HSMTMTS creator and stars break down 'satisfying' series finale (and post-credits scene!)

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series series finale, "Born to be Brave."

While High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is ending onscreen, the future is looking brighter than ever for the Wildcats offscreen.

By the end of the series finale, "Born to be Brave" (now streaming on Disney+), the students at East High put on their production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. As soon as it ends, Gina (Sofia Wylie) does a quick change into her ball gown to join the press conference down the hall where she announces her casting in a big budget Hollywood movie. Ricky (Joshua Bassett) thinks that means Gina is going to be leaving because the movie shoots in New Zealand, so he rushes to squeeze in one last grand romantic gesture to finally tell her he loves her — in song, of course! Ricky thinks he's finally said it first, but Gina adorably reveals she actually put a note in his hat way back on Thanksgiving telling him she loves him, too.

Disney+ 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'

And in a heartwarming twist, Gina pulls off a power play, forcing the movie's director, Quinn (Caitlin Reilly), to relocate the film's location from New Zealand to Salt Lake City, so she can remain a student at East High and participate in the spring musical. As the contract is signed, Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders) is inspired to rip up her own offer to join the cast of Wicked, so she'll remain at East High as well. As for the rest of the Wildcats: Ashlyn (Julia Lester) and Maddox (Saylor Bell Curda) kiss, Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara (Mark St. Cyr) finally get together, Kourtney (Dara Reneé) decides to go to an HBCU next year, Seb (Joe Serafini) comes out to his father and his kiss with Carlos (Frankie Rodriguez) goes viral on social media, Big Red (Larry Saperstein) and Antoine (Andrew Barth Feldman) spark a new connection, and the cast celebrates the opening night of their musical the way all theater kids do... at their local Denny's.

Plus, you didn't think the series would end without an encore, did you? After the credits, fans are given a behind-the-scenes look at the set as Reinders joins the whole cast backstage and they sing a live, emotional, stripped down version of "For Good" from Wicked. Yes, tears were flowing.

"If this is goodbye to High School Musical for now, we all still love it, and that would be good enough," showrunner Tim Federle told EW on set last year in Salt Lake City during production on the finale. "The natural cadence of the show at East High is that we tell a semester per season, so season 5 would almost certainly be second semester senior year, but built into High School Musical 3, there is a graduation sequence, so it's almost like we emotionally graduate in season 4. They're literally wearing red gowns at the end, so you see them bow and say goodbye and say thank you. That feels very meaningful."

Disney/Fred Hayes Joshua Bassett on 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'

Even though Federle had an idea for a fifth season and beyond — "What would happen if we went to another school or hopped ahead five years? I think there's a version of the show that could be Degrassi and that could have new classes and new cast members," he says — that ultimately won't happen... for now. But he's proud of how he was able to put his stamp on the HSM franchise. "I remember acutely that when the show was announced, there was a big public sentiment that there will never be another Zac [Efron] and Vanessa [Hudgens], and I agree with that. There won't be. And now there will never be another Josh and Olivia [Rodrigo], Sofia, Dara, Frankie, Julia, Larry, Joe, Mark, or Kate."

Sitting in the East High drama department in between scenes, Bassett was unaware at the time that the season 4 finale would also be the series finale (the announcement came seven months later). But he was already preparing for the worst-case scenario. "It's a beautiful full circle the way they've written it," he says. "The door is still open potentially for future seasons, but if heaven forbid this were the last one, I think fans would be proud and I would be proud of how things have wrapped up. We're at a really good, healthy place."

Getting to spend the last four years surrounded by theater kids in a musical theater environment is something he'll always treasure. "Musical theater kids have that sense of camaraderie — we're all in this together," he says. After a pause, he realizes what he just said. "I really did not mean to do that! That was un-ironic, but it's true. That environment is the greatest, and I hope to bring that with me everywhere I go in the future, whether that's in the music world, in studio sessions, or at my shows, or on sets, or wherever that might be."

Wylie says that it's "quite bittersweet to think of this as a possible end to the show," but she was also prepared to say goodbye if it was. "I'm so glad that, if it is, we've ended on this note," she adds. "That's the perfect way to end, because it would suck if we were all jetting out of here the second we wrapped or really weren't enjoying our time anymore. I just love this show and I would do it a million times over, so I definitely think I'll be quite sad if this is the end, but I'll always be so thankful for the time that I got to have with these actors and this crew and this character."

Disney/Fred Hayes Sofia Wylie on 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'

Lester is glad that the finale ends in a "satisfying" way for all the characters. "All of our dreams since season 1 was to do five seasons, but if this really is the end, I would feel so grateful that Ashlynn's story evolved from where she started and that she was able to really discover her sexuality and pursue that," she says. "And queer kisses on Disney are so important for people that are my age who didn't grow up seeing that and for the new generation of kids that are watching our show now. I'm so grateful that I got to tell a story that's so close to me personally, and I would feel so satisfied if this was really the conclusion to her story. I remember when I came out, my whole world changed and everything about myself felt like it was elevated and evolved, and now Ashlyn can totally spread her wings and soar."

Reneé also loved how her onscreen journey in the final season mirrored her own, as Kourtney decides to attend an HBCU instead of an Ivy League college. "It is such an amazing, unique experience, and I'm so grateful that we get to talk about it on the show and have that representation for such a powerful experience," she says. "Because going to an HBCU and taking that tour, it changed my life. Hopefully we get to teach a lot of people about the freaking fabulous HBCU culture. If it is the end, I'm really satisfied because Courtney chooses her HBCU and shows kids, especially kids that look like me, that both pathways are equal. We all end up in a really good place."

Rodriguez isn't exaggerating when he says he would "love to do a hundred more seasons," but just like his co-stars, he's proud to end the show here. "I'm so proud of what we got to do, especially the stuff this year," he says. "I'm just going to walk away feeling content. It's a nice bow to say thank you to everybody who has been watching for the last four seasons."

Reinders gets emotional as she thinks about how all the young stars have grown both off and onscreen over the past few years. "If we must end, this would be a fine place to end because they've all come into their own," she says. "And I, as myself and Miss Jenn, am just so excited to see where they go next."

And Curda is extra appreciative of just how authentic the finale is to the theater kid experience. "Our whole ending moment with all of the main cast together, just hanging out, being theater kids, going to a Denny's, I've done that millions of times, truly," she says with a laugh. "So I think it's a very beautiful way to wrap up."

These interviews were conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.

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