TORONTO -- The explosive season finale of CTV's medical drama "Saving Hope" was a shocker -- even to co-star Benjamin Ayres, who nevertheless has a few ideas about how the shattered staff of the fictional Hope Zion Hospital can carry on.

For those who have yet to watch the final episode, read no further, spoilers abound. Latecomers can catch the finale on demand at CTV.ca, CTV GO, and CraveTV. All three seasons are also available on CraveTV.

Those who caught the devastating field mission -- which sent Dr. Joel Goran, played by Daniel Gillies, and Ayres's Dr. Zach Miller to attend to a freak military accident -- know that the long-running romantic triangle between Joel, Alex and Charlie has come to a decisive end.

Executive producer Ilana Frank said in a statement that deciding to kill Joel was "an incredibly difficult decision to make."

"We felt it was time to move in a different direction as we head into a new season. We are unbelievably grateful to Daniel for his incredible portrayal of Joel, and to our fans who have loved this character as much as we have," Frank said.

The Canadian Press chatted with Ayres about the loss of his popular co-star, and what's in store for the series.

CP: What did you think when you found out Joel had been killed off?

Ayres: I thought, 'There's no way this is happening, it's got to be a dummy script and we're gong to get the real one.'... And then we did the cast read-through and I was like, 'This isn't happening.' And then we shot it and we were shooting it and I was like, 'This is still not happening, I don't believe it.' And then I saw the screener last week and I was like, 'This is not happening!'

CP: What's it like to lose Gillies as a cast member?

Ayres: It's really hard. We're all really close friends.... At the same time ... the love triangle's been on for 49 episodes. And you start looking at where the characters can go, where the show can go. And I think at some point you start to (say), 'Well, what's best for a fourth season?'

CP: And we still don't know the father of Alex's baby?

Ayres: Ultimately I think I'd like to see it be Joel's kid but have Charlie be the father of it and just create some nice conflict.

CP: Zach just went through a wildly traumatic experience witnessing Joel's death, what's in store for him?

Ayres: It's going to be impossible for that not to affect him and take him to a bit of a dark place. I'm intrigued to see how he deals with that and how long he stays there and if that drives a wedge between him and Melanda or if that brings them closer together or how responsible he does feel for it and what type of survivor's guilt he has.

CP: Gillies is clearly busy with his other series "The Originals" (on CW and CHCH) and the impending arrival of his second child, but could his character return to "Saving Hope" as a ghost?

Ayres: There's absolutely a chance that Joel could be on the show as a ghost.

CP: A lot of fans are probably angry that Joel was killed off.

Ayres: But that's what good TV does. It's supposed to shake you to your core and it's something that nobody's going to expect and it's not something anybody's going to expect of a network show, let's be honest. In cable this is happening all the time ... your favourite characters die all the time and that's the reality. That's life, you never know.

This interview has been edited and condensed.