Yup, people tuned in to say goodbye. The ratings next year are gonna be interesting to say the least.
Yeah. For one, I’m curious just how many fans who say they will stop watching the show will actually stick to their word. I’ve seen those statements plenty of times in the past for this show and other shows, and often plenty still end up watching anyway. I imagine at least the Season premiere could match what the end of Season 6 was doing, since 1) We don’t know how many of the General Audience are aware of all of the cast exits, and 2) Jennifer Morrison already confirmed that she’ll be appearing in the premiere, and I suspect other former cast members could as well. How fans take the Season premiere will determine how the rest of the Season fares, so they’ll need to tread carefully. The absolute worst move they could make is if they chose to kill Emma, just to explain why she can’t appear regularly anymore. That’s the quickest way to lose fans, and I suspect ABC would quickly veto the idea. Sure they’ve been allowed to kill off Neal and Robin Hood, but Emma is on an entirely different level. She was the main heroine for the past 6 Seasons, and is among the most popular characters on the show.
There are bound to be more creative ways to explain her absence.