All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Cloud9Shopper]

55 minutes ago, outsmartabullet said:

The Cromwell arc was one of the times it became really clear to me that the general vibe of the show had changed; that the hospital, the work dynamics and the medical procedures were now clearly playing second fiddle to the Main Characters and their personal demons. Of course that was always a thing, but back when say, Greene was recovering from his beating, it felt like it didn't overshadow entire episodes, that it was still an ensemble drama.

I agree with the last sentence the most. Stories like that and even plots like Susan’s drama with Chloe were a part of the show and caused chaos, but you felt like other characters still got screentime and development. It wasn’t like the later seasons when it was about Abby’s constant trauma and misery, Neela’s neediness and quarterlife crisis, multiple whole episodes devoted to Carter and and/or Luka in Africa, etc. (I know we had other out-of-the ER episodes but it wasn’t like Benton’s Mississippi arc took up six episodes or something.) 

As I’m halfway through S7, I still feel at this point the show is watchable and of a higher quality but it definitely feels louder and has more drama porn than the first six seasons. 

[outsmartabullet]

On 9/1/2023 at 3:35 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

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

It is truly awful, hence why the bleach job only lasts two episodes (I think?). I wonder if they're deliberately playing up Malucci's obnoxiousness in advance of 'The Visit' to make you root for Benton even more.

On 9/13/2023 at 1:31 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

One of mine was just Malucci asking Kerry “You OK, chief?” and Randi getting shaken up and trying to ask Kerry what to do. And before that, the fades on Mark and Elizabeth’s faces when they see their pagers. 

This is why The Longer You Stay/Blood Sugar etc never really sat right with me. Weaver got frustrated with Malucci, understandably, but they never outright hated eachother until the writers decided that they did.

Edited September 30, 2023 by outsmartabullet

[Cloud9Shopper]

22 minutes ago, outsmartabullet said:

It is truly awful, hence why the bleach job only lasts two episodes (I think?). I wonder if they're deliberately playing up Malucci's obnoxiousness in advance of 'The Visit' to make you root for Benton even more.

Even after that, he had the line to Amira the desk clerk about “what religion do they practice in your country?” and she just says “This is my country, Dave.” I’m sure the comment didn’t ring well even in pre-9/11 2001 but it sounds so much worse today. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I watched 7x13 and 7x14 tonight, so here are some thoughts before I move my watch to Tuesdays for a while since S3 of Transplant starts on NBC next Thursday (good medical show and really focused on the medicine rather than relationship stuff). 

I thought the Abby and Carter fundraiser date side plot was kind of pointless. Hate the way Abby brags about how Luka doesn’t get jealous and her deflating Richard’s car tires. I guess it’s kind of funny but also childish at the same time. Just be an adult and leave his car alone and move on! I wonder why she never got that lawyer she said she was going to get to get her tuition paid…that shouldn’t be that expensive for an attorney. Just a quick letter or two ought to do it unless it’s more complex than that.

I’m torn on Kerry ordering the competency tests for Mark. In terms of danger to patients, I think Gabe was worse, and she ignored that. We haven’t seen Mark do much more than mix up some words and send some people with the flu home, and even she initially said she wasn’t worried about it. That said I know from a legal and ethical standpoint she had no choice. 

I really cannot stand the way Luka talks to the bishop, especially to tell a clergy member that God doesn’t give a damn. Yikes! Way to project, Luka, not to mention be entirely disrespectful. I love the ordination scene in A Walk in the Woods (I was happy to see that they got the events accurate) and Luka’s flashbacks playing over the Litany of the Saints, though. I will give it that.

Why are Abby and Luka such a weird couple? First they talk about the bishop after having sex and then they talk about Luka’s dead wife? Who does that?

Mark wanting to name the baby Amanda is a weird thought I never get tired of hearing. 

The montage of med student interviews in 7x14 reminds me of bad American Idol auditions. Why do some of them come to interviews looking like they just threw on any old thing they pulled off the floor? I guess that was kind of the point and I find the scene hilarious but still. I mean, anything that gets a good Coburn bitch face on my screen is satisfying, though. 

[WendyCR72]

27 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Mark wanting to name the baby Amanda is a weird thought I never get tired of hearing. 

Makes me think of Amanda Lee. (How ironic that Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards are actually married now!)

[Cloud9Shopper]

22 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Makes me think of Amanda Lee. (How ironic that Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards are actually married now!)

That was exactly what I thought of when I saw that scene for the very first time too! Just like “Mark why are you still thinking about your stalker?” 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Dr.OO7]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:43 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Hate the way Abby brags about how Luka doesn’t get jealous and her deflating Richard’s car tires. I guess it’s kind of funny but also childish at the same time. Just be an adult and leave his car alone and mo

On 10/5/2023 at 10:43 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

 

 

Abby's behavior was indeed incredibly childish, especially since she's the one who instantly started trying to antagonize him when she saw him--"What are you doing here?"--as if the man doesn't have the right to be wherever he wants. It's not like she has a restraining order against him.

On 10/5/2023 at 10:43 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m torn on Kerry ordering the competency tests for Mark. In terms of danger to patients, I think Gabe was worse, and she ignored that. We haven’t seen Mark do much more than mix up some words and send some people with the flu home, and even she initially said she wasn’t worried about it. That said I know from a legal and ethical standpoint she had no choice. 

And therein lies the point. Yes, she had to report Mark, but she didn't have to handle it as badly as she did--going behind his back, leaving it for someone else to tell him, and trying to blame administration for forcing her hand. And as always, she was a complete hypocrite--she wouldn't report her mentor despite his visible cognitive decline, but she instantly reports Mark?

Of course, any sympathy I might have had for Mark evaporated due to his own hypocrisy, as he clearly felt Kerry shouldn't have reported HIM, even after the way he blasted Kerry for ignoring the warning signs about Gabe.

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, Dr.OO7 said:

Of course, any sympathy I might have had for Mark evaporated due to his own hypocrisy, as he clearly felt Kerry shouldn't have reported HIM, even after the way he blasted Kerry for ignoring the warning signs about Gabe.

Everyone looks terrible in that episode -- Kerry is 100% right in reporting him, but goes about it all wrong, and then Mark and Elizabeth are justified in being disgusted by how she did it, but also act like he shouldn't have been reported at all, which is ridiculous.  (And I can understand them having blinders on about it in the heat of the moment, but they don't - at least as I recall - ever back down and acknowledge that.)

[Cloud9Shopper]

I was watching The Crossing tonight (the 150th episode of the show), and this may be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Luka’s last scene with the bishop was pretty hollow and uninspiring. It’s not to say they weren’t sad or anything. I could tell he felt guilty about the loss of his family and not moving away when his wife wanted him to, but I found his flashbacks more impactful in the episode prior than I did during the train crash and the confession in the bishop’s hospital room. James Cromwell was very convincing as a priest, however. 

Also, I was kind of surprised that a pregnant Elizabeth was sent out into a field trauma scene. I know she’s not a delicate flower and isn’t that far along in the grand scheme of things, but it probably wasn’t the best choice. Hated all the sexism she had to deal with in the next episode, though. 

Funny line from Romano about not being able to wear his pager in the dojo. And I loved that he asked Carter if he used a chainsaw for the amputation because Coburn asked Mark the same thing in Love’s Labor Lost. Two totally different cases but nice clap back.

Overall, I preferred the 100th episode (Good Luck, Ruth Johnson in S5) to the 150th. I forget what the 200th episode is but it’s somewhere in S9 or 10 I think, so odds are I probably won’t care by then.

So I was then watching Witch Hunt (7x16), and am I the only one who watches that episode and think it would be ripe for a lawsuit if this were airing today? The mother was justifiably upset but the hospital is just never held accountable. How stupid is Abby to turn her back on a four month old to chat with Carter about his underage girlfriend? She went pretty clear down the hall; it’s not as if she stayed in the room or even right outside the door. (Sidebar: Why does Carter always get the worst love interests?) I’m surprised she wasn’t disciplined or given a slap on the wrist at least since this is largely her fault. Why does that hospital have no security? Gotta love Abby telling the cop how to do his job while he basically looked at her like “piss off, lady.” If Law and Order SVU exists in the ER universe, I think she must watch a lot of it. 

I too would love to know what Legaspi was thinking telling a patient she was gay. I can’t think of any universe, fictional or otherwise, where that’s a good idea. 🤦‍♀️

[Dr.OO7]

12 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

too would love to know what Legaspi was thinking telling a patient she was gay. I can’t think of any universe, fictional or otherwise, where that’s a good idea. 🤦‍♀️

That was the one legitimate point Kerry made in the midst of her self-centered cowardice.

Sexism aside, it annoyed me how outraged Elizabeth was that other doctors were operating on her patients. Um, work doesn't stop at ANY workplace just because the employee is out sick or on vacation, especially at a hospital. Were you seriously expecting lifesaving operations to be put off until you returned?

[Cloud9Shopper]

Romano was really killing it with quotes in Survival of the Fittest (7x17) even though I was probably supposed to hate him for it:

”Oh I didn’t know this was the day spa, I was looking for the OR.”

”We don’t cry in the OR; that’s what the ladies room is for.”

”A bahthroom break?”

But that episode also has one of my favorite Mark and Elizabeth moments at the end where they’re all cute and romantic and feasting on the pizza and ice cream Romano ordered. 

Also, on a more serious/curious note…how many shootings does that ER have? There was one in S6 (two if you count the girl shooting the trauma patient), one in S7, the S12 finale…plus while not shootings, Chen getting taken hostage in S9 and the same with Morris in S14. Why does anyone want to work at this place again? That’s before you get to falling helicopters… 

April Showers (7x18) is an episode I want to love because it’s no secret I will go down with the Mark/Elizabeth ship, but it’s just so, so stupid. The hijinks with Mark running late for his own wedding were completely unnecessary and not a “oh haha this is so funny!” plot. Not even the previouslies made sense. It felt like someone just took some random mishmash of scenes and D-plots and put them in this episode. And who really cares that Abby has the sniffles? Why did that take up so much screentime? 

Oh, and why is Cleo such a bitch about going to the wedding with Peter? Elizabeth and Peter haven’t been together in over two years and they split before Cleo ever came along. There’s no inclination that Elizabeth is still pining for Peter or jealous of Cleo, so again. Stupid. 

Elizabeth rocked it with the quotes though: 

“I don’t want to have a spot of tea on this my special day…this is America and sometimes you just have to kick some ass!”

”You will get me to the church on time if I have to ride on your back like a bloody donkey!” 

Welp. That’s it for the fun. Why? Because Abby’s mother comes back again next week. Glad I have two bottles of wine in the house. 

[Bastet]

51 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

April Showers (7x18) is an episode I want to love because it’s no secret I will go down with the Mark/Elizabeth ship, but it’s just so, so stupid. The hijinks with Mark running late for his own wedding were completely unnecessary and not a “oh haha this is so funny!” plot.

The Elizabeth half of that episode is interesting, but the Mark half is boring despite trying to be fun.  Fitting for their relationship, I guess.

52 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Oh, and why is Cleo such a bitch about going to the wedding with Peter? Elizabeth and Peter haven’t been together in over two years and they split before Cleo ever came along.

That stupid plot is so annoyingly sexist, a common refrain with this show (and virtually all shows, sadly).  At least, IIRC, Peter has an appropriate oh, come on type reaction to her ridiculousness, but the fact she's written that way under the circumstances is obnoxious as all get out.  The worst offense on that front is woman-loving Elizabeth being an insecure jerk to Susan for absolutely no reason, but this is a bad, bad look on its own.

[Dr.OO7]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

That stupid plot is so annoyingly sexist, a common refrain with this show (and virtually all shows, sadly).  At least, IIRC, Peter has an appropriate oh, come on type reaction to her ridiculousness, but the fact she's written that way under the circumstances is obnoxious as all get out.  The worst offense on that front is woman-loving Elizabeth being an insecure jerk to Susan for absolutely no reason, but this is a bad, bad look on its own.

That's true and I hate it too. It's especially pathetic when you consider, as you pointed out, that Peter and Elizabeth dated--did they even really?--for all of 5 minutes a year before he even met Cleo (and she herself is the product of a black man/white woman pairing, so her disapproval of them is incredibly hypocritical), and that Mark and Susan were never even together.

[RedbirdNelly]

On 10/17/2023 at 10:32 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

 

April Showers (7x18) is an episode I want to love because it’s no secret I will go down with the Mark/Elizabeth ship, but it’s just so, so stupid. The hijinks with Mark running late for his own wedding were completely unnecessary and not a “oh haha this is so funny!” plot. Not even the previouslies made sense. It felt like someone just took some random mishmash of scenes and D-plots and put them in this episode. And who really cares that Abby has the sniffles? Why did that take up so much screentime? 

 

my favorite part of the episode is when some guests (maybe Susan or Peter) are in the back of the church and Romano walks in with his date. They look at him and he says "What, you didn't think I'd get an invitation?" in his Romano way that makes everything funny. I hate that they ruined the character. He was the most fun jerk.

[andidante]

5 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

my favorite part of the episode is when some guests (maybe Susan or Peter) are in the back of the church and Romano walks in with his date. They look at him and he says "What, you didn't think I'd get an invitation?" in his Romano way that makes everything funny. I hate that they ruined the character. He was the most fun jerk.

I loved him! He really brought the snark. 

[Bastet]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:53 AM, RedbirdNelly said:

He was the most fun jerk.

He was a good "love to hate" character, because the show didn't try to paper over how awful he was, or say he was just so damn brilliant/skilled people should put up with his shit; they simply gave him a couple of good characteristics - he loved his dog and his mom - to not make him a cartoon.  But, as with everything, nuance was lost as the show dragged on. 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Bastet

[Dr.OO7]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

He was a good "love to hate" character, because the show didn't try to paper over how awful he was

Yep.

He was an asshole, but at least he fully admitted it and you knew he wasn't to be trusted. Unlike others who would pretend to be your friend and then stab you in the back (Kerry), or just wimp out on you altogether (Mark).

[GiandujaPie]

I'm now on Season 12 and Gallant and Neela just got married. I still don't know when they were supposed to have fallen in love and why they did.

Knowing that the show only lasts through season 15, I'm now surprised by how much happens in the next 3 seasons. With Gates making his first appearances already, and Abby and Luka already reconciling, a lot really does happen in the next few years. My husband is watching these episodes for the first time and he still can't understand how Neela goes from a whiny, self-doubting intern to the object of every male doctor's desire in the next few years. There is no indication yet that Ray ever had any feelings for Neela so I find it hard to believe that they are some big love story and that they deserve to be together in the end. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

35 minutes ago, GiandujaPie said:

I'm now on Season 12 and Gallant and Neela just got married. I still don't know when they were supposed to have fallen in love and why they did.

Knowing that the show only lasts through season 15, I'm now surprised by how much happens in the next 3 seasons. With Gates making his first appearances already, and Abby and Luka already reconciling, a lot really does happen in the next few years. My husband is watching these episodes for the first time and he still can't understand how Neela goes from a whiny, self-doubting intern to the object of every male doctor's desire in the next few years. There is no indication yet that Ray ever had any feelings for Neela so I find it hard to believe that they are some big love story and that they deserve to be together in the end. 

Season 12 is really when the show goes down the tubes for me. I’m not planning to watch much of it next time I get there. 

I never thought Ray and Neela had great romantic chemistry and didn’t care about their relationship, and Abby and Luka shouldn’t have gotten back together either IMO. 

[GiandujaPie]

20 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Season 12 is really when the show goes down the tubes for me. I’m not planning to watch much of it next time I get there. 

I never thought Ray and Neela had great romantic chemistry and didn’t care about their relationship, and Abby and Luka shouldn’t have gotten back together either IMO. 

I agree. I didn't watch first run many of the episodes from season 12 onward, only caught a few episodes here and there at the time they aired or more recently as re-runs on Pop TV when I was working from home but from what I remember seeing, the show was not as good as the original seasons. It was almost like a completely different show. And ended up inexplicably revolving around Abby and Neela. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, GiandujaPie said:

I'm now on Season 12 and Gallant and Neela just got married. I still don't know when they were supposed to have fallen in love and why they did.

I only paid slight attention to that era when it was on Pop (I had quit watching by then during the original airing), but I distinctly remember being befuddled by that as well.

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, GiandujaPie said:

I agree. I didn't watch first run many of the episodes from season 12 onward, only caught a few episodes here and there at the time they aired or more recently as re-runs on Pop TV when I was working from home but from what I remember seeing, the show was not as good as the original seasons. It was almost like a completely different show. And ended up inexplicably revolving around Abby and Neela. 

I think the preoccupation with Abby started once Maggie showed up. I am almost done with S7 and left off at the episode where Abby and Carter go to Oklahoma to get her…three of the last four episodes of that season center on Abby and her family, then there is S9 with the bipolar relative redo with her brother, the episode in S11 where she gets kidnapped (which is another one I’m planning to skip), and she gets some other big plots along the way. But S12 seems to be when she really does take over. I can’t say I liked watching the episode where she agonized for the whole hour over whether or not to keep the baby. Have it, don’t have it, whatever; just let me get on with my life and don’t have unprotected sex if you are that terrified of having children. 

It’s annoying too because I feel like there were some other good stories of other characters that could have been expanded on, like Morris having an estranged relationship with his father (and he doesn’t seem to have much other family?) or even hearing a little bit more about Coburn’s recovery from addiction. Anything would have been more interesting than “poor Abby” or “martyr Abby” for three seasons straight. (OK maybe not anything given some of the other bad writing and mediocre characters, but honestly don’t get why her personal life was shoved down our throats.)

[Cloud9Shopper]

So I am almost done with S7 now and watched Sailing Away and Fear of Commitment tonight, and while both episodes were kind of just average, they really are great examples of why I don’t like Abby or feel particularly bad for her and her constant woe of how no one else has ever had it harder than she has. I mean, if I were that judge I would have tossed her nasty, disrespectful ass out of that courtroom. (As would probably any judge I’m sure.) Although who knew Abby had time to take the LSATs and become a lawyer and then a judge in between nursing and med school? Impressive. /sarcasm She doesn’t even seem to respect the court period, as evidenced by her stomping on the witness stand like a toddler and then nearly pushing the bailiff. Hey, Maggie is looking like the sane one right now! I also loved how Abby was all “I can’t lock up my mother!” in one episode and then the next she is hoping to do exactly that. 

I wonder why Luka even puts up with her, even later in the series. He’s attractive and has a great job and probably could have tons of dating prospects. Why does he want to be with such a raging bitch? Like how could he watch her courtroom meltdown and not just say “never mind”? On second thought…it’s kind of ironic how she always screams about Maggie not getting help but yet she’s not exactly disciplined about her own recovery. And yes, sorry as much as I don’t know why Luka loves her, he was right that she should have never driven from Oklahoma to Chicago to begin with. 

Hell in a hand basket thought: “Maybe this is why Richard divorced Abby. Maybe Abby deserved it.” Ugh. She deserves most of the misery inflicted on her in the series. It’s really the way she treats others added to her constant complaining of how difficult her life is that makes me completely want to smack her. 

Other thoughts:

I wish we had gotten to see Elizabeth give birth. Her expression after she had the false alarm is iconic, though, 

Maggie got me in the courtroom where she said she pretty much hated having to drive from Oklahoma to Chicago. And if I had to do it with Abby, I’d probably go borderline insane too. 

I liked Benton when he told the fraternity brother to clean up his friend and then said “You’re his brother; you were supposed to be looking out for him.” And it was nice seeing his rapport with his old chemistry teacher! But not Carla, though. 

Malucci is so misogynistic. I like him a lot less now. 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Cloud9Shopper]

I have some spare time today so I decided to finish up S7, also known as when Maggie leaves until S9 lol. And I feel like everyone who is around Abby in this episode (Luka, Maggie, Legaspi) is exactly right about her. It’s like she wants to be miserable. She won’t go see Luka and hasn’t been around him for what seems to be at least two weeks, she doesn’t want to play softball, she doesn’t want to hear about Maggie’s plan to get better or go to therapy but doesn’t have a better solution, as Legaspi called her on. (And she still had no idea when Carter asked her what she thought.) I don’t get why she’s so desperate to just wallow in her bad childhood and miserable life. And as a sometimes miserable person I can kind of understand but the fact that she doesn’t even seem to want to leave her apartment and go see her boyfriend is so weird. It’s not like she needs Maggie’s permission or something.

Also, her line about “some people aren’t meant to be mothers” is quite the omen. She gets pregnant and keeps it later down the road but yet seems totally detached from Joe and almost gets him seriously hurt when she’s drinking and argues life-saving treatments when he’s born prematurely. Yeah. Abby is not meant for motherhood or a good mom when she becomes one. 

What’s worse, Cleo and Peter’s whole boring, awkward romance with all the passion of two pet rocks? Or Carla coming on to Peter?

I wonder what changed from one episode to the next when Kerry said Chen hadn’t made up the hours to qualify for chief residency but then in the S7 finale Chen tells Carter she needs his peer reference for her application. Did the writers forget hers and Kerry’s conversation in the last episode? 

It’s always kind of interesting to me how Carter got raked over the coals for applying for chief residency (though I kind of see Kerry’s point) but in S14 Abby is sought after by top hospitals and getting multiple job interviews and offers when she’s not even six months sober. What’s that about? Hard to believe not one hospital she interviewed at cared that she was drunk at work only a few months ago and probably barely completing her probation at the time of her interviews. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Part 2 now that I’m done with S7:

Love Abby acting all put upon that Carter dared to apply for a job without telling her. Maybe things are different in medicine but when I was last job searching I didn’t tell my coworkers, even though I liked them, about my job hunt. Abby isn’t Carter’s girlfriend at this point or his mother; he can go on interviews without her approval. And then later when he tells her to STFU about Luka and she pouts again and acts all outraged that he doesn’t want to hear it.

Luka, by the way, was weird and wrong to submit Abby’s reinstatement application for med school when she shows no ambition to return in the first place and doesn’t seem to care if she ever goes back.

Adele is pretty darn calm for someone who isn’t sure if she’s going to be paralyzed.

Loved Kerry’s speech to Romano but I am not going to miss Legaspi. 

Overall, that was a very intense S7 finale. I do think now that what Mark did on the elevator was pretty unethical considering he was about to go through with the shock and then just stopped. But if I recall, there’s just an M&M at the start of S8 and then it’s dropped?

So my final thoughts on S7? I mostly enjoyed it but I feel like this is the season where the show is making a shift and trying to be more explosive (literally and metaphorically) and more dramatic. Still high quality but definitely trending away from what made it great. I also think that the middle stretch of the season is very underrated, and it’s kind of a shame that Abby and her mother take away from so many other great moments. I like Sally Field, but still…and to make it worse we will repeat the plot in S9 with Eric. Bleh. 

My updated season rankings from worst to best: S2, S5, S1, S3, S7, S6.

Looking forward to starting S8 next week, what with bad haircuts abound (Susan, Kerry, Chen with bangs) and the return of Susan. But with Peter and Mark leaving (and I know, Cleo…but who cares lol), it’s really going to be sad to watch the beginning of the end of the show. Or so it feels like.

[Notabug]

5 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I have some spare time today so I decided to finish up S7, also known as when Maggie leaves until S9 lol. And I feel like everyone who is around Abby in this episode (Luka, Maggie, Legaspi) is exactly right about her. It’s like she wants to be miserable. She won’t go see Luka and hasn’t been around him for what seems to be at least two weeks, she doesn’t want to play softball, she doesn’t want to hear about Maggie’s plan to get better or go to therapy but doesn’t have a better solution, as Legaspi called her on. (And she still had no idea when Carter asked her what she thought.) I don’t get why she’s so desperate to just wallow in her bad childhood and miserable life. And as a sometimes miserable person I can kind of understand but the fact that she doesn’t even seem to want to leave her apartment and go see her boyfriend is so weird. It’s not like she needs Maggie’s permission or something.

Also, her line about “some people aren’t meant to be mothers” is quite the omen. She gets pregnant and keeps it later down the road but yet seems totally detached from Joe and almost gets him seriously hurt when she’s drinking and argues life-saving treatments when he’s born prematurely. Yeah. Abby is not meant for motherhood or a good mom when she becomes one. 

What’s worse, Cleo and Peter’s whole boring, awkward romance with all the passion of two pet rocks? Or Carla coming on to Peter?

I wonder what changed from one episode to the next when Kerry said Chen hadn’t made up the hours to qualify for chief residency but then in the S7 finale Chen tells Carter she needs his peer reference for her application. Did the writers forget hers and Kerry’s conversation in the last episode? 

It’s always kind of interesting to me how Carter got raked over the coals for applying for chief residency (though I kind of see Kerry’s point) but in S14 Abby is sought after by top hospitals and getting multiple job interviews and offers when she’s not even six months sober. What’s that about? Hard to believe not one hospital she interviewed at cared that she was drunk at work only a few months ago and probably barely completing her probation at the time of her interviews. 

It also makes me wonder if TPTB in the ER, ie Kerry, actually notified the state medical board of Abby's relapse and trip to rehab, particularly when it was clear she was working while intoxicated.  It is not optional.  Any practitioner who knows that a colleague is working while impaired is required to notify the medical board which has specific guidelines, committees and surveillance requirements for physicians who have substance abuse issues.  We heard about it when Carter came back from rehab, that his medical license was in jeopardy if he relapsed and that he had specific requirements that had to be met for the state medical board.  I don't recall anyone mentioning any such supervision for Abby.  

BTW,  I know a doc who had a history of substance abuse during his residency.  He underwent rehab and had an after program and was restricted from writing for narcotics for a while.  He finished his residency and went into a fellowship where he did really well and entertained lucrative job offers from multiple good practices.  Then, about 6 months before he finished, he had a brief relapse, went right back to rehab, etc.  When he returned afterwards, all of his job offers were gone.  Nobody was willing to take a chance on him at that point.  So, no, with her history of repeated relapses and working while impaired, Abby would not have been in demand as an attending no matter how good she was as a doc when sober.   He eventually found a job, in another state, and at a significantly lower salary than he'd been offered before the relapse.  He's now been sober for more than 30 years as far as I know.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Notabug

[Cloud9Shopper]

I just looked up the script for the episode when Abby returned to work after rehab (since I don’t plan on watching it again) and according to that, she was told to go to at least three AA meetings a week and two diversion group meetings plus random drug tests and to work “probationary shifts”. (But that seemed like a paper thing because I think she was back in traumas pretty quickly, unlike Carter.) They also made an exception that she did not have to attend 30 meetings in 30 days before coming back to work because she had already attended 30 and Pratt also insisted that some exceptions be made for her. She was cleared to return but then immediately asked for vacation time to go to Croatia. You’d think she would be serious about getting back to work and proving herself again instead of immediately running out of the country. She was asked to start over again upon her return but as far as I remember her probation was never mentioned again after that episode, unlike Carter’s being a recurring theme in S7. And Carter had to do 90 meetings in ninety days, and certainly Benton, Mark, Chen…nobody begged for exceptions for him because he was so stressed out from nearly dying and feeling responsible for Lucy’s murder.

And Pratt was even telling Abby what a good mom and doctor she was, plus she had the perk of both him and Haleh being on the committee that wrote the terms of her probation. Makes you think they just did it to look like they were doing something useful. No one in that hospital reported her; they just kissed her ass about how much she loves Joe and acted like Sam was the devil incarnate for asking Abby if she was drunk at work. Abby’s relapse was everyone’s fault but her own, apparently. It was even Luka’s because he said he would never ever leave her side. Abby bought into a fantasy life and thought more like a 14-year-old than a grown woman with a family history of mental health issues and her own alcoholism when she decided to have a baby and get married. 

Although at least in S7, ER had decent writers who tried to make Carter’s arc seem more realistic. By S14, I think 14 people were watching the show by then (probably all of which were Abby fans and Abby/Luka fans) so the writers didn’t even try, not to mention Abby being a creator’s pet/Mary Sue so of course she wouldn’t have anything in the way of real consequences. 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Cloud9Shopper]

Started S8 tonight and ‘tis the season of bad hair! Our first contenders for worst hair of the season are Kerry and Malucci! But that’s OK cause soon Susan will be back and Chen will have bangs so…I’m just going to preemptively give the award to Susan’s monstrosity of her first few episodes.

I didn’t really like the S8 premiere if I’m being honest. I am not a big fan of the one scene done multiple ways trope. (I’m sure there’s a better name for it but I’m not inclined to look that up right now.) I know there was an S15 episode with Neela that showed her day in four different ways and I didn’t like that one either.

I did like this quote from Romano, though: “Why I wanted this job, I have no idea.” 10/10 relatable. 

Carter’s parents really have no personality. And also, why did Abby show up at the funeral reception looking like she was going to a job interview with her half-brushed? 

Whoa, why did Elizabeth take only six weeks of maternity leave? I can imagine she wanted to I guess but that caught my attention. IRL she’s been there long enough for full FMLA unless I am missing something. Go take more time off, girl! You need it! I’d be crazy hormonal and moody too if I only had six weeks off after having a baby. 

8x2: I have room in the handbasket for anyone who agreed with Luka in his breakup with Abby, so climb on in for our descent downward! These two really should have stayed apart, and they definitely should not have had a baby. And why would Abby go crawling back to a man who once told her she wasn’t that pretty and wasn’t that special? I mean Luka’s right about her but she’s not that bright. Surely if she could bag him and Carter some other guy in Chicago would put up with her mess too?

I’m impressed that Mark could sleep through Ella’s screaming. I can’t even fall asleep if my shower head is dripping water. And why do so many characters think dragging their babies/kids around the hospital is a good idea? I work from home and can’t stand hearing my coworkers’ kids screaming when I need to talk to them. They don’t belong in a hospital.

Chen should have never been named chief resident. Was there even an interview to confirm she was right for the job and could keep up with the demands? Did she even know what it entailed or is she back to her S1 ways where she only cares about winning and prestige? Big regression if so. She probably should have stayed gone after she quit again. (I forgot she does not quit in 8x2.) 

The one part I have no shade for is Reece finding out Carla died. I admit I don’t know what his screams are supposed to mean (crying?) but that was heartbreaking.

Next week: only one episode left with Malucci and then Susan comes back. And oh…Hellion Rachel shows up soon. Hold on everyone. 

 

 

[Heathen]

On 10/31/2023 at 11:26 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Whoa, why did Elizabeth take only six weeks of maternity leave? I can imagine she wanted to I guess but that caught my attention. IRL she’s been there long enough for full FMLA unless I am missing something. Go take more time off, girl! You need it! I’d be crazy hormonal and moody too if I only had six weeks off after having a baby. 

8x2: I have room in the handbasket for anyone who agreed with Luka in his breakup with Abby, so climb on in for our descent downward! These two really should have stayed apart, and they definitely should not have had a baby. And why would Abby go crawling back to a man who once told her she wasn’t that pretty and wasn’t that special? I mean Luka’s right about her but she’s not that bright. Surely if she could bag him and Carter some other guy in Chicago would put up with her mess too?

In the birth episode, I think Elizabeth says that she'd been sitting around for a few weeks already. Maybe she used up some of her allowed time off before Ella was born.

Scoot over in that handbasket. How a hot mess like Abby managed to get any man to fall in love with her -- let alone well-off, good-looking doctor after doctor after doctor -- is beyond me. Half the time, she looks like the female version of pre-haircut Chuck. At least, we can be grateful that it wasn't Smell-o-Vision. 

[GiandujaPie]

I know Abby is the least favorite character here, but mine is still Neela. I just finished Season 12 which is when she and Gallant get married and then dies and inexplicably we find out Ray has been holding a torch for her all this time and John Stamos makes his first appearance and is also inexplicably attracted to her for no reason and tries to ask her out for the first time. 

When Gallant dies, I'm sorry, but Neela's reaction is so self-centered. She almost didn't go to the ceremony at the gravesite, without any regard to how it may look or feel disrespectful to Gallant's parents and family. Her grief is understandable, but her lack of respect for his service is not. At the reception after the graveside ceremony, she lashes out at Gallant's father and practically throws the flag and his medals at him. I hope she eventually returned all that to his family instead of keeping it for herself as she clearly had no respect for it. I don't know if the military has any rules regarding this, but I feel like if the servicemember did not have any children/heirs when he died, those things should go back to his parents/siblings instead of the spouse, who will likely re-marry, in order to keep it in the family. 

[Bastet]

On 10/31/2023 at 8:26 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I am not a big fan of the one scene done multiple ways trope. (I’m sure there’s a better name for it but I’m not inclined to look that up right now.) I know there was an S15 episode with Neela that showed her day in four different ways and I didn’t like that one either.

I don't remember either of those, but if you're talking about episodes where we see one event/sequence of events play in multiple, differing, ways based on the differing takes on what happened by the characters involved, that's called the Rashomon Effect (based on the film Rashomon).  I like it when done well, but a lot of shows have screwed it up.  I think it works better in film, where there's more time.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The episode where everything was run in reverse was bizarre.   I also don't like the showing the same scene from several viewpoints (Rashomon Effect). 

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The episode where everything was run in reverse was bizarre.   I also don't like the showing the same scene from several viewpoints (Rashomon Effect). 

I think that was Hindsight in S9, where Luka got into the crash with the med student he’d been sleeping with. 

I don’t think I liked that one either, part because I wish Luka had gotten fired for that stunt. (And yes I know other characters have had inappropriate relationships or flings, but there’s something about not only sleeping with a med student but driving recklessly and nearly killing her that’s especially moronic and should have been his ticket out the door.) 

[KaySswoon100]

W10 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I think that was Hindsight in S9, where Luka got into the crash with the med student he’d been sleeping with. 

I don’t think I liked that one either, part because I wish Luka had gotten fired for that stunt. (And yes I know other characters have had inappropriate relationships or flings, but there’s something about not only sleeping with a med student but driving recklessly and nearly killing her that’s especially moronic and should have been his ticket out the door.) 

You know he didn't Actually sleep with Harkins right, she slept on his couch when she realized he was drunk.

[Notabug]

8 hours ago, KaySswoon100 said:

You know he didn't Actually sleep with Harkins right, she slept on his couch when she realized he was drunk.

Even so, at that point in his life, Luka would've.  Getting too drunk to sleep with the med student is still nothing to brag about.  Like when Abby and her attending got very drunk and slept together.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

Oh boy. Rachel is back. And also, I forgot that Jen also had some bad early 2000s hair. Now I recall why she was called Vulcan Jen on TWOP. What is with everyone’s bad hair in 2001? Or maybe early 2000s media is finally starting to look dated to me now. Who knows.

I did feel bad for Rachel when she said Ella doesn’t know her and she wanted to spend more time with Ella and Mark, but then she got so bratty with Jen I was like…well there goes all that goodwill.

I am happy that we’re rid of Malucci, though Mark has a point that he is not the only one who’s ever had sex on hospital premises. (Side note: there is a hilarious blooper of this episode where Kerry says “Yippee!” and jumps into the ambulance.) I didn’t like Malucci this time around otherwise, though. He was comic relief in a few scenes and he is great with kids, but he’s a lot more misogynistic and sexist than I ever recalled on past watches. 

Hated the whole scene with Abby and Luka’s fish tank. There was nothing funny about it. And I kinda gagged when Luka said to her “oh I forgot how pretty you are when you smile.” Didn’t you just tell her she wasn’t that pretty? Pick a camp. I still don’t get the hype of these two as a forever couple.

Also, Abby needs to mind her own business about Nicole. Is Nicole a prize? Of course not. But Luka is a big boy and he is no longer with Abby. She doesn’t need to be meddling in his life. Let him figure it out. 

Possibly unpopular opinion incoming, but I think Chen deserved to be disciplined for the Marfan’s incident and I don’t really care that she quit. She wanted the chief resident job so bad when even my half-deaf grandmother could probably even tell she can’t handle the position; she could not manage her caseload even when Kerry told her she had to stop running to her all the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the reason she missed the diagnosis was because she was drowning too much to keep up and actually pay attention. Everyone blames Kerry for leaving her pager at Doc Magoo’s but Chen is no great shake in this storyline either and she has made two major mistakes in her tenure at County. I can’t stand when she comes back later (even more bad hair in tow) and basically demands an attending position and the best shifts. 

Susan and her hair are back in town too. I always liked Susan; she is one of the few mature adults on this show, and that’s refreshing, especially as ER enters its slow downward spiral. And unlike Abby she knows when she has to stop following her family around and doesn’t let her problems with Chloe interfere with her work and relationships. I am sad her second run is so wasted. 

Romano quote of the day: “Kerry didn’t you get the memo?”

Kerry: “What memo?”

Romano: “The one that says I run this place.” 

 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I didn’t like Malucci this time around otherwise, though. He was comic relief in a few scenes and he is great with kids, but he’s a lot more misogynistic and sexist than I ever recalled on past watches. 

I utterly despised Malucci from jump, and the actor has played pretty much the same sexist twit in every role in which I've seen him, so I'll grant him being really good at that one thing, but I will also always root for him to fail unless an exception presents itself.

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Possibly unpopular opinion incoming, but I think Chen deserved to be disciplined for the Marfan’s incident and I don’t really care that she quit.

Is that when she and Malucci fucked up, and then Kerry did something shitty to cover up her - in charge of both of them - lack of supervision over their fuck-ups?  And then Chen - after quitting her second of three times - came back acting not just, legitimately, like she'd been screwed over but like she did nothing at all wrong to begin with? 

Because if that's the era I'm thinking of, fuck her; she has some serious nerve.

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Is that when she and Malucci fucked up, and then Kerry did something shitty to cover up her - in charge of both of them - lack of supervision over their fuck-ups?  And then Chen - after quitting her second of three times - came back acting not just, legitimately, like she'd been screwed over but like she did nothing at all wrong to begin with? 

Because if that's the era I'm thinking of, fuck her; she has some serious nerve.

Yeah this was the storyline where Malucci and Chen missed the Marfan’s diagnosis and Kerry had left her pager in the bathroom at Doc Magoo’s so she missed three pages from the ER. 

Chen later comes back with an attorney and she and Kerry argue in Romano’s office and somehow Chen gets an attending job and says she wants all the prime shifts despite her lousy track record of quitting twice without notice and making two huge errors in judgment at work, and not even completing the chief residency.  (Which, I know you don’t have to be chief resident to be an attending but I would tell her to go look at another hospital after the stunt she pulled.) 

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Yeah this was the storyline where Malucci and Chen missed the Marfan’s diagnosis and Kerry had left her pager in the bathroom at Doc Magoo’s so she missed three pages from the ER. 

Chen later comes back with an attorney and she and Kerry argue in Romano’s office and somehow Chen gets an attending job and says she wants all the prime shifts despite her lousy track record of quitting twice without notice and making two huge errors in judgment at work, and not even completing the chief residency.  (Which, I know you don’t have to be chief resident to be an attending but I would tell her to go look at another hospital after the stunt she pulled.) 

Just a small point:  when Chen left the first time, she was a med student, not a resident, not a hospital employee.  So it wouldn't count against her when she left the residency.  Of course, in real life, people don't just quit med school or a residency and then turn up later wanting their position back.  

When I was in med school and on my first clinical rotation, there were 6 of us at the same hospital sharing the workload.  After about a week, one of the guys came in, told us he had decided he didn't want to be a doctor and was quitting med school. Never saw him again.  During my residency, one of the women was having a hard time.  She was competent, but complained constantly about the workload and really rubbed people, including attendings the wrong way.  One night on call, an attending asked her to see a patient of his in the ER which is, in fact, what residents did in those days.  She told him 'no' and threw a clipboard at him.  She was called on the carpet and, at the end of the year; it was announced that she was leaving the residency.  A year later, she approached TPTB wanting another chance and was told that she needed to move on and good luck finding a position elsewhere.  She did get into another OB/GYN residency and finish.  I have no idea if she ever toned down her prickliness.  She was one of those fun coworkers who not only complained about everything, but always insisted her way was the right way and was constantly trying to get the rest of us to rebel along with her.  She wanted the residents to band together and refuse to do tasks that she felt were beneath us and not educational.  No thanks, Norma Rae.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Notabug

[Dr.OO7]

On 11/7/2023 at 3:53 PM, Notabug said:

Like when Abby and her attending got very drunk and slept together.  

Given that Abby was so drunk she blacked out, while Moretti was at least sober enough to get them back to his place --ergo, should have had a clearer head, frankly, that whole sequence borders on rape.

On 11/7/2023 at 11:23 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Pick a camp. I still don’t get the hype of these two as a forever couple.

I always figured that the reason they reconciled is because they'd dated/slept with everyone else in the hospital and had no further options.

That said, I still genuinely believe that their second go-round was better than their first.

On 11/7/2023 at 11:23 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Also, Abby needs to mind her own business about Nicole. Is Nicole a prize

I absolutely hated how nasty she was to and about her and the way she kept trying to interfere in their relationship. The man broke up with you, that means his personal life is no longer any of your business.

I especially hate that moment when she offers the pregnant Nicole some coffee and when Nicole declines, citing that she shouldn't have caffeine, claims "Oh, right, I forgot".

Um. . .Bull to the Fucking SHIT. 

You're a NURSE. And an OB nurse, at that. You did NOT forget that a pregnant woman shouldn't have caffeine, you did that to trick her and see if she was lying about being pregnant.

As far as the Marfan's case , I thought Kerry pretending to be Chen's friend have Chen's back while all the while planning to screw her over in order to save herself was utterly reprehensible and I don't blame Chen for being so angry that she quit. Chen never denied screwing up, but I think she was still stunned at how harsh her punishment was and the realization that someone she trusted has engineered that.

[Cloud9Shopper]

15 minutes ago, Dr.OO7 said:

 

I always figured that the reason they reconciled is because they'd dated/slept with everyone else in the hospital and had no further options.

That said, I still genuinely believe that their second go-round was better than their first.

I ultimately don’t agree. I feel like the second time around was more based on Abby getting accidentally knocked up (and she should have not kept the baby but that is a whole other issue) than it was genuine love for each other seeing as Abby was really not that happy about being pregnant save for one scene of them shopping. I doubt they would have gotten married if not for that. And the whole thing felt super rushed. They slept together, she’s pregnant two episodes later, and by the end of S13 they are married in a wedding Luka basically dragged her into doing. 

I felt like their whole marriage would crash and burn within 5-10 years and Abby would just totally detach from Joe, that is if she didn’t fall off the wagon yet again. 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 11/7/2023 at 7:22 AM, KaySswoon100 said:

You know he didn't Actually sleep with Harkins right, she slept on his couch when she realized he was drunk.

I would have loved to see the kind of work trouble he would have gotten in after that event or some kind of investigation. What would his excuse be: "I would never sleep with a med student, only other doctors, nurses, patients parents, maybe patients. And wait was Abby a med student when we first got together?". Because that whole thing should have been the first of many reasons why he shouldn't have been boss of the ER.

[Cloud9Shopper]

34 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I would have loved to see the kind of work trouble he would have gotten in after that event or some kind of investigation. What would his excuse be: "I would never sleep with a med student, only other doctors, nurses, patients parents, maybe patients. And wait was Abby a med student when we first got together?". Because that whole thing should have been the first of many reasons why he shouldn't have been boss of the ER.

Abby was a nurse in S7 and then a resident in S12. But I don’t think Luka should have been made ER chief in S13 given that Abby was still a resident and they had a child together. In real life, I imagine there’s no way he’d be able to supervise her. Good thing he wasn’t in charge and was already in Croatia when she was showing up to work drunk; she would have probably never even gotten probation because he would have protected her.  

[Mr. Miner]

I'm watching season 11 on POP and wondering why they didn't drop the helicopter on Dr. Morris? I hate that guy!

[SoMuchTV]

6 hours ago, Mr. Miner said:

I'm watching season 11 on POP and wondering why they didn't drop the helicopter on Dr. Morris? I hate that guy!

Just curious whether this is a rewatch for you, or your first time. I’ll just say I think I felt the same way in season 11. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

 

7 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Just curious whether this is a rewatch for you, or your first time. I’ll just say I think I felt the same way in season 11. 

I actually ended up liking Morris by the end of the series but I agree he is at his worst in S10 and S11. 

So I watched 8x5 and 8x6 tonight, and they were honestly kind of dull episodes. But oh what the hell…here we go anyway! 

Carter and Susan talk a lot for two people in a yoga class. If they were by me in yoga I would be really annoyed. I’m surprised the teacher didn’t tell them to STFU.

I like how we had a repeat of the med student being shocked like Chen did to Carter in S1.

Gamma Carter (yay! Gamma!) reminds me of my grandmother who is in her early 90s and hates having to depend on people and doesn’t enjoy medical procedures. Although when she was 90, she had a Whipple procedure and came back from it like it was no big deal. 

It’s so jarring to see Susan snap her fingers at Abby and go “Hey nurse!” Who came up with that writing? That is not who Susan is; did they forget the character of S1-S3? 

Carmen from infection control who follows Elizabeth around is a Grade A Bitch, and I think Mark is right in that she needs to justify her job. I can’t stand whenever the camera gets close to her that she is making a kissy face or trying to purse her lips like she’s Miranda Priestly-lite. If selfies had been around in 2001 I think Carmen would be posing for #girlboss selfies for her Instagram if that had also been a thing back then. I love when Elizabeth tells her to get out of the way in the OR and not follow her to Romano’s office. And I love the talk she had with the pathologist (Dr. Upton!) in the morgue too and how Dr. Upton doesn’t buy into the gossip and rants about sexism. 

That said. I feel for Elizabeth right now. She has to deal with being so stressed at work and then comes home to Rachel blowing off Ella and blasting heavy metal loud enough to wake the dead. I’d be upset too…and also, why does Mark not parent here? Why is Elizabeth being more of Rachel’s parent than he is? He should have made house rules from Day One so this wouldn’t blow up so badly.

Carter is very much right about Abby and how she cares way too much about Luka even though she is not with him anymore. I know everyone paints Abby as the wronged one in hers and Carter’s dynamic, but he has a point too! She’s not Luka’s girlfriend anymore; she needs to back off and let him live his life and she needs to mind her own business. How is Nicole hurting her life? I also couldn’t stand Abby when Nicole was just trying to be nice and talk about how the nurses when her mom died were so kind to her, and Abby just makes this pissy/snotty face and doesn’t even try to show appreciation or add a comment about how nice it is to be there for someone who’s struggling or how much she likes her job. Was she that miserable up in OB too?

Side note: I know the two storylines aren’t related but I feel like part of the reason why Abby ends up relapsing so spectacularly is foreshadowed here. She’s so damn obsessed with everyone else’s lives and telling them how to live and what kind of parents they are (in the case of Maggie) but she virtually never looks inward and thinks about how she ruins relationships or tries to focus on being happy. Maybe if she had worried more about herself and less about Luka and Nicole, or not later acted like Luka’s father died to inconvenience her, she would have achieved long-term recovery. Food for thought. 

[Mr. Miner]

16 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Just curious whether this is a rewatch for you, or your first time. I’ll just say I think I felt the same way in season 11. 

Every episode is the first time for me. Last night I watched Carter running through the rain in Paris to his dreadful girlfriend.

Then I got to watch Sam become a total basket case when her punk son ran away.

I moved into season 12 last night. Morris is chief resident now and I hate him even more.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Mr. Miner

[Cloud9Shopper]

S12 is the ultimate point where I start losing interest. The writing is just dreadful (the show is basically a satire of itself), most of the characters are annoying and I have no reason to care about them, and honestly…I don’t even know how it stayed on the air at the time. They should have pulled the plug once Carter left at the end of S11. 

Dreadful perfectly describes Kem. I tried to sympathize with her after the stillbirth, but she is so flat and dull even before then and she really strings Carter along. 

Sam is awful. No arguments here. (But there is one moment in S14 where I like her…won’t spoil that for the first-time watcher.) 

I think Morris just got chief resident because no one else wanted it, right? Management in the ER universe is such a joke with the way they hire. It’s a weird difference between S11 and S7 and 8 where Carter and Chen both wanted to be competitive for chief resident and it was considered prestigious. 

[Notabug]

15 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

 

I actually ended up liking Morris by the end of the series but I agree he is at his worst in S10 and S11. 

So I watched 8x5 and 8x6 tonight, and they were honestly kind of dull episodes. But oh what the hell…here we go anyway! 

Carter and Susan talk a lot for two people in a yoga class. If they were by me in yoga I would be really annoyed. I’m surprised the teacher didn’t tell them to STFU.

I like how we had a repeat of the med student being shocked like Chen did to Carter in S1.

Gamma Carter (yay! Gamma!) reminds me of my grandmother who is in her early 90s and hates having to depend on people and doesn’t enjoy medical procedures. Although when she was 90, she had a Whipple procedure and came back from it like it was no big deal. 

It’s so jarring to see Susan snap her fingers at Abby and go “Hey nurse!” Who came up with that writing? That is not who Susan is; did they forget the character of S1-S3? 

Carmen from infection control who follows Elizabeth around is a Grade A Bitch, and I think Mark is right in that she needs to justify her job. I can’t stand whenever the camera gets close to her that she is making a kissy face or trying to purse her lips like she’s Miranda Priestly-lite. If selfies had been around in 2001 I think Carmen would be posing for #girlboss selfies for her Instagram if that had also been a thing back then. I love when Elizabeth tells her to get out of the way in the OR and not follow her to Romano’s office. And I love the talk she had with the pathologist (Dr. Upton!) in the morgue too and how Dr. Upton doesn’t buy into the gossip and rants about sexism. 

That said. I feel for Elizabeth right now. She has to deal with being so stressed at work and then comes home to Rachel blowing off Ella and blasting heavy metal loud enough to wake the dead. I’d be upset too…and also, why does Mark not parent here? Why is Elizabeth being more of Rachel’s parent than he is? He should have made house rules from Day One so this wouldn’t blow up so badly.

Carter is very much right about Abby and how she cares way too much about Luka even though she is not with him anymore. I know everyone paints Abby as the wronged one in hers and Carter’s dynamic, but he has a point too! She’s not Luka’s girlfriend anymore; she needs to back off and let him live his life and she needs to mind her own business. How is Nicole hurting her life? I also couldn’t stand Abby when Nicole was just trying to be nice and talk about how the nurses when her mom died were so kind to her, and Abby just makes this pissy/snotty face and doesn’t even try to show appreciation or add a comment about how nice it is to be there for someone who’s struggling or how much she likes her job. Was she that miserable up in OB too?

Side note: I know the two storylines aren’t related but I feel like part of the reason why Abby ends up relapsing so spectacularly is foreshadowed here. She’s so damn obsessed with everyone else’s lives and telling them how to live and what kind of parents they are (in the case of Maggie) but she virtually never looks inward and thinks about how she ruins relationships or tries to focus on being happy. Maybe if she had worried more about herself and less about Luka and Nicole, or not later acted like Luka’s father died to inconvenience her, she would have achieved long-term recovery. Food for thought. 

I think you've got a good point.  Abby sees everything in terms of how it might affect her and tries to micromanage everyone else' life to keep hers uncomplicated.

She insisted that her mother needed long term care in a psych unit not because it was the right treatment for Maggie; but because it was most convenient for her.  Same thing when Eric was diagnosed.

Luka being mixed up with Nicole and potentially having a child with him was going to take him off the market as a backup plan for Abby.

Carter choosing to stay in Chicago to take care of Gamma's funeral and Luka going to Croatia to be with his dying father were no good for Abby; she expected to be top priority in every case for both of them and couldn't tolerate the notion that they had other family that would sometimes need help.  Yet, Abby expected them to drop everything and come running if she had any problems with her family.

Remember when Abby's old prof, who she hadn't seen in years, came into the ER with end-stage ALS and Abby did a tracheostomy against his will because SHE was upset that he was dying?  Classic Abby, the world revolved around her.

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

I think you've got a good point.  Abby sees everything in terms of how it might affect her and tries to micromanage everyone else' life to keep hers uncomplicated.

She insisted that her mother needed long term care in a psych unit not because it was the right treatment for Maggie; but because it was most convenient for her.  Same thing when Eric was diagnosed.

Luka being mixed up with Nicole and potentially having a child with him was going to take him off the market as a backup plan for Abby.

Carter choosing to stay in Chicago to take care of Gamma's funeral and Luka going to Croatia to be with his dying father were no good for Abby; she expected to be top priority in every case for both of them and couldn't tolerate the notion that they had other family that would sometimes need help.  Yet, Abby expected them to drop everything and come running if she had any problems with her family.

Remember when Abby's old prof, who she hadn't seen in years, came into the ER with end-stage ALS and Abby did a tracheostomy against his will because SHE was upset that he was dying?  Classic Abby, the world revolved around her.

Abby also has this notion that she does not have to change and that people need to understand “her history” and listen when she says “but I’m not broken; I don’t need to change.” It’s on everyone else around her, be it her family, Luka, Carter, Sam or whoever else, to accommodate her and just tolerate her the way she is. Even part of her plan to have the baby had to be based on Luka’s constant reassurance that he was never going to leave her side and of course she was going to be the best mommy ever. And other nonsense like how he’d do the shopping if she was worried she’d leave the baby at the store. (I mean, how can you get to Abby’s age and think that joke is just oh so hilarious?) That’s a level of immaturity I’d expect to see on 16 and Pregnant, not from a woman in her mid 30s with a professional job. I know people who have had kids younger than Abby had Joe who weren’t so infantile in their thinking.  

I’m not saying Abby needed to go way in the other direction and be June Cleaver at home with her pearls and a dress vacuuming happily while Luka worked. But for her to think she does not need to change and can just stay the way she is is also delusional. 

I also hate that when Gamma died it was Carter who was expected to be the understanding one and be fine with the fact that Abby needed to go to her brother. Never mind that he’s grieving the loss of a close relative and has little other support given his own strained relationship with his parents. And for the Abby fangirls who argue well Gamma was old and had a good life…I mean, my maternal grandmother was 92 when she died. I’m sure my relatives still appreciated their significant others being at the viewing and funeral even if she indeed had a good long life and lived well. (And she did, until the last 2-3 years of her life.) Gamma’s age doesn’t make Abby’s family’s intrusion on her funeral acceptable because she just has it so hard and Carter should just deal with her brother being there. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper