NBC‘s Transplant has come to a close, and fans are left happy, heartbroken, and overall complete. The final two episodes saw a heartbreaking blow to the York Memorial Team as they lost their beloved Mags. In the aftermath, we saw everyone picking up the pieces and processing such a massive loss, with many starting anew.
Having chatted with Leboeuf earlier this season, I asked her about her thoughts on her character’s fate. Here’s what she had to say: “Yeah, Joseph Kay, who’s the creator and the showrunner, called me before the beginning of the season to tell me what was gonna happen at the end? And I gotta say, as heartbroken as I was for the character, I was really, really happy. I thought it was so daring of them to do that. I thought it was such a big curveball. I was like screaming on the phone, almost, you know. I was just thinking, ‘This is so cool for an actor to do.'”
As a fan, I discussed with Leboeuf how Hamza, Joseph, and she had described the curveball as “cool” while we fans were sobbing in the background. We had a good laugh about it, and while it was devastating and no, we did not get our endgame in Bash and Mags, it was a compelling piece of storytelling. I think my exact words to Joseph Kay were “dude, what were you thinking?” – spoiler, he laughed.
Leboeuf understood the attachment fans had to Bash and Mags, and how vital that attachment was to creating such real emotion when delivering this plot twist. Leboeuf explains, “You’d be like, what, like? You know, like, we’re really doing that, like Mags can’t die, like, no, but that’s, that’s fun. That’s part of what’s really cool, so I was excited for this journey to begin, and knowing it since the beginning also made it all the more special.”
In speaking about Transplant‘s overall conclusion, she mentioned the end of an era. She also spoke to us about Bash and Mags’ potential for the job opening and what has changed since Mags’ death. How would Leboeuf feel about him, pondering the job offer? She told us, “Well, he didn’t take it. He’s not taking it.”
In my head, I was really more or less surprised that the chief of the hospital, who knows how important these two are to each other, would even offer. It feels a little like “it’s so sad that she died, but here’s her job, and it’s like what?” Leboeuf explained her thoughts, “Yeah, you can either see it like that or think, if anyone is gonna get it, I think Mags would have wanted Bash to. Obviously, you know, if you think about it that way, he’s the best thing, uh, after her, because she’s the best.”
Leboeuf also dished about what’s next for her as an actress. Having completed a French film shot in Canada, which won a prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is being distributed across Europe and the US (also being shown at the Miami Film Festival), she’s not slowing down. She also mentioned her dream role: “I have this really weird fantasy that I’ve always wanted to play an elf. Yeah, I’m really putting that out there. My hope one day is that my dream will come true.”
As someone who grew very close to Transplant and the mighty women involved in this show, it was a pleasure to speak to and acknowledge the contentment with which they close this chapter. We hope that future medical dramas can reach the emotional depth and richness that Transplant graced us with. We also hope that more shows can follow the intricacies of minority storytelling and the importance of continuing such fundamental reach.
Transplant is available to stream now on Peacock.
