ER: Season 07 (2000)

Curiously, there were no major cast defections during the seventh season of the award-winning hospital drama ER. However, two new characters make their first appearances this season: psychiatrist Dr. Kim Legaspi (Elizabeth Mitchell), who coerces ER chief Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) to admit that she is a lesbian; and 19-year-old pediatrics intern Rena Trujillo (Lourdes Benedicto), who latches onto Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) -- who in turn is trying to wean himself from a dangerous dependency on drugs and booze, brought about by a double tragedy in the previous season. The season's predominant plotline involves Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), whose romance with Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) results in a baby and a marriage -- and who, in a more disturbing development, is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Another subplot concerns the ongoing feud between doctors Romano (Paul McCrane) and Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), culminating in Benton being fired from the ER and blacklisted throughout the Chicago medical world; though he is eventually reinstated, Benton is saddled with additional problems vis-à-vis his gangbanger nephew Jesse (Andrew McFarlane) and Jesse's girlfriend, Kynesha (Toy Connor). Also, OB nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) finds herself strapped for cash in her efforts to enter medical school, and is drawn to Carter -- though their budding relationship is sorely strained when she becomes his AA sponsor. Meanwhile, East European émigré Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) continues to suffers flashbacks to past tragedies in his war-torn homeland. Among the season's notable guest stars as Sally Field, in an Emmy-winning turn as Abby's bipolar mother, and John Cromwell as a dying Catholic bishop who tries to reawaken the embittered Kovac's faith in God. The unforgettable season seven finale finds the ER under siege by the homicidally vengeful father of a child whom Greene had removed to foster care. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi