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Death is a part of life. It happens to all of us and the grief of losing someone is often so painful. but the series ends a million little things Gave an example of how beautiful life can be before the end. as cancer ate gary, she decided to take matters into her own hands and died with dignity. Gary dies with Maggie after saying goodbye to Javi and his friends.
HollywoodLife spoke exclusively with james rhode rodriguezProducer/Executive Producer Dj Nashand executive producer terence collie Regarding the final episode and Gary’s death. (Note: The interviews took place before the writers’ strike.)
Ending the series with Gary’s death was something DJ had been thinking about almost ever since Display started. “Like any story we bring to the room, we bring an idea, and if someone has something better, the best idea wins,” he said. “I always wanted to separate Suicide the way the series started with Assisted Suicide, the way it ended. Two friends both have illnesses and one beat their illness and one didn’t. , Rome and Gary. There were other ideas we floated out there, and I even pitched on a few, but I think we always came back to this.
Terence continued, “We’ve had a lot of time to live emotionally and see this come to fruition right way, but the way it affected the people who were creating these stories on a daily basis … I think we knew in our guts that this was the right way to go.
For several seasons, James had to keep it a secret that he knew how the show would end. “We checked in with each other from time to time during the series,” James revealed. “And then after Season 4, he was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think we’ve nailed it and done a great job of tracking the authentic journey of someone with this terrible disease.’ We know they don’t always have happy endings, and we already played a version with Maggie where she defeats it. As sad as it is, it feels like something we’d probably do if we were going to pride ourselves on making this show a reflection of a real experience.
James fully supports Gary’s decision to end his life on his own terms. The actor said, “I think the concept of death with dignity means a lot to me personally.” HollywoodLife, “If you know you did, shouldn’t you be able to determine what those last memories look like? How do you want your loved ones to remember you? It’s one of the few things that But you’re in control of a situation, so I think there’s beauty in it. I think there’s honesty in it. I was grateful to ABC that they let us do it because it’s not really network television fodder.
Gary became a fan favorite during the show’s run. The show begins with John taking his own life and then his death. DJ admitted that he knows some fans “might be offended by this ending. One of the stages of grief is anger. I think because the show is so authentic, it’s so hard to accept. But for those people we know who have lost loved ones, so I really wanted to tell that kind of story. The Slossman Cancer Center, where Gary is treated, is named after a member of my family who was diagnosed with cancer. There are so many stories that come from members of my family who have lost their battles that to be authentic we wanted to make sure we told that story true to ourselves.
Gary initially enlists Rome and Eddie to help him obtain the drugs needed for his death. In the end, Maggie was the one who was with him when he fell asleep and never woke up again. After receiving news that he was terminally ill, Gary was able to spend time with his loved ones and say goodbye. A gorgeous and fitting cover of “For Good” is played during this montage.
Terrence said that the show had a consultant for Gary’s storyline. “In this case, we talked to an oncologist several times, and he said something very touching. I won’t do the full justice, but he said for a lot of his patients, when they get the final diagnosis, it’s a May be gifted because they have the ability to live the life they want and a lot of people don’t get that based on the circumstances of their lives,” Terence said. “I think when we were moving toward Gary’s story, and we realized that when we were going in that direction, we were going to make sure it was a story where this guy had something to say and Everything he needed to say was a chance to spend as much time as he could possibly have left with his son. I think that inspired the way we told this story.
James shaved his head and beard to play Gary in his final chapter. The actor quipped that he was “given the choice of going through 3 hours of makeup every morning. It looked horrible, so I shaved my head because it’s just hair. It’s going to grow back. I didn’t shave my eyebrows.” If you bought that, all credit goes to our esteemed makeup department. That was about 90 minutes of application each morning. It looked tastier than a full forehead to me.
A flash-forward was also shown at the end of the series finale to when Javi was 16 years old. He is watching the videos that Gary left for him over and over. Glimpse into the future gives us millionaires confirmation that friendlies are and will always be okay. Sophie is pregnant, Greta and Catherine have a daughter, and a new band of dads. Gary may not be physically with them, but his presence is still the center of attention.
Turns out, that flash forward wasn’t always part of the plan when it came to the show’s ending. “At the end of this season it was always part of the equation. Terrence and I were talking about what Act 6 was like for the fans. Act 6 was there to make sure everyone was okay,” explained DJ HollywoodLife, “The idea that life has a circle, and that the four sons would be at the game and continue the tradition. I knew I wanted to allow moments like Maggie to let Gary go. I knew it was for me.” Will be part of the episode, but I think it was necessary to make sure the fans were okay and to know that life was necessary for all of them in the game.
She continues, “When my dad died — I saw this dude last night — my friend Greg said to me, ‘Your relationship with your dad isn’t over. It just changes.’ That’s a line that’s in that last act. When he said that to me, it freed me greatly. But as I try to navigate how to direct and co-write this episode, my dad were guiding me a lot. And Gary is going to do the same for Javi.”
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