I'm Only Here for Carter.

The grand entrance hall.

Here's your dining/living room combo.

Check out these statues in front of the fireplace. The listing doesn't mention anything about furnishings being included, but they do showcase certain pieces.

There are 2 separate tables, so this could also be game tables, as well.

The kitchen features marble counters and backsplash, plus mirror-front cabinetry.

It's an eat-in kitchen and look at the statue on the island.

There's a table.

And, this little table for two. I thought that it was a writing table.

Look at their dishes in the China cabinet.

There are marble floors throughout the unit. This would be the primary bd.

The ensuite. They must have an army of house cleaners.

The 2nd fl. has catwalks.

Looking down on the sitting room.

The home office.

This bathroom has a separate toilet room.

This bedroom is also big and has a sitting area.

And, a matching ensuite.

This is just a corner of the mezzanine that features a collection of carousel horses.

This is another bedroom.

The ensuite for this bedroom.

The hallway to the penthouse is unimpressive.

I thought the hall in my apt. were dull, but this expensive building's are worse.

The terrace.

The area looks congested.

County General is no stranger to disaster but this time, the forces of nature conspire against them!

THE CHALLENGE

Create a work of writing/art/etc. about our intrepid heroes facing a natural disaster — literally, metaphorically, psychologically! However you interpret that is up to you.

These prompts are meant to inspire your imagination, but in no way should you feel restricted by them. If you wanna write about a volcano, then by all means— LET US SEE THAT PYROCLASTIC FLOW!

Challenge Open: NOW

Deadline: August 31, 11:59 PST

We welcome all ratings and pairings.

Additionally, we recognise that ER contains many mature and difficult themes, so please be sure to tag your works responsibly (I'm looking at you Secrets & Lies related fics!)

WHAT’S EXPECTED OF ME AS A PARTICIPANT? All written pieces must be a minimum of 500 words, and must be complete (in the case of one shots) or have a minimum of one chapter completed (for multi-chapter fics) by August 31 2026.

There will be an open but hidden collection on AO3 (updated later) for you to submit your fic to. The collection will be revealed on September 1 2026.

If you are making art, you are more than welcome to make it a work on AO3, but please do not post your art on tumblr until the collection is revealed. Be sure to tag it #County General Natural Disaster Challenge on tumblr so we can all find it, and reblog.

Collaboration and discussion is encouraged!

So I think they knew Anna was leaving around or just before filming the last ep of S4 (based on what’s shown in the last 15 mins of the ep). So at this point they’d have had to rethink their plans for a) whatever was going to happen with Anna and b) Carter’s love life. (problem 1).

They knew Clooney was leaving. They screwed it up by making it so repetitive to his previous storylines. Interestingly the writers blamed his leaving storyline taking up all the oxygen being a big S5 problem. I don’t remember that being the case when I last watched but maybe? I don’t know if they let Clooney go earlier than originally planned too because he left midway through the season (Problem 2)

I don’t understand why they decided to make Carol pregnant, except that maybe Julianna Marguiles was originally planning to leave in S5 then extended a year. Either way, Doug leaving halfway through the season and Carol staying left the writers with a story headache (problem 3).

They probably knew Eriq La Salle had a problem with the Benton-Corday relationship in S4 because it’s part of the storyline. If so, that bit them on the arse when he was still unhappy with it in S5, so they needed to change this storyline midway through the season. I don’t think they’d planned to do so - another swerve (problem 4).

I genuinely can’t remember much of Mark’s storyline in S5 which is a pretty big problem for the main character. (maybe problem 5 but that might just be me not paying much attention to S5 Mark).

Lucy. I get what they were trying but I’m fairly certain from reading old forums that she was widely disliked. This is a problem when you’ve just spent about three episodes focused on introducing her as a new main character (problem 6)

Also - they decided to pivot to the Carter-Lucy romance and then had to pivot right back out of it when Noah Wyle asked them not to go down that road (problem 7)

And on the whole Carter-Lucy teaching storyline. This one is total conjecture BUT. In S5E1 they mention whether he’ll teach Lucy like Benton taught him. This is kind of brought up once later in the sense of Carter saying Benton must have found him so frustrating. But thats not what the Ep1 line was about - the Ep1 line had been alluding to Benton’s not so great qualities as a teacher towards Carter. Surely if you’re doing a Carter teacher storyline you’re thinking about the Carter-Benton relationship. And it’s kind of there in the background but I don’t think it’s ever resolved. I think they probably were going to do much more with that but didn’t in the end, maybe due to all the other plot changes that year (although TV shows did used to just never resolve stuff so I might be totally wrong) (problem 8. Maybe)

Something went on with the scheduling that meant they wouldn’t let Noah out to do Pirates of Silicon Valley. I’ve discovered it was always supposed to be filmed in October which means something went on to change his availability if the ER producers were originally going to give him time off to do it. Maybe just normal filming over-running but maybe all the changes to storylines caused the issue (problem 9)

First, her exit was announced AFTER George Clooney’s exit. There were old forums and boards speculating on rumours about Maria leaving while fully aware of George’s upcoming exit. Even Reuters (Variety) seem confused when they break the news on June 23, 1998 (about a month after the season 4 finale aired).

Their article goes on to suggest that George Clooney’s exit prompted Maria’s because she wanted to be romantically paired with his character. This is, in retrospect, clearly a wild speculation. Season 4 is pretty clear from the off that Carter is Anna’s endgame romance, and she outright rejects Doug in Season 3. Never mind no person on earth really believed Doug was ever going to end up with anyone except Carol by this point in the show.

So it seems like it was a shock to everyone, quite late in the game, and no one had any clue, or any reason to anticipate or understand her exit.

I think, maybe a year or so later (? I can’t find a single source, but lots of repetitions of this from random people) it came out Maria was really unhappy on the show. The word was, for quite a long time, that she’d felt ER “wasn’t real acting” and “didn’t challenge her” and so she wanted to pursue more ambitious projects in film.

Maria’s own story, later on, backs this up. She says that she went to John Wells (she doesn’t say when) and said “she’d rather be sweeping streets” than stay on ER.

SO that’s the vibe that got out, and this is where the story diverges.

As far as I can tell, this is essentially the story that the cast heard. I’m sure they heard from Maria directly or indirectly while working with her, or could tell just from the vibe that she was miserable. She acknowledges that she was just constantly sad on set, and could not get up the energy to participate and be enthusiastic about it, especially as Season 4 went on. She felt like she was unfulfilled and the only thing that she could identify as being the cause of that was being stuck on ER. She “couldn’t bear to be there.”

SIDE NOTE:

Turns out - she was suffering from undiagnosed depression, anxiety, and BPD. In 2024, on the Seano Show (although she may have mentioned it before), she goes in detail about how the day she quit, she got in a car, left LA, and drove away to a hotel in the middle of a mixed manic-depressive episode and was suicidal. Her mother and brother got her into psychiatric care, where she was eventually diagnosed and treated.

This poor girl was literally in the midst of a mental health crisis, and because of the way mental health was at the time she could not articulate it beyond “I feel awful, I can’t be here.”

I don’t think the cast ever knew this.

And why do I think the cast was never told about Maria? Because a) she clearly didn’t know what was going on with her, and b) the cast was never told about Kellie’s sister. Obviously, both these instances are deeply personal, and in Maria’s case, unclear even to her. But both of these instances deeply affected a cast who were very committed to each other, and have now had their whole career thrown into chaos at the whim of two people who, for unknown reasons, seem to have taken precedence over more senior members.

BACK ON MAIN

I think that all the cast was told at the time was that Maria was gone. They may have filled the gap of understanding in with the little they did know (She didn’t want to be there, she was often sad and frustrated, and didn’t seem to like the job), and supplemented it with rumours (She thinks the show is “not real acting” and that the work is beneath her).

All this coming in June. Shooting is expected to start in July.

We know this because Kellie Martin was due to start shooting ER the week her sister died, and they ended up delaying production by a week in order to give her some time to grieve. Kellie’s sister died July 17 1998.

Kellie Martin, herself, and the character of Lucy, was a late addition to the cast. She says in an interview (a podcast, I can’t remember which) that it was stated to her that Season 5 was meant to be a “soft relaunch” for the show.

After Season 4’s success, there’s no real reason to do a relaunch of ANY kind unless your whole story has been completely thrown out. This makes even less sense when you consider any reboot would be more likely after Clooney’s exit, and anyone else they might lose.

Because, consider this: It was obvious from probably Season 2 that George Clooney was not staying past his contract. In fact, there was much praise singing regarding his staying that long.

See, back in the day, network shows generally signed their main cast to standard five-year contracts. This is to keep costs down if your show gets really popular, like ER did. However, after five years, if you get renewed, the actors can renegotiate. ie. ask for more money.

And since ER was such a massive hit, they were always gonna ask for A LOT more money. Like the article @delightfullyatomicfest linked stated — MILLIONS of dollars more money.

This is also why, in general, back in the day shows like this would have a planned out five-season arc. You can go back to a bunch of 90s shows and see a strong first five seasons and then a tone shift (X-Files, for example), and/or cast changeover. That’s the five year contract standard, baby!

Anyway, the thing is, Maria Bello signed a SEVEN-YEAR CONTRACT halfway through Season 3. So they knew they were planning on keeping her long-term. They did not expect that she would leave, at all.

And once she does they’re faced with two main problems.

What to do about the plot?

What to do about the cast?

Because she left, but they were juuuuuust approaching negotiations for season 6 contracts, which means EVERY OTHER MEMBER of the main cast could choose to peace out. And now that the story/plans for Season 5 were in shambles, they could very well lose the trust and investment of those leads.

Eriq doesn’t like his Season 5 story? Gone.

Noah hates his Season 5 romance? Gone.

Julianna was already on the fence. Now? Gone.

Anthony feels underutilised? Gone.

They could very well lose them ALL. And be absolutely fuuuuuuuucked.

Maria leaves, as far as the cast knows because she hated the show and hated them all, the whole production is thrown into chaos, and suddenly, within a month, they’re “soft-relaunching” the entire thing with a brand new lead character, Lucy.

I don’t think it’s a big leap to imagine that the atmosphere backstage was…fraught. To put it mildly.

Keep in mind, this is the same time period as Noah telling Kellie to “step up” and bring her A-Game. This is where he’s telling us he hated Goran, and was very jealous.

Now, imagine this:

You’ve been on this show for four years. It was your big break, and basically your sole professional credit of any critical or public value. And it’s amazing. You have made the best friends of your life — one of whom is leaving after the next season.

That’s sad, obviously, but you’re happy for him. And it’s good news for you, too, because that means you’re moving up on the call sheet. You’re no longer the junior comic relief. Actually, this past season you just did has set you up with some pretty juicy character arcs, and a slow-burn love interest with another up-and-coming actress who has signed on for seven years. You can tell it’s cooking. You’re being groomed to be the next romantic lead of the show! And the show is the biggest thing on television.

ALSO, this fall, you’ve booked a film. You’re not sure what the situation is, but the Big Show you’re on has agreed to let you go to Toronto for maybe a couple weeks, or weekends to shoot. There’s time being built into your regular shooting schedule for the Big Show to make room for you to do film projects. FILM PROJECTS! What you’ve always imagined you’d eventually graduate to. Not that the Big Show is bad, but…you were going to be a movie star.

In the meantime, you’re going on a road trip with your girlfriend soon to be wife, and you’re growing your first beard. Congratulations. Things are coming up you!

And then you find out the up-and-coming actress EVERY SINGLE ONE of those juicy storylines of yours was tied to has left.

She’s gone.

No reason given, but things come back to you. You hear she hated the show. Maybe you suspected it. She never seemed happy. The speculation in the paper is that she felt the Big Show you’ve fucking busted your ass for four years on “wasn’t creatively fulfilling,” or “wasn’t real acting.” She’s left to pursue movies. (Not that you couldn’t but you wanted to do movies, too, so what? What? Does she think she’s better than this Big Show? Better than you?).

Also, filming is supposed to begin in less than a month. How are they gonna write new scripts that fast? What are you even gonna be shooting?

Then you hear, they’re casting a new character. A med-student. The next Carter. The producers tell you and the rest of the cast they’re doing a “soft re-launch.”

You’re getting replaced.

And there’s nowhere for you to go, because how can you be the romantic lead when your romantic partner is the person who left?

Then you hear your schedule’s been bumped again. They’re pushing the start date a week to accommodate this new actress. Someone who has never been on your show, has no idea how it works, has done nothing to contribute to the success of it, doesn’t know the dynamics, is coming in already the new lead, and with a schedule shaped to suit her. And you?

Well, first of all, that film you're doing? It's all a mess too. Turns out, your schedule isn't gonna be as flexible as you'd imagined, and now, unless they move the whole production to LA, you probably won't be able to do it.

As for the Big Show...you’ve read the first couple scripts. You’re basically in the background. Doing nothing. Unless “Lucy” is in the scene — then you pop up just to give her some conflict to work against, or to set up her main story arc. You’re barely a supporting character at this point. All your stuff seems to revolve around her. A lot of it seems like the comedic stuff you were doing in Season 3.

Not to mention, they’ve hired this other hot guy, very obviously and openly intended as George’s replacement in terms of romantic lead. So…that’s not gonna be you anymore, either.

They do give you a new love interest. She has no ties to any other characters. No real plot. Everything you were involved in last season has been completely dropped. In fact, at some point, it kind of seems to you like it’d be really easy to write you out of the show entirely…are you…are you getting fired?

I mean, your contract is up after this season. George is gone. Eriq…is making some noise about wanting to go, especially after this new shake up. Julianna, more and more, seems intent on leaving. And Kellie is getting a lot of screen time. You’re not stupid. You can read the writing on the wall, and it’s not good.

You lose the Emmy again that year, and this time, for the first time, the vote isn’t split between you and a Big Show colleague. You lost it all on your own. This is your last Emmy nomination for 26 years.

…

OBVIOUSLY THIS IS ALL RAMPANT SPECULATION but frankly, I’d be scared and impatient, too. I’d also be convinced I was getting fired, and irritated at having to hand hold these new people who were getting all this page time but couldn’t manage to do a single take without flubbing dialogue you have worked really hard for a really long time to master. I’d be a wreck.

I’m not saying this is what happened, but I am saying, hypothetically, if it was…yeah. Bring your stupid A-game.

NOW THAT’S ALL PRODUCTION BASED, but I think the evidence for this is in how Anna’s leaving really messed up Season 5 as we see it on screen.

Here’s the thing: when Maria joined, she was introduced to the show slowly. With great patience. At the same (or near the same) time, the cast was also expanded to include Alex Kingston and Paul McCrane. Looking back, Corday and Romano feel like Original Cast, because they were so seamlessly brought in. And Anna was the same. If she’d stayed, she’d have been in their ranks as the invisible second cast, long before Lucy, or Abby, or Luka arrived.

How did they do this?

They made each of these new characters integral parts of Main Cast Plots without giving them their own unique plot. We don’t know much about Anna, but we know that she and Doug disagree about patient care, and as a pediatrician she is set up opposite him. At the end of the season, her ex-boyfriend, Max, is the physician called in by County to evaluate the possibility of a pedes ER. He even literally tells us, “You know what will happen? They’ll ask me to run it,” setting up the very clear future plot line where Max comes in and edges Doug out — hence giving Clooney a plausible reason to leave County.

This was something that people found especially nonsensical in Season 5, even as it was airing. Doug’s plot ends up being essentially recycled from Season 1, feels unmoored, over-played, and unsatisfying as referenced in the article posted in OP’s post.

For Peter, she’s the one who delivers Reese, and the only person in the ER that Peter seems to trust with his son. Once this is established, not only is she connected to the ongoing Reese plot, and Benton, but also is a bridge between Benton and Carter who the writers have struggled to bring together in any logical way since Carter left surgery.

For Carol, Anna is established as a close friend, and is involved with the start of her clinic. There’s also some personal conflict here as even though she and Carol are friends, she makes no secret about how little she likes Doug. Carol is ALSO the matchmaker for Anna and Carter more than once, being a friend and bridge between both of them.

With Elizabeth, also new, they’re quick to establish a friendship, though since Elizabeth doesn’t really have her own unique plot yet, they’re less connected than they might otherwise be.

But you see what I mean? They tie her in SO TIGHTLY to everyone else’s plot which is INCREDIBLY smart as a way to introduce a character naturally to an audience, without pulling any focus from the Original Cast, but…

When she leaves, it kind of fucks over everyone else.

Especially Carter.

Whose EVERY SINGLE PLOT was in some way tied to Anna. Especially the main one, which was about his growing up and emancipation from his family. As discussed many times by MEEEEEEE lol, Anna and Carter are matched up SO SO well, structurally and narratively that even without a romantic subplot it would have been basically impossible to lose her and not restructure Carter’s ENTIRE story.

Which is what happens.

And that’s why Carter’s essentially a non-entity in Season 5. Roxanne essentially fills page time that likely would have been devoted to Anna/Carter stuff which is probably why it always feels so separate, and so aimless.

Doug’s exit-plot had to be completely reworked, dropping all the seeds from the season before about having to compete for his fellowship and the ER pedes unit.

Carol’s clinic, sponsored by Gamma Carter, no longer needed since all Carter’s plots were dropped, is also dropped, leaving Carol kind of aimless as well.

Benton’s connection to Carter is lost, and so they basically don’t interact for yet another season, though, admittedly the Reese plot is easier to excise (however, I can see a world where Reese’s care and development plot would have been tied to the pedes unit headed by Max, and Anna’s presence there is still relevant).

BASICALLY IT ALL GOT THROWN OUT THE WINDOW BECAUSE ANNA LEFT.