thefulltimedad

Well, yeah. It makes sense they would do a character-centric intro with Abby the same way they did with Lucy. Part of it was that Maura Tierney was a big get for the show. She had big cachet after Newsradio and Liar Liar, plus it would help soften the blow of Kellie Martin’s imminent departure to get to know Abby’s character more. As for BSMH. I don’t necessarily think the Abby plot line was huge for the sake of Abby more so than to amplify Carter’s inattentiveness to Lucy, which was a contributing factor in the stabbing. And I think both plot points were on screen for an equal amount of time.

Aw, I’m bummed you left! I think the STT crew always makes a big deal when a new major character is introduced. For me, those moments feel like when a comic book character makes their debut. Like when Luka strides into the ambulance bay, or Lucy walks down the El steps. It’s just something about those moments that sticks. I don’t think they were overly effusive. In fact, they acknowledge that Abby’s quite a polarizing character to the fandom. I think the rest of the episode was definitely dedicated to Carol’s performance.

Just chiming in here to say that sometimes we conflate Abby’s entrance to somehow a decline in Lucy’s presence on the show. They only overlapped three episodes. “Abby Road,” Tierney’s debut as a cast regular, and “BSMH and AITF,” Lucy’s exit.

Hi, first time caller and big STT podcast fan. I know i might be in the minority on this forum, but Secrets & Lies has achieved pretty well-known cult status in the years since it’s airing. You might not agree with IMDb’s user rating system, but that episode is ranked No. 13 overall with an 8.7 rating with hundreds of votes cast. I think the offbeat nature of it provides a bit of an inhale moment before you get sucked back into the Mark stuff. Was it a perfect episode? Not by any stretch. Carter bragging about being sexually assaulted as an 11 year old and no one saying anything is particularly shocking. But I find the rest of the episode to be a nice way to get to know more about the cast who’s gonna move the show forward after mark dies, especially Gallant and Susan 2.0.