All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[jjj]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

They didn't skip any during the first rotation of seasons one through six, and I didn't see any posts about them doing so on the second rotation.  You may be thinking of the Tuesday night or Saturday marathons, because, as far as I know, the weekday airings go in order, without skipping.

Yes, they skipped the episode where Carter moves in to Weaver's basement -- and this happened in the regular daytime rotation (this would have been around July 22, based on my receipt).  I actually bought that episode on iTunes because it bugged me so much. 

4 hours ago, Happy Belly said:

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the hubby and I are brand new to E.R. and we are hooked. Hooked so much so that hubby did not want to wait around for POP to start airing season 7 so he went and bought the entire series on DVD. At our own pace, we are currently watching Season 7. Plus, for some reason, when POP airs the seasons, they have episodes missing and we have questions, such as what happened to Jerry? why was Carter living with Weaver?  Thankfully, there was a wonderful person on this thread who explained Carter/Weaver, but you shouldnt have to do that. If POP says they have every episode, then air every episode of the season...its crazy!

Not sure if I was the one who explained the Carter/Weaver living situation, but yes, that was a big hole that needed to be filled by watching the missing episode!  Glad you are enjoying it for the first time!

[BooksRule]

Quote

Just feel like noting that this forum was on page 1 with no real posts since 2016, when in March BooksRule kicked things off by noticing Pop was starting to run these--and now we're on page 21.

Ha!  Just think how many pages we would have had if they had kept showing episodes past season six!  :) 

[cpcathy]

Re: Doug's big rescue episode,

I missed about 15 minutes, what did that little girl (with the arguing parents) die of?

[SoapDoc]

1 hour ago, cpcathy said:

I missed about 15 minutes, what did that little girl (with the arguing parents) die of?

They thought she blew a clot in her mesenteric artery in her abdomen. 

This episode was the most I ever liked Harper's character in her entire time on the show.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, SoapDoc said:

They thought she blew a clot in her mesenteric artery in her abdomen. 

This episode was the most I ever liked Harper's character in her entire time on the show.

Yep, she had a torn blood vessel in her abdomen after she was hit by a car.  At first,  a clot formed over the tear and she wasn't bleeding;  but then the clot became dislodged and she bled to death.

Harper was annoying as all hell.  Her 'explanation' to Carter that she was so traumatized from holding the dying kid for the LP twice that she just had to hop in the sack with Doug because he understood her pain was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.  Having been involved in literally dozens of such situations over the years, I have never felt the need for a one night stand with a coworker to assuage my trauma, not has anyone else I know.

[SoapDoc]

Quote

 

Harper was annoying as all hell.  Her 'explanation' to Carter that she was so traumatized from holding the dying kid for the LP twice that she just had to hop in the sack with Doug because he understood her pain was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.  Having been involved in literally dozens of such situations over the years, I have never felt the need for a one night stand with a coworker to assuage my trauma, not has anyone else I know.

Agreed. Typically after one of those stressful situations, I wanted to get away from my coworkers and spend time with people who had nothing to do with medicine. 

Besides the annoying nature of her character, I think part of my irritation with her character stems from her Emily Valentine role on 90210. She was painfully annoying there too.

Doodlebug, your explanation of the girl's was much better than mine!

[starri]

Third. My habit is to hold on by the skin of my teeth, go home, hug my husband or cat (whichever is more convenient), have my feels if I need them, and then find something on Netflix that has nothing to do with medicine. 

[RedbirdNelly]

1 hour ago, SoapDoc said:

 

Besides the annoying nature of her character, I think part of my irritation with her character stems from her Emily Valentine role on 90210. She was painfully annoying there too.

 

I so agree-did not like her as Harper or as Emily Valentine. She was less annoying on ER. I just watched what I think is the last appearance by her on 90210 when for some reason she came back with the world's worst haircut.

[Danny Franks]

12 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Yep, she had a torn blood vessel in her abdomen after she was hit by a car.  At first,  a clot formed over the tear and she wasn't bleeding;  but then the clot became dislodged and she bled to death.

Harper was annoying as all hell.  Her 'explanation' to Carter that she was so traumatized from holding the dying kid for the LP twice that she just had to hop in the sack with Doug because he understood her pain was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.  Having been involved in literally dozens of such situations over the years, I have never felt the need for a one night stand with a coworker to assuage my trauma, not has anyone else I know.

I didn't mind Harper. She was inoffensive and actually one of Carter's better romantic interests, which does show how poorly the writers treated him. But at least she always actually seemed like she liked him. The thing with Doug was shitty of her, but I liked the way they had Carter handle it (apart from his childish, grunting snit when he went up against Doug at the basketball hoop). And the way they resolved it was neat enough. But ultimately, she just got drunk and drowned her sorrows by boning the hot paediatrician.

Their relationship trailed off into nothing in the end, and also brought us the thoroughly unwelcome addition of Dale to the occasionally recurring cast. God, I loathe that guy.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Danny Franks

[voiceover]

Just occurred to me:

Baby Susie/Suzie is now old enough to (edited to add: legally) drink.

Edited August 24, 2017 by voiceover

[RedbirdNelly]

Dale--is there anyone who didn't loathe Dale? the actor did a great job portraying a jerk.

[cpcathy]

I was livid right along with Carter that Dale changed the history on that chart to save his butt.

[voiceover]

14 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Dale--is there anyone who didn't loathe Dale? the actor did a great job portraying a jerk.

Yes.  He was Drew Barrymore's dickish fiancé in The Wedding Singer.

Happy to hear I'm not the only one who rolled my eyes to the moon about the Harper/Doug ONS.  Obviously everyone reacts differently, but that just seemed a bit too OTT.  Like, it was sad; but this is the case that sent them into each other's arms?

[RedbirdNelly]

he does play dickish so well. Would be kind of weird for that to be a specialty. I wonder how he comes across in real life.

[doodlebug]

3 hours ago, voiceover said:

Yes.  He was Drew Barrymore's dickish fiancé in The Wedding Singer.

Happy to hear I'm not the only one who rolled my eyes to the moon about the Harper/Doug ONS.  Obviously everyone reacts differently, but that just seemed a bit too OTT.  Like, it was sad; but this is the case that sent them into each other's arms?

It would've been far more believable if Harper had said to Carter, " Have you SEEN Doug, who wouldn't want to hit that?".  She should've told Carter she went out for drinks with Doug, they both got drunk and one thing led to another.  All the BS about her personal angst over the sick little boy was self indulgent excuse-making, IMO.

One of Carter's best  girlfriend scenes ever was with Harper when they're in bed and he describes his technique for prolonging the experience, much to her surprise.

Edited August 24, 2017 by doodlebug

[Guest]

Hey all.

Friendly reminder- this is an all episode thread. This means no spoiler tags are needed.

Thanks!

[desertflower]

The problem with the later episodes, imo, is not that they were devoid of good scenes and good acting; there are several scenes that come to mind that were very moving/engaging/etc, on their own, but when put together and viewed as a whole it was too much. Too many deaths, too many stunts/catastrophes, too much tragedy. The early seasons didn't need a tank tearing up the ER; they managed to be engrossing just exploring the characters and highlighting various medical cases. 

I agree Abby's brother falling into the grave was possibly the lowest point of the show, right there with Romano getting killed. Ugh. And i LOVED Tom Everett Scott from That Thing You Do; I was excited when he first turned up as her brother....but then they made him do that. 

[WendyCR72]

I had, for the longest time, a very negative Pavlovian response when seeing Sally Field for a while after her ER stint. Luckily, time helped me get past it, but man. I despised the entire Lockhart family.

[RedbirdNelly]

unpopular opinion here but I loved Sally Field on ER. I agree with too much Lockhart family but she had one scene that really got me and I though it was so well acted. It's where she tells Abby how when Abby was born she basically tried to tell herself she wouldn't get sick anymore so she could be a mother to Abby but she couldn't keep that promise. I was just deeply moved by the sadness of what it would be like to be a mother, want to not be sick, but not be able to control it. Anyway, that got to me and I've been wanting to rewatch that scene for a while. Maybe on rewatch I'll think less of it, but to me that was really well done.

[doodlebug]

6 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

unpopular opinion here but I loved Sally Field on ER. I agree with too much Lockhart family but she had one scene that really got me and I though it was so well acted. It's where she tells Abby how when Abby was born she basically tried to tell herself she wouldn't get sick anymore so she could be a mother to Abby but she couldn't keep that promise. I was just deeply moved by the sadness of what it would be like to be a mother, want to not be sick, but not be able to control it. Anyway, that got to me and I've been wanting to rewatch that scene for a while. Maybe on rewatch I'll think less of it, but to me that was really well done.

Having a family member who is bipolar, I thought SF did a great job portraying the illness, especially when Maggie was manic.  She also showed how incredibly exhausting and overwhelming it can be to deal with a family member with this illness.  However, it seemed to me that TPTB  overplayed their hand with her storyline.  Both Sally Field and Maura Tierney got way too much screen time, IMO.  ER, up to that point, was known for the subtlety of their storylines, the way they allowed the audience to fill in a lot of the blanks themselves and trusting in their intelligence and insight.  Alas, this storyline kind of signaled the end of that sort of storytelling on the show and every storyline, especially any of those involving Abby was given far too much time and attention on the show.  Heck, they couldn't even trust us, the audience, to realize that Abby was attractive and intelligent.  Instead, there was scene after scene of patients, coworkers, friends and family commenting incessantly on how pretty she was, how smart, how she was just the bestest doctor ever.  Contrast with earlier seasons, where multiple attractive, smart characters managed to make it through the workday without someone falling all over themselves complimenting them.  Heck, even Doug, who was SUPPOSED to be an unusually charming and handsome guy, didn't receive the fawning treatment Abby did in virtually every single eppy.  

[cpcathy]

Agree, I never saw anyone fawning over Doug, and Clooney is, well, Clooney!

I did see two episodes in a row where a random patient comments on how good looking Mark is. I had to giggle, back when ER was on, people used to tell my husband he looked JUST like Mark Green.

[Gigi43]

I found how Harper went on about "THE REASON!" so annoying. Especially when she complained to Mark that people wouldn't consider it if they found out. Yeah, Harper, because its unfortunately common for ER doctors to care for dying children, and they don't all go about sleeping with their coworkers because of it. Okay she was a med student but the way she went on like it was such a unique situation was grating.

 

I'm watching "It's Not Easy Being Greene" ,man Mark went through a lot too. He's still dealing with the fallout of Loves Labors Lost, he had gotten sued other times in the series. Given the later screw ups of doctors and outright fudging records it seems like he had to answer for things more than other doctors. We talk about all Carter went through I'm sure if Mark had been on until the end he'd have lost his license at some point, Rachel would have gotten pregnant, Elizabeth would have cheated and maybe Ella would have an illness.

 

I don't know if this is an Unpopular Opinion but all of these episodes so close together aren't doing much of how I view Mark/Doug's friendship. It's the same issues over and over again. Kinda like Doug and Carol. I know there has to be tension but at some point it's too much for people we're told are close. I like Mark and Carol better as believable friends, I'm glad they never became more, but that relationship may be the most I like either of them. Playing video games and Carol snarking about "tv doctors" in Hell or High Water is still fun. 

[WendyCR72]

I had forgotten about Harper until venturing into this forum. Hopefully, I can forget her again.  :-)

[Bastet]

I liked Harper.  My favorite, by far, of Carter's girlfriends/potential girlfriends was Maria Bello's character, Anna, but I liked Harper, too.  And the one played by Julie Bowen, but they made her a sacrificial lamb to the stupid Carter/Lucy thing.

[voiceover]

All this talk of the Harper/Doug ONS (because: Feelz!) is making another crap SL even harder to sit through today: Hathaway & Cute Medic/ because: Feelz!

I used to handwave a bunch of those plots on daytime soaps, but it's really bugging me with this show.

[voiceover]

Hey, medical field posters:

Was Synergix really Teh Evul, or did Ellis have a point?

Elizabeth & Peter's 1st "date" -- the dart-throwing & drunken dancing...sigh.  She never did anything like as sexy with Mark.

[starri]

3 hours ago, voiceover said:

Was Synergix really Teh Evul, or did Ellis have a point?

I work for a county hospital.  That's my answer.

[doodlebug]

4 hours ago, voiceover said:

Hey, medical field posters:

Was Synergix really Teh Evul, or did Ellis have a point?

Elizabeth & Peter's 1st "date" -- the dart-throwing & drunken dancing...sigh.  She never did anything like as sexy with Mark.

I am employed by a massive hospital system that is non profit but very aware of the bottom line.  Anytime an organization gets large, there are some things that go by the wayside and lots of rules and regulations that everyone has to follow.  One size fits all medicine is a lot like  one size fits all pantyhose.  There are some advantages, but plenty of disadvantages too.  Often, the rules are more for the convenience of the bean counters than the care of the patients. However, corporate medicine seems to be the way medicine is headed in this country.  And for profit corporations like Synergix are always going to put the bottom line over the patients.

Edited August 26, 2017 by doodlebug
spelling

[jjj]

Something odd happened to the POP episodes on the West Coast on Saturday's mini-marathon.  Online via Comcast, we can watch it at the East Coast time (three hours ahead) or as it airs on the cable channel.  But during the "Family Practice" episode on West Coast time, the screen went black for about 20 minutes, then about 15 minutes of old-time screen signal image, then jumped back to near the end of "Family Practice".  Then, it suddenly, mid-scene, jumped ahead three episodes to the one that was airing three hours ahead on East Coast time.  So, a couple of episodes got missed, and who knows, maybe it will jump back later? 

ETA:  Yes, it jumped back again, so it is now back on the regular schedule. 

Edited August 27, 2017 by jjj

[cpcathy]

I went out for a few minutes--what the heck happened to Chase? Did he end up having a stroke or something?

[jjj]

He had an overdose of heroin -- Carter says this later to his grandparents.  I think I am about to see that episode on West Coast time?  Never saw that part happen, but did hear Carter tell his grandparents the story. 

7 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

I went out for a few minutes--what the heck happened to Chase? Did he end up having a stroke or something?

Edited August 27, 2017 by jjj

[starri]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

And for profit corporations like Synergix are always going to put the bottom line over the patients.

For-profit hospitals make my skin crawl.  I'm certainly not advocating abolishing private practices (although at least in my area, a lot of family practices and internists are starting to get absorbed into the big hospital systems--New York-Presbyterian, Northwell, NYU), but a hospital, which is by definition for the sickest people, should not be prioritizing profits over patient care.  And especially not an emergency room.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, jjj said:

He had an overdose of heroin -- Carter says this later to his grandparents.  I think I am about to see that episode on West Coast time?  Never saw that part happen, but did hear Carter tell his grandparents the story. 

 We saw he was using heroin during the Christmas eppy (Do You See What I See?) then, a few eppies later, Carter and Anna went to his apartment when he was trying to quit and was in withdrawal.  In My Brother's Keeper, Chase was brought into the ER with others who had overdosed.  He arrested and suffered brain damage after Carter had insisted on continuing to resuscitate him when others wanted to quit and Carter felt guilty about not getting him into formal rehab. When his grandparents came to the hospital, they were incensed to discover that Carter knew Chase was addicted and didn't tell the family. Chase ended up in a nursing facility as he required ongoing care where Carter visited him a couple eppies later.  He couldn't talk or dress himself. In Gut Reaction, Carter and Gamma talk about Chase when Carter tries to get her to give funding to Carol's clinic.  In a couple seasons, after Carter returns from rehab, he goes to visit him again to apologize and tell him about his own drug addiction.

Edited August 27, 2017 by doodlebug
clarify and add episode titles

[ktwo]

42 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

 We saw he was using heroin during the Christmas eppy (Do You See What I See?) then, a few eppies later, Carter and Anna went to his apartment when he was trying to quit and was in withdrawal.  In My Brother's Keeper, Chase was brought into the ER with others who had overdosed.  He arrested and suffered brain damage after Carter had insisted on continuing to resuscitate him when others wanted to quit and Carter felt guilty about not getting him into formal rehab. When his grandparents came to the hospital, they were incensed to discover that Carter knew Chase was addicted and didn't tell the family. Chase ended up in a nursing facility as he required ongoing care where Carter visited him a couple eppies later.  He couldn't talk or dress himself. In Gut Reaction, Carter and Gamma talk about Chase when Carter tries to get her to give funding to Carol's clinic.  In a couple seasons, after Carter returns from rehab, he goes to visit him again to apologize and tell him about his own drug addiction.

Great sum up! Just wanted to add that when Benton is encouraging Carter to "get in that van," he says something like "Do you want to end up like your cousin, some gork in a nursing home?"

[jjj]

Wow, POP TV again has switched to the East Coast feed (now "Big Brother") in the final three hours of what were supposed to be the final three ER episodes on Saturday evening reruns.  I've never seen that happen, now twice in a day that I have seen.   

Edited August 27, 2017 by jjj

[voiceover]

Hm. I'm on West Coast time, and all the eps listed on DirecTV were shown, ending with the scene where Corday tells Benton to go to the party without her.

I'd mostly stopped watching by then IRT-- so does anyone know if Chase Carter was shown as any more recovered in the scene mentioned upthread -- where John tells him about his own addiction issues?

[jjj]

I'm on Comcast, so maybe it is a Comcast issue?  The episodes are scheduled to run until midnight, Pacific Time, so maybe Direct TV gives you the East Coast feed?  I can get that on the Comcast TVGO (allows watching away from home, and shows the East Coast time feed), and yes, that did go to the end of the scheduled episodes.  I switch around feeds depending on where I am.  I wrote to POP TV -- no other channels have this issue. 

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, voiceover said:

Hm. I'm on West Coast time, and all the eps listed on DirecTV were shown, ending with the scene where Corday tells Benton to go to the party without her.

I'd mostly stopped watching by then IRT-- so does anyone know if Chase Carter was shown as any more recovered in the scene mentioned upthread -- where John tells him about his own addiction issues?

No,  when Carter goes to see him in Season 7, he's still in a nursing home and I don't think he was able to speak; certainly there was no conversation between them.   

I live in the Midwest and we're EST. I get Pop TV via my cable provider. I didn't watch all the episodes tonight, but the last 3 anyway were in the proper order and without interruption.

Edited August 27, 2017 by doodlebug

[voiceover]

3 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

No,  when Carter goes to see him in Season 7, he's still in a nursing home and I don't think he was able to speak; certainly there was no conversation between them.   

Thanks.  Gah.  Another sl that, in the words of my nephew, I can't even.

[WendyCR72]

25 minutes ago, voiceover said:

No,  when Carter goes to see him in Season 7, he's still in a nursing home and I don't think he was able to speak; certainly there was no conversation between them.   

Chase was able to speak, albeit slowly and a bit slurred. Because when Carter visited him in S7, after Carter told Chase of his own addiction, Chase sort of gave a groan, then asked/joked with Carter, asking if Carter remembered to bring French fries.

(I remember the oddest details!)

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, WendyCR72 said:

Chase was able to speak, albeit slowly and a bit slurred. Because when Carter visited him in S7, after Carter told Chase of his own addiction, Chase sort of gave a groan, then asked/joked with Carter, asking if Carter remembered to bring French fries.

(I remember the oddest details!)

Thanks, your memory is better than mine! It wouldn't be medically realistic for Chase to have had a full recovery or to be able to live independently after what happened to him and how limited his initial recovery was.  

[voiceover]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

 

(I remember the oddest details!)

Me too!!  

That's what makes us super-cool awesome people?

Today's series of eps has Kerry unwilling to "fall on her sword" re: Synergix (doesn't she get Mark to do it instead, like she got him to reject Romano for CoS, so she could win favor with Robert by supporting him after) and Kerry, trying to take the focus off Carter's heroism in the HazMat ep.

Man, she could be a wretched, back-stabbing witch.  All in the name of power.  Which -- okay, but then she got all sadz when Anspaugh went to Mark about his son.

[doodlebug]

7 hours ago, voiceover said:

Me too!!  

That's what makes us super-cool awesome people?

Today's series of eps has Kerry unwilling to "fall on her sword" re: Synergix (doesn't she get Mark to do it instead, like she got him to reject Romano for CoS, so she could win favor with Robert by supporting him after) and Kerry, trying to take the focus off Carter's heroism in the HazMat ep.

Man, she could be a wretched, back-stabbing witch.  All in the name of power.  Which -- okay, but then she got all sadz when Anspaugh went to Mark about his son.

Yeah, Kerry was a fascinating character.  She very obviously envied the closeness and camaraderie of the ER staff, but never seemed able to connect with them enough to realize that her actions often drove them away.  For example, she clearly loved and respected Jeannie but couldn't for the life of her understand why Jeannie would be hurt when Kerry laid her off while taking a substantial pay raise for herself.  Kerry thought her explanation of budgets and funding was sufficient proof that she had no choice while Jeannie, being human, took it personally.

As far as Synergix, Kerry tried to get Romano or Anspaugh to kill the deal and was rightfully told that she was the one who pushed for it so she was the one who needed to spearhead any change of heart about it.  Instead, she went to Ellis and complained about the company's evil ways and he convinced Synergix to voluntarily withdraw the offer.  Kerry did manage to land on her feet time and time again in these situations.

[rcc]

Kerry is a backstabbing self-serving employee. We've all seen it in the workplace. I can't stand her, always lurking around, listening in on conversations, and trying to find something she can use.

I guess it also happens in hospitals where they are there to help people.

[walnutqueen]

23 minutes ago, rcc said:

I guess it also happens in hospitals where they are there to help people.

And here I thought the only reason they showed up was to perform miraculous life-saving procedures in between fucking each other and living out their soap opera lives in full view of the less interesting patients.

Oh, dummy me.

[rcc]

15 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

And here I thought the only reason they showed up was to perform miraculous life-saving procedures in between fucking each other and living out their soap opera lives in full view of the less interesting patients.

Oh, dummy me.

LOL!

[Splash]

This is so random, but I'm watching the second episode of season 5 and Mark is at Rachel's soccer game.  She's the goalie and he's standing next to a dad from the opposing team, who is cheering on his son/talking smack about Rachel to his son (she's just a girl, easy point, you can take her, etc).  Anyway, Rachel stops the kid from scoring, but hits her head on the goal post thing.  Mark goes to check on her, and the other dad walks away, while the kid who kicked the ball and helps her up.  The dad walks up and says the first aid kit was empty (seriously??), but then offers her some ice.

This sounds silly, but the entire scene was so surprising to me.   I was fully expected the dad to come up and berate his son for failing to score on a girl and make some snarky comments about Rachel, which would set Mark off.  The last thing I was expecting was the kid to practice good sportsmanship and the dad to offer whatever help he could.  It was really refreshing to watch it play out that way, but also makes it feel a bit dated, since I doubt that scene would play the same on a show now.

[rcc]

Shep wants to take the day off with Carol because he needs time away from "the wretched of the earth." Good line.

I'm liking these POP afternoon 3 episode marathons every weekday.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, rcc said:

Shep wants to take the day off with Carol because he needs time away from "the wretched of the earth." Good line.

I'm liking these POP afternoon 3 episode marathons every weekday.

I loved his fondness for sexy cows.  Yesterday, one of my all-time ER favorites, The Healers, was on.  Very sad but a tremendous demonstration of the kind of teamwork and camaraderie found in the ER as well as the closeness found between first responders and hospital workers.  Incredible episode all around.

[rcc]

Doug's father stole $250,000 from Doug's new girlfriend (and old girlfriend of his father's) and laughed when Doug gave her $25,000 that his father gave him. Did they ever say what work they were in since Doug's father worked for her? 

Susan and her crying in church is heartbreaking. I'm sure Chloe doesn't even realize how much losing Susie hurt her. Selfish, former drug addict that she is.