All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[RedbirdNelly]

just watched the episode where Carol gives birth and Rachel gets her period--I loved the bit with Mark's dad going shopping the first time I saw it--still love that part of the episode.

So is this the very first Abby sighting? she was a cheerful OB nurse.

[voiceover]

3 hours ago, slasherboy said:

 

 

Cash you oussi.  How ba dat?

 

 

Huh?

[RedbirdNelly]

19 hours ago, voiceover said:

 

I missed whatever happened to serial rapist guy, too (damn family obligations!!) -- anyone catch that?

I caught up. Corday promises to help kill him with morphine if he tells her where the other victim's body is. He does but he shows up still alive later so she actually didn't kill him. She goes to see him one time in the jail ward. So it looked like she killed him in one episode but she did not.

[emjohnson03]

Who is on the Benton and Elizabeth train? He was so much cooler with her. So annoyed Eric didn't like them and put the breaks on it. 

After Season 5 I struggle to get into it, as there aren't as many good episodes.

Doug and Carol are still the ultimate. Every scene, every look. 

I liked Mark but then he got like every other character, he just got to be too much at times. The show went a few too seasons too long but the show after all these years still holds up, especially the early seasons, and to think that was before all the crazy technology now. Payphones for the win.

[BBHN]

Quote

Who is on the Benton and Elizabeth train?

I am.

[chitowngirl]

ER and Grey's have the same problem after the first great seasons-too many main cast members.

[slf]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

ER and Grey's have the same problem after the first great seasons-too many main cast members.

Were there more characters in the later seasons? I can barely remember season ten and on.

For me the problem was they didn't write especially memorable and quality characters after season six. Peter Benton, Mark Greene, John Carter, Carol Hathaway, Doug Ross, Kerry Weaver, Elizabeth Corday, even supporting role doctors/nurses like Maggie Doyle and Shirley were better written (and played by a superior class of actors/actresses then the show brought on later). After a certain point it felt like they weren't writing characters so much as just types.

Edited May 28, 2017 by slf

[voiceover]

Tuned in for most of Carol's last "regular cast member"-ep (Comedy Central's doing a Scrubs marathon today).  Really a reminder of why I quit watching -- everyone is so. Fucking. Miserable!

During my real-time watch,  I remember wondering (mentally begging!) if Clooney would show.  Wasn't even sure on first visual.  I actually thought it might be a stand-in for a quick fade-out (yes: I was so desperate to believe he'd be there -- yet convinced the producers didn't care -- that I refused to accept visual evidence until it was indisputable).

And then I barely heard the last few lines because I was making a noise only dogs could hear.  While jumping up and down & trying to hug the TV.

Wow, did he look good!

[Clemgo3165]

Same for me. Lots of rewinding of that VCR tape ;) Clooney and Margulies looked thrilled to be back together again too. I always thought the storyline was a little ham-fisted, but it didn't seem nearly as bad today.

[Shannon L.]

Nevermind.  Sorry

Edited May 30, 2017 by Shannon L.

[Sticker Shock]

Did anyone catch the special they showed yesterday morning, before the Doug & Carol marathon? 

My DVR didn't pick it up and I'm curious what it was.

[desertflower]

On 5/26/2017 at 5:31 PM, Bastet said:

Why are they split up?  Today's block of episodes concludes with The Domino Heart.  According to the IMDb episode guide for the show, the next three episodes (which would air Tuesday rather than Monday because of the Doug & Carol marathon for Memorial Day) are Abby Road and then the two in question, Be Still My Heart and All in the Family.  So is IMDb missing an episode or something?

I hope they're both airing on Tuesday so I can watch them in a row (I'll just plan on taking a long lunch that day).

It looks like they are repeating Domino Heart today for some reason, so that's why the stabbing episodes end up being split up.

Just got back from a trip and I've got 12 episodes to watch! 

4 hours ago, Sticker Shock said:

Did anyone catch the special they showed yesterday morning, before the Doug & Carol marathon? 

My DVR didn't pick it up and I'm curious what it was.

It's on my dvr and I haven't watched it yet but I'm pretty sure it's the retrospective they showed before they aired the finale. I remember interviews with most of the cast talking about the impact of the show. 

[desertflower]

Someone mentioned not seeing the new-agey older desk clerk lately...it reminded me, in the episode where Weaver is treating the wrestler, Jerry is posing with him and I spotted the black desk clerk from early season one snapping a picture. He didn't even have any speaking lines and I only saw him in that quick scene. I thought that was funny, like they just snuck him in there just to see if anyone spotted him. 

I'm really bummed if they are not showing anything past season 6. I know the quality went downhill but I haven't seen some of the later episodes since they aired and I wanted to follow it through. And there was still some good stuff tucked into the later seasons. 

[RedbirdNelly]

I have enjoyed the desk clerk continuity. I missed the season 1 guy in the wrestler episode but have enjoyed how the clerks kind of show up/rotate through like real people working different shifts. I particularly enjoyed the lines they give Randi. At one point someone says something would be harder than sneaking into the White House and she makes some remark about how sneaking in to the WH isn't really that hard. . . I'd like more back story on Randi's past adventures.

I hope someone Pop gets the rest of the seasons. I really wanted to watch them all, downhill or not. I think with stopping in Season 6 we will miss one of my favorite Benton lines--when he takes Carter to rehab and Carter starts to fight him--and Benton tells him, if you want to fight, fine but your ass is getting in that van.

[desertflower]

Oh man, I love that scene where Luka gives a blessing to the dying woman who thinks he's a priest. I know his character was an obvious "handsome and brooding" replacement for Clooney, but he still had charm in his own right. 

[BBHN]

Quote

I think with stopping in Season 6 we will miss one of my favorite Benton lines--when he takes Carter to rehab and Carter starts to fight him--and Benton tells him, if you want to fight, fine but your ass is getting in that van.

That was season 6.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, desertflower said:

It looks like they are repeating Domino Heart today for some reason, so that's why the stabbing episodes end up being split up.

Yeah, I just tuned in and saw that Domino Heart (Friday's last episode) is airing again, as today's first episode, thus pushing All in the Family to tomorrow.  I'm annoyed (and wonder why they're doing that), but at least I have an answer to my question; it was driving me crazy, thinking I'd lost the ability to count to three. 

[twinkietwin94]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Yeah, I just tuned in and saw that Domino Heart (Friday's last episode) is airing again, as today's first episode, thus pushing All in the Family to tomorrow.  I'm annoyed (and wonder why they're doing that), but at least I have an answer to my question; it was driving me crazy, thinking I'd lost the ability to count to three. 

noticed the same thing and also annoyed. I'm DVRing BSMH and AITF so I can watch them back to back. Really enjoying watching the show again, it's been years since I've seen it. Can't remember how far I stuck it out the first time, at least until Carter left and I know I came back for the final season but I missed some between that.

[ESS]

On 5/28/2017 at 8:56 AM, emjohnson03 said:

Who is on the Benton and Elizabeth train? He was so much cooler with her. So annoyed Eric didn't like them and put the breaks on it. 

I love(d) Peter & Elizabeth together always have didn't like Mark & Elizabeth and he turned Elizabeth into a horrible character by season 8, she wasn't that bad when they were dating, but they got married and all that. I'll never forgive ELS for giving up on them as a couple. I understood his point and it was true, but I don't agree with it.

11 hours ago, Sticker Shock said:

Did anyone catch the special they showed yesterday morning, before the Doug & Carol marathon? 

My DVR didn't pick it up and I'm curious what it was.

It was a special done in 2013 about how ER came about and some of the cast was interviewed it's a pretty cool of hearing how ER came to be and seeing some of the cast interviewed. 

[ESS]

It's disappointing they are stopping at Season 6 I wonder why it seems weird to just stop like that. I'm lucky I have the DVDs, but still I love to watch the show on TV as well especially now that it's back on after years of hiatus.

[Bastet]

Waiting until tomorrow won't be as bad as waiting a week the first time around, but damn, do I want to be watching All in the Family right now.

Even knowing what was coming this time, I still let out a little gasp when the patient became visible behind Carter.  That shot of Lucy, when Carter discovers her, is one of the few things that has remained clear in my memories all this time.  And I remember so many details from the next episode; I can't wait to see it again, on a huge TV this time.

One of the gazillion things I love about it is Romano's reaction to Lucy's death.  I had forgotten, until last week, that they'd worked together with that heart transplant patient, and he respected her tenacity. 

[RedbirdNelly]

7 hours ago, BBHN said:

That was season 6.

thank goodness! :)

[desertflower]

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

Even knowing what was coming this time, I still let out a little gasp when the patient became visible behind Carter.  That shot of Lucy, when Carter discovers her, is one of the few things that has remained clear in my memories all this time.  

Yes! I haven't gotten to it yet but I remember the last time I saw it on TNT I did the same thing. I knew he'd be standing there but it's still so terrifying. And Lucy on the floor is just such a striking visual. And on rewatch, knowing what happens, the little details become creepy...for example Connie (or one of the nurses, can't remember who) offhandedly mentions she can't find the cake knife. Goosebumps! 

Switching gears, I noticed another nice bit of continuity in an episode I watched yesterday (still catching up from vacation.) It's when Peter learns there's a chance Reese isn't his and he asks the genetics specialist about a DNA kit. The specialist is Dr. Julian, who was Ricky's (dying boy Doug treated) genetics doctor. Doug mentioned him a few times during that plotline. It would've been so easy to just make up a new doctor because who would really remember him watching one episode a week? But when binging the episodes like this it really becomes more noticeable how much they tried to have reoccurring characters, no matter how minor. There is a drunk guy I've seen in several episodes now too, scattered over time.

[twinkietwin94]

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

Even knowing what was coming this time, I still let out a little gasp when the patient became visible behind Carter.  That shot of Lucy, when Carter discovers her, is one of the few things that has remained clear in my memories all this time.  And I remember so many details from the next episode; I can't wait to see it again, on a huge TV this time.

That image of her on the floor when Carter sees her is probably the clearest in my memory from the series I think because it was so shocking.

4 minutes ago, desertflower said:

Yes! I haven't gotten to it yet but I remember the last time I saw it on TNT I did the same thing. I knew he'd be standing there but it's still so terrifying. And Lucy on the floor is just such a striking visual. And on rewatch, knowing what happens, the little details become creepy...for example Connie (or one of the nurses, can't remember who) offhandedly mentions she can't find the cake knife. Goosebumps! 

I flipped to the channel for just a moment yesterday, in time to hear Carter ask where Lucy was and the nurse comment they couldn't find the biggest knife for the cake, yep goosebumps, then I changed  the channel, will watch them both today 

[starri]

I hadn't realized before quite how much what happened to Lucy was Carter's fault.  I mean, there were a lot of people who kind of shirked responsibility (Luka never actually seeing him, Dr. Deraad for not getting to him sooner, Malik for running off to party), but Lucy basically kept begging him for help, and he kept putting her off.

[voiceover]

Not surprising that the rough-edged characters' responses are the ones that really get you:

Malucci turning away from the saw, Kerry throwing up outside the ER, Peter racing down the stairs.  

Romano's, yet to come.

Glad I'm watching with you guys.

[Mama No Life]

5 hours ago, starri said:

I hadn't realized before quite how much what happened to Lucy was Carter's fault.  I mean, there were a lot of people who kind of shirked responsibility (Luka never actually seeing him, Dr. Deraad for not getting to him sooner, Malik for running off to party), but Lucy basically kept begging him for help, and he kept putting her off.

What was he supposed to do?  Drag psych down? He didn't tell her to sit with the guy....he told her to pass him off to Malik until psych came down.  She didn't.  She always thought she knew better than Carter did.

[chitowngirl]

That was just as hard to watch as it was 17 years ago. Plus the harsh reality of the doctors and nurses not stopping because trauma patients will still come in.

Edited May 31, 2017 by chitowngirl

[Bastet]

This episode provides for some of the best acting in the whole series; the characters' reactions are perfectly written, and perfectly performed.  Especially:

Kerry - Her horror upon finding them, that she has to swallow back until they get them transferred from ER to OR so she can go outside and puke.  Her anger at having walked into a party, and no one knowing what was going on.  Her trembling when trying to intubate, and her brief moment of "this isn't how I wanted it to happen" hesitation when she gets to use her beloved sternal saw.  Handing the killer patient off to Mark.  Her face upon getting the call about Lucy's fate.  Being the one to cover her up.

Peter - Tearing down the stairs, around corners, into the trauma room and demanding "Is he conscious?!"  Wanting nothing to do with being called into the other trauma room, until he hears, "She needs to trach Lucy."  Being torn between the two rooms.  Needing to be calmed down by Anspaugh to save the kidney.  Wanting nothing to do with the other OR patient.

Elizabeth - Her face when she got the page.  Her frustration at needing to fumble her ID out of her purse in order to get through security.  Having to thin Lucy's blood right after major surgery, in order to deal with the PE. (I love the foreshadowing heading into the elevator up to the OR, that Mark tells Malucci not to squeeze the bag so far, because they don't want an embolus.)   "We wired the damn breastbone together."  Staring off into the distance at home.

Romano - Going from cocky, breezy, "We put too much time and energy into your training to lose you now" to all seriousness when he realizes she's thrown another clot, and then throwing a fit and trying to get Elizabeth to shock her again when it's time to call it.  Closing her chest himself after she's dead.

Carter - Turning his head after coming to in Trauma and seeing Lucy through the doors in the other trauma room.  "I'm glad it's you" to Peter in the OR.  "Lucy's dead, isn't she?" when Peter tries not to answer his questions in Recovery.  Every conflicting feeling he's ever had about her is written on Noah Wyle's face.

Lucy - Listening to the recitation of everything that happened to her, and wanting the trach plugged so she can whisper, "Thank you" to Elizabeth.  Mouthing "PE?" when she realizes what's happening, and not wanting the versed, so she remains aware of what's going on.

The killer patient's wife - Realizing he really is mentally ill, and really did stab two people.

Everyone at Doc Magoo's, sharing stories about Carter and Lucy, and then getting the news. 

Mark having to keep the ER running - made harder by the fact they're down a doctor and a med student.

[SoapDoc]

10 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

That was just as hard to watch as it was 17 years ago.

Yeah, still the same gut punch. I had forgotten how everything led up to the stabbing -- slow psych consult, Carter's tendency to treat Lucy as a colleague and not a student, Lucy's interest in psych and her history of diving in deep with her patients -- and how all of it was in character and not manufactured errors that lead to this tragedy.

I will keep these two episodes on the DVR.

[voiceover]

One of the saddest moments in all of this was Lucy's mom, staring at the contents of Lucy's locker.

[Bastet]

Carter talking to Lucy's mom is like Peter talking to Dennis Gant's dad.

[starri]

1 hour ago, Mama No Life said:

What was he supposed to do?  Drag psych down? He didn't tell her to sit with the guy....he told her to pass him off to Malik until psych came down.  She didn't.  She always thought she knew better than Carter did.

Not brushed her off every time she tried to talk to him.  Evaluated Sobricki himself.  Put the guy in restraints or on a 1:1 monitoring.

38 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Kerry - Her horror upon finding them, that she has to swallow back until they get them transferred from ER to OR so she can go outside and puke.

Her taking a minute, where no one can see her, to just viscerally react to everything, and then just immediately squaring her shoulders and getting back to work gets me every time.

I love the chemistry between Mark's dad and Elizabeth's mom.  And of course they found a way to get John Cullum to sing.  That guy's amazing.  He's almost 90 and still working.

[voiceover]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Carter talking to Lucy's mom is like Peter talking to Dennis Gant's dad.

Yes.

[BBHN]

I remember at the time, ER was being criticized for being a bit stale and predictable. These 2 episodes certainly gave critics and fans a jolt, and got people talking about the show again (in a good way).

Edited May 31, 2017 by BBHN

[Mountainair]

Man! ER used to be my show back in high school. I remember these episodes like it was yesterday! Dr. Carter was  one of my first tv crushes! 

I don't know quite what the difference is but I can still watch ER to this day (glad I realized it was being re aired) but never have been able to watch any other medical drama. Either too gory, too romancey, too stupid. I don't know.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Mountainair

[twinkietwin94]

Finally watching the two shows and really annoyed at Romano's poodle surgeon remark. Hubby is a veterinarian, he's general practice but there are vets who go through additional years of training to become oncologists or surgeons or any number of specialties that would know a hell of a lot more about how to operate on his dog than he would. While it would be possible in a human hospital as the vast majority of equipment is the same but heart rate and breathing all of that is vastly different from humans. UGH just UGH

Why is it Carter is responsible for both Lucy and Abby anyway? Why not another doctor? He's supposed to treat patients himself plus oversee the two students and their patients? Once he left his bed and was in the fight with his friend why wasn't he restrained? Was it ever even brought up? Maybe I'm just not there yet considering Lucy just requested psych.

1 minute ago, Mountainair said:

I don't know quite what the difference is but I can still watch ER to this day (glad I realized it was being re aired) but never have been able to watch any other medical drama. Either too gory, too romancey, too stupid. I don't know.

I watched the first season of two of House but other than that I haven't watched any other medical shows either, they just never seem to measure up to ER

[desertflower]

I used to watch both ER and its rival Chicago Hope. They were both good but I liked ER better. Speaking of CH, I saw Roxanne Hart, who had a leading role on CH as Adam Arkin's ex wife, on a couple of the recent eps of ER. She was the mom of the alcoholic kid who bought him beer. She must've left CH by that point. Just thought it was interesting she ended up in a bit part on the rival medical drama. 

Trying to catch up on a couple more eps before I watch the stabbing. (It seems so morbid to look forward to characters getting stabbed, but you all know what I mean!)

[voiceover]

B6: Morris Chestnut as the nurse who took his scrub top off and made Chen look twice.

[starri]

Rambo!  The guy who got her pregnant. 

[Mama No Life]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

This episode provides for some of the best acting in the whole series; the characters' reactions are perfectly written, and perfectly performed.  Especially:

Kerry - Her horror upon finding them, that she has to swallow back until they get them transferred from ER to OR so she can go outside and puke.  Her anger at having walked into a party, and no one knowing what was going on.  Her trembling when trying to intubate, and her brief moment of "this isn't how I wanted it to happen" hesitation when she gets to use her beloved sternal saw.  Handing the killer patient off to Mark.  Her face upon getting the call about Lucy's fate.  Being the one to cover her up.

Peter - Tearing down the stairs, around corners, into the trauma room and demanding "Is he conscious?!"  Wanting nothing to do with being called into the other trauma room, until he hears, "She needs to trach Lucy."  Being torn between the two rooms.  Needing to be calmed down by Anspaugh to save the kidney.  Wanting nothing to do with the other OR patient.

Elizabeth - Her face when she got the page.  Her frustration at needing to fumble her ID out of her purse in order to get through security.  Having to thin Lucy's blood right after major surgery, in order to deal with the PE. (I love the foreshadowing heading into the elevator up to the OR, that Mark tells Malucci not to squeeze the bag so far, because they don't want an embolus.)   "We wired the damn breastbone together."  Staring off into the distance at home.

Romano - Going from cocky, breezy, "We put too much time and energy into your training to lose you now" to all seriousness when he realizes she's thrown another clot, and then throwing a fit and trying to get Elizabeth to shock her again when it's time to call it.  Closing her chest himself after she's dead.

Carter - Turning his head after coming to in Trauma and seeing Lucy through the doors in the other trauma room.  "I'm glad it's you" to Peter in the OR.  "Lucy's dead, isn't she?" when Peter tries not to answer his questions in Recovery.  Every conflicting feeling he's ever had about her is written on Noah Wyle's face.

Lucy - Listening to the recitation of everything that happened to her, and wanting the trach plugged so she can whisper, "Thank you" to Elizabeth.  Mouthing "PE?" when she realizes what's happening, and not wanting the versed, so she remains aware of what's going on.

The killer patient's wife - Realizing he really is mentally ill, and really did stab two people.

Everyone at Doc Magoo's, sharing stories about Carter and Lucy, and then getting the news. 

Mark having to keep the ER running - made harder by the fact they're down a doctor and a med student.

The wince on Mark's face when Kerry has to use that saw. Lydia crying all through the trauma.  Carter's moan on the trauma table and Peter turning towards it. 

[starri]

Heh, "Luka and Laura."

[callie lee 29]

I only get to watch the Saturday episodes so I'm behind you guys, but I had to ship ahead and table the stabbing episodes (and then was a dumbass cause I didn't catch the first one), but man All In the Family still gets me. I cry every damn time. Everyone was great and at the end I had sympathy for everyone, including the patient and his wife (he'll I was even worried about the damn dog who needed to get fed). Lucy always kinda annoyed me, but jeez, this and Loves Labour Lost make me bawl.

I remember watching both this and Chicago Hope's pilot. I was ER ask the way. (I may have been swayed by my intense annoyance and irritation of Mandy Patinkin.)

[slasherboy]

I agree with everyone who commented positively on the image of Lucy on the floor in her own blood, just staring toward Carter.  That has stayed with me too.  I think the make-up is what made it so realistic and haunting (I say realistic, but in reality I've never seen a just-stabbed person).  Haunting describes it perfectly, as I think about it often and it always bothers me.  Her eyes are empty but knowing ... knowing this isn't good ... and her hair splayed out and all that blood.  Whoever directed that scene should be proud of her/his vision.

On a brighter note, I, too, enjoy the relationship between Mark's father and Corday's mother (isn't it funny how we refer to some people by their last names and others by their first names, and we all seem to do it the same way?  I  mean, we all say Carter instead of John).  It would have been fun if David hadn't died and they could have married and stayed in Chicago to antagonize their children.

Edited June 1, 2017 by slasherboy
Because I needed to say, I also worried about the dog who needed to be fed!

[voiceover]

So...

I couldn't remember why they killed off Lucy, so I went to check out Kellie Martin's IMDb page (thought it was because she got another, better TV gig. No.), and found this on her Twitter feed:

Oh man you guys! I'm so sorry you are having to re-live Lucy's demise! @POPTV

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

The wince on Mark's face when Kerry has to use that saw. Lydia crying all through the trauma.  Carter's moan on the trauma table and Peter turning towards it. 

Yes!  Even taking time at each commercial break to note what I'd loved about the segment before, I still missed things -- that's how pitch perfect it was.  Lydia as the most unbridled source of emotion.  Kovac, the newcomer who's survived a war zone, as the one best able to focus. 

There isn't anything about this episode I don't like at best or, more often, love, and that doesn't often happen.

I remember (during original viewing), as things got going in the two trauma rooms, I figured they were going to kill Lucy off.  It was so intense, and her injuries so widespread and severe - I figured Carter would be safe, but that they were going to double (triple?) down on killing off Gant by having Lucy succumb to her injuries.  But that sense of the conclusion to come took nothing away from watching things play out, and, in fact, knowing how it all went down, doesn't take much away from it all these years later, either. 

3 hours ago, voiceover said:

I couldn't remember why they killed off Lucy, so I went to check out Kellie Martin's IMDb page (thought it was because she got another, better TV gig. No.), and found this on her Twitter feed:

Oh man you guys! I'm so sorry you are having to re-live Lucy's demise! @POPTV

That's cool.  Even if she's just happy to get the residuals, she didn't have to say anything - she'd get paid regardless.  For her to be on top of the scheduling and promote it indicates more than that, and that's nice to see.

[voiceover]

Ha.  I didn't even think about residuals.  There were people in her Twitter feed who'd been tweeting her about this week's eps (& a few telling her how much they'd loved that character), so she responded.

12 minutes ago, Bastet said:

 Kovac, the newcomer who's survived a war zone, as the one best able to focus. 

Damn! thanks for pointing this out.  I missed the day w/the eps where he's introduced, so I wasn't thinking of his backstory during this.

[desertflower]

I just saw the scene where Luka tells Kerry his wife and children were taken and then killed. But didn't they change that later? I remember him having flashbacks of coming home and finding his family after an explosion. 

[starri]

One other thing about Lydia crying in the trauma room. 

In the pilot, she tells Mark that she never cries. 

[desertflower]

New square on Guest Star Bingo: Shia LaBeouf as the kid with muscular dystrophy who got pushed down the steps in his wheelchair. (In Abby Road.)