'Transplant' Season 4: Hamza Haq says it feels both 'great' and 'awful' to conclude show

Canada's most-watched drama, Transplant starring Hamza Haq, Laurence Leboeuf, Ayisha Issa, Jim Watson and Rekha Sharma, is back for Season 4, the final season in the series (premiering Oct. 6 at 9:00 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app).

"It feels both great and it feels awful," Haq told Yahoo Canada about getting to the point of conclusion for the show.

"In my opinion, [creator Joseph Kay] and the writing team have done such a tremendous job with the finale and you're all going very much enjoy it. I think justice is being done to all the characters and all their stories, we did our absolute best to tell a beautiful story."

For four seasons Haq has played Dr. Bashir "Bash" Hamed, a doctor who fled Syria as a refugee, with his little sister Amira (Sirena Gulamgaus), and is now practicing emergency medicine at York Memorial Hospital in Toronto.

From the moment the show first premiered in 2020, Transplant was able to transcend the medical drama genre. While that's very much a part of the narrative, fans really latched on to Bash's personal story and the personal relationships he builds, assisted by a particularly strong ensemble cast.

"It's just great that people in different parts of the world are waiting for it, they're excited for it, they crave it and they're with us throughout the entire journey, and it's a beautiful moment for us," Haq said.

"We set out to tell the story of the Syrian refugee crisis, which is still going on. The effects of it people are still feeling to this day, so it's not something that's in the past. ... It's something that's very current. To be able to do that while building a personal relationship with our fan base, it's really great because you hook them with the drama and you hook them with the medical stuff, ... and they end up caring about a situation that is affecting millions of people all over the world. You can't hope for anything better than that."

What happens in Season 4 of 'Transplant'

In this final season Bash is coming up to the end of his residency, but we find out that both Bash and Magalie "Mags" Leblanc (Leboeuf) applied for a job at York Memorial Hospital, and there is only one spot.

But the season actually begins with a flashback to 2017 in Crete, as Bash was fleeing with Amira.

That flashback is important because it exemplifies one aspect of Transplant that is handled with particular care. The show has allowed Bash to grow and evolve as a character, but effectively keeps that connection to his refugee journey.

Haq credits the show's ability to find that balance to both the series creator and writers, in addition to consultants, specifically Syrian refugees that the cast and crew have been able to speak to and their additional contributions to the show, including the writing.

"They're just trying to live their lives after this horrifying and monumental event, ... and that's something that they live with all the time," Haq said.

"It's sort of this peripheral effect that they carry with them everywhere they go, whether or not it's at the front of their consciousness or not. It's something that's with them all the time. Because of their generosity and sharing their life experience, we're able to inject that into Bashir's story arc and it informs our storytelling a great degree."

Haq has previously stated that, to put it in the actor's own words, creator Joseph Kay has "hacked" his life with Transplant, in the way that the art represents his personal life, and vice versa.

For Season 4 in particular, Bash is coming to the end of a four-year residency and he's not sure what the future holds, and that's something Haq relates to as well.

"Transplant did that for me as a show, it really gave me a stable job where I can take care of my family, where I can do all these things, and then at the end of the four years we kind of don't know what's going to happen," Haq said. "There's a beautiful acceptance of that reality that Bashir goes through and we see him struggle with that. Right up until the very end you won't know, which I love."

"I think for me to be able to play the very real circumstance of having something stable, having something life changing and not knowing what's going to happen after that, that was just a beautiful reflection of my own life. I just got to dive into that and talk about the joys of having that, the insecurity of losing it, the fear of never finding it again, and the beauty of just allowing it to be. We see Bashir go through all four of these, amongst many other emotions, throughout the season."

Do Bash and Mags end up together in 'Transplant'

Throughout Transplant there have been two relationships that Bash has that have been particularly interesting to see evolve. Firstly, Bash's relationship with his sister, and then his relationship with Mags.

Haq said that when Sirena Gulamgaus is on set, it really feels like his little sister has arrived.

"My first day with Sirena filming was in the pilot episode where they find each other, and we have to establish this connection immediately. It's just one of those things that clicked," Haq said.

"She is my little sister and we've just been able to have more and more fun, and tease each other on set and it's been really great. I've always wanted a younger sister ... and when Sirena showed up, since the pilot episode until now, I've been able to enjoy that relationship of what it is to be an older brother, and it's been so much fun."

When it comes to Bash and Mags, the big question for the series conclusion is if they do in fact end up together as romantic partners. Having watched the first two episodes of Season 4, we have no idea, but Haq teased that the characters "have a lot of screen time together."

"We've seen Bash and Mags go through the entire spectrum of what a human relationship can be, in terms of both personal and professional dynamic," Haq said. "The only thing that I can sort of tease about that is, what's to come in Season 4 is an area and a circumstance that we haven't seen before, for better or for worse."

"You'll be able to see the full breadth of the Bash and Mags story."

'All good things come to an end'

It's certainly not an understatement to say that Transplant will be severely missed when its final season comes to an end. The show quite honestly, in some respects, is single-handedly responsible for getting a lot of Canadians excited about our own TV entertainment, while also seeing significant success outside of Canada.

For anyone who's particularly sad to see the show go, Haq stressed that "all good things come to an end."

"I personally think that when they watch the show, if at the end of the fourth season they still want more, we did our job exactly the way that we were supposed to," Haq said. "I think that ... leaving them wanting more is the best way to leave it, as opposed to wringing it to a point where people get sick of it."

"I think we can take great pride in knowing that we know when to say when. We've told a beautiful story. Could we do more? Of course we could. But the fact that we're doing it in a way where we think we've served the characters and served the story as best that we can, given the time that we had with it, I think audiences are going to enjoy that. I think they can take peace in knowing that everybody involved feels the same way, that it's time."