Grown-ish Season 4 ending explained: Why was Zoey not at her commencement ceremony?

A lot happened in the finale of Grown-ish. The fourth season ended with heavy hearts as the season marked the end of an era in this ABC teen sitcom. Not only does the episode portray the graduation of the group, but it also marks the exit of six of the original cast members, including Francia Raisa and Chloe Bailey.

However, things did not go in either of the two directions as fans expected from this finale. Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) did not end up running away with the love of her life Aaron Jackson (Trevor Jackson) to Africa or attending her graduation. What happened instead was very different and, although unexpected, was a great ending to the old gang's story.

So what exactly stopped Zoey Johnson from attending her graduation? Read on to decipher the ending of ABC's Grown-ish.

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Grown-ish ending: A missed graduation and a lot of goodbyes

The rather unexpected ending of the show saw Zoey get trapped on the rooftop of the old gang's dormitory, where they were having a mock-graduation for Vivek (Jordan Buhat). After the party, Zoey and Luca (Luca Sabbat) stayed back to talk about their fashion line. Things got heated as Luca revealed that he had rejected an offer from an investor who wanted to streamline the designs.

This further enraged her because she stayed back to work on this fashion line instead of accompanying Aaron to South Africa. Their arguments kept on getting more and more heated till both of them fell asleep on the roof. The next morning Luca asked Zoey to move forward with the investor if she was up for the commercialized gig.

Before Zoey decided on it, the gang came back to rescue them. Zoey missed the graduation trapped on a rooftop. This was also perhaps the last time the entire gang was seen together at an event.

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Difficult departures and the road ahead

After talking to her father, Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson), Zoey decided to go ahead and follow her dreams in fashion. A time jump then showed Zoey working in New York City but still missing Aaron. In the end, Aaron came and surprised Zoey in her city, uniting the lovebirds.

Meanwhile, all the other characters are shown to move on with their lives. It will be different next season with six of the original cast members gone. But they will make guest appearances in the future. Showrunners Zakiyyah Alexander and Courtney Lilly said in a statement:

"Francia, Emily, Chloe, Halle, Luka, and Jordan will always be a part of the ‘-ish’ family. This new season isn’t a goodbye, we are just expanding the world; there will always be an open door for them to return."

While the upcoming season of Grown-ish might be very different, this one wrapped up in a perfect manner.