Starz Announces ‘Vida’ Season 3 Will Be Its Last, Releases Goodbye Letter and Trailer (Watch)

Danielle Turchiano
·4 min read

Click here to read the full article.

“Vida” is coming to an end with its upcoming third season, Starz announced Wednesday.

The cabler renewed the show for the third season in May 2019 and its April 26 premiere date was announced just last month, in February 2020. But now “final season” has been added as a descriptor.

More from Variety

Creator, showrunner and director Tanya Saracho wrote a letter to say goodbye:

“I have not been able to write this letter — every time I try my palms get sweaty, my heart does a cumbia beat and I get nauseous. It’s taken me days. Because no matter how you slice it, this is a farewell letter. So I’ll get that part out of the way: Season Three will be ‘Vida’s’ final season. Rather than dwell on the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys,’ what I’m burning to get to is the ‘thank-you’ part. That’s the part that’s making my chest ache.

“When I began this journey three and a half years ago, I never dreamed that by the end of the process I’d be so wholly changed — mind, body and spirit — and that I’d be standing so strongly in my abilities to run and create a TV show the way it should have always been created: By us. When I started this, the landscape was a bleak one for Latinx representation. In the television landscape, the narratives about us were few and far between and were stuck on stereotypical. And I had only heard of one Latina showrunner who’d been allowed to run a show solo. Also for brown queers, there was truly no representation.

“This is where the thank-yous begin: Because you championed our delicate and darling little series, we were gifted three beautifully compelling, trailblazing seasons of television. Sincerely, this is why I wanted to personally write this letter, to express that your support has meant everything. It has meant two renewals and validation that our brown narrative is worth telling. I will never be able to thank you enough for your reception and endorsement. Truly.

“This goodbye is too bittersweet for words. I’d be lying if I said I’m not sad about not getting back into that magical writers room to keep crafting our story. But after all, I got to tell the exact story I wanted to tell, exactly how I wanted to tell it, and that is rare in this industry. I leave steeped in gratitude. Thankful to Starz for not just allowing ‘Vida’ to happen, but for being great co-parents as we raised her together. And grateful for the collaborators whose careers we were able to launch: Latinx cinematographers, writers, actors — almost entirely female — who are now out there and in demand. What a beautiful family we built. And what a beautiful show.

“Mil gracias. I do hope you’re able to give this, our last season, a good send off, because let me tell you, it is a powerful one. It is just as compelling as ever with some imagery and themes I’ve never seen on television before. I’m profoundly proud of it.”

The third season of “Vida” sees sisters Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera) with a booming bar business and flourishing love lives. But given that the show is a half-hour dramedy, it doesn’t take long for issues to arise. In this case, it is the discovery of a long-buried family secret.

Soon enough, the sisters find themselves face to face with old ghosts and new enemies, all while deciding if they can continue together as a family or if they should move on alone — for good this time.

In addition to Prada and Barrera, “Vida” stars Ser Anzoategui, Chelsea Rendon, Carlos Miranda and Roberta Colindrez.

The third and final season of “Vida” was filmed in Los Angeles and was written by an all-Latina writers’ room and directed by Latina directors Jenée LaMarque and Saracho.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.