All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Bastet]

29 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Made me think about the standard advice of talking to your loved ones so they know what to do.

And put your wishes in writing!

[rags]

Laura Innes gave an amazingly beautiful performance in the Just As I am episode.  Laura makes me wanna hate Weaver one minute, then wanna give her hug the next. Can't believe she never won an Emmy. Frances Fisher gave a fine performance. But, I always wondered what Sissy Spacek would have done  with the role had she been able to do it.

Edited December 4, 2017 by rags

[Bastet]

I didn't see very much of yesterday's episodes, but I did see Susan moaning to Greasy Guy that she "really wanted" tenure, and I rolled my eyes so hard.  If you really want something, you go after it.  Being good at the job she has isn't enough to be given the job she wanted, and she's not naive enough to think grants and research/publication didn't matter.  I understand her being frustrated with the process, but it is what it is, and she should have been frustrated with herself.

Did Carter ever remember Ruby?  I like that he initially didn't (given how long ago it was and how many patients Carter has seen since then), but since he tracked the guy down at a funeral and got told off, I figured it would come back to him at some point.

[desertflower]

Refresh my memory guys; has Elizabeth left the show yet? I'm a bit behind, just watched the episode with Gallant in Iraq. But it occurred to me I haven't seen her in a while. I did miss about three episodes at one point so maybe she left then? 

[Bastet]

“Is it true that people can have face transplants?”
“Yes, it is.  In fact, I’m 80 years old.  I got this [face] off a dead guy.”

Hee.

Carter and Kem’s relationship being something in which one would move their entire life for the other has never made sense to me, and really doesn’t now that there’s no baby, but with Wyle wanting reduced time and then off the show, it’s a logical storyline if I accept that they love each other a lot more than comes across to me.

I’ll miss him, though.  I’m glad Susan is still around.

Which brings me to: What happened to Corday?

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I didn't see very much of yesterday's episodes, but I did see Susan moaning to Greasy Guy that she "really wanted" tenure, and I rolled my eyes so hard.  If you really want something, you go after it.  Being good at the job she has isn't enough to be given the job she wanted, and she's not naive enough to think grants and research/publication didn't matter.  I understand her being frustrated with the process, but it is what it is, and she should have been frustrated with herself.

Did Carter ever remember Ruby?  I like that he initially didn't (given how long ago it was and how many patients Carter has seen since then), but since he tracked the guy down at a funeral and got told off, I figured it would come back to him at some point.

Initially, I don't think Carter remembered Ruby, but, after reviewing the old charts, I think he did since he was pretty specific when explaining the situation to Abby.

As for Susan and the tenure situation, I can see why she'd be pissed when the guy who got the spot was equally uninterested in research and publications and had been there as an attending for less time, to boot.  Of course, it was obvious that Carter got tenure because he was donating millions to the hospital; but, since Susan didn't have anywhere near that kind of money or financial security; I can see why she was a little pissed.  BTW, I am tired of this show constantly acting like doctors working at a county hospital are making slave wages.  Susan claimed they couldn't afford to buy a house if she didn't get tenure.  Baloney! As ER director, even back then 15 or so years ago, she was making a couple hundred thousand a year easily.  I worked for the county hospital for a couple years early in my career and actually took a pay cut to re-enter private practice.  The same thing happened with Mark living in Susan's tiny apartment after his divorce, ostensibly because he couldn't afford anything else.  He surely wasn't paying alimony to Jen, his child support payments couldn't have been that awful; there was no reason he couldn't have found a bigger place, especially since he was sharing custody of Rachel and surely could've used a second bedroom.

33 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Which brings me to: What happened to Corday?

Corday got tired of Kerry's BS and the politics at County and left to return to England with Ella for good, this time.  It happened very quickly over the course of an episode and the only one she told was Carter in a brief scene.  It happened in Season 11 when Carter had an HIV positive patient who was brain dead.  His wife wanted to donate his liver for transplant to a friend of his who was also HIV positive.  At the time, it was technically against the law to use HIV positive donors but the law was being changed because of those sorts of unusual circumstances.  Elizabeth ignored the law and did the transplant anyway at Carter's urging.  She was then referred for a disciplinary hearing and Kerry was her usual unsupportive self.  That, on top of Dubenko being hired without Corday's knowledge despite the fact she was supposed to be Chief of Surgery, convinced her it was time to leave.

Edited December 5, 2017 by doodlebug

[Bastet]

15 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

I can see why she'd be pissed when the guy who got the spot was equally uninterested in research and publications

He may not have been any more interested in it, but he'd done more of it. He told her that when she was acting like it was exclusively because he was able to fund whatever he'd funded, and she didn't refute it, so - even though, to my knowledge, we never saw Carter engaged in such activities - I assume we are to take it as true. 

15 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Corday got tired of Kerry's BS and the politics at County and left to return to England with Ella for good, this time.  It happened very quickly over the course of an episode and the only one she told was Carter in a brief scene.

Thanks.  Sounds anti-climactic.  She was my favorite for quite a time, but then they didn't seem to know what to do with her.

Shifting gears, I cannot imagine how long the actor playing the pregnant lady in the balcony crash episode spent with her legs up in the air during filming.

Carter watching his slide show with the random guy from Geriatrics who showed up for free food was cute.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Bastet

[absnow54]

19 minutes ago, Bastet said:

He may not have been any more interested in it, but he'd done more of it. He told her that when she was acting like it was exclusively because he was able to fund whatever he'd funded, and she didn't refute it, so - even though, to my knowledge, we never saw Carter engaged in such activities - I assume we are to take it as true. 

This bothered me, because we actually saw Susan working on a publication the episode before, but we hadn't seen anything like that with Carter (unless the years he spent under Benton garnered a career's worth of publications.) We also saw her interviewing for the position, while Carter was just handed it, after what appeared to be applying on a whim. On top of that, it has only been a few episodes since Carter went on television to take on big pharma. Sure, Carter can put his money where his mouth is, but it seemed like bullshit to give him tenure after pulling that.

[slasherboy]

Where is Weaver & Chen?  Haven't seen either of them in a while.  

I didn't know Carter left!  I've never watched this far before so all this is new to me.  And he's returning to the Congo?  Why not Paris where Kem is?  It was sad seeing the pictures of early episode docs at his going-away party.  Not so much sad as nostalgic.  I miss the early seasons so much.  None of these new characters do it for me.  Still, I persisted and continue to watch.

I miss "Big Brother".....

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, slasherboy said:

Where is Weaver & Chen?

We only see Weaver sporadically now that she's an administrator; she occasionally works a shift in the ER to keep up her skills or something like that, but otherwise we only see her when someone is getting promoted or disciplined.

Chen quit - again - in the episode with her dad's death.  She didn't have anyone to take care of him during her shift, and no one would cover for her since it was Christmas Eve.  So she quit.  I guess the third time was the charm, because this time she didn't come back.

[slasherboy]

WAIT!!!  That's a different Alex (Sam's son) isn't it?  She just found him in the hospital after he ran away going to find his dad.  I hate when they replace actors.

[walnutqueen]

Carter telling a nearly puking Morris, rather ironically, "You set the tone", ironically set the tone for me & the rest of this show.  Now I'm just bitter-watching.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, slasherboy said:

Where is Weaver & Chen?  Haven't seen either of them in a while.  

I didn't know Carter left!  I've never watched this far before so all this is new to me.  And he's returning to the Congo?  Why not Paris where Kem is?  It was sad seeing the pictures of early episode docs at his going-away party.  Not so much sad as nostalgic.  I miss the early seasons so much.  None of these new characters do it for me.  Still, I persisted and continue to watch.

I miss "Big Brother".....

   Kem lives in the Congo.  She was in Paris because her mother, who lives there, was sick.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

Carter telling a nearly puking Morris, rather ironically, "You set the tone"

I love when he tells him that, then looks at what a mess Morris is, laughs to himself and says, "Never mind."  Because when he first said it, the good mood I'd been left in by him hearing old conversations in his head as he left the ER for the last time evaporated, thinking that idiot isn't fit to have Mark's words bestowed on him.  So to have Carter realize the same thing made me feel better.
 

[ch1]

Regarding Susan and Carter and tenure I call bullshit on Susan saying county was her home when she left and came back.  I was also annoyed that she said that to Carter of all people since he was there for 11 years.  At that point he was there longer than Susan. I can understand calling him out on not wanting to be there anymore (and the dude had personal shit going on so who could blame him) but don’t use “it’s my home” excuse on the man who was probably there at that point as long as Mark.

[Bastet]

It was rather silly for her to focus on her having been an attending two (or three?) years longer than him, when all of his years have been with County and several of hers were elsewhere.  They're both good doctors and great teachers, but he meets more of the qualifications for the tenure position than she does, plus he's even more the in-house candidate than her.  Her frustrations were legitimate but largely misplaced, so it bugged me she didn't include herself in her list of grievances.

And, yeah, these folks acting like they're barely above the poverty line has been a series-long annoyance.

[desertflower]

I know it is hard to believe if you've never watched that far, but imo Morris turns into a good character by the end. I can't remember too many details but I remember liking him by the final season and several of us on the old TWOP board commented on how his character had turned around and we actually enjoyed him.

Edited December 6, 2017 by desertflower

[slasherboy]

Danny Glover!

[desertflower]

Just spotted Louise Fletcher in an episode. She played Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Her steely blue eyes gave her away. 

[rcc]

18 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Carter telling a nearly puking Morris, rather ironically, "You set the tone", ironically set the tone for me & the rest of this show.  Now I'm just bitter-watching.

During the slide show when we saw Mark, Doug and Carol I remembered why it was my must see show at the time. Now the new characters just don't make this a good show. I can't stand Morris, Pratt and Ray. 

[LizDC]

So, Sherry Stringfield’s last appearance was the first episode of Season 12 and it was just a regular day for Susan in the ER.  Anyone know why the abrupt departure? Maybe only one drawn out goodbye per character? 

[rcc]

Neela asked Dr. Lockhart for a second opinion and Abby says, "Your ankle may be broken and you're a bitch." Good answer to the two snobs. lol

[doodlebug]

51 minutes ago, LizDC said:

So, Sherry Stringfield’s last appearance was the first episode of Season 12 and it was just a regular day for Susan in the ER.  Anyone know why the abrupt departure? Maybe only one drawn out goodbye per character? 

I don't think we were ever given a good reason why she was leaving, it was a lot of stuff about her choosing to leave, etc.  Of course, the fact that TPTB did next to nothing to develop the character and, in fact, wrote a lot of stuff that was completely out of character for the Susan seen in the first 3 seasons may well have been a factor.  By this point, TPTB had pared down the 'older' cast considerably and the only ones given major storyline were Abby (and Abby and Abby) and Luka.  Everyone else revolved around their world.  The writers were considerably less adept at writing for an ensemble that they were in the early seasons.  When you watch the early seasons, it is impressive to see how relatively little screen time Clooney got compared to the leads of later seasons (and how much he did with it, as did the others, making his characterization of Doug Ross so memorable).

If you look at the tenure storyline as setting up Susan's exit, it actually stretched through the last few episodes of the preceding season and was an actual planned arc.  TPTB were just not interested in giving the character/actress any screen time; being too busy chasing Sam around the Western US and showing us what an incredible doctor Abby was and how Jake was so disappointed she didn't wuv him.  Considering Susan's first departure (back in the era before the internet and spoilers) occurred in a single episode, with many of us just sure that, if Mark went to the train station and tell her how he felt, she'd never leave; her second departure was just as low key and quick.  I remember tuning in the week after Union Station, even after word got out that Stringfield had asked to be let out of her contract, thinking that something would happen and Susan would be back in a week or two.

[absnow54]

I know it is hard to believe if you've never watched that far, but imo Morris turns into a good character by the end. I can't remember too many details but I remember liking him by the final season and several of us on the old TWOP board commented on how his character had turned around and we actually enjoyed him.

I was only familiar with Morris from the series finale, and really liked him, so I was shocked to see that he sucks for his first few seasons.

[doodlebug]

22 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I was only familiar with Morris from the series finale, and really liked him, so I was shocked to see that he sucks for his first few seasons.

He really does and one of my complaints is that we never really got to see his transformation, it just kinda happened.  While maybe that's the way things go in real life, it would've been nice to have seen his development and maturation.  Scott Grimes, the actor who played him, has some ability and talent, it's too bad he didn't get better writing (which is the story of ER's later years in a nutshell).

[TigersWin]

Long time lurker, I really enjoy this board and watching the later seasons of ER.  The first time around I stopped after Romano’s first helicopter accident.

I am actually enjoying season 11.  Ray, Neela, Pratt and Abby have good chemistry.

Looking forward to seeing Morris improve as others have stated.

One thing I am curious-is Wendall the social worker annoying anyone else?

[absnow54]

The surrogate episode really bothered me. Like every character in that story bugged. Why would you choose a surrogate that would even hesitate to have a C-section? I get why the surrogate was being stubborn, because she'd had no problem naturally delivering a baby at home, but it sounded like she'd signed a contract that she'd undergo surgery if necessary, so that was really shitty. And Ray. OMG, Ray. I don't think they even had the baby breathing before he was storming through the halls to announce that the kid would have developmental disorders. I was waiting for Dr Coburn to smack him. That poor kid.

[doodlebug]

5 hours ago, absnow54 said:

The surrogate episode really bothered me. Like every character in that story bugged. Why would you choose a surrogate that would even hesitate to have a C-section? I get why the surrogate was being stubborn, because she'd had no problem naturally delivering a baby at home, but it sounded like she'd signed a contract that she'd undergo surgery if necessary, so that was really shitty. And Ray. OMG, Ray. I don't think they even had the baby breathing before he was storming through the halls to announce that the kid would have developmental disorders. I was waiting for Dr Coburn to smack him. That poor kid.

 Virtually all the childbirth storylines piss me off on this show.  I suppose it's a good thing I'm not a general surgeon.  Yes, surrogacy contracts do include clauses that require that the surrogate agree to various things including an abortion if the baby is found to have any problems like Down Syndrome that the biologic parents deem unacceptable and a cesarean if recommended by the caregiver.  She also usually has to allow the parents veto power over stuff like her choice of practitioner and place for delivery.  The whole storyline was ridiculous in that there is no way that a couple of parents as controlling as those two would've agreed to letting her deliver at home in the first place, no matter what she wanted, no matter where she'd given birth to her own kids.

Ray's attitude was unprofessional and counterproductive.  He had no right to try to bully the woman into a cesarean.  He's not the first or last main character to pull this sort of self righteous bullsh**, but it is wrong and it should never happen.  He can go to the lounge and whine and moan about it to his fellow residents if he doesn't like her decisions.  If anything, his behavior cemented her resolve.  In real life, of course, nobody in the ER would've done any fetal monitoring or assessed her for ruptured membranes; they'd have assessed her for serious injuries from the accident, cleared her and shipped her up to L&D pronto.  And Ray would never have been able to spend hours on end haranguing her.  And Coburn would've presented the situation in a more reasonable and balanced way instead of agreeing that a young healthy woman undergoing a cesarean section had an unreasonable risk of death.

As for Ray's insistence that the baby was seriously and permanently brain damaged before it was even born?  More crap.  Amongst other things, whoever the medical advisor was on the show, they obviously know nothing about fetal monitoring other than a few catch phrases and most of what they characterize as abnormal and indicating imminent fetal death just isn't.   Babies have remarkable capacity for recovery neurologically, especially a full term healthy kid.  When Coburn agreed with Ray that the baby was going to be a vegetable, I wanted to smack her.  When Ray decided he was an expert in neonatal medicine and neurologic injury and took it upon himself to tell the parents that their son was permanently neurologically handicapped without even consulting a neonatologist or neurologist, he was committing malpractice and also could've lost his license.  

True story:  30+ years ago, I delivered a term baby, a boy, who had fetal distress in the womb and whose Apgars were similar to the baby on the show.  He also needed a ventilator, IV meds, etc.; just like on the show.  He is now a college graduate, played varsity sports in high school and has no neurologic problems of any kind.  He started out rough, had some obvious neurologic deficits as an infant which gradually resolved over 6 months or so at which time he was neurologically normal.  Happens all the time.  There is a massive body of research out there demonstrating that most kids, suffering birth asphyxia (oxygen deprivation at delivery) suffer no lasting consequences.  No way Ray could have made such a diagnosis after an hour or two.

Edited December 7, 2017 by doodlebug

[doodlebug]

In this era of Me Two and the Silence Breakers, anyone else find it sort of anachronistic that we just saw an episode where Dubenko asks Abby for a pity f**k and she then tries to get him a free visit from a sexual surrogate?  I know he made a pass at her previously, but she turned him down; that should've been the end of it.   Of course, it was almost a retread of the Christmas episode where Corday befriends the musician who's about to undergo a prostatectomy and spends evening with him rather than going home for Christmas.  

[Bastet]

Ray made me livid in the surrogate storyline.  The biological parents were obviously no prizes, either; everyone treated the surrogate like an incubator rather than a person entitled to make choices regarding her body, but the parents viewing her that way was at least consistent with their role.  As her doctor, Ray was appalling in doing the same.

[Bastet]

Kat Dennings in Guest Star Bingo.

What wound up happening with Jessica Hecht's character - did she have cancer?  She drove me NUTS with her obsession with finding a husband and having a baby.  Dude, you can't do any of that if you're dead, so take care of your health, and then if you meet someone, great, if you don't, it's far from the end of the world, and there are other ways to become a parent if it's that important to you.

[voiceover]

So far the only thing I've liked about today's eps was John Leguizamo's "Code:Banana!" quip to Abby.

eta: And Abby's "You're the one who started this monkey business" ..bwahhahaha!!!

Also nice to see SATC's Miranda's S1 boyfriend be a stand-up guy for Friends's Ross's ex-wife's wife.  That feels like a spin-off game to Guest Star Bingo.

Edited December 7, 2017 by voiceover

[desertflower]

I watched the Ruby one today. With all due respect to Red Buttons I didn't enjoy that character the first time around and surely didn't upon his return. I just always thought he was too hard on Carter. I'm sorry he lost his wife but it was obvious Carter felt bad about the way things went, even going so far as to come to her service to apologize. He was young and made mistakes. And you'd think over ten years Ruby would be slightly less bitter, but no. It was weird how they played it as though maybe Carter didn't remember him. Pretty sure that one would've stuck with him.

[absnow54]

I hated Ruby, he was so irritating. Carter was a goddamn med student when he treated his wife!

[Bastet]

Why, producers, why - Corday, Carter, Susan, and now even Haleh are gone, but fucking Frank is still around?

[WendyCR72]

20 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Why, producers, why - Corday, Carter, Susan, and now even Haleh are gone, but fucking Frank is still around?

Wait,  I recall Corday, Carter, and Susan all leaving, but when/why did Haleh leave?

[Bastet]

32 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Wait,  I recall Corday, Carter, and Susan all leaving, but when/why did Haleh leave?

She got fired - by Sam, no less, although I believe the decision was Eve's - for violating overtime rules despite repeated warnings.  It happened in one of today's episodes.  But I just checked IMDb and she comes back.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Bastet

[WendyCR72]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

She got fired - by Sam, no less, although I believe the decision was Eve's - for violating overtime rules despite repeated warnings.  It happened in one of today's episodes.  But I just checked IMDb and she comes back.

Yeah, I think that's why I was confused, because I recalled her being around later. Eve was Kristen Johnston's character, right? As for Sam, I never liked her, anyway.

[voiceover]

2 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Yeah, I think that's why I was confused, because I recalled her being around later. Eve was Kristen Johnston's character, right? As for Sam, I never liked her, anyway.

I suspect the Nurses' Union will be involved.  Pure spec, but that sort of thing has been brought up before (notably when Romano fired Haleh). I was surprised there was no discussion of "3&out" or filing a grievance, etc.

[Bastet]

So, with John Stamos's character, that makes how many obnoxious men whose don't take no for an answer behavior has been presented as cute on this show?

[Bastet]

Those horns kicked in just in time, because I was getting pretty grumbly at the idea no one was honking at Neela and Gallant to have their reunion somewhere other than in the middle of the street.

[Bastet]

Is Gallant seriously proposing to Neela in the middle of surgery, in front of her colleagues?!  So, once again, the man's desire to do something here and now is more important than the woman's request that it wait for an appropriate time.

I think Abby struck a nice balance, as Neela's friend, between her duty to say, um, hello, you do not begin to know this guy well enough to marry him and to at some point back off and say, but, okay, if you're happy, I'm happy.

[justduckey]

On 12/6/2017 at 2:32 PM, LizDC said:

So, Sherry Stringfield’s last appearance was the first episode of Season 12 and it was just a regular day for Susan in the ER.  Anyone know why the abrupt departure? Maybe only one drawn out goodbye per character? 

Wait, did they even make reference to Susan leaving/not working there anymore? Admittedly I barely pay attention to some of these episodes and was wondering if I missed a throw-away piece of dialogue addressing it.

[doodlebug]

37 minutes ago, justduckey said:

Wait, did they even make reference to Susan leaving/not working there anymore? Admittedly I barely pay attention to some of these episodes and was wondering if I missed a throw-away piece of dialogue addressing it.

Kerry very briefly mentioned that Susan had gotten a tenured position in Iowa (we saw her talk about interviewing for it in a previous episode) and that was that.

[justduckey]

I was just coming back to say I’m now watching the episode where Kerry announces Susan left. So it took them 4 episodes to mention it. Oy.

[movingtargetgal]

I have to admit I really enjoyed watching Eve punch out that obnoxious drunk who was verbally abusing the blind kids.  Someone harassing a bunch of blind children singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, yeah that deserves a takedown.   He was getting into their faces and was being so cruel.  I view it as Eve defending the kids because his behavior was escalating and I think there was a real possibility that he could get physical with the kids .  It was not professional on her part but I think she would have gotten away with it if she had not thrown his urine sample on him.  

[walnutqueen]

3 hours ago, justduckey said:

Wait, did they even make reference to Susan leaving/not working there anymore? Admittedly I barely pay attention to some of these episodes and was wondering if I missed a throw-away piece of dialogue addressing it.

 

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Kerry very briefly mentioned that Susan had gotten a tenured position in Iowa (we saw her talk about interviewing for it in a previous episode) and that was that.

 

1 hour ago, justduckey said:

I was just coming back to say I’m now watching the episode where Kerry announces Susan left. So it took them 4 episodes to mention it. Oy.

That was so disconcerting.  Makes me wonder if there was ever a lot of "behind the scenes" gossip/animosities going on.

Oh, and way to leave me with a Friday cliffhanger (since I didn't watch/don't remember this arc) - Abby's "I'm pregnant".

P.S. - STILL not feeling the Abby hate, and find it repetitious.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

 

 

That was so disconcerting.  Makes me wonder if there was ever a lot of "behind the scenes" gossip/animosities going on.

Oh, and way to leave me with a Friday cliffhanger (since I didn't watch/don't remember this arc) - Abby's "I'm pregnant".

P.S. - STILL not feeling the Abby hate, and find it repetitious.

The whole storyline has been telegraphed from miles away.  First, we had Abby taking care of the woman with the risk of breast cancer who is worried she will never marry and have kids.  Big anvils dropping down on her head there, which must've caused a brain injury since Abby then decided that her own family history of breast cancer in non first degree relatives required an immediate mammogram which she then ordered for herself (the number of medical/procedural errors in this storyline are mind boggling, presuming Abby is under the age of 40 which I think she is supposed to be).  Someone asked about what happened to the young woman who had the genetic defect and underwent bilateral mastectomies (as an apparent emergency procedure, another huge error in the story).  Once Abby reunited her with her new boyfriend, she disappeared like the plot contrivance she was meant to be.

Next up: now that we see Abby facing her own lack of marriage and kids; she needs another plot contrivance to let us (and her) see just how maternal she really is.  Enter the chimp!  Abby bonds right away with the little critter, we see her cuddling it and feeding it and worrying about how the chimp mom is going to deal with its death.  See, Abby is motherhood material!

Finally, Abby 'bonds' with the little girl who was kidnapped and is the only one who cares about her while Kovach and Clemente argue over her care.  She is righteously angered over their behavior and the kid's death; once again, cementing her parental bona fides. Because, of course, we've always known that Luka feels no special bond with children and is all about insisting on getting his own way when it comes to patient care.  Except not,  Except when it makes Abby look good.

As for the future, Luka, while obviously wanting the baby to be born, steps back when she decides to terminate.  She gets all the way to the abortion clinic and changes her mind.  He is thrilled, they are living together and planning for the baby (he plans, she worries and obsesses and complains, for the most part).  Naturally, she ends up with a traumatic delivery and she and the baby nearly die.  Both survive.  The delivery is part of the cliffhanger for Season 12, so we should be seeing it in the upcoming week. Looks like the cliffhanger is on Thursday with the aftermath of the baby's birth on Friday as we enter Season 13.

Just as you don't feel the Abby-hate; I just don't feel the Abby-love, especially when so many other characters with potentially interesting stories are shoved aside to make room for her to be front and center in almost every episode.  It was her entrance to the show that was the beginning of the end of ER as a true ensemble, IMO and I missed that.

Edited December 9, 2017 by doodlebug

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

P.S. - STILL not feeling the Abby hate

Although I never did pinpoint when I quit watching, it has been so long since I had any spark of recognition that we are well into all-new-to-me territory, and thus far my opinion of her hasn't changed, either.  I like her, Luka, Kerry, and Sam, mostly like Neela, don't like Pratt but don't hate him, and then there are all these other people I barely even know the names of.  So, on top of liking them as I always have, at this point I'm also finding Kerry, Luka, and Abby comforting because they've been around so long.

I could do without another "oops" pregnancy, though, and it's beyond tiresome how women on TV who don't want kids almost always change their mind.  Having the abortion would have made a lot more sense for the character, and it would have been refreshing to see.  But, of course not - it's still TV's third rail to an extent, never mind back then.

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

The delivery is part of the cliffhanger for Season 12, so we should be seeing it in the upcoming week. Looks like the cliffhanger is on Thursday with the aftermath of the baby's birth on Friday as we enter Season 13.

Boy, if that doesn't illustrate the crazy pace created by airing three episodes a day, nothing does.  One Friday we learn she's pregnant and by the next Friday we'll be looking at a newborn?

[doodlebug]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Boy, if that doesn't illustrate the crazy pace created by airing three episodes a day, nothing does.  One Friday we learn she's pregnant and by the next Friday we'll be looking at a newborn?

Even back in the day, the timeline was really compressed.  Abby and Luka start sleeping together early in the season, maybe October.  Just a 3 episodes later, at Christmas, they've gone all the way from comfort sex (Abby came to his apartment after the little girl died) to an ongoing relationship with a baby on the way. Then, in mid May, just 5 months later, she gives birth.  The baby was early, I think she was 35 weeks or so, but the whole thing was a whirlwind.  Based on what we saw, Abby almost had to have conceived the first time they slept together.