Chad Michael Murray reveals 'Sullivan's Crossing' finale had alternate ending

Joelle Goldstein, USA TODAYThu, July 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM UTC

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Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Season 4 finale of "Sullivan's Crossing," now streaming on Netflix.

Chad Michael Murray has thoughts on that shocking "Sullivan's Crossing" Season 4 finale and where the show goes from here.

The actor has starred on the CTV/CW series since 2023, playing beloved Crossing's local and handyman, California "Cal" Jones. His character ultimately falls in love with Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan) but Season 4 brought major troubles for the pair after Maggie's ex-husband (Marcus Rosner) shows up and attempts to work his way back into her life.

"If you look at Liam's story and their relationship, it's valid," Murray, 44, tells USA TODAY. "If Cal wasn't the guy that we were on the adventure with the entire time and you started Episode 1 at this point, where are you going? You may not side with Cal. You may side with Liam on that history."

With Season 4 now streaming on Netflix, Murray answers fans' burning questions about that controversial "Sullivan's Crossing" finale proposal, if he thinks things would've been different had Scott Patterson not left the show, and his hopes for Season 5, which starts filming in August.

Question: Season 4 ends with Cal and Maggie being asked to take in Tracy (Emerson MacNeil) after her foster parents are unable to care for her. What was your reaction to the finale?

Chad Michael Murray: I loved the cliffhanger. There was so much discussion over that, and the last two episodes. I felt like Cal really needed to draw his line in the sand – you can't just lay down and not make decisions for yourself; you have to decide what's best for you. I thought it was a good lesson to learn in general. I love the Tracy of it all. I think it's so cool and exciting, and leaves for great storytelling in Season 5. We'll see how it all plays out.

Cal gets upset with Maggie for lying to him about her situation with Liam, but he ultimately forgives her when she's willing to lie for Ben (Colby Frost). Do you feel like that was a valid reason for Cal's forgiveness?

Are there a zillion red flags? Is this one of those scenarios? Yeah. In my personal opinion, [Maggie went] a little bit too far [with Liam]. There have been red flags throughout the first three seasons. However, it is a drama, and these types of things happen. We deal with those in real life, and we've got to decide what is too far in our own journeys as human beings. That's what mattered to me.

Were you in favor of Cal proposing to Maggie after everything that happened?

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There was a lot of discussion on the proposal. There was even a world where she was the one proposing to Cal. I tried to put my two cents in, and my opinion was definitely put in there. However, those decisions are above my pay grade; I'm not going to tell anybody how to do their job. We came to a conclusion that would be best for the fans. And from what I've seen, everyone loves the finale, so we got where we needed to go. Now I'm hoping that we can have a whole Season 5 without any red flags, without any lies, and it's just the two of them taking on the outside world, together as a team.

Speaking of decisions above you, Scott Patterson left the series after Season 3 and his character Sully (Maggie's dad) was written off the show. Do you think Maggie's storyline would have been different if Sully had been there to guide her during Season 4?

If you remember, we were on a similar journey with Andrew [Maggie's ex-boyfriend played by Allan Hawco] in Season 1. There's a loyalty that Maggie has for people in her life, which is a commendable thing about a human. However, we still got to the same conclusion. Do I think that it might have been a smoother transition [with Sully]? Yeah, I think she would have gotten there in a much simpler way. Having that moment with your father, where he looks at you and says, 'What are you doing? I can't stand by and let you do this.' Because as we remember, Sully would say, 'Cal, you're a good man.' I think that would convince her.

More: Chad Michael Murray reveals his secret to staying young

Has playing Cal changed your perspective on anything in your own life?

There's a certain amount of patience and kindness that Cal has – it's more of a reminder than anything, not necessarily a change. We all go through moments in our life when we have more patience than other times, and when I'm in Cal's clothes, there's a reminder to go take a beat, just pause. Let's just float. We got this.

What are you hoping for in Season 5?

I want to see Cal look forward to becoming a father. He kind of put his foot in the ground [in the past] about not wanting to be a dad because of his relationship with his father, but maybe he gets closure on that and is able to move forward. Because I'm a dad myself, I'm interested to see if the way they choose to parent on the show is gonna affect me in a negative way. I'll start to go, 'I know it's above my pay grade, but Dad Chad says Cal wouldn't do this. Dad Chad says no bueno.' I also want Shandon's Diner to become a musical hangout, like Karen's Cafe [in "One Tree Hill"]. I want artists to come in and perform, do a quick little arc on it, get some cool music.

Who would be your dream musical guests?

If we could get Brandy in, I think that that would be rad. Maybe getting a little Dan + Shay in there, some Florida Georgia Line. Why not? Look, we're on the verge of country because we happen to be out in the woods. We could get away with some of those acts coming in and giving us slow jams. I guarantee you: Shay [Mooney] wants to come in and do some acting. I love Shay; he's a good buddy, so he's in.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chad Michael Murray on 'Sullivan's Crossing' Season 4 finale ending

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