All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Rootbeer]

3 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

It was Adele. :) I loved her character much more than the social worker who Carter dated in S11. Actually that’s part why I do love ER despite its flaws in the later years. So many of the recurring characters are awesome too and help make the show. 

The fact that the show used the same actors time and again in recurring roles rather than just casting each time for a radiologist or social worker or surgical nurse really made the show more realistic.  Steve the radiologist, the anesthesiologist played by David Brisbin, Laura Innes' real life husband, Adele, Shirley the surgical nurse; we got to know and like them and their re-appearance in random episodes really added to the experience of watching the show and was a realistic touch that a lot of other dramas don't have.

Even the nurses, doctors and aides in the background in the ER were seen again and again to the point where I'd be watching and notice the guy in scrubs with the beard was back.  Most of them were played by nurses and other ER staffers in real life, once again, the show went just a little further, did just a little more than other shows.

[Rootbeer]

10 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

It was Adele. :) I loved her character much more than the social worker who Carter dated in S11. Actually that’s part why I do love ER despite its flaws in the later years. So many of the recurring characters are awesome too and help make the show. 
 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Luka and Chuny did have a brief fling in S9 maybe? I remember watching a YouTube clip of Haleh explaining to Abby that she signed some petition the nurses had going about Luka’s behavior but I saw S9 a while ago at this point. I don’t remember the details. 

I know Mark and Chuny had a fling.  Not sure about Luka, but he did have a phase where he was pretty promiscuous and I do seem to recall some of the nurses being angry at his behavior.

[Cloud9Shopper]

50 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

I know Mark and Chuny had a fling.  Not sure about Luka, but he did have a phase where he was pretty promiscuous and I do seem to recall some of the nurses being angry at his behavior.

I just looked up S9 and found the Wiki summary for A Hopeless Wound (episode 5) which says:

“Luka's burgeoning sex addiction worsens, as an affair with Chuny is revealed...”

NBC describes it as:

“Elsewhere, Nurse Marquez (Laura Ceron) threatens to file a grievance against Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic)...”

And then there’s this from the next episode, One Can Only Hope:

”Elsewhere, Abby feels torn when she is caught between an official nurse's complaints against Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic), her former lover.” 

So yeah. I think One Can Only Hope might be where the petition comes into play but I don’t remember the fling that well. 

[Rootbeer]

Just now, Cloud9Shopper said:

good I just looked up S9 and found the Wiki summary for A Hopeless Wound (episode 5) which says:

“Luka's burgeoning sex addiction worsens, as an affair with Chuny is revealed...”

NBC describes it as:

“Elsewhere, Nurse Marquez (Laura Ceron) threatens to file a grievance against Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic)...”

And then there’s this from the next episode, One Can Only Hope:

”Elsewhere, Abby feels torn when she is caught between an official nurse's complaints against Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic), her former lover.” 

So yeah. I think One Can Only Hope might be where the petition comes into play but I don’t remember the fling that well. 

Good memory!  I think most of the fling must've happened offscreen.  I remember some of the nurses being angry at how they were tossed aside after he bedded them, but didn't remember it was Chuny.  Too bad, he didn't treat her better.  She surely would've treated him better than Abby did.

[Heathen]

3 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

It was Adele. :) I loved her character much more than the social worker who Carter dated in S11. Actually that’s part why I do love ER despite its flaws in the later years. So many of the recurring characters are awesome too and help make the show. 
 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Luka and Chuny did have a brief fling in S9 maybe? I remember watching a YouTube clip of Haleh explaining to Abby that she signed some petition the nurses had going about Luka’s behavior but I saw S9 a while ago at this point. I don’t remember the details. 

Luka and Chuny did have a fling. I think it was confirmed when St. Abby the nurse manager questioned him about it. ETA: I should have read further to see that other people confirmed the Luka/Chuny fling. 

The second half of the series was seriously over the top for disasters. The Romano/helicopter thing was just stupid. I'm still wondering -- since flight nurse Chuck wasn't on the doomed helicopter, and he wasn't on the elevator, where was he during the crash and the immediate aftermath? Hanging off the roof by his fingertips? 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Heathen

[Cloud9Shopper]

15 minutes ago, Heathen said:

Luka and Chuny did have a fling. I think it was confirmed when St. Abby the nurse manager questioned him about it. ETA: I should have read further to see that other people confirmed the Luka/Chuny fling. 

The second half of the series was seriously over the top for disasters. The Romano/helicopter thing was just stupid. I'm still wondering -- since flight nurse Chuck wasn't on the doomed helicopter, and he wasn't on the elevator, where was he during the crash and the immediate aftermath? Hanging off the roof by his fingertips? 

I just watched a YouTube clip of this episode and originally he said he needed to be on the flight but it looked like he never boarded the helicopter and I didn’t see him on the roof when it was swirling around. Maybe he just ducked down on the ground and the camera didn’t catch it is my guess. 

I can’t decide what was worse, really: the helicopter that killed Romano or Abby’s drunk bipolar brother falling in Gamma’s grave after which Abby had the audacity to act oblivious to Carter and give him a total non-apology. 

I had to turn away in S9 when Romano loses his arm originally. Some scenes I just cannot watch no matter how well done they are and how much I remind myself it’s all makeup and stunts and such. (Mark getting beat up in Random Acts is another one.) I guess that’s why I just watch medical shows and didn’t dare go into medicine myself.  

[Hiyo]

Didn't Chuny also have a brief fling with Mark as well?

[Bastet]

22 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Didn't Chuny also have a brief fling with Mark as well?

Yes.  The best part of that is when Doug coaches Mark on what to say in breaking it off, and then Chuny walks up to Mark and ends it using the very line he was going to use.

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

Yes.  The best part of that is when Doug coaches Mark on what to say in breaking it off, and then Chuny walks up to Mark and ends it using the very line he was going to use.

I think she may have been one of the three women Mark was dating at once too, and they all dumped him and he ended up having a candlelit dinner with Doug. That was a pretty great scene; my friend and I were just talking about it this morning. 

[Heathen]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I just watched a YouTube clip of this episode and originally he said he needed to be on the flight but it looked like he never boarded the helicopter and I didn’t see him on the roof when it was swirling around. Maybe he just ducked down on the ground and the camera didn’t catch it is my guess. 

I can’t decide what was worse, really: the helicopter that killed Romano or Abby’s drunk bipolar brother falling in Gamma’s grave after which Abby had the audacity to act oblivious to Carter and give him a total non-apology. 

I had to turn away in S9 when Romano loses his arm originally. Some scenes I just cannot watch no matter how well done they are and how much I remind myself it’s all makeup and stunts and such. (Mark getting beat up in Random Acts is another one.) I guess that’s why I just watch medical shows and didn’t dare go into medicine myself.  

Then what took Chuck so long to get down to the ER with his patient? I don't even know who the patient was since nobody on the chopper survived. Maybe he just grabbed a random person from one of the upper hospital floors so he'd look like a hero. 

It's a moot point -- just a lack of common sense or continuity that was typical of the series' second half. It drove me nuts that the writers wrote like we were all dingbats and wouldn't notice. 

[debraran]

22 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

It was Adele. :) I loved her character much more than the social worker who Carter dated in S11. Actually that’s part why I do love ER despite its flaws in the later years. So many of the recurring characters are awesome too and help make the show. 
 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Luka and Chuny did have a brief fling in S9 maybe? I remember watching a YouTube clip of Haleh explaining to Abby that she signed some petition the nurses had going about Luka’s behavior but I saw S9 a while ago at this point. I don’t remember the details. 

I can't remember that, re Chuny, just with Mark Greene. I never understood why a wonderful doctor and man only had to date Abby or someone from the ER. Sam was just as bad. You'd never see that in real life but it made him look stupid going from bad relationship to another.

Edited July 17, 2021 by debraran

[ShortyMac]

4 hours ago, Heathen said:

Then what took Chuck so long to get down to the ER with his patient? I don't even know who the patient was since nobody on the chopper survived. Maybe he just grabbed a random person from one of the upper hospital floors so he'd look like a hero. 

It's a moot point -- just a lack of common sense or continuity that was typical of the series' second half. It drove me nuts that the writers wrote like we were all dingbats and wouldn't notice. 

I think Chuck ended up getting a piece of metal lodged in his back - I think it was his liver, and he ended up needing emergency surgery. 
 

I remember when Chuny called Abby ‘the ER slut.’ She had no room to talk. 

[WendyCR72]

16 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

I think Chuck ended up getting a piece of metal lodged in his back - I think it was his liver, and he ended up needing emergency surgery. 

Yeah, that was when Susan had her big epiphany that she loved Chuck. (Donal Logue is a great actor and I liked him in other roles, but I really didn't care for Chuck. Maybe that's why I was so happy when Susan announced in S15 that she was divorced.)

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

Yeah, that was when Susan had her big epiphany that she loved Chuck. (Donal Logue is a great actor and I liked him in other roles, but I really didn't care for Chuck. Maybe that's why I was so happy when Susan announced in S15 that she was divorced.)

And that arc made no sense for Susan. I didn’t see her as the type to have a regrettable Vegas marriage. Or naming her kid Cosmo but that’s another story. 

I liked Donal Logue on SVU but when he first appeared as Declan, I hadn’t seen him as Chuck on ER. (I have taken a very long time to rewatch ER.) 

I still liked her, though (albeit I hated the Chloe arc in both S2 and S8) and was disappointed she disappeared so fast at the start of S12. 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[ShortyMac]

I love Donal Logue, too, not so much as Chuck.

[Bastet]

I think the only other thing I've seen Donal Logue in is as himself on some of those "I Love the [Decade]" shows on VH-1, where he was only slightly less greasy and gross as he was as Chuck, so I figured it was just him.

Whatever combination of writing and casting, I thought Chuck was a big dud, and it was awful for Susan to marry and procreate with him (not to mention naming their spawn Cosmo).  At least it was revealed in the end she'd ditched him.

Because I have strangely clear memories of watching episodes of that era with a friend when we happened to be hanging out together on a Thursday night (we were young then; we could drink and stay up late and be fine the next day) and her always working herself into a near tizzy complaining about how downright yucky he was, and me laughing at the degree of her reaction but agreeing with the underlying sentiment.

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

And that arc made no sense for Susan. I didn’t see her as the type to have a regrettable Vegas marriage. Or naming her kid Cosmo but that’s another story. 

Well, as posters here can attest, I have said many times over that Susan used to have Abby's story with an addict family (albeit being less sour about everything!), so once she returned, the writers seemed to make her into a party-girl ditz instead of the fun, competent doctor she was.

Her brief S15 visit thankfully seemed to write her as a fun, competent adult again.

[Cloud9Shopper]

12 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Well, as posters here can attest, I have said many times over that Susan used to have Abby's story with an addict family (albeit being less sour about everything!), so once she returned, the writers seemed to make her into a party-girl ditz instead of the fun, competent doctor she was.

Her brief S15 visit thankfully seemed to write her as a fun, competent adult again.

The series finale...don’t remind me I only have seven episodes left. I’m getting sad thinking about it now that The Beginning of the End is waiting for me in my Hulu queue for when I have time. :( 

I did always appreciate how level-headed Susan still was at work despite her problems with Chloe. In S2 when Chloe gives Susan this huge speech about how much she’s changed and Susan says she doesn’t really believe it, I thought that was really realistic and true to the rollercoaster Susan must have been on. Way different than Abby many years later when everyone was just expected to forgive and trust her immediately upon her return after relapsing and rehab. 

[Rootbeer]

15 hours ago, Heathen said:

Then what took Chuck so long to get down to the ER with his patient? I don't even know who the patient was since nobody on the chopper survived. Maybe he just grabbed a random person from one of the upper hospital floors so he'd look like a hero. 

It's a moot point -- just a lack of common sense or continuity that was typical of the series' second half. It drove me nuts that the writers wrote like we were all dingbats and wouldn't notice. 

It's been a long time, but, as I recall, a patient was being transferred to another hospital and Chuck, a paramedic, was supposed to go on the flight; but, when the other hospital's chopper landed, it turned out one of their nurses/EMT's was already on board so there wasn't room for him.  So, he was on the roof when the chopper took off and crashed shortly afterwards and was struck by some shrapnel.  I think it was his spleen that got ruptured.

It would've been so much better if we'd seen Susan in the relationship before they married.  Sherry Stringfield has such a beautiful smile and Susan was the queen of witty banter.  I agree with others that Chuck was not much in the looks department, but, if we'd gotten to see his relationship with Susan develop; it could've been good.  But, we were in the midst of all-Abby all-the-time and there was no screen time for any other characters as we needed to see Abby shopping in the liquor store, filing her nails, staring at her navel....

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, Rootbeer said:

It's been a long time, but, as I recall, a patient was being transferred to another hospital and Chuck, a paramedic, was supposed to go on the flight; but, when the other hospital's chopper landed, it turned out one of their nurses/EMT's was already on board so there wasn't room for him.  So, he was on the roof when the chopper took off and crashed shortly afterwards and was struck by some shrapnel.  I think it was his spleen that got ruptured.

It would've been so much better if we'd seen Susan in the relationship before they married.  Sherry Stringfield has such a beautiful smile and Susan was the queen of witty banter.  I agree with others that Chuck was not much in the looks department, but, if we'd gotten to see his relationship with Susan develop; it could've been good.  But, we were in the midst of all-Abby all-the-time and there was no screen time for any other characters as we needed to see Abby shopping in the liquor store, filing her nails, staring at her navel....

I just looked up Susan’s Wiki and had completely forgotten that she had her marriage to Chuck annulled and then they started dating again in S10, when she got pregnant. (I knew the wedding was like an elopement quickie type of thing and remember the annulment but somehow blanked on when they started dating again.) I agree with you. Maybe if it had progressed like a more normal (functional? not sure what the best word would be here) relationship we would’ve seen some good moments and understood the relationship better.

And LOL at navel-gazing, nail-filing Abby. I mean you’re not wrong, but thanks for the giggle anyway. :) 

[Heathen]

3 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

It's been a long time, but, as I recall, a patient was being transferred to another hospital and Chuck, a paramedic, was supposed to go on the flight; but, when the other hospital's chopper landed, it turned out one of their nurses/EMT's was already on board so there wasn't room for him.  So, he was on the roof when the chopper took off and crashed shortly afterwards and was struck by some shrapnel.  I think it was his spleen that got ruptured.

It would've been so much better if we'd seen Susan in the relationship before they married.  Sherry Stringfield has such a beautiful smile and Susan was the queen of witty banter.  I agree with others that Chuck was not much in the looks department, but, if we'd gotten to see his relationship with Susan develop; it could've been good.  But, we were in the midst of all-Abby all-the-time and there was no screen time for any other characters as we needed to see Abby shopping in the liquor store, filing her nails, staring at her navel....

He wasn't seen on the roof -- that's my point. I rewatched that episode last night; the camera panned the roof, and Chuck wasn't on it. 

The writers left the impression that he'd been on the chopper, which crashed and Susan had all the sad, then *POOF* hero Chuck arrived on the elevator, bagging an unknown patient who also wasn't on the roof. His spleen rupture, saved by St. Abby, happened after he'd been downstairs for awhile. 

I always saw Susan with a nice doctor, maybe one who worked in an office rather than with long ER shifts, to create relationship tension. Not with Chuck the flight nurse who looked like he smelled. All the guys we'd seen Susan date before were clean-cut. 

[Kel Varnsen]

Just recently finished season 14 and started 15 a couple of nights ago. Pratt's exit was surprisingly well done for this late in the game. Way better than Ray's or Weaver's or Lewis's off screen departure. Scott Grimes was so damn good. Although the whole thing with Pratt dying on the best day of his life was a bit much. They couldn't have made that more obvious if it had been written by Joss Whedon.

On to season 15 now, Abby's exit was as weird. It's funny that Sally Field played her mom since her weird voice over in the episode reminded me of Sally Field's weird voice over when she was flying with Christopher Reeve in Superman.

22 hours ago, Heathen said:

He wasn't seen on the roof -- that's my point. I rewatched that episode last night; the camera panned the roof, and Chuck wasn't on it. 

Speaking of the roof it is hilarious how much the helicopter pad has changed over the years. I remember in the early seasons they showed docs having to take the stairs to get there (which how does that work?). Then at one point it is next to a movie theater surrounded by buildings. Then by season 15 it is this massive pad that is bigger than the building and you can see the lake from it.

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Just recently finished season 14 and started 15 a couple of nights ago. Pratt's exit was surprisingly well done for this late in the game. Way better than Ray's or Weaver's or Lewis's off screen departure. Scott Grimes was so damn good. Although the whole thing with Pratt dying on the best day of his life was a bit much. They couldn't have made that more obvious if it had been written by Joss Whedon.

On to season 15 now, Abby's exit was as weird. It's funny that Sally Field played her mom since her weird voice over in the episode reminded me of Sally Field's weird voice over when she was flying with Christopher Reeve in Superman.

 

I was so relieved to finally wrap up S14. It’s my least favorite season, but YMMV. I saw Pratt’s death for the first time a couple months ago, though, and I felt like the rug had been ripped out from both Pratt and the audience. Just when things were going right for him. I think he would have been a decent chief, too, had he lived. (I don’t dislike Banfield really anymore but I haven’t fully warmed to her, though I love how stable her marriage seems to be as a whole.) I think I’m soon going to do a fanfic oneshot where he lives and gets a happy ending. (Love canon divergence in fics.)

Abby’s farewell sealed to me why I think she’s such an awful character. I couldn’t understand why she was so secretive about leaving or why she begged Pratt and Anspaugh to bend over backwards for the attending interview and job only to bail on it after one shift. She just is not a nice person. I think she gets a pass for being an alcoholic and having a bipolar family because her fans like to say she needs compassion and addiction is not a moral failing. It’s not and I can see the compassion argument (and agree with it), but I also don’t think it automatically makes her a nice person or a good friend/colleague when her last episode demonstrated anything but. 

[Rootbeer]

29 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I was so relieved to finally wrap up S14. It’s my least favorite season, but YMMV. I saw Pratt’s death for the first time a couple months ago, though, and I felt like the rug had been ripped out from both Pratt and the audience. Just when things were going right for him. I think he would have been a decent chief, too, had he lived. (I don’t dislike Banfield really anymore but I haven’t fully warmed to her, though I love how stable her marriage seems to be as a whole.) I think I’m soon going to do a fanfic oneshot where he lives and gets a happy ending. (Love canon divergence in fics.)

Abby’s farewell sealed to me why I think she’s such an awful character. I couldn’t understand why she was so secretive about leaving or why she begged Pratt and Anspaugh to bend over backwards for the attending interview and job only to bail on it after one shift. She just is not a nice person. I think she gets a pass for being an alcoholic and having a bipolar family because her fans like to say she needs compassion and addiction is not a moral failing. It’s not and I can see the compassion argument (and agree with it), but I also don’t think it automatically makes her a nice person or a good friend/colleague when her last episode demonstrated anything but. 

To me, Abby took advantage of the compassion and kindness shown to her because of her difficult family life and addiction and her cavalier decision to toss away the job she practically begged for after just one shift is a prime example of that.  Usually, the work schedule is made out several months in advance and hiring someone new doesn't happen overnight which means the other ER attendings would have to work extra or be shorthanded for a couple of months.  Also, as an attending, she would have a contract which would not allow her to just quit without giving notice.  30 days is a minimum for that kind of skilled position, many docs have to give 60 or 90 days.  I worked in one facility that required 180 days' notice.  And, yes, when I took another job, I served out my 180 days after resigning before moving on to the next position.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Cloud9Shopper]

36 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

To me, Abby took advantage of the compassion and kindness shown to her because of her difficult family life and addiction and her cavalier decision to toss away the job she practically begged for after just one shift is a prime example of that.  Usually, the work schedule is made out several months in advance and hiring someone new doesn't happen overnight which means the other ER attendings would have to work extra or be shorthanded for a couple of months.  Also, as an attending, she would have a contract which would not allow her to just quit without giving notice.  30 days is a minimum for that kind of skilled position, many docs have to give 60 or 90 days.  I worked in one facility that required 180 days' notice.  And, yes, when I took another job, I served out my 180 days after resigning before moving on to the next position.

Well today I learned. I’ve only ever worked in offices where two weeks is the standard, so this is like a whole other world for me. 

I can only wonder if she’d be so loved by fans of the show or her friends like Neela and Coburn if she weren’t an addict and didn’t have bipolar family but otherwise behaved like such an asshole on the job or when she was in preterm labor. I’d imagine she’d get tiresome pretty quick if she weren’t saddled with that baggage but was just a bitch in general to everybody. No one wants to work with someone with that kind of attitude. My mom is a nurse and the petty shit she puts up with at her job from other nurses burns her out in a hurry. She said it’s part why so many nurses quit or leave the field. 

And it still bothers me that Luka took her back and said they should run away together to start over after even he called her out for endangering Joe. He needed to run and take Joe with him. Why would you not be looking for a divorce or sole custody after that? And as we saw in Bloodline, it is not the first time she didn’t have any interest in putting Joe’s well-being above hers. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[Hiyo]

Quote

I can only wonder if she’d be so loved by fans of the show or her friends like Neela and Coburn if she weren’t an addict and didn’t have bipolar family but otherwise behaved like such an asshole on the job or when she was in preterm labor.

We'd probably still like her anyway.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Pratt's exit was surprisingly well done for this late in the game.

I agree.  I'm a sucker for storylines when a medical professional knows what's up for themselves or a loved one, and Pratt's impending death was particularly well done.

I disliked him for a long time, only coming around on him when he got over himself to support Chen in ending her father's misery.  And I hate Frank with every fiber of my being, to the point I actively resent the heart attack episode where they try to convince us he's this really nice guy at home to his sweet as pie wife and disabled daughter AND speaks highly to them of the ER staff he treats like shit on a daily basis.

But, good gods, that moment at the elevator?  That is believable.  Frank's redemption episode, no; completely over the top.  But that even this asshole, in that moment, would show respect?  That works.  And beautifully.

[Kel Varnsen]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

But, good gods, that moment at the elevator?  That is believable.  Frank's redemption episode, no; completely over the top.  But that even this asshole, in that moment, would show respect?  That works.  And beautifully.

I also liked how they played it at the wake with the look on Frank's face when he was sort of sneaking shots with his back to everyone.

Although I did kind of find it annoying when Frank told Angela Bassett to go easy on Morris because Pratt died, without mentioning that a week before it happened Morris was also involved in a hostage situation where 2 people died.

[Rootbeer]

21 hours ago, Bastet said:

I agree.  I'm a sucker for storylines when a medical professional knows what's up for themselves or a loved one, and Pratt's impending death was particularly well done.

I disliked him for a long time, only coming around on him when he got over himself to support Chen in ending her father's misery.  And I hate Frank with every fiber of my being, to the point I actively resent the heart attack episode where they try to convince us he's this really nice guy at home to his sweet as pie wife and disabled daughter AND speaks highly to them of the ER staff he treats like shit on a daily basis.

But, good gods, that moment at the elevator?  That is believable.  Frank's redemption episode, no; completely over the top.  But that even this asshole, in that moment, would show respect?  That works.  And beautifully.

ER was very, very good at showing the small moments when the healthcare team really worked as one and mourned as one.  The Healers, back in Season 2, where Raoul the paramedic was burned in the fire, was another great one as the ER staff sat around in Doc's talking about him and Shep and told stories.  We just recently reviewed all the great little moments in the aftermath of the stabbing.

The writers of ER won a Humanitas Award for just this sort of storytelling, IMO.

[Racj82]

I hate how we kept having these characters built up to take these big roles within the ER and then they were gone immediately. Whether it be Pratt, Abby, Susan, etc. 

Susan especially. I felt played twice since her exit the first time was so abrupt. But, then she did it again just when it looked like she was going to be chief. In my head I was just like fuck off then if you are going to keep leaving like this.

I was just rewatching Greene's last moments in the ER. Had me over here sobbing like a baby. Again. 

For some reason it's Mark responding to Abby's Goodnight with Goodbye right after him and Susan lock eyes. 

[debraran]

40 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

I hate how we kept having these characters built up to take these big roles within the ER and then they were gone immediately. Whether it be Pratt, Abby, Susan, etc. 

Susan especially. I felt played twice since her exit the first time was so abrupt. But, then she did it again just when it looked like she was going to be chief. In my head I was just like fuck off then if you are going to keep leaving like this.

I was just rewatching Greene's last moments in the ER. Had me over here sobbing like a baby. Again. 

For some reason it's Mark responding to Abby's Goodnight with Goodbye right after him and Susan lock eyes. 

That was a killer moment, it's the little things, not the ones they hit you over the head with.

We have a music loop at work that "Over the Rainbow" plays on and it always makes me melancholy. I heard it on ER's funeral but in 2000, Finding Forrester movie with Sean Connery plays it at the end when he dies and the young man he mentors goes on to continue his life. Fits well with both.

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I watched Pratt’s death for the first time a couple months ago and I was really sad about how he was celebrating his brother getting into med school and was going to propose to his girlfriend and then it all came to a halt. And he was going to get the chief job too. It was so jarring how fast he lost it.

Susan’s exit in Round 2 was way too abrupt. I think she deserved better and was made almost a satire of herself from her first appearance with the marriage to Chuck and naming her kid Cosmo.

Abby I will never understand why she groveled for that attending job only to leave after one shift. Who does that IRL? So weird, even for Abby. 

I realize that of course there were contract things with the actors and how they wanted to leave the show, plus the writer’s strike in S14 meant some things had to be rushed. But it was still sad for Pratt and bizarre for Susan and Abby to leave the way they did. 

I want to watch The Beginning of the End, which is next up for me, but somehow I don’t. I’m finding now that I’m so close to the end I don’t want to open Hulu and am clinging hardcore to what’s left. Not ready for it to end! 

[Racj82]

1 minute ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I watched Pratt’s death for the first time a couple months ago and I was really sad about how he was celebrating his brother getting into med school and was going to propose to his girlfriend and then it all came to a halt. And he was going to get the chief job too. It was so jarring how fast he lost it.

Susan’s exit in Round 2 was way too abrupt. I think she deserved better and was made almost a satire of herself from her first appearance with the marriage to Chuck and naming her kid Cosmo.

Abby I will never understand why she groveled for that attending job only to leave after one shift. Who does that IRL? So weird, even for Abby. 

I realize that of course there were contract things with the actors and how they wanted to leave the show, plus the writer’s strike in S14 meant some things had to be rushed. But it was still sad for Pratt and bizarre for Susan and Abby to leave the way they did. 

I want to watch The Beginning of the End, which is next up for me, but somehow I don’t. I’m finding now that I’m so close to the end I don’t want to open Hulu and am clinging hardcore to what’s left. Not ready for it to end! 

At least I can say with Pratt, Mehki asked to be killed off. I think if the creators had their way, Pratt and Morris would have been the head docs in the ER in the end.

They went from being two of my most hated TV characters of all time to two of my favorites. It's crazy. Especially Morris. What a little shit he was the first few years. I also wish him and Busy Phillips ended up together. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

8 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

At least I can say with Pratt, Mehki asked to be killed off. I think if the creators had their way, Pratt and Morris would have been the head docs in the ER in the end.

They went from being two of my most hated TV characters of all time to two of my favorites. It's crazy. Especially Morris. What a little shit he was the first few years. I also wish him and Busy Phillips ended up together. 

I am shipping Morris and Claudia so hard right now. I hope they stayed together, and I wish she’d come a season or two earlier so we could’ve had a breath of fresh air in S13 and/or S14. Those seasons were just too dark.

Re: @debraran’s comment on music. I of course will always associate Battleflag with ER (the Carter and Lucy stabbing song) and can only associate it with that when I hear it otherwise. Taking You Home (Doug and Carol reunion) is another one. But yesterday I had my 80s playlist on Spotify and the song from Greatest American Hero (Believe it or Not) came on, and I now connect it to this short funny clip of Morris: 

(I hate working from home but at least it’s good for me to rewatch ER clips and geek out over the music.) 

 

[debraran]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I am shipping Morris and Claudia so hard right now. I hope they stayed together, and I wish she’d come a season or two earlier so we could’ve had a breath of fresh air in S13 and/or S14. Those seasons were just too dark.

Re: @debraran’s comment on music. I of course will always associate Battleflag with ER (the Carter and Lucy stabbing song) and can only associate it with that when I hear it otherwise. Taking You Home (Doug and Carol reunion) is another one. But yesterday I had my 80s playlist on Spotify and the song from Greatest American Hero (Believe it or Not) came on, and I now connect it to this short funny clip of Morris: 

(I hate working from home but at least it’s good for me to rewatch ER clips and geek out over the music.) 

 

That's funny, I had that song on my playlist training for a half marathon in the 90s. (along with some other TV themes) to keep it varied. ; )

I liked that scene. Yes "Taking Me Home" will always be Doug and Carol.

Over the Rainbow song I still think of Finding Forrester first because it aired first and I watched it twice and my kids liked it. Maybe one day it will be a "happy theme song".

I"m glad I rewatched ER again on Hulu because I didn't faithfully watch when Morris was on and I missed some good episodes with him maturing.

[Kel Varnsen]

3 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Susan’s exit in Round 2 was way too abrupt. I think she deserved better and was made almost a satire of herself from her first appearance with the marriage to Chuck and naming her kid Cosmo.

Susan's entire round 2 made no sense, and her leaving off screen was crap. I was thinking about it and they should have just given her Mark's work personality (good doc, loved by everyone on staff, cares about patients above hospital policy). It would have made sense too since I can see her copying his style after learning from him and would make her conflict with Weaver make sense. They could have even made it super obvious, like having her ask her "what would Mark do"?

As for people leaving it's funny how some guest star interns/residents got a proper send off story like Busy Phillips or the Band of Brothers guy who was in a relationship with Abby. But others like Sara Gilbert and the guy from Always Sunny in Philadelphia who was Morris's friend just disappeared. Which was funny since they always made a big deal about prestigious the county residency program was.

Also how is it that I am on episode 8 of season 15 and I just realized that interns Andrew and Daria were brother and sister not a married couple?

Edited July 24, 2021 by Kel Varnsen

[Cloud9Shopper]

4 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Susan's entire round 2 made no sense, and her leaving off screen was crap. I was thinking about it and they should have just given her Mark's work personality (good doc, loved by everyone on staff, cares about patients above hospital policy). It would have made sense too since I can see her copying his style after learning from him and would make her conflict with Weaver make sense.

As for people leaving it's funny how some guest star interns/residents got a proper send off story like Busy Phillips or the Band of Brothers guy who was in a relationship with Abby. But others like Sara Gilbert and the guy from Always Sunny in Philadelphia who was Morris's friend just disappeared. Which was funny since they always made a big deal about prestigious the county residency program was.

Also how is it that I am on episode 8 of season 15 and I just realized that interns Andrew and Daria were brother and sister not a married couple?

I liked Sara Gilbert’s character! She has a guest spot in another show I like right now (Atypical, Netflix original). 

I didn’t realize Daria and Andrew were siblings either until it was clarified so no worries. I can’t stand looking at Daria’s messy hair. Shallow, I know but girl needs a comb.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/24/2021 at 7:47 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

didn’t realize Daria and Andrew were siblings either until it was clarified so no worries.

But did you think they were a couple? I'd thought it was because I wasn't really paying attention but my wife thought they were a couple too. Which is weird since you would think that production would have picked up on that vibe and made them being siblings more obvious. And I actually think making them two people who got married in med school would have been more interesting.

Tonight I watched the episode where Sam's kid ends up in the ER after a snow storm traffic accident. At the end a weird thing happens where is chest tube drainage tank (not sure what it is actually called) fills up super fast as if it was under pressure. Now I know there are some medical professionals here but is that something that actually happens? Because if so I am surprised we have never seen it before. It was quite dramatic, more so than people getting the defibrillator paddles, which happens every episode.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Kel Varnsen

[Cloud9Shopper]

16 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

But did you think they were a couple? I'd thought it was because I wasn't really paying attention but my wife thought they were a couple too. Which is weird since you would think that production would have picked up on it. And I actually think making them two people who got married in med school would have been more interesting.

Tonight I watched the episode where Sam's kid ends up in the ER after a snow storm traffic accident. At the end a weird thing happens where is chest tube drainage tank (not sure what it is actually called) fills up super fast as if it was under pressure. Now I know there are some medical professionals here but is that something that actually happens? Because if so I am surprised we have never seen it before. It was quite dramatic, more so than people getting the defibrillator paddles, which happens every episode.

I did think they were married at first yeah. 

I really enjoyed the snowstorm episode but I was more into it for Banfield and Archie being snowed in than Sam’s kid. 

[Rootbeer]

10 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

But did you think they were a couple? I'd thought it was because I wasn't really paying attention but my wife thought they were a couple too. Which is weird since you would think that production would have picked up on that vibe and made them being siblings more obvious. And I actually think making them two people who got married in med school would have been more interesting.

Tonight I watched the episode where Sam's kid ends up in the ER after a snow storm traffic accident. At the end a weird thing happens where is chest tube drainage tank (not sure what it is actually called) fills up super fast as if it was under pressure. Now I know there are some medical professionals here but is that something that actually happens? Because if so I am surprised we have never seen it before. It was quite dramatic, more so than people getting the defibrillator paddles, which happens every episode.

I don't remember the details of the episode, but, when they put a chest tube in a trauma patient, it is sometimes meant to drain blood from the chest cavity.  If it fills up with blood quickly, it means the patient is actively bleeding and needs to get to surgery to control it.

[Kel Varnsen]

3 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

I don't remember the details of the episode, but, when they put a chest tube in a trauma patient, it is sometimes meant to drain blood from the chest cavity.  If it fills up with blood quickly, it means the patient is actively bleeding and needs to get to surgery to control it.

But in this case it filled up almost instantly to the point where the drainage tank thing made a noise and there were bubbles. I am just not sure if the blood flowing could actually generate that much pressure.

[Rootbeer]

4 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

But in this case it filled up almost instantly to the point where the drainage tank thing made a noise and there were bubbles. I am just not sure if the blood flowing could actually generate that much pressure.

Chest tubes are put to suction, so they don't drain passively.  So, if there is a lot of blood in the chest, it will be pulled into the container very quickly.

ER does compress the timelines in trauma, but, in real life, a major injury to a blood vessel in the chest would fill the container in a couple minutes or so.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Rootbeer

[debraran]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRr2gubnEjG/\

Great pic of Julianne and Eriq

[RedbirdNelly]

On 7/18/2021 at 2:33 PM, Bastet said:

I agree.  I'm a sucker for storylines when a medical professional knows what's up for themselves or a loved one, and Pratt's impending death was particularly well done.

I disliked him for a long time, only coming around on him when he got over himself to support Chen in ending her father's misery.  And I hate Frank with every fiber of my being, to the point I actively resent the heart attack episode where they try to convince us he's this really nice guy at home to his sweet as pie wife and disabled daughter AND speaks highly to them of the ER staff he treats like shit on a daily basis.

But, good gods, that moment at the elevator?  That is believable.  Frank's redemption episode, no; completely over the top.  But that even this asshole, in that moment, would show respect?  That works.  And beautifully.

I so agree. I was surprised to find myself sobbing when Pratt died that late in the series, but I did. When I rewatched on Pop, it happened again (the moment you see Pratt realize things are dire gets me and then Frank)

[Cloud9Shopper]

I’m on vacation for the weekend so I caught 15-16 through 15-18 in some of my downtime today.

Poor Carter, I’m telling you. It’s so sad to see him rundown and on the dialysis. (I know it’s about to turn out fine; I don’t mind spoilers at this point LOL.) It was interesting in his first shift back to watch him be out of the loop. I actually thought he was serious about wanting Banfield’s kidney for a hot minute. He played that well even if the joke itself just wasn’t funny. 

Aw I love Morris and Claudia still but Morris definitely needs to step back a bit with her job. I thought the apartment painting scene and him rushing to the hospital to be with her was precious, though. And the whole speech about kids, if that’s what she wants, was cute too. I liked that she does think it’s nice that he worries about her even if he does need to take it down a notch. 

I’m glad Neela ended it with Brenner. No one cares. And I don’t really love her and Ray together either but he’s a better choice than Brenner at least. 

I would really enjoy Frank and Jerry’s desk clerk reality show. Nice foreshadowing with the “essential workers” stuff. Who would’ve thought...

Only four more episodes to go, and I don’t want it to end. Seeing Carter come back was so bittersweet and the next episode is really going to hit a nerve to see so many OGs. 

[Hiyo]

One website's ranking:

‘ER’: 25 greatest episodes ranked worst to best.

[Claire85]

I would have put All in the Family as #1, but Love’s Labor Lost was also devastating. Not sure about the pilot being #2. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

6 minutes ago, Claire85 said:

I would have put All in the Family as #1, but Love’s Labor Lost was also devastating. Not sure about the pilot being #2. 

I think Secrets and Lies was a little too high on there myself. Probably should’ve left it off. I didn’t really love the out of ER episodes but I have a fondness for Middle of Nowhere after my rewatch. (I know that’s an unpopular opinion but hey.) 

[Lisa418722]

"On the Beach"  when it first aired it sad.  I was going to miss Anthony Edwards, and it was nice seeing some of the original cast at the funeral. I did cry during "Over the Rainbow."  Since that originally episode aired my dad died from glioblastoma and now I cannot watch that episode without crying through the whole episode.  The first time around, I didn't really like Rachel, but on rewatching it, she didn't bother me as much because I remember the feelings I was going through when my dad was dying.  Unfortunately no trip to Hawaii for us. He was in one state and I was in another so I did a lot of traveling on weekends.   

Edited July 31, 2021 by Lisa418722

[ch1]

Secrets and Lies shouldn’t have been on a best episode list at all.  The characterization of everyone involved was terrible and over the top.