I’ve noticed the site has been getting a lot of hits since last night and I can only assume that many of them are from new visitors who are wondering why Emily was not in yesterday’s Brothers & Sisters season premiere. (If you’re one of those people, you can read all about Emily’s decision to leave the show here.) Rest assured, she will be in the next three episodes. Though, as I mentioned in a previous update, I’m thinking she will probably only make a small appearance in episode two and the bulk of her scenes will be in the third and fourth episodes.

Anyways, the website givememyremote.com recently conducted an interview with B&S producer David Marshall Grant about the fifth season and he talked a bit about Rebecca’s departure. If you want to read the entire interview click here. Or you can just read the parts about Emily/Rebecca below:

It’s no secret that Rob Lowe has left the show and Emily VanCamp is on her way out. What does their absence mean for the series?
DMG: Look, it’s obviously a huge loss. Both of them have been as big a part of BROTHERS & SISTERS as anybody else and I think that in terms of the premiere, it was very important for us to honor Rob’s leaving. So that’s a big part of what our premiere is about. We didn’t want to pretend that Rob didn’t exist. That was not fair to him or the character. In terms of Rebecca, she’s another character of huge importance to our show. But we were really anxious — and so was Emily — to do a two-episode arc where we really finish the story of Justin and Rebecca. We understand the conflict and what is left to figure out between Rebecca and Holly, so that when Rebecca leaves, she leaves with the audience being satisfied that the relationships that they’ve been watching all these years have made sense and have been honored.

Is the door open for Emily to come back?
DMG: We’re hoping she can come back for another episode, actually. It went so well, we were so happy, we’re hoping for that.

Any time frame for when you’d want that to be?
DMG: Yeah, maybe next season. Anything is possible.

And what will Holly be up to with Rebecca gone?
DMG: She will still have a very important arc this season. It involves obviously her relationship with Rebecca and part of why Rebecca leaves and she has a very important relationship with Justin and Nora.