Lockhart of Darkness

There's nothing better for post-conference exhaustion than getting cuddly with your loved ones and your Tivo for a day of home-o therapy.

As the only person in the universe still watching ER, I knew I'd get a really gratifying TV-weep out of Maura Tierney's last episode, titled "The Book of Abby," which aired this past Thursday night. I've always had a celeb crush on MT, starting with News Radio and her Dee Dee Myers-inspired turn on Primary Colors, only to have my passion inflamed by her victory over Gilmore girl, Lauren Graham on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. (Talk about slash fantasies come to life!)

But like a solid and steamy long-term love, MT saw me through the many ups and downs on on ER--a show I've watched without fail since it debuted my junior year of college. She even made the macabre mozzarella stick-toasting moment (for the dearly departed Greg Pratt, played by Mekhi Pfeiffer) somewhat bearable, if mostly for her incredulous look that seemed to say "I can't believe someone got paid to write this crap."

The EW PopWatch Blog offers a hilarious rundown of her sordid hook-ups (Stanley Tucci?!?), ill-fated romances (John Carter?!?), ongoing battles with booze, and bi-polar momma drama (mother Lockhart was played by Sally Field), so I'll spare all of us from any further re-capping. Suffice it to say that Maura made all the show's soapy, medical moments sing with a scratchy, smoker-throated realism. She gave the show gravitas. A certain crankiness and disinterestedness that actually made me care.

In mourning Maura's departure, I also bid adieu to one of my favorite subtexts on the show: the slash-y, sexy, and profound homosocial bond she shared with Bend it Like Beckham's Parminder Nagra (aka Dr. Neela Rasgotra). I'll let this fanvid I found on YouTube tell the long, luscious story through song. Like the vid's closing moments, I too will follow Abby into the dark, somewhere beyond the comforting familiarity of that perpetually rainsoaked ambulance bay. - (KT)