‘Major Crimes’ Is Ending, But Fans Are Getting The Finale They Deserve

After six years, it's time to say goodbye to Major Crimes. It was announced by Deadline in October 2017 that TNT's crime-solving drama would be coming to an end after this year's finale. So longtime fans of the show won't be surprised to find out that Major Crimes won't return for Season 7 after the two-hour series conclusion on Jan. 9, but that doesn't make the sting any less painful. Major Crimes, original a spinoff of TNT's The Closer, is ending its run on top of the ratings at TNT, following through on a promise by creator James Duff that the final season would be "the best season yet," as he told Deadline.

Despite confirmation that Major Crimes (casting: Liz Dean). would not be renewed for another season, fans hoped that perhaps the show would be picked up by another network or streaming service (Hulu, where are you?), but, alas, that was a no-go. "Streaming platforms and other cable channels, all the places where the show could have gone, want to do other things — new things," Duff said in an interview with TV Line. The creator is speaking from experience. He revealed that they tried to shop the show to alternative networks for another season "but we couldn't find anybody who would come on board."

Fans hoping to see the show live on beyond Season 6 were hit with a major blow in the series' 101st episode, "Conspiracy Theory: Part 4," when — major spoilers ahead — Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) was declared dead after suffering a heart attack. Raydor, of course, was the driving force behind Major Crimes, who made her character debut in The Closer almost 10 years ago, and her death, according to Duff, is one of the final nails in the Major Crimes' coffin. "[It] was not just Sharon's death, it was the death of the show. In a way, it was a metaphor," he said in another interview with TV Line.

McDonnell addressed the finality of her character's ending, and thus the show's ending, in a Facebook post after "Conspiracy Theory: Part 4" aired on Dec. 19. "No one of us would have chosen to end the show. The writing was so clearly on the wall and had been for at least two seasons," she wrote. Though it was clearly painful for the actor, she defended Sharon's death as "dramatic and ultimately honoring," adding that she hoped it helped bring closure to fans of the show who didn't want to say goodbye just yet. "Im [sic] hoping as the season concludes you will feel more honored and the grief we all feel will have a place to express itself," she wrote.

Sharon's death is a clear sign to fans that Major Crimes is not coming back — at least not any time soon. And that is how Duff and McDonnell want it to be (again, for now). It was important for both the creator and star that the show have a real, creative ending, as opposed to one sprung on the show and its viewers thanks to a business decision. "Knowing we were headed for a a series finale, we crafted some emotional moments that will help us all say farewell to the show without saying goodbye to each other," Duff wrote in a Facebook post, hinting that though this is the end of Major Crimes, the creative team behind the camera and on screen might stay together.

Major Crimes won't be rising from the dead, but hopefully this isn't the last time fans will see Duff and McDonnell, as well as other members of the cast, collaborate on screen. Duff has made clear his intentions to work with members of the Major Crimes cast and crew again in the near future, writing in another Facebook post that "the actors, writers and our amazing crew... are looking for ways to maintain our community outside the show that brought it together."

Mourn Major Crimes all you want, but know that there is hope for more and perhaps even better content from Duff, McDonnell and the entire cast and crew.