Everwood Finale Preview: Part 1

Nestled between the countless procedural dramas and reality shows that tend to dominate the prime-time lineup, the WB drama Everwood (Mondays at 9 pm/ET) has managed to keep viewers coming back for a weekly dose of romance and comedy. But will that loyalty be enough to secure the in-limbo fan favorite a spot on the CW lineup (to be revealed this week)? If executive producer Rina Mimoun has her way, fans will follow the Colorado kids to college next fall. Until then, the 4-year-old series is set to wrap its current run on June 5, but not before a major character says goodbye to Everwood  permanently. TVGuide.com invited Mimoun to recap the possibilities for next week's "big death," discuss upcoming guest stars, and offer, for whatever it's worth at this late date, a final plea to save the show. 

TVGuide.com: Hi, Rina, thanks for your time today.
Rina Mimoun: Thanks so much for still saying Everwood is on the air. [Laughs] Our final prayers are with you!

TVGuide.com: As the season winds down, the Everwood faithful have been showering CW boss Dawn Ostroff with gifts in an effort to keep the show alive. For those who have yet to contribute, is Dawn more of a rose or a tulip kind of gal?
Mimoun: I always say, "Send a lady roses." That's what I like to get. That way, for a brief moment, you can be really excited and think that it's being sent from, like, Taye Diggs or something.

TVGuide.com: With the roses, fans should include pages and pages of testimony about how fantastic the show is, right?
Mimoun: Exactly. God bless you! I swear to god, I've turned into this crazy prayer person since all of this has happened. It's really not my scene, and now I understand why everyone thinks I'm the voice of Hannah. I'm telling you, I've been Amy since Season 1, and suddenly the fans have turned against me. They can't understand it!

TVGuide.com: From where you sit, have fans been satisfied with this season's stories?
Mimoun: I think so. I sneak around on fan sites every once in a while, which I know I'm not supposed to do. If I see people are really screaming about something even if they're screaming, "I hate it, and here's why"  it's a good thing, because it means that people are talking and people are excited. The point of television, especially when you're writing character drama, is not to get everyone to agree with you. When we had Andy Brown throw Madison out of Everwood, you can imagine the hate that came. My grandmother called me, hating me! She was like, "I can't watch it anymore," and I said, "But you're riveted, and you will."

TVGuide.com: There are only a handful of episodes left this season. What can you tell us about how it will wrap up? Will Kelly Carlson [as Ada] continue to cause problems for fan-favorite couple Bright and Hannah?
Mimoun: You will no longer see Kelly, but the predicament remains. Hannah meets somebody else that causes a bit of a stir. But there is hope remaining for Bright and Hannah. As Ephram and Amy exist in the ether, Bright and Hannah have become similar in that way.

TVGuide.com: Good, because I've cried too much already!
Mimoun: Oh, yay! [Chuckles] It will get happy for them.

TVGuide.com: Who else are we going to see in terms of guests?
Mimoun: You are still waiting to see Justin Kirk (Weeds) and Charles Durning, whom I adore! If there is a Season 5, you will definitely see more of him. There are people leaving Everwood major people saying goodbye forever.

TVGuide.com: Do tell.
Mimoun: There's a person dying who is leaving the earth forever, but there are some other people who are simply leaving Everwood forever. Probably getting other shows, quite frankly.

TVGuide.com: In terms of this season's big death, what are some of the more humorous guesses fans have offered?
Mimoun: A lot of people have been wanting us to kill Jake. Jake is not dying! Scott Wolf is my favorite addition to the cast, over all four seasons. He's just friggin' awesome an amazing human being, an amazing actor. He handles a show like this better than so many other people, because he can really master comedy and drama at the same time. A lot of people thought we were going to kill Jake in some major drug overdose.

TVGuide.com: At his new clinic, of course.
Mimoun: Yes, someone's going to bomb the plastic-surgery clinic. [Laughs] Then Joan Rivers comes to town.... That would have been a good one! But Jake is ruled out. The way we structured the episode where the person dies, there are three possibilities, and we lead you down the road toward three different people. I feel like I'm ruining it....

TVGuide.com: Some have said the death is more sad than tragic.
Mimoun: I think it's both. For the people who are affected by it, it's certainly tragic, and there's one person who's definitely affected more than others. I suppose I could tell you the three people who it looks like could die, and then people can take their guesses.

TVGuide.com: Sure  then you can go read the message boards!
Mimoun: You've got Bright with a serious problem after a major drunken incident at a bar that causes him to go flying through a sheet of glass. You've got Rose, with the scare returning. And Andy's father coming back to town... it will always cause speculation when a very old man comes back to town to meet his grandchildren. There are always questions when you bring in a super-old guy. It always seems like a last hurrah.

TVGuide.com: That could be too obvious.
Mimoun: You never know. But it's just like writers to say there's a big death coming and then kill off a guest star. [Laughs]

Coming soon, in Part 2 of Insider's exclusive Q&A: Rina Mimoun reflects on the season gone by, reveals her favorite character, and shares the scoop on Everwood's syndication deal.