weekend after eight seasons. So The Hollywood Reporter went right to the source — creator Lena Waithe — to get answers. Read our chat on finale burning questions, below.

Lena, let's jump into the wedding. When I was waiting for Kiesha to walk down the aisle, I kept saying, "Kevin better show up. She is not about to walk down this aisle by herself. Where is Kevin? "

That reveal is one of my favorites. He's next to Bakari being alive. There's a lot of good in the ending: Her mom surprising her; it feels like a real wedding. We waited so long for this wedding. The audience has earned it from the opening episode. If somebody goes back and watches that pilot and then watches that last episode, we couldn't be more proud in terms of what has happened over these eight seasons.

I feel like Robert Townsend directing the fifth episode really set the series finale in motion. To have this Chicago legend direct the episode where Emmett and Kiesha finally get engaged and take their love to a traditional place, especially considering how they began and their various entanglements, is great in showing that Black people do get married. It's also such a Chicago proposal. But then to have Nuck (Cortez Smith) killed in the same episode, also with Robert Townsend behind the lens for that…

Robert Townsend expressed to me that he was a fan of the show, which is already like, "Okay, I can go now, take me." ( Laughs .) When I asked him if he would be willing to direct, he jumped at the chance. Episode five is a very important episode in the 10-episode season. We knew it was going to be these two things coming together — Tiff killing Nuck, and Emmett and Kiesha getting engaged. He was the perfect person, and the cast was just beside themselves. I wasn't on set. I just kind of let them do what they do.

But being at the table read was magical. He makes you raise your game. When Jordan walks onto this court, you make sure that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. Me and Robert worked on that scene on the page; very few directors get those opportunities to do that with me. And it was a little longer [than we anticipated], but we understood that this [proposal] was going to be like a how-to guide for people.

So I understand the weight of it and. Knowing that it still needs levity, that's what Robert's so great about. He was like, "I know this is important." One thing I'm grateful for [also in that episode is the sex talk between Emmett and his son Devante (Anthony B. Jenkins)]. I got to do a lot of things and put work into the world, but the fact that you see a young Black man talk to his son and use the word "partner" when he's talking to him? For the little boy to say, "Why do you keep saying that? Why don't you say, 'girl'?" and [his father] says, "I don't want to assume that you like girls." And [the little boy] says, "Well, I do, Dad. I'm not gay," and he says, "Okay, I just want you to know, it would be okay if you were."

For people to be sitting at home and to see a father say that to his son… I hope that somebody walks away and goes, "Let me not assume that my child is straight." And that's beyond color lines.

Can you talk about the decision to have Barton Fitzpatrick's Reg, another day-one The Chi cast member, redeem himself in such an unexpected yet so believab...

Kandi Burruss’ Absence, Plotting That Wedding and Other Burning ‘The Chi’ Finale Questions, Answered by Lena Waithe — The Hollywood Reporter | AIPROPX