Writer Anthony Sparks Talks Queen Sugar Season 3 FinalePosted by Wilson Morales
August 21, 2018
Around the time episode six of Season 3 was yet to air, Blackfilm.com had the opportunity to visit the set of Ava DuVernay and OWN’s critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar in New Orleans. They were getting ready to start shooting the season finale, “From On The Pulse Of Morning,” directed by season 3 showrunner Kat Candler. The whole cast (Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe, Tina Lifford, Omar J. Dorsey, Nicholas Ashe, Dondré T. Whitfield, Bianca Lawson and Henry G. Sanders) was there, scattered around rehearsing their lines, walking around, or already shooting their scenes.
Much of the season has been center around the three leads and their individual storylines. Ralph-Angel, knowing that Blue isn’t his natural son, has been back and forth with Darla over custody issues. Charlie has been making alliances and plans regarding the farmers, and Nova has been dealing with her growing attachment to Remy while going over the contents of her latest book. Meanwhile, Micah and some of his classmates have been going over the meaning of rioting and rallying against the proposed new prison being built, which will only lead to more mass incarceration among African Americans. That issue itself is what brings the community together.
In the series’ expanded 90-minute season three finale on Wednesday, August 22 (10-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) receives some unexpected news, the fate of the correctional facility is revealed, and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) makes a proposal on behalf of the farmers. Plus, Violet (Tina Lifford) and Hollywood (Omar J. Dorsey) celebrate their love. The series also stars Nicholas Ashe, Dondré T. Whitfield, Bianca Lawson and Henry G. Sanders. Timon Kyle Durrett guest stars.
During the cast and crew lunch break, which was around 10pm, I spoke with Anthony Sparks, the co-writer of the season finale. He’s been with the series since the beginning and has written the most episodes, including this season’s episodes 2, 7 and 9. Along with other journalists, we didn’t arrive at the beginning of the shoot or stayed until the end, so we don’t know what the episode will look like. We did see one scene being shot, which we are embargoed from revealing the contents until after it airs.
Little dd we know that weeks later and more recently, Sparks was named the showrunner for Season 4.
What has been the difference between the episodes you previously wrote and the season finale?
Anthony Sparks: As one of the senior producers of the show, I am very involved with crafting the story for the entire season. I know before we start writing most of the episodes what is going to happen in each episode. Even though I wrote episode 2 and I didn’t write episode 3, 4, or 5, if I come back and write episode 6, I’ve had a big hand in building the season arc. Part of my job as a producer is to be involved in all of the episodes even if I don’t physically write all of them.
As you’re writing the season finale, are you writing it assuming there’s a season 4 regardless if there is a cliffhanger or not?
Anthony Sparks: To some degree. On our show, we try to stay away from the term “cliffhanger” because one of the things that we try not to be is an overly plot driven show. We like to come from a place of character; and Ava is also very interested and presenting images that push against what you might expect. Sometimes in our last episodes, you’ll see a lot of joy that don’t necessarily feel like cliffhangers. We do try to leave some crumbs, hints and easter eggs about where we might be headed. For example, in the last episode of season 2, people noticed that Remy and Nova hugged for a second too long. That’s our version to “you might want to pay attention to this season” and clearly that’s a storyline that has caused great debate but it is something that we were going to pursue in the storytelling quite a while ago and for very good reasons. It’s not so much the OMG of it all but more about asking the question, “What do you do when the person that seems perfect for you on paper really is going to cause a lot or pain in your life and in other people’s lives?” It’s great dramatic dilemma that we were interested in exploring.
