All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Cloud9Shopper]

Watched up to Carol having the babies tonight.

In The Peace of Wild Things, I did kind of hate when Kerry admitted to Mark that she didn’t do much background checking or reference checking on Gabe, but I really couldn’t be too angry with her for long when I saw how heartbroken she was in the scenes she shared with Gabe. That episode almost brought me to tears this time around, especially when he recited the poem. 

Jeanie’s farewell moment with Kerry was sweet too but I thought it seemed a little rushed. Like she wasn’t showing up for work and then she decides she’s going to quit? I remember hearing about Gloria Reuben leaving back in the day but can’t remember if it was a sudden decision and if they had to write her out quickly. Her exit seemed out of character. And I hate that she and Reggie were broken up in S14 when she comes back; I generally liked the romances where one partner didn’t work in the hospital. They seemed so in love in S5 and 6; the S14 writers should have let it be. 

Oh, the Dean Rollins story is starting. I’ve seen some pretty dark stuff on SVU but this makes my skin crawl. Not so much in 6x7, but in the next few episodes he’s in.

Carol giving birth: Oh look, it’s Abby actually being pleasant and likable. Luka too. And I love the shade Coburn throws at Mark when she asks him if he wants to assist on a C-section, but laughed when she assumes he’s the babies’ father and he’s just like “ummm no…”

@Notabug I’ve always been curious. How common is it for women to faint in labor like Carol does before Tess is born? I don’t understand why they couldn’t just take her up to OB as soon as she got there (other than no dramatic ER delivery for TV and ratings). And also, it’s kind of amusing to see how realistic Carol’s emergency section was written as opposed to Abby’s in S13 where she’s flailing and shrieking all over the place and everyone’s just like letting her carry on, while Carol was more subdued and seemed tired and like she was in danger. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Jeanie’s farewell moment with Kerry was sweet too but I thought it seemed a little rushed. Like she wasn’t showing up for work and then she decides she’s going to quit?

Jeanie was several times a shithead towards Kerry, never properly respecting what Kerry did for her or at least tried to do for her, and just not showing up any more when she decided she wanted to ... I don't remember clearly; stay home with a baby? ... instead of working was the final example of that.  She's damn lucky Kerry gave her the opportunity to come in, explain herself, and quit, rather than just firing her absent ass.

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

And I hate that she and Reggie were broken up in S14 when she comes back; I generally liked the romances where one partner didn’t work in the hospital. They seemed so in love in S5 and 6; the S14 writers should have let it be. 

He/they were so terribly uninteresting to me that, while I wouldn't have objected to them still being together, I also have no problem with them later breaking up, especially that many years later; a lot can change.

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Jeanie was several times a shithead towards Kerry, never properly respecting what Kerry did for her or at least tried to do for her, and just not showing up any more when she decided she wanted to ... I don't remember clearly; stay home with a baby? ... instead of working was the final example of that.  She's damn lucky Kerry gave her the opportunity to come in, explain herself, and quit, rather than just firing her absent ass.

He/they were so terribly uninteresting to me that, while I wouldn't have objected to them still being together, I also have no problem with them later breaking up, especially that many years later; a lot can change.

Yes Jeanie did leave to stay home with her baby.

I understand that things can change and couples break up or get divorced (I like to think Abby and Luka would have divorced eventually, after all), but it felt so unnecessary to me. It just meant one more miserable person in S14; I wish they had just let Jeanie still be happy. 

[Notabug]

10 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

 

@Notabug I’ve always been curious. How common is it for women to faint in labor like Carol does before Tess is born? I don’t understand why they couldn’t just take her up to OB as soon as she got there (other than no dramatic ER delivery for TV and ratings). And also, it’s kind of amusing to see how realistic Carol’s emergency section was written as opposed to Abby’s in S13 where she’s flailing and shrieking all over the place and everyone’s just like letting her carry on, while Carol was more subdued and seemed tired and like she was in danger. 

I've been in OB for 40+ years and can safely say that I've never seen anyone faint in labor.  TV has people fainting all the time for no good reason.  Luka says Carol got 'vasovagal' which indicates that her blood pressure dropped suddenly due to stimulation of the vagus nerve in the chest.  If you've ever been a bit dehydrated, stood up quickly and got dizzy, that's vasovagal.  Most people sit down, put their head between their knees or lie down and it passes in a minute or two.  Even if someone did lose consciousness, they'd come to seconds later when they fell and the blood flow increased to their head.  They wouldn't be unconscious for a prolonged period like Carol supposedly was.

In real life, Carol would've been taken immediately to OB.  Kerry's insistence that she needed vital signs first was stupid.  Most ER docs hate OB and are afraid of pregnant women, particularly pregnant women who are about to deliver.  In the real world, the ER doc would've helped them push the bed onto the elevator and out of the ER as quickly as possible.  OB units are set up with a triage area and observation beds just like the ER and are far better equipped to handle OB emergencies.  Any ER doc who insisted on delivering a baby down there in the same circumstances as Kerry would be in danger of losing their job.

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Yes Jeanie did leave to stay home with her baby.

I understand that things can change and couples break up or get divorced (I like to think Abby and Luka would have divorced eventually, after all), but it felt so unnecessary to me. It just meant one more miserable person in S14; I wish they had just let Jeanie still be happy. 

There really was no reason for Jeannie and Reggie to split up.  Even if the actor wasn't available or they didn't want to pay him; they could've had Reggie at work or home sick or out of town visiting his mother.  Not hard to do.

Gloria Reuben's exit from ER was planned for a while.  She had asked producers for a bigger role for Jeannie and it hadn't happened, Jeannie was mostly in the background by that point.  Meanwhile, Gloria was also a singer and got hired to sing back-up on Tina Turner's tour, which, who wouldn't want to sing with Tina?  Anyway, there were months to plan her exit from the show.

And, yeah, Jeannie had been a reliable, dependable employee to that point, there was no need to indicate that, just because she became a mother, she could no longer be trusted not to call of work when she needed to or that she'd burden her coworkers by just not showing up with no notice.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Notabug

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

It just meant one more miserable person in S14; I wish they had just let Jeanie still be happy. 

Was she unhappy when she came back?  I paid very little attention near the end (when I watched it on Pop a few years ago; I had quit watching well before then originally).

[Cloud9Shopper]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Was she unhappy when she came back?  I paid very little attention near the end (when I watched it on Pop a few years ago; I had quit watching well before then originally).

I wasn’t paying attention much by S14 because the show was pretty terrible by then, IMO, and I was just trying to get through it. But I wouldn’t call having a kid with AIDS and being divorced a happy ending although who knows…maybe she was more content than what I remember. She also mentioned that Al had died too and she seemed pretty down when talking to Haleh, I think. (I love the scene they shared though.) 

[Bastet]

Thanks; I don't remember any of that.  Pop aired three episodes a day, so I would generally properly watch one while I ate lunch and then just have the other two on in the background while I worked.  And as time went on, I paid less and less attention (just like originally, although I didn't outright quit in syndication like I had with the network airing).

[outsmartabullet]

On 7/14/2023 at 4:18 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m up to Alan Alda’s guest arc now; I believe the next episode or two is his last one actually. I feel overwhelmed just watching him realize he’s losing it but not yet aware that he has Alzheimer’s. I can’t imagine what it’s actually like.

One arc I forgot to mention that I wish I could forget: Carter and Elaine’s relationship. Who thought this was a good idea? I cringe when he’s practically trying to feel her up after her mastectomy. It’s not very Carter-like either since he’s generally never been a creep/pervert but he came off like one here.

I got weird vibes from Luka in 6x3 with the guy who was abusing his wife. Yeah the guy was likely or definitely an abuser but can he really make the call to put him in restraints before psych gets down there to do an evaluation? The way he went about it and got kind of up close with someone crazy was almost uncomfortable. Maybe not entirely surprising given his temper down the road, though. 

 

I think from his first appearance on the show he kind of knew he had Alzheimers but was in denial about how bad it had gotten. He's a doctor, he totally knew.

[Notabug]

3 hours ago, outsmartabullet said:

I think from his first appearance on the show he kind of knew he had Alzheimers but was in denial about how bad it had gotten. He's a doctor, he totally knew.

Yes, I thought it was pretty obvious that he had figured out what was probably happening but he just wasn't ready to call it quits and thought he could handle the ER even if he was a little slowed.

[debraran]

It really boosted the ratings at the time. From one site on his arrival

" Turns out "ER" didn't need another George Clooneyesque hunk or another shocking storyline. It needed Alan Alda, adored by millions young and old for his turn as sarcastic Dr. Hawkeye Pierce of "M*A*S*H." Adding Alda to the "ER" cast last week added 2 million viewers. The studio has signed him for five episodes and the writers are intent on giving his doctor character Alzheimer's disease--so that he can't possibly return to the ER for more episodes. Smart thinking, guys."

In an interview he said they wanted him back but with dementia, to show him like that, would be too sad. Should have had it take longer.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Still watching S6. 

I really liked Lucy’s storyline with the heart transplant patient, except for the part where she signed off on the LVAD and pretended Peter agreed to it. I wish the patient had survived for the happy ending, though. 

Carol really grated on me her first episode back from maternity leave. I know she was rusty so to speak and that she’s still overwhelmed but the whole sobbing in the lounge and snapping at everyone was a little too much. Go home if you’re not ready to go back to work. (Can you tell I’ve worked with people with kids who don’t pull their weight for too long now?) 

Chen came back a couple episodes ago. I’ve always been indifferent to her as a character (leaned towards disliking her in S1), but watching from a 2023 angle, it’s painful to watch people acting like Jing-Mei is so hard to pronounce. I do like her friendship with Carter, though. One funny moment I forgot about is when Chen plays the prank on Carter and he trips after coming out of the Porta Potty. 🤣 

I’m watching Abby’s first episode as a med student now. It’s nice to see her still pleasant and likable. Enjoy it while it lasts I suppose.

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Watched Be Still My Heart and All in the Family tonight. I of course believe they’re still two well done episodes but some little things bother me about All in the Family, like Luka meeting with Samantha Sobriki in his bloody scrub top (and everyone else running around between two traumas without gowns and covered in blood…I guess that was for effect but it grossed me out) and how Cleo is a pediatrician but knows how to do a thoracotomy. And not so much a bother but I chuckle when Abby says “I was complaining about my day” and I think “Don’t worry we all have to hear enough of that for the next eight years.” (But of course, no one knew that in 2000, so I let it slide.) 

No seriously. I always get choked up and jittery watching All in the Family otherwise. The end of the scene where Lucy dies and Elizabeth and Romano are standing in the angiography room in silence with just the beeping of the machine is haunting.

Be Still My Heart is a sad and mostly frustrating episode with all the death and Carter blowing off Lucy. But there was good humor too at times. Elizabeth and Shirley realizing they’re operating on Romano’s dog? Priceless. And I love the double date with Mark and Elizabeth and their parents at the end (and how fast the mood changes from Piano Man to trauma in All in the Family).

And oh, in Be Still My Heart, you can see Laura Innes crouched down in the green trauma room in the scene where the boy is walking in between the trauma rooms to see his parents. I never saw it until it was pointed out on the Setting the Tone podcast and I’m surprised it wasn’t caught and edited out since it’s kind of a funny moment in an otherwise sad scene. 

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

And I love the double date with Mark and Elizabeth and their parents at the end (and how fast the mood changes from Piano Man to trauma in All in the Family).

I loved how the writers used one of the lyrics of the song so effectively, too. Notice when Mark was singing and gets beeped, the line from "Piano Man" was, "Bill, I believe this is killing me, as the smile ran away from his face..." as Mark's own smile dies as he sees the message - likely that someone tried to kill Carter and Lucy.

Good parallel between song and show.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Forgot to add my overall final thoughts on Lucy as a character: 

I found this time around I did not like her as much. Not in the same way I strongly dislike Abby, but I just kind of found Lucy’s enthusiasm annoying at times when she really hadn’t proved to be a strong enough student in the ER to earn such bragging rights. She was a little too much know-it-all for me and I feel like too much blame is placed on Carter for the reason why she was struggling even though she also had responsibility to bear. And why would she keep coming back to the ER for rotations when she clearly wasn’t good at it? (I know, TV and dramatic license.) Her death was sad but as a character as a whole, she is on my C or D list. 

[Notabug]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Forgot to add my overall final thoughts on Lucy as a character: 

I found this time around I did not like her as much. Not in the same way I strongly dislike Abby, but I just kind of found Lucy’s enthusiasm annoying at times when she really hadn’t proved to be a strong enough student in the ER to earn such bragging rights. She was a little too much know-it-all for me and I feel like too much blame is placed on Carter for the reason why she was struggling even though she also had responsibility to bear. And why would she keep coming back to the ER for rotations when she clearly wasn’t good at it? (I know, TV and dramatic license.) Her death was sad but as a character as a whole, she is on my C or D list. 

Yeah, Lucy wasn't a great med student by any measure, neither was Abby.  Lying to a resident about being able to draw blood or any other procedure is absolutely wrong and could easily result in disciplinary action from the med school and removal from that clinical rotation. It also shows a lack of compassion and concern for the patient and their well being which is not such a good look for a medical care provider. And it is no way to gain the trust of the resident who is going to be the one working with you day in and day out and will be responsible for much of your education as well as participate in your grading for the rotation.  If nothing else, if a resident wrote an evaluation and said that the student lied about her experience, potentially causing harm to patients; her grade would've been automatically lowered for the rotation.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

Abby isn’t actually bothering me as a med student at this early stage but I’ll see how I feel when I get to S10 again. I sort of wish they hadn’t messed with her character and reversed her whole personality because during Be Still My Heart I did smile a bit when she was talking to the older lady patient she had and said “I had to remind my husband he was married.” And the woman said “oh that’s not good” and Abby laughed and agreed. If they had kept her personality that way, when she was more laid back but almost had kind of a healthy dose of cynical humor I’d have liked her more. It’s just the way they ended up making her so bitchy and such a know-it-all but a martyr at the same time that was too much. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

It felt nice after the drama of Be Still My Heart and All in the Family to have some lighter and less intense episodes for 6x15 and 6x16.

Elizabeth’s reaction to catching her mom with Mark’s dad and her being put upon while Mark thinks it’s hilarious always gets me laughing. I’m on his side in this one. 🤣

Malucci flirting with Chen and failing so hard, and then Chen falling for Frank the ICU nurse. Morris Chestnut is still hot in the present day, even though I hated his character on The Resident. 

Also Malucci: eating the cereal out of an emesis basin with Carol’s breast milk. 🤮And still not realizing what he did wrong.

I like the scenes with Mark’s dad too, including how they’re watching home movies at the end of Under Control.

Carter coming back to work on crutches isn’t as brutal as Mark coming back after his assault on S3 but he still really shouldn’t be there. Or he should be on light duty or something else. 

I noticed in Be Patient that they started Abby the know-it-all mode early, even if it’s more subtle here, by showing she indeed made the right call by overruling Kerry. Not as annoying as it will be down the road but it’s like the writers wanted to warm us up or something. 

[RedbirdNelly]

On 7/12/2023 at 3:55 PM, Notabug said:

Ok.  Thanks.  What happened was the force of the blast caused air to enter into his circulatory system.  The pressure changes from the blast damage the lungs which cause air to be driven into the blood vessels there.  If the embolism is large enough, it can stop the heart and can also travel to the brain where it would prevent oxygen from getting to the tissue resulting in hypoxic injury, even brain death. 

Not all air embolisms are fatal, it mainly depends on how much air entered the circulation.  I've seen a few TV shows where someone was murdered by the villain using a syringe to inject air into their IV.  A typical 10 cc syringe full of air is not going to be fatal.

You sometimes hear this situation called 'blast lung'.  It happens with explosion in combat situations usually.

In real life, they probably would give a young, otherwise healthy guy more than 4 hours before declaring brain death; but, otherwise, the scenario is fairly plausible.

just chiming in to say (what I've posted before) but Pratt's death made me cry real tears. It was not a good season for ER but they still moved me with the way that happened. The point when he realizes what is going on just gutted me. Well done writers and actors.

[Cloud9Shopper]

I agree about Pratt. I also do feel that S15 didn’t really pick up until the second half of the season and the first part was just average, but since it is the last hurrah, I watch the whole thing anyway with the exception of Abby’s farewell. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

The two episodes I watched tonight sure had rough spots even in an otherwise strong S6.

I can think of approximately 105 things I’d rather be doing than watching Peter and Cleo have awkward sex on her stairs after she asks Peter to join her in the shower in the least sexy tone I’ve ever heard.

Luka has no bedside manner with the cocaine addict who was awaiting the kidney transplant (in Viable Options). And in the same episode, I actually was on Kerry’s side with putting the central line in the disabled girl. 

I’m going to hell for this but I kinda cheered for Malucci when he said it wasn’t his problem that Carol decided to raise two kids on her own. Her disappearing act during her shift to go hang out in daycare when she works in an ER is ridiculous. 

I’m ultimately not sure how I feel about Abby arranging the abortion for the woman who already had four kids under eight. I definitely don’t think it’s her call to make that the woman can’t handle another baby; she doesn’t have the full scope of her home life even though she thinks she does. Maybe the husband is an abusive asshole; I can’t tell. But I also don’t understand why she’d refuse to tell him where his wife was unless the woman was clear that she didn’t want him knowing her medical information. And in the end, I think the patient didn’t seem fully sold on the abortion. Maybe even though she is exhausted she does love her big family. And that isn’t Abby’s decision to make. 

Lucy would have been a good psychiatrist. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 8/17/2023 at 11:46 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

And in the same episode, I actually was on Kerry’s side with putting the central line in the disabled girl. 

I would have been had it not been yet another demonstration of her hypocrisy. I was glad when Romano suspended her, just as she would have done to anyone else. Instead of being pissy about it, she should have been glad that at least he wasn't screaming his head off and publicly humiliating her the way she would have been.

On 8/17/2023 at 11:46 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Luka has no bedside manner with the cocaine addict who was awaiting the kidney transplant (in Viable Options

He was always so dangerously self-righteous with patients who weren't living up to his expectations.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Finished S6 tonight since I had to work and needed something as background noise to pass the time easier. I really think it is the best season of the series. 

I honestly forgot about The Fastest Year (episode 19 of S6) because so much happens at the end of the season this one got lost in the shuffle. I thought the placement of Carter’s flashbacks as he held the knife at home to cut bread and helped with the spinal tap on the little kid was well done. It’s so hard watching his spiral in the next three episodes. (I’ll also always be salty that Mark and Kerry were so hard on him while Abby drinks and skates through “recovery” several seasons from now with virtually no consequences and everyone still tells her what a terrific mommy and doctor she is.) 

Abby’s self inserting into patients’ lives is even more obnoxious in this episode (with the little girl with the leukemia). How many times do you have to be told not to get involved and then do it anyway? 

OK Carol, we know you have a hard life. If you can’t handle the ER anymore, surely there is a more family friendly specialty of nursing she’d be better at? (Maybe there isn’t; I don’t know.) I wonder if she ended up staying in ER nursing before becoming a transplant coordinator once she moved to Seattle. I do love her reunion with Doug the more I watch it, though. 

Hated Luka with the pregnant girl who stabbed herself in Mayday. I loved when Coburn put the proverbial smackdown on him. 

Best funny moment? Kerry’s tirade in Such Sweet Sorrow and waking Malucci with the rape whistle, then keeping her word and giving him patients with hemorrhoids and a boil to be lanced. And telling him he’ll be a yuppie when he grows up. And Frank’s astonishment at Kerry using a whistle. 

When Carol tells Luka he’ll find the one, I thought “and the best he can do is Abby.” 😈

I loved the final moments with Mark and his dad, especially their time on the boat in the water and David giving Elizabeth the pearls. I kind of wish she had held on to them; I would have liked to see her wear them on hers and Mark’s wedding day. (Oh well; I guess that’s why there’s fanfic so I can pretend she did.) This is also the last of Rachel we see as somewhat sweet and innocent before she goes all moody and wild teenager. Oh, and when Mark breaks down with Elizabeth holding him…that moment between them was perfection. 

Sorry Cleo. Peter and Elizabeth have more chemistry broken up than you do with him as his girlfriend. I love Jackie saying to Peter that she likes Cleo once she finds out they don’t have plans to get married.

Starting S7 on Thursday! I’m sure I will have more thoughts. 

 

 

[voiceover]

Of all the truly crap things this show did over the years — and it did a lot of them — bringing on Hawkeye Pierce, only to give him Alzheimer’s, was the worst.  I dgaf about how the character’s name was actually “Gabe” (whatever) or how the sl was “realistic”.   

Hawkeye was my hero.  In the fanfic in my head, he lived out his days in Maine, where he eventually lost his self-righteous gasbaggery & reunited with Blythe Danner’s Carly Walton.  They painted their lighthouse “hunter green” and never ever ever left the state, not even for 4077th reunions.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Forgot to leave my final thoughts on Carol’s character. 

Despite how much the writers took a turn with Carol’s writing and made her so dopey and mopey once the twins were born, I liked her overall. She came back from her suicide attempt in S1 with minimal (if any) “woe is me” and managed to be the best main cast nurse on the show. Her non-wedding at the end of S1 when she was just enjoying herself and being grateful for all her friends was one of the best season finales too. I also appreciated how proud she was of being a nurse and defended the other nurses when she needed to. 

Before the kids were born, I also thought it was nice that there were scenes of Doug and Carol discussing having kids, experiencing Carol’s disappointment when she wasn’t pregnant, etc. without it becoming too miserable or swallowing the story. Plus it was nice to see a couple actually talk about this maturely (even Doug was pretty reasonable) rather than just writing in Carol getting pregnant as an accident that was never talked about. And I do think Carol overall loves Tess and Kate and is a good mom; just wish it weren’t so dramatic and filled with so much hand-wringing once she gave birth. It felt out of character.

At the end of the day, Carol is A-tier for me.

[Dr.OO7]

13 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

At the end of the day, Carol is A-tier for me.

Me too. I'll always love Doug and Carol, individually, and as a couple, even growing up does make me more critical of some of their actions than I was as a kid.

[debraran]

My daughter sent me this article on ER. I agree. From The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/08/er-tv-show-drama-recommendation/675051/

[GiandujaPie]

I agree that ER has aged well, even though it first aired almost 30 years ago. Wow, has it really been that long? The main thing that immediately sets it in the past is the lack of cell phones but they started getting those in the next few seasons although not everyone used them and they were of the old flip style. 

I got the DVD box set and my husband and I are working our way through it, watching about one episode per night. I watched the show in real time when it was on whereas he did not so he is seeing most of the episodes for the first time. Some of the episodes I don't remember at all, and I always remark to him that I must have gone out that night or had plans with friends which is why I didn't see the episode and back then we didn't have a DVR. Other episodes are very memorable to me and I can remember watching them and which apartment I was in when I watched it or if I watched it with friends. 

We just started Season 10 which is the start of Neela. She ends up taking over so much of the show the last few seasons but only started in season 10? It seems like she was on for many more seasons. 

[debraran]

3 hours ago, GiandujaPie said:

I agree that ER has aged well, even though it first aired almost 30 years ago. Wow, has it really been that long? The main thing that immediately sets it in the past is the lack of cell phones but they started getting those in the next few seasons although not everyone used them and they were of the old flip style. 

I got the DVD box set and my husband and I are working our way through it, watching about one episode per night. I watched the show in real time when it was on whereas he did not so he is seeing most of the episodes for the first time. Some of the episodes I don't remember at all, and I always remark to him that I must have gone out that night or had plans with friends which is why I didn't see the episode and back then we didn't have a DVR. Other episodes are very memorable to me and I can remember watching them and which apartment I was in when I watched it or if I watched it with friends. 

We just started Season 10 which is the start of Neela. She ends up taking over so much of the show the last few seasons but only started in season 10? It seems like she was on for many more seasons. 

 

I rewatched it on Hulu, was fun to see it when I wanted and like you, some of it I remembered, some was blurry and some I didn't. When it got less good later, (before it got better) I had twins and wasn't watching as religiously and could only catch them on summer reruns. I'm glad I forgot ANYTHING with a helicopter and how they ruined so many episodes. I did like the last few with growth from some new people and seeing some "oldies" come back. : ) No medical show ever came close and some still bring laughs and tears. The FB and Instagram site are kept up well and they did a nice youtube reunion worth watching.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Oh hey, we have a banner for our forum now!

ER is probably my favorite show of all-time. I didn’t start watching until S6 since I was only nine when the show premiered, but I caught up on earlier seasons via TNT reruns. It was also the show that introduced me to the world of fanfiction in the early 2000s, and the show that got me back into writing nearly 20 years after I posted my first (badly written, bad enough that I hope it’s been scraped from the Internet) fanfic. 

Here are my ER fanfics if anyone is into that sort of thing. I have a longer story in progress at the moment but have written numerous shorter ones as well. I could be here all night detailing them but I’ve covered lots of ships, characters, tropes, you name it.  

Anyway, I started S7 tonight and just watched the premiere because I had forgotten just how much went on. It feels like this is what marked a shift in the series with all the chaos between the janitors’ strike (how did that ER stay open with all that trash piled up all over the place? It was disgusting!), the football game riot, Chen finding out she was pregnant, Carter coming back from rehab…way too much. And the way Carter was dragged to group therapy in the middle of the night. Not that I know for sure, but that could not have been realistic in any way and seemed almost…wrong. Is that the best rehab they could find? It didn’t seem like a very supportive place.

It’s so odd that Abby had that meltdown about her rotation and her unpaid tuition and then took three years to go back to medical school. Unless she hired some shitty lawyer who was really slow, I would think she’d want to get that tuition paid and go back the next quarter if that’s possible the way she was going crazy. (When I was watching this for the first time when I was 15, though, I loved that she threw her ex’s golf clubs and kicked the balls over.) It makes me wonder how long she was depressed and miserable and unhappy and how right Richard was about her given what she eventually becomes, though. I’m sure she is just as much at fault there…

One of my favorite edits on TV: Peter telling Elizabeth that the spread of the poison ivy depends on what she touched last and she says “Oh dear…” before the next shot is Mark scratching his nuts. And Haleh’s reaction to Mark getting the shot. Priceless.

S7 is going to be a wild ride. 
 

 

[debraran]

11 hours ago, debraran said:

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, debraran said:

 

Link to reunion if anyone was interested.

 

[Heathen]

10 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Oh hey, we have a banner for our forum now!

ER is probably my favorite show of all-time. I didn’t start watching until S6 since I was only nine when the show premiered, but I caught up on earlier seasons via TNT reruns. It was also the show that introduced me to the world of fanfiction in the early 2000s, and the show that got me back into writing nearly 20 years after I posted my first (badly written, bad enough that I hope it’s been scraped from the Internet) fanfic. 

Here are my ER fanfics if anyone is into that sort of thing. I have a longer story in progress at the moment but have written numerous shorter ones as well. I could be here all night detailing them but I’ve covered lots of ships, characters, tropes, you name it.  

Anyway, I started S7 tonight and just watched the premiere because I had forgotten just how much went on. It feels like this is what marked a shift in the series with all the chaos between the janitors’ strike (how did that ER stay open with all that trash piled up all over the place? It was disgusting!), the football game riot, Chen finding out she was pregnant, Carter coming back from rehab…way too much. And the way Carter was dragged to group therapy in the middle of the night. Not that I know for sure, but that could not have been realistic in any way and seemed almost…wrong. Is that the best rehab they could find? It didn’t seem like a very supportive place.

It’s so odd that Abby had that meltdown about her rotation and her unpaid tuition and then took three years to go back to medical school. Unless she hired some shitty lawyer who was really slow, I would think she’d want to get that tuition paid and go back the next quarter if that’s possible the way she was going crazy. (When I was watching this for the first time when I was 15, though, I loved that she threw her ex’s golf clubs and kicked the balls over.) It makes me wonder how long she was depressed and miserable and unhappy and how right Richard was about her given what she eventually becomes, though. I’m sure she is just as much at fault there…

One of my favorite edits on TV: Peter telling Elizabeth that the spread of the poison ivy depends on what she touched last and she says “Oh dear…” before the next shot is Mark scratching his nuts. And Haleh’s reaction to Mark getting the shot. Priceless.

S7 is going to be a wild ride. 
 

 

I always giggle at Malucci asking Mark about the "Australian boys." Funny. And the interns giving him side-eye as he scratches. 

 

[debraran]

Noah and Linda marching. Hope it ends soon 

[littlebennysmom]

Sam was such a ridiculous character...just saw the scene where she berates Gates and doesn't want him to mess up her kid like he did Sarah. 🙄🙄🙄

Pretty sure her kid was messed up long before Gates showed up.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

I don’t remember that particular scene (blocked out a lot of the later seasons) but I was not a fan of Sam or Gates either. Gates was just an unnecessary addition to the show, and Sam was generally obnoxious most of the time. 

That said, one of my biggest unpopular opinions about the show is that I had no problem with her treating Abby like crap after Abby came back from rehab. Abby needed to be knocked down a few pegs and wasn’t really owning her shitty behavior while drinking. I was glad Sam didn’t fall for the act and do the whole “let me run over and hug you while assuring you you’re SO BRAVE and are a wonderful mommy and doctor” everyone else immediately ate up. 

[Kel Varnsen]

5 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

don’t remember that particular scene (blocked out a lot of the later seasons) but I was not a fan of Sam or Gates either. Gates was just an unnecessary addition to the show, and Sam was generally obnoxious most of the time. 

What made Sam really hard to watch for me was that I really like Linda Cardellini in pretty much everything else I have seen her in (Freaks and Geeks, Dead to Me, The MCU). So the fact that Sam was super annoying was bad. And the fact that she maybe said 2 things to Busy Phillips's character the whole time she was on the show made it even worse. And to top it off her dirtbag ex-husband was played by my all time favourite hey it's that guy character actor Garret Dillahunt. And he sucked too. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Kel Varnsen

[ch1]

Sam gave Abby a run for her money in the misery club.  Both characters are exhausting to watch.

 

[Heathen]

I thought Sam was fun at first. Remember when she was at the triage desk, and the security guard tackled the guy who was being an ass? "Are you going to get off your ass and do something?!" "No, but he will."  (This is not counting her showing up for her first day of work wearing jeans and heels, and letting her jailbait son run around the ER while she worked.) 

Then the writers decided to make Sam another ER vixen around the same time loser ex-boyfriend (they were never married -- she was fifteen) Steve showed up. Cue drama drama drama, and then some more dumbass drama. Trying too hard was always ER's downfall. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

2 hours ago, ch1 said:

Sam gave Abby a run for her money in the misery club.  Both characters are exhausting to watch.

 

I’m going to hell for saying this but by the time Abby relapsed in S14, I had no sympathy for her. She had a history of poor decision making by that point and was always making herself miserable. Even with marriage to a desirable man (from the outside, anyway) and a baby she never seemed happy or thankful for what she had. She chose to have Joe and get married. At the point she decided to keep the baby and eventually marry Luka she needed to realize and accept that life wasn’t all about her anymore. When Luka was gone she should have been supporting him through his grief and the difficulty he was having with his father being ill but instead she chose to start going on drinking benders again and made Luka’s stress all about herself and how hard her life was. Just awful. What on Earth did Luka see in her out of all the women in Chicago who could have been better partners and mothers?

At least Coburn was around to tell Abby to quit her bitching and get on with working recovery.  

 

[Heathen]

6 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m going to hell for saying this but by the time Abby relapsed in S14, I had no sympathy for her. She had a history of poor decision making by that point and was always making herself miserable. Even with marriage to a desirable man (from the outside, anyway) and a baby she never seemed happy or thankful for what she had. She chose to have Joe and get married. At the point she decided to keep the baby and eventually marry Luka she needed to realize and accept that life wasn’t all about her anymore. When Luka was gone she should have been supporting him through his grief and the difficulty he was having with his father being ill but instead she chose to start going on drinking benders again and made Luka’s stress all about herself and how hard her life was. Just awful. What on Earth did Luka see in her out of all the women in Chicago who could have been better partners and mothers?

At least Coburn was around to tell Abby to quit her bitching and get on with working recovery.  

 

Scoot over in that hand basket, will you? By the time of Abby's relapse, not only did I have no sympathy for her, I despised her so much that I wished she were in the ambulance. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

6 hours ago, Heathen said:

Scoot over in that hand basket, will you? By the time of Abby's relapse, not only did I have no sympathy for her, I despised her so much that I wished she were in the ambulance. 

*Slides over* 

And Luka didn’t come out of that looking particularly good either. He knows Abby drove drunk with Joe in the car (he says “you endangered our son”) but because he goes running back to her with googly eyes to tell her he’ll run away with her  and makes a speech about a rowboat after punching Moretti, he’s seen as a hero. Yet he’s willing to stay married to the woman who neglected their son while she was drinking. Doesn’t say a lot about his family values or his own parenting abilities. Does he really have all that faith that Abby will never drink again for the rest of their lives? 

[Notabug]

8 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

*Slides over* 

And Luka didn’t come out of that looking particularly good either. He knows Abby drove drunk with Joe in the car (he says “you endangered our son”) but because he goes running back to her with googly eyes to tell her he’ll run away with her  and makes a speech about a rowboat after punching Moretti, he’s seen as a hero. Yet he’s willing to stay married to the woman who neglected their son while she was drinking. Doesn’t say a lot about his family values or his own parenting abilities. Does he really have all that faith that Abby will never drink again for the rest of their lives? 

Abby not only neglected their son, she got drunk and passed out after bringing him home from the hospital after he fell and hit his head and was knocked unconscious.  There is no social service agency in the world that isn't going to look into removing a sick child from a neglectful parent.

Around these parts, that handbasket is pretty big.

[Cloud9Shopper]

26 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Around these parts, that handbasket is pretty big.

This is part why I love you all. In every other ER fan space, approximately 98% of people (I made that stat up) adore Abby and gush about how she’s “relatable”, “flawed”, “inspiring” and on and on and on. It’s nothing but endless praise of how amazing she is and how Luka, Carter, Sam, and her family are at fault for her relapses and lack of accountability or why she’s so messed up. And people who hate Abby are sneered at and told how wrong they are. I never got on that hype train, or the one that talks about Abby and Luka as one of the best and most beloved couples of the show. Give me “boring” Mark and Elizabeth any day over Abby and Luka’s marriage.

I’m so happy I have good company here. 😁

Edited August 31, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[littlebennysmom]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

This is part why I love you all. In every other ER fan space, approximately 98% of people (I made that stat up) adore Abby and gush about how she’s “relatable”, “flawed”, “inspiring” and on and on and on. It’s nothing but endless praise of how amazing she is and how Luka, Carter, Sam, and her family are at fault for her relapses and lack of accountability or why she’s so messed up. And people who hate Abby are sneered at and told how wrong they are. I never got on that hype train, or the one that talks about Abby and Luka as one of the best and most beloved couples of the show. Give me “boring” Mark and Elizabeth any day over Abby and Luka’s marriage.

I’m so happy I have good company here. 😁

I'll fight anybody who thinks Carter was anything but understanding and forgiving to her while she was a morose wet blanket the whole time they dated.

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, littlebennysmom said:

I'll fight anybody who thinks Carter was anything but understanding and forgiving to her while she was a morose wet blanket the whole time they dated.

I have literally seen people shit on Carter because he was upset that Abby went to go get Eric after his grandmother died. And how he should have understood that it was Abby’s family and she HAD to deal with Eric, because Gamma had lived a long life but Eric was in danger. And oh Abby was in such a tough spot at the funeral and couldn’t not bring her drunk unmedicated brother to let him fall over in Gamma’s grave. It seems like everyone else’s hardships are about her somehow. Hell, she even made Joe’s pre-term birth all about herself and the drugs and anesthesia she wanted, and made a spectacle of herself in the OR. 

I mean I think Carter had the right to want his girlfriend to be there for him after his closest family member died. It’s been a while since I saw that arc, but he didn’t seem to have much other support from his family except his dad I think. He also gets shit on because he didn’t want Abby to drink because “he was trying to fix her.” Sorry that Carter was trying to help his girlfriend who was claiming she was in recovery yet drinking anyway? 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Bastet]

I think it makes all the sense in the world for Abby to leave; if she waited, her brother could have disappeared again.  As I've said before -- her family vs. his, time-sensitive vs. not.  I'd have gone too, no question.  But I also think it makes all the sense in the world for Carter to be upset.  She didn't do anything wrong, but he's not required to sit back and think rationally in such an emotionally charged time.  So I don't think his reaction was wrong any more than I think her choice was wrong.

Bringing Eric to the funeral, though, good lords.  That was so wrong.

[littlebennysmom]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I have literally seen people shit on Carter because he was upset that Abby went to go get Eric after his grandmother died. And how he should have understood that it was Abby’s family and she HAD to deal with Eric, because Gamma had lived a long life but Eric was in danger. And oh Abby was in such a tough spot at the funeral and couldn’t not bring her drunk unmedicated brother to let him fall over in Gamma’s grave. It seems like everyone else’s hardships are about her somehow. Hell, she even made Joe’s pre-term birth all about herself and the drugs and anesthesia she wanted, and made a spectacle of herself in the OR. 

I mean I think Carter had the right to want his girlfriend to be there for him after his closest family member died. It’s been a while since I saw that arc, but he didn’t seem to have much other support from his family except his dad I think. He also gets shit on because he didn’t want Abby to drink because “he was trying to fix her.” Sorry that Carter was trying to help his girlfriend who was claiming she was in recovery yet drinking anyway? 

Boy, I would never want to be friends with anyone who believed that nonsense!  Helloooo, red flags!  

[ch1]

Hindsight is 20/20 but when you look at Abby with Carter’s grandmother’s death and how she handled Luka focusing on his father while his father was ill there is the common denominator that Abby’s wants and needs are always expected to come first.  Screw whatever shit Luka and Carter were dealing with.  The smartest thing Carter ever did was see the writing on the wall.

[Cloud9Shopper]

6 hours ago, Notabug said:

Abby not only neglected their son, she got drunk and passed out after bringing him home from the hospital after he fell and hit his head and was knocked unconscious.  There is no social service agency in the world that isn't going to look into removing a sick child from a neglectful parent.

Around these parts, that handbasket is pretty big.

Not sure how these kinds of things work if this were real life, but can social services still step in if there is another parent who can take care of the child? I know Luka was in Croatia but could they get him to come back or what would happen? It is kind of shocking that Luka didn’t even have the balls to file for temporary full custody while Abby got her life together and went to rehab. I do agree, though, that Joe should have been removed from Abby’s care somehow while she was drinking so heavily, ignoring him, etc.

Anyway, I am watching S7 again and think I need to divide my thoughts into two separate posts.

Sand and Water…I almost started bawling when the 22-week preemie was born. I don’t even have kids and it hit me hard when the mother was giving birth. 

Of course, this is one example of how I want to like Abby because I know how loved she is by a lot of the fanbase but yet she annoys me in the next moment. She’s good with the parents but she is so snotty to Malucci, the NICU doctor, and Coburn all in barely more than one breath. Coburn was right to ream her out for running off the OB floor and abandoning her patient. 

I stand by the fact that I will take “boring” Mark and Elizabeth every day of the week. The fight scene makes me laugh every time, but the ice maker proposal is so sweet. I just love seeing two more mature people together having simple and innocent fun. I hate that they get ruined in S8. 

One other thing Carter gets a lot of shit for is how he handles his recovery but so far I don’t think he’s being that bad. He went to a meeting even before getting his probation terms and he is apologetic when he acts like a pain. He does have a sweet moment in the third episode of S7 with the kid who was paralyzed and is good to him. I liked the moment on the roof where Carter is holding him. I kind of get why he ends up being frustrated later on. (And of course this storyline will disappear by the midpoint of the season but that’s another topic.) 

I kind of just want to punch Malucci with how douchey he is to Chen about her pregnancy in 7x3. And that blonde hair is the worst. That looks bad even for 2000. 

Romano’s quote to Kerry when Kerry asks him if he even took the Hippocratic Oath, and he replies “I had my fingers crossed.” 😂

OK. I’ll be back after Luka kills the mugger. 

 

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

OK I’m back. 

Luka killing the mugger ranks up there with one of those disturbing moments I don’t think I can watch again. It was only second to Mark getting attacked during S3. 

I can’t believe Abby witnessed that and kept dating Luka, and then in five years she’s going to decide to have his baby and marry him. How could you just be…OK with dating someone like that? I wish someone had made an honest toast or asked some tough questions at that wedding. Or even if Abby went all, “So on our first date, he killed a guy who was mugging us and I watched him bash this guy’s head into the concrete and thought ah yeah, no big deal. Then a year later he told me I wasn’t that pretty and wasn’t that special! Now we have a baby and he ambushed me with a wedding!” Yes, ain’t love grand. 

How is this whole relationship not one big WTF? I’m at a loss.

Kim is here now too. I was never a fan of Legaspi. 

Malucci is the type of guy who would play hockey. 

So…next week on my rewatch is *checks notes.* Abby’s mother is coming. Get ready, everyone. Stock up on your earplugs, the alcohol and be ready to wear out your mute buttons! 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Bastet]

15 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I can’t believe Abby witnessed that and kept dating Luka

I never understood that, either.  There was a brief period where they had good chemistry and interaction, and then got bogged down in terrible stories, but even during that period, I could never get over the fact she got into a relationship with a guy who killed someone on their first date!  I mean, obviously the bigger problem is that he killed someone, so I'm no Luka fan (although he does have some good qualities within the ER) but still.