Catherine Reitman on Ending ‘Workin’ Moms,’ That Surprise Guest Star, and Her Love Letter to Late Father Ivan Reitman

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the final season of “Workin’ Moms,” now streaming on Netflix.

After seven seasons and more than 80 episodes, “Workin’ Moms” has retired: The seventh and final season hit Netflix on April 26. Creator, writer, sometimes director and star Catherine Reitman knew she wanted to end the series while crafting Season 6 — bringing home the comedy of working mothers who are just trying to do their best — with a final scene she’d had in her head.

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“The only justice I could think of for working mothers is, you just dust yourself off, you get back up and you go to work,” she tells Variety. “That’s it — you get your kids set up, and you go back to work. And there was no fantasy that could better eclipse the reality of being a working mother.”

From the moment Reitman conceptualized the series as a new mom, and then launched it with her husband, Philip Sternberg (who plays her husband Nathan Foster on screen), the story of Reitman’s character, Kate Foster, has been deeply personal. Crafting this final batch of episodes was even more intimate for Reitman, whose father and mentor, Ivan Reitman, died two months before filming.

“He was very much a part of building the show with me. He wasn’t a producer, nor a network executive, but he was my mentor and he was in my corner every step of the way,” she says. “Whether it was giving his two cents on casting or showing up to set, or listening to the table reads, he was a really hands-on mentor and father to me. When he passed, there was something odd about filming and finishing the show without him; it just didn’t feel right.”

In the “Workin’ Moms” series finale, Kate grapples with a big work decision, and flashes back to memories of her father instructing her to “find the magic” as a child. In the present day she visits his grave, only for his ghost (returning guest star Dan Aykroyd) to give her some cryptic advice. Reitman wrote the episode as a love letter to her own late father.

“He always taught my siblings and I to find magic in life. That it wasn’t worth living unless you find your magic and commit to it and believe that you are allowed to embrace that magic,” she explains. “That’s my interpretation of it. I wrote the episode for my father, as Kate has to make a big decision. By of course, betting on herself, she is betting on success. But it’s hard to see that when you’re in the woods. That’s something my father always really trained me to believe in, to bet on myself and to believe in myself. And so this episode really encapsulates that.”

Here, Reitman breaks down the finale and finding the right ending for all of the “Workin’ Moms” characters, explains how she recruited Aykroyd for one final scene, and reveals why Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) didn’t make a cameo in the final season.

When you were thinking about the endings for the show’s characters, did you feel any pressure or challenges over any particular storyline?

It’s always challenging, and we felt an extraordinary amount of pressure to do justice to these characters and give them an ending that would celebrate all the things we’ve grown to love about them. So there were challenges along the way as we were finding the right fit. I can’t tell you how many times we scrapped it all and went back to it. The Kate story was pretty clear from the beginning. We felt so much pressure with the Anne [Dani Kind] cliffhanger and how to handle that and make sure that it doesn’t look like a cheap way out. We wanted to do something that would give a more in depth look into who Anne was.

Was giving Jenny (Jessalyn Wanlim) redemption, and letting her learn to be a good person always part of the plan?

Giving her a redemption arc is something that both the character and the actress so deserve. Jessalyn is such a pro, and she’s so consistently funny and makes such smart and funny choices in every single episode. She’s largely a character that is under-celebrated and it breaks my heart because she’s so damn good. An episode without Jenny, you feel it. You need that light and the levity that she brings. I’m just so thrilled with how the Jenny storyline paid out and I think the audience is going to love it.

Sloan (Enuka Okuma) made the powerful choice to finally give up work for her maternity leave. Was there ever any other ending for her?

Sloan is a gift. Enuka came in as a recurring character a few seasons ago, and she’s just so talented. She made Sloan loveable and someone you root for. I have been so blown away by her work, this season particularly. For me, there was no other choice. We discussed it at length in the writers’ room, but for Sloane to go back to work would be the expected choice. On our show, we put a lot of effort into making unexpected choices to make you think and to promote conversation and to think about working mothers in a different light. For Sloane to return home as opposed to staying at work was the bravest choice she could make. For her to say “No, I’m really going to be present with my family,” that is where her growth was going to happen. She was daring enough to not make the easy choice and do it. And that is what the choice is for many women. It’s different for all of us.

Val (Sarah McVie) arguably got the happiest ending, with her wedding. Tell me about that journey, considering she too began as a recurring character.

First of all, I would argue that Val’s happy ending wasn’t the ultimate happy ending. It really depends on the person. But that being said, if there’s anyone who I want to celebrate and give the biggest happy ending to, it is Val Szalinsky. Sarah came in, like you’re saying, as sort of a reoccurring, smaller character on the show. But even saying that makes me laugh, because there is nothing small about what Sarah McVie brings to the camera. She owns it. She’s a scene stealer, she just kills it consistently. I couldn’t stop laughing watching her. She was just so good. It became a natural choice to feature her more and more. She is such a core member of the  “Workin’ Moms” family.

Speaking of unexpected choices, Kate and Ram (Raymond Ablack) kissed, but it didn’t blow up Kate and Nathan’s marriage. How important was it to you to showcase how strong that marriage is now, having come back from the affair at the end of Season 1?

It’s a really interesting question, because that is something we had to massage down to every last detail. I’ve been lucky in that Phillip and I have never been in those circumstances. We’ve never cheated on each other in any way. So when building the storyline, while I couldn’t relate to that exactly, what I could relate to was, if you’re in a relationship that is committed, as Kate and Nathan are committed, and are all-in on each other in the big picture, there’s an ease that comes along with it. That’s something Nathan gets to show in that scene.

Yeah, he’s uncomfortable. He doesn’t like it. But it’s not a bridge-burner. It’s a conversation you have where you are disappointed and angry. But you know you’re going to survive it. And that is what marriage has been for me and that is what we wanted to portray. Because we’ve seen them fight. We’ve seen an affair. But we haven’t seen a really emotionally mature look at what a fight like that could look like. He accepts her word at face value and knows he’s going make it through the storm.

Juno Rinaldo left the show as Frankie at the end of Season 5. Did you try and have her back for a final scene this season?

We certainly pitched it, like crazy. We kept thinking of different versions of it. But the truth was, if you put a small piece of Frankie in, it doesn’t work. We kept trying to look at it from every angle and say,  “OK, but what if she’s just in one scene?” Or,  “How does this work?” And the audience loves Frankie so much, and I think misses her so genuinely. So to just put a tease of her in would only make you long for her more as opposed to feeling satiated with what we were trying to do with a series finale. It was under careful consideration for sure.

What was your pitch in getting Dan Aykroyd to return as Kate’s late father?

It was easy to get him back. He was happy to do it. We saw each other a few weeks prior at a memorial service for my father on the Sony lot. Serendipitously, when I saw him at the memorial, I pitched him the idea. He said yes so quickly. My head spun, I was really moved by his commitment, and a part of me can’t help but wonder if my dad was part of that choice, if he was there and helped me out.

But yeah, he showed up. He was a total pro. And it was a pretty out-of-body experience that day shooting at the cemetery. My dad had only died a few months before that. Being able to deliver those words that I’d written really with my father in mind, to this man who was so close to my father and who had known my father for such a long time — they forged their careers beside each other. It was a really special moment in my life and in my career.

Ahead of the season you said you’re good leaving the show here and not crafting a follow-up film or any offshoot projects. Has a little distance changed your mind, or do you still stand by that?

I 100% stand by it, but still never say never. Life has been very strange for me over the last few years, and has taught me all sorts of things. So it would be foolish to say never. And I love making the show. So why would I ever stand in the way of that opportunity and possibility? But I care so much about how it’s told, the idea of in any way cheapening it makes me allergic. But if there’s a way to do it without doing that, yeah, I’d be on board.

What do you have planned next?

I have two shows in development that I’m loving and are really different from “Workin’ Moms,” which is exciting. But unfortunately they’re not at points where I can share the details yet. There’s always going to be comedy in my life, but there is a hybrid option. I think that’s all I can probably say about it, though.

All seven seasons of “Workin’ Moms” are now available on Netflix. This interview has been edited and condensed.

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