‘Bel-Air’ Boss Carla Banks-Waddles On Series Finale And Emotional Will Smith Cameo

Jabari Banks and Will Smith Peacock By now, I hope you’ve watched the heartwarming finale of Peacock's hit series 'Bel-Air,' which premiered in 2022. The popular television show has ended after four seasons, and fans are mourning the loss while honoring the legacy of the 1990s classic, 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' and its reimagined offspring, 'Bel-Air.' The final season’s last episode aired last week, and it wrapped up each character's storyline nicely. Each character within the series, Jabari Banks (Will Smith), Olly Sholotan (Carlton Banks), Adrian Holmes (Philip Banks), Akira Akbar (Ashley Banks), Cassandra Freeman (Vivian Banks), Coco Jones (Hilary Banks), and Jimmy Akingbola (Geoffrey), explored what new beginnings meant for them. Will decided to end his high school relationship and return home to Philadelphia to start at the University of Pennsylvania. At the same time, Carlton deepened his relationship with his high school sweetheart before journeying to Morehouse College.In contrast, Hilary decides to return from Costa Rica and serve people in her neighborhood healthy food by opening her own cafe, Honeybee’s. Lastly, we have Ashley Banks, who decides to transfer schools, prompting her parents, Phillip and Viv, to leave their home in Bel-Air for Baldwin Hills. Throughout season four, 'Bel-Air’ paid homage to the original series by bringing back the initial characters of the show, like Janet Hubert, who originated Aunt Viv, and Tyra Banks, who played Will's ex-girlfriend on the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.' However, one special moment dominated the finale, and that was when Will Smith made a touching and symbolic cameo. In one of the final scenes, both Wills share a moment. Just before Banks returns home to Philly, he decides to take in a view of Los Angeles, which prompts him to reflect on how far he's come as a person since landing out West and addresses his fears about regressing when he comes home. That's when his older self, played by Will Smith, comes to reassure him that 'everything will be fine.' The touching scene pulled at viewers’ heartstrings and evoked fond nostalgia for those of us who faithfully watched ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ years ago. Carla Banks-Waddles, the series’ showrunner and co-executive producer, says the season finale focused on the importance of prioritizing what matters and the concept of a simpler life. The season featured a time jump, a graduation, and the birth of baby Nikki. Will Smith's cameo was emotionally significant, symbolizing the show's legacy and the characters' transition into their following chapters. "It is sort of an end of something that we felt great to be a part of. So I think that part makes us a little like, 'Oh no, I can't believe it's over.' But I think more than that, I do feel the pride of all of the cast, the crew, anybody who's been a part of this show, especially the final season, there's such a pride in what we all did. And on social media, you can see it," she said proudly. "It just means a lot that we created this great culture behind the scenes as well." MORE FOR YOUGiven how iconic 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ has been in the sitcom space, many are wondering how her team reimagined the 'Bel-Air' series and finalized it, while creating its own flair and identity. "It was tough because you come back to the final season from all these cliffhangers from last season. So we started with, 'Well, what do we owe? How do we tie it all up in a way that feels satisfying?' Because that felt easy. We had all these questions to answer about the baby, Will's kidnapping, and where Jeffrey was. So we started there, but knowing we had just eight episodes to land the plane, it felt like a heavy lift in the room," she shared. Banks-Waddles and her team of writers started with the end in mind, knowing they wanted a graduation and the birth of a baby. "We knew they were going to be turning off the lights in the mansion. So there were certain things that we had on the board that were sort of like a North Star," she said. When it came to anchoring characters like Phillip and Viv Banks, Banks-Waddles’ approach was to center their growth and the realization that prioritizing what matters to them in their lives is essential. “We wanted to have them prioritize what’s important. There was this thread about Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv yearning for a simpler life. We introduce it in that Thanksgiving episode when they’re flashing back to that tiny apartment that they had in Washington, D.C., but the love that they had. And now in the present, there’s so much money and the things that they dreamed of, but is this a better life? So we definitely used that thread of a simpler life and prioritizing what’s important. We also used Ashley in the final episodes to have her story come to a head, where she wants something more for her life. She’s prioritizing what she wants, and that really helps everybody else say, ‘What do we want in our next act?,’" she said.However, when it came to Will Smith’s epic cameo, Banks-Waddles made sure to combine 90s nostalgia with the present day. "I think there is something just in the history of the original show and how it came about, and Quincy Jones smiled on this young artist Will Smith, and gave him a chance to be in his own show and put him into that role. Similarly, I would say, for Jabari, not having done a lot before this, and being dropped into this role in a heavy, big shoes to fill, and doing so successfully, it's one of the same. That's sort of the outside story of what's going on. But even the inside story of our characters, young Will going off into his next step, this future that none of us as an audience are going to be privy to," she stated. "So having this full circle moment of Will Smith, the older Will being able to say, 'You must have created someone worth holding on to. It felt very poignant. Writing that scene for me took a whole day because I wanted to get it right. I tried to hit all the buttons. I wanted to be poignant. I wanted to have a little humor. The scene had to be wise, self-reflective, human. And then it had this magical element, like, 'Was he here or was he not?’ That scene was so special." Behind the scenes, Will Smith's cameo made the show's cast and staff emotional as well. "It was just Jabari and Will on a sound stage. Watching the two of them interact was probably one of my favorite days on set, which was due to Jabari because of how he started, and seeing where he ended up, and just how hard he worked, and seeing Will Smith congratulate him and be proud of him and be in a scene with him that closed out this iconic moment. It felt really good. And I think Jabari was floating. It felt like Will Smith was floating," she reminisced. "I remember Denzel Washington calling Will Smith and wanting Jabari to get on FaceTime. He just wanted to say hi and say congratulations. And Jabari was just overwhelmed. I said, 'Get in there. Yes, it's you. You did this. Be proud and stand in this moment because of what you've done. So I felt like a proud mom that day just watching him."