“Forever” Creator and Star Break Down That Emotional Finale—and Tease What’s Next for Possible Season 2
In the closing moments of Netflix’s “Forever“, the camera lingers on Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) as they say their quiet, gut-wrenching goodbye. With high school behind them and their futures pulling them in opposite directions, the young couple stands in a shadowy Los Angeles street. Justin gently kisses Keisha’s forehead, touching the infinity necklace he gave her. She walks away, glancing back only once. He turns and walks the other way.
“Forever” Premise and Background
It’s a devastating, beautiful conclusion to an eight-episode journey that captures the magic—and mess—of first love. Created by Mara Brock Akil and inspired by Judy Blume’s 1975 novel “Forever”, the show takes the emotional depth of Blume’s groundbreaking story and reframes it through the lens of two Black teens navigating love, trauma, and pressure in 2018 Los Angeles.
Blume’s original book was a revelation in its time—one of the first young adult novels to treat teenage sexuality with honesty and empathy. The story followed Katherine and Michael, high school seniors who fall deeply in love and confront the emotional and physical realities of an intimate relationship. Forever became a rite of passage for generations of readers and remains a touchstone in conversations about censorship, consent, and coming-of-age narratives.
In Netflix’s adaptation, Keisha and Justin are both star athletes chasing college scholarships under the intense scrutiny of overbearing parents. Their love story starts at a New Year’s Eve party when they reconnect after knowing each other as kids, and from there, sparks fly.
“I don’t think this is the end,” star Lovie Simone tells Variety. “I think this is the end of a chapter with this version of them. I don’t want them to break up. I’m Team Justin and Keisha.” That connection—built on shared history and smoldering chemistry—anchors the show, making it one of the most emotionally resonant portrayals of teen romance on screen today. Simone says her real-life rapport with Cooper helped.
“The bond and the friendship came naturally,” Simone explains. “You’re with somebody almost daily for a few months, and you have similar passions and interests. So it wasn’t hard. What was hard was being told not to bond… Regina King, the director of Episode 1, wanted us to prepare by not speaking as much. So we did have to hold off in our relationship, and there was a lot of tension and a lot of like, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you, but maybe not now.’”
While the relationship between Keisha and Justin is the emotional center of “Forever”, the series doesn’t shy away from the outside forces that threaten to unravel them. At the heart of Keisha’s emotional struggle is a deeply personal trauma: an ex-boyfriend shares a private video of her, setting off a wave of shame and fear that follows her into her new relationship and her new school.
“I tried to have as much grace as possible with Keisha,” Simone says. “She’s a teenager who’s experiencing all of these first-time things and love and romance, but she’s also learning how to do that while working around the trauma that’s affecting her and her movement.”
Her mother, Shelly (Xosha Roquemore), is a determined single mom pushing her daughter toward greatness, unaware of the secret Keisha is carrying. When the truth finally surfaces, it’s a powerful and painful turning point—especially in Episode 6, “The Honeymoon,” where Keisha comes clean.
“It was fun for me and Xosha,” Simone recalls. “I got to really sit with Keisha and pull that out, and she got to sit in Shelly… She’s a single mom. I had a youngish mom growing up, so I know this relationship. So a lot of parallels made it smooth.” The show also treats intimacy and consent with care and complexity, thanks in part to the collaborative process behind the scenes.
“We had an intimacy coordinator on the set, Sasha [Smith],” Simone shares. “Sasha did things differently than I’m used to… Although there was a lot of consent on screen, there was a lot of that behind the cameras, too. It was very comfortable and easy for me to do.”
Simone, who has a deep love for romantic stories—citing “A Witch in Time” by Constance Sayers and Whitley and Dwayne’s arc in “A Different World”—read Blume’s original novel in one sitting after landing the audition. Though she hasn’t yet met the author, the connection was clear. “I did hear from Mara that she really likes the show,” Simone says. “So I’m happy I could be a part of that.”
“Forever” Season 2 and Success
When asked by Entertainment Weekly whether “Forever” might return for a second season, series creator and executive producer Mara Brock Akil sounded hopeful. She expressed enthusiasm about continuing the story, emphasizing that there’s plenty of space to explore more of Keisha and Justin’s journey. Brock Akil also reflected on the importance of audience demand and the kind of storytelling the series represents:
“There’s absolutely room for that. In this art form, I don’t make it for myself. I’m making it for an audience. I believe that the audience wants character-driven, complex love stories. If the audience wants more, I want more. Let’s go do it.”
Her comments suggest that while nothing is confirmed yet, the door is definitely open for a second chapter—especially if viewers keep showing up for the heartfelt, layered stories “Forever” has to offer.
“Forever” currently sits at number 2 on Netflix’s Top 10 Chart in the United States and has a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 84% on Meteoritic. As “Forever” earns critical acclaim and Simone lands a Gotham TV Award nomination for her performance, the series leaves viewers with a final message as timeless as Blume’s original story: young love is real, it matters, and it leaves its mark.
More On:TV