Does anyone know if Abby is gonna start out the season before she officially exits? I tried finding any news but all I kept finding was interiews with Maura where she indicated she had asked the producers and writers to kill her character...and they refused.

She is my favorite part of the show so I am gonna miss her...and I do NOT want them to kill her >:(

On another note...I think she was robbed by not receiveing an Emmy nod....some the the best work on ANY show last season

Easty, I'm pretty sure, she's back for a some episodes next season. Half, maybe?

I read it someplace at the end of last season. I believe that she was suppose to go, with Luka last season, but the strike changed plans.

Thanks Frannie...I think you may be right about the strike because I thought last season would be her last BUT...it didn't seem as though the final episode indicated she was leaving..I don't think they would let a major character just go like that?

No, and what I read last year, was that Abby and Luka left together in a happy ending.

Yes...I read that too...and I was waiting for a happy ending for Luka and Abby...but it doesn't look so good at the moment. I would really like to see both of them have a happy ending after investing so many years rooting for them...it would be a nice payoff. I damn sure don't want them to kill either one of them.

My guess is, the one who dies is Sam or Morris. That's just a guess, nothing I've read or anything.

And neither would be much of a loss, imo.

There are only three cast charaters I really like now...Abby, Luka and Neela. As long as they don't kill any one of those three...I can live with anyone else being dead. It isn't that I dislike any of the other characters..they are all good...I just don't care about them very much.

Yeah, I agree with that. I do like Debanko, but the rest are just filler for me.

Although Pratt has grown on me since he first showed up. I miss the old days.

I think "filler" may have been their downfall. The thing is...they had sooooo many talented and well developed actors/actresses/characters and their casting department (and writing team) really blew it about five seasons ago. Basically they are missing a few strong well defined characters who have alot of stage presense. I realize that they have some big shoes to fill but come on guys...step up to the plate!

Pratt finally came into his own this past season and (almost) hit the mark but the problem is too many filler characters...Neela, Abby and Luka have done a great job but they just needed that ONE more person to gel the cast...I also think that they could have used Weaver to possibly fill those shoes by expanding her role versus diminishing it.

Bringing in John Leguizamo and Kirsten Johnson was a total bust...casting should have been fired. The last two interns they had toward the end of last season showed some promise but I guess now it is too late...oh well. I hope they do the series justice in the final season. I will miss my Thursday Night at 10 appointment.

I totally agree! The stunt casting was horrid. Weaver, Romano, and Susan needed big roles and some of the nurses...Hella, Lydia, Chuney.

Instead we got the awful, awful Leguizamo(I almost quit when he was on), Johnson, and the useless Stanley Tucci. What could have been a good role, they just messed up into a bunch of nothing.

Yeah...I really questioned the point of Tucci...he was completely useless...if they had to do that role they could have done a MUCH BETTER job of casting...maybe looked at their daytime Roster and gotten someone like Peter Reckell (Bo on Days)...maybe even EJ...I am not completely convinced that would fly but I know it's a better idea than the one they came up with.

I think Tucci would have been okay, IF the story had a point. What was the point? Just to have him come in, be weird, and sleep with Abby?

They've made some really, really poor acting/writing choices since Mark died. They never found a good bunch of characters/actors to fill the roles of the older set.

Maura Tierney is not going to die on ER, but she will be leaving. She will be leaving soon though. Abby will be leaving with Luka to livve somewhere else. Yes i know this sad because she was my favorite too.

Seeing as it's the last season of the show, I am going to guess a few of them will leave before the last show airs. The first show was pretty sad at the end. I was doing fine till Morris pulled the ring out of his pocket. I also think Luka should have been at the bar when they all met after work.

Oh my gosh, I suspected it would be Pratt, but I didn't expect to weep like a baby for half the show like I did.

I'd have preferred them not to have chosen him, but I can see why they did. His character had evolved and grown into a caring compassionate and great doctor.

I agree also! They brought in guest stars but their roles didn't accomplish anything and when their contracts were up, they were gone, with no resolution, no nothing. Armand Assante is one example. He played a patient who hired Sam as his live-in private duty nurse, gave her a home and was a helpful mentor to her and then, what happened to him? "Oh, it wasn't working out" and Sam was off on her own again. That's poor writing in my opinion, nothing like the earlier years of the series, which I enjoyed very much. . . . Anna

I too agree with you!!