All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[cpcathy]

Wait, Carla died??

[voiceover]

2 hours ago, cpcathy said:

Wait, Carla died??

Car accident.  We only see her in another hospital ER trauma room, post-trauma.  A cop came for Peter while he was at work, because they'd checked Reese's jacket, and a nurse (?) at that hospital remembered there was a doc @ County with a deaf son.  When he got there, he found out what had happened.

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

 And, yeah, it got a little dusty in here when Peter was trying to explain to Reese that Carla died.

"Mommy's with the angels."  It was Oklahoma in the 30s at my house. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by voiceover
changing all my Reeces to Reese

[jjj]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

And, yeah, it got a little dusty in here when Peter was trying to explain to Reese that Carla died.

Is Reese old enough to understand this concept?  Time is flying by; I did not realize they were killing off continuing characters at this point in the series.  I'll catch this scene in the Saturday marathon, thanks for the alert! 

2 hours ago, voiceover said:

Shit.  Am I the only one watching?  I need help here -- Benton's telling Reese that Carla died, and I'm bawling my eyes out.

[voiceover]

30 minutes ago, jjj said:

Is Reese old enough to understand this concept?  

That's part of the reason the scene was so gutting.  Peter had to explain it over and over and over to his son.  

First it was almost a dumbed-down version of the standard speech: She was hurt very badly, and we tried very hard, but we couldn't make her better.

Then it was, Mommy's sleeping; Mommy won't wake up again; Mommy's an angel; Mommy's with God.

Gah.  I wonder if before they shot it, Lisa Nicole Carson (who played Carla) sat down with the little boy who played Reese, so he could see she wasn't really gone.

[desertflower]

I just watched the wedding episode today and I too hated all the shenanigans that made Mark late. It's not dramatic or suspenseful, it's just stressful! And I know Mark's phone died but surely Peter would've had a cell phone, wouldn't he? Anyway, Elizabeth did look gorgeous, I loved her dress. I like her dad too. Her parents were perfectly cast; Alex Kingston looks like a mix of both of them.

Switching gears, I agree with the sentiment upthread that Secrets and Lies was one of the worst episodes ever. It's one of the few times I really disliked Carter. His remark to Luka about getting blown up if you visit Croatia was such a crappy thing to say. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, jjj said:

Is Reese old enough to understand this concept? 

No, which is what brought the emotion for me - he tried every tired fairy tale there is for kids (she went away, she's sleeping and can't ever wake up, she went to be with God, etc.) and then finally said, "Mommy's dead."  Not that Reese grasps that any better, but that's what was poignant; this kid's life is about to change dramatically (there's also a custody battle between Peter and Roger looming), which is horrible for anyone, but he's not even able to properly grasp why.

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm running 3 episodes behind  so I'm watching but struggling to keep up. I agree completely with the "too much Abby/Maggie" sentiment, but I did like the closing scenes where they go to the softball game and Maggie cheers like a normal mom and the scene with her telling Abby to live her life was well done and touching. If they'd left it at that, it would have been good. If there was less Abby focus after this, we might praise this Abby/Maggie arc.

I'm dreading the Chen/Malucci/Kerry mess up. I did not like Malucci but he got screwed over as I remember. Odd way to take a character out.

I watched the episode last night with Bonnie, the sister with the developmental delay and her only relative dies. It was so sad. Felt so badly for her.

[desertflower]

Random guest star bingo....one of the lawyers at Maggie's hearing was Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. Haha! Of course veteran actors Tom Bosley and Tom Poston were in that same episode but they are more obvious. I like spotting the obscure ones!

I'm not looking forward to the Malucci/Chen/Weaver thing either. It was kind of interesting to see Weaver discover she did screw up and forget her pager but writing Malucci out like that was crappy. I actually liked him. He could be an arrogant ass for sure but he was at least interesting, and I liked when he had his moments of competency, like treating the Chinese girl whose grandma was using the folk remedy. His nasty insult to Kerry as his last scene was out of character, I think. He could be brash and rude but that just seemed extreme. 

[Zoe]

16 hours ago, voiceover said:

Gah.  I wonder if before they shot it, Lisa Nicole Carson (who played Carla) sat down with the little boy who played Reese, so he could see she wasn't really gone.

Watching that definitely made me wonder how they were able to get a kid that young to act, much less a deaf one!

[RedbirdNelly]

them writing Malucci out that way really was weird. Just seemed out of character for the show.

[desertflower]

Phew! I just binged my recorded episodes and caught up a bit. (Temporarily, I know I will fall behind again.) Various thoughts...and I know these will be all over the place, I've just watched a whole lotta ER!!

Why did they further impugn Carla's character right before killing her off? I mean I know they kind of did it before when she told Peter he might not have been the father. But I forgot she came on to Peter then lied to Roger about it. I wonder if she was lying to Peter when she said Roger moved out and said he never loved her? Because when she died he seemed pretty torn up. I also forgot they recast Roger. The other actor must've gotten his gig on King of Queens by then. 

I too am curious how they handled that scene telling Reese his mom died. I noticed it didn't look like Peter actually signed "Mommy died", he just said it. So maybe they stopped short of signing that to him as that might've been more upsetting than the other things they said? Anyway it was a sad scene.

Nice to see Pablo the drunk, a face from the early seasons. 

Y'all, I can't handle crying Ella and screaming Elizabeth. I feel her pain but it's still rough to watch. Why on earth wouldn't Lizzie ask a nurse to hold Ella before telling the lady her son died?? 

I remember how powerful that scene was of Mark and the rampage shooter in the elevator when it first aired, and it still packs a punch. I forgot that was the season finale. 

Ouch! Luka's "you're not that pretty" comment was harsh but he was pretty much on point with all the other stuff he said. Especially how when she's not depressed she's angry, and she seems incapable of being happy. 

Obscure guest part alert: the girl who played Molly Ringwald's best friend in Sixteen Candles! She was the rampage shooter's neighbor who originally brought his kid in to the ER , then was later killed. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by desertflower

[absnow54]

I'm not looking forward to the Malucci/Chen/Weaver thing either. It was kind of interesting to see Weaver discover she did screw up and forget her pager but writing Malucci out like that was crappy. I actually liked him. He could be an arrogant ass for sure but he was at least interesting, and I liked when he had his moments of competency

I'm surprised Malucci was ever a regular, he sort of filled the Maggie Doyle utility resident, but had more screen time. I thought he also sort of filled the Jerry-butt-of-every-joke comic relief role. He wasn't my favorite character, but I thought he had a nice rapport with the cast, even though the rapport was everyone hating on his character.

[rcc]

I wonder why the Jerry actor left the show. He was much better than the annoying "Shut up Frank."

[Guest]

I liked Malucci on some level, and was surprised he was written out like he was.

I vaguely remember being mad that Benton wasn't Reese's biological father.  That was around the point I stopped watching regularly, I believe. 

[voiceover]

Ha.  Malucci's treating of Cleo's patient (sprinkling sugar on the prolapsed organ so it reduces in size, and can then be reinserted) was something I immediately recognized from James Herriot's All Creatures Great & Small.  Except of course Herriot was a vet and the prolapsed organ was, IIRC, a cow's uterus.

Reese, wandering around the apartment with a flashlight, trying to find his mom?  I can't stand it!

2 minutes ago, deaja said:

I vaguely remember being mad that Benton wasn't Reese's biological father.  That was around the point I stopped watching regularly, I believe. 

One of the nastiest retcons EVER, especially with Carla's righteous rage at Peter when he asked that question early on.

Way to trash a character, for the sake of plotline.

[absnow54]

I wonder why the Jerry actor left the show. He was much better than the annoying "Shut up Frank."

I think he comes back at some point this season. The actor was on another show for a season, but I'm not sure why he disappeared all the other times. Jerry is a million times better than Frank.

One of the nastiest retcons EVER, especially with Carla's righteous rage at Peter when he asked that question early on.

Exactly! She made that claim when Peter wouldn't let her move to Germany with Roger, and the only apparent reason they stayed in Chicago was because Peter sued for custody and that was one of the stipulations. It made no sense, unless Carla wanted to keep Peter on the hook in case her relationship with Roger didn't work out, but then again, why threaten that secret in the first place?

[WendyCR72]

52 minutes ago, rcc said:

I wonder why the Jerry actor left the show. He was much better than the annoying "Shut up Frank."

Well, he does pop back up, so have no fear!

[voiceover]

Anyone who knows ASL: what did Romano sign to Reese?  I totally forgot that moment.  Sweet!  Unless of course he was signing "Your dad sucks".

Another gold star moment for Kerry today -- taking Romano's suggestion to find a scapegoat. 

[Bastet]

Oh gods, it's the teenage Rachel.  I have to hand it to the producers: I wouldn't have thought any version of Rachel could be more annoying than the kid version, but they pulled it off.

I'm so glad to be done with Malucci, and the way he went out seems consistent to me.

I laughed out loud when Carter asked Abby if they'd be wearing ski masks (to sneak the replacement fish tank into Luka's apartment).  I like them together, but it sounds like that will change in a hurry.

Romano signing to Reese was adorable.

[desertflower]

4 minutes ago, voiceover said:

Anyone who knows ASL: what did Romano sign to Reese?  I totally forgot that moment.  Sweet!  Unless of course he was signing "Your dad sucks".

Another gold star moment for Kerry today -- taking Romano's suggestion to find a scapegoat. 

I think I remember someone posting once that he signed "Take care of your dad".

[rcc]

Romano telling Weaver as she waited for him to exit the men's room "Hanging around men's rooms ... changing teams again." lol

Nobody on this show delivers a line as good as him.

[voiceover]

48 minutes ago, desertflower said:

I think I remember someone posting once that he signed "Take care of your dad".

Oh my...

That's just too adorable.  I hope this ep shows up again Saturday now that I'm prepared.

eta: I *knew* Kerry lied to Romano to get into that meeting!  Who was a bigger CYAer in that ER?  

Really burning with KerryHate right now.

eta: Romano was a CYAer too, but at least he didn't have a desperate need to have the person he was screwing over, still think he was a good person.

Gahhhh!! I'm gonna punch my TV.  Put Reese on, stat!

Edited October 24, 2017 by voiceover

[rcc]

15 minutes ago, desertflower said:

I think I remember someone posting once that he signed "Take care of your dad".

That was so sweet.

[Bastet]

The husband learning his wife died because she took too much of her medication (they only speak Spanish, but the instructions were in English - "once" was read as "eleven" so she was taking eleven pills per day rather than one) is brutal.  When he keeps repeating that they followed the instructions, I just want to hug him.

[walnutqueen]

Kerry is such a snake.

I did enjoy Abby & Carter's friendship.

Could've done without the return of Susan Lewis.

Gah - now I remember how insufferable RacHell was.

[WendyCR72]

12 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

Could've done without the return of Susan Lewis

And me, I was so glad to see her back. Until the writers fucked it all up.

[absnow54]

Wow, how much did Sherry Stringfield cost? I know Dr Chen isn't gone for good, but in the two episodes of Susan's return, you had Dr Dave leaving, Dr Chen quitting, and Cleo setting up her exit. Also, remember when the ER had no attendings? Who is Carter even in charge of? Were there any residents after Dave was fired?

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Wow, how much did Sherry Stringfield cost? I know Dr Chen isn't gone for good, but in the two episodes of Susan's return, you had Dr Dave leaving, Dr Chen quitting, and Cleo setting up her exit. Also, remember when the ER had no attendings? Who is Carter even in charge of? Were there any residents after Dave was fired?

There aren't any ER residents onscreen currently, but we eventually get some residents in Season 10.  Of course, by then, Carter isn't a resident anymore .

[CarolMK]

I watched the episodes tonight and I remember Rachel was originally played by a different actress. Is this actress now the one who used to do the Coke commercials? She looks familiar. 

[WendyCR72]

8 minutes ago, CarolMK said:

I watched the episodes tonight and I remember Rachel was originally played by a different actress. Is this actress now the one who used to do the Coke commercials? She looks familiar. 

Don't know about Coke commercials but Hallee Hirsch got her start on daytime soaps as a little girl. She also had quite a guest starring role on Law & Order in the episode, "Killerz", where her character killed a little boy. (She was around 10 there.)

[absnow54]

So Elizabeth has been having an awful season so far, and obviously hates Mark with a passion. I thought Alex Kingston was completely over it for a moment, and then she had a 3.5 second scene with Benton, where they were just like "parenting, am I right?" and she came right back to life. Ugh, they had some really great chemistry. I watched the series finale not long ago, when he walks her back to her car, and they both just seem so happy to be around each other. I know LaSalle tanked the pairing, but he always sold Peter's fondness for her.

[PepSinger]

I cannot wait until Kerry's backstabbing of Chen comes back to bite her in the ass. Right now, it's infuriating to watch.

 

Can anyone explain to me how a chief resident is supposed to be an attending??

 

It is painful to watch Elizabeth. She has zero joy. Also, I have a huge problem with her attitude regarding Rachel staying at their house. Rachel is Mark's child. She *always* has a right to stay at a place where her FATHER is. WTF, Elizabeth?

Edited October 25, 2017 by PepSinger

[absnow54]

Also, I have a huge problem with her attitude regarding Rachel staying at their house. Rachel is Mark's child. She *always* has a right to stay at a place where her FATHER is. WTF, Elizabeth?

I don't think Elizabeth's issue was with Rachel staying with them, it was the fact that Mark didn't discuss it with her first. It's Elizabeth's house too. They had a newborn and were still struggling to balance their parental roles, it wasn't the best time to be adding an unruly teen who had her own mother at wits end. Mark owed Elizabeth the courtesy of discussing the arrangements with her beforehand instead of dropping another ingredient into the chaos and shrugging it off like it was no big deal. Then again, Rachel is the worst, so I find myself sympathizing with Corday.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, PepSinger said:

I cannot wait until Kerry's backstabbing of Chen comes back to bite her in the ass. Right now, it's infuriating to watch.

 

Can anyone explain to me how a chief resident is supposed to be an attending??

 

It is painful to watch Elizabeth. She has zero joy. Also, I have a huge problem with her attitude regarding Rachel staying at their house. Rachel is Mark's child. She *always* has a right to stay at a place where her FATHER is. WTF, Elizabeth?

Chief residents can be attendings if they have finished their residency.  With internal medicine residencies, this is the norm.  The best resident in his/her last year is invited to stay on as chief resident the next year.  Since they've completed their residency and are eligible to be board certified, that person can be credentialed as an attending and given their own patient load.  Part of the job includes managing the scheduling and training of the rest of the residents.

Other residencies allow residents in their final year of residency to be chief resident.  In that case, since residents cannot have their board certification, they are not attendings.  In the first season, Mark was Chief Resident, but seemed to function almost autonomously, making me think he had probably completed the residency first.

Chen should be a year ahead of Carter, presuming she went back to medical school very soon after quitting back in the early seasons.  However, it then makes us wonder why Carter didn't know she had come back and finished since they would've been in the same med school class.  He should've run into her somewhere along the line.  Carter fell behind a year because of his surgical internship (although, in real life, he would've gotten at least some credit towards his ER training for it); so, if Deb just finished her residency, then Carter has a year to go.

I hated how Elizabeth was written as such a humorless shrew in these episodes.  She barely seems to notice her baby except to complain about how tired she is, how leaky her breasts are, how the childcare situation isn't working.  It would've been so nice to have a moment or two of Elizabeth actually enjoying her child rather than being constantly crabbing about how hard it all it.  This seems to be a common problem with the later episodes, though, everybody is crabby and has a chip on their shoulder most of the time.  Even the 'fun' parts, like Carter and Abby breaking into Luka's apartment to replace the fish tank she vandalized are tinged with darkness.

And, yes, Elizabeth knew Mark had a daughter when he married her; it surely couldn't be terribly surprising when she turns up.  It would've been great if Mark had told Rachel that she could stay for a week or so and, then he and Elizabeth would talk and decide if she could stay longer; but, in the end, Elizabeth really doesn't have much say as to where her husband's child lives.  If Rachel keeps running away from Jen's in St Louis and she cannot stay at Mark's because Elizabeth doesn't want her, where does she go?  Foster care?  It isn't like Elizabeth didn't know Rachel and what a PITA she could be, nor that she didn't know Mark and what a namby pamby he was.

Edited October 25, 2017 by doodlebug

[slf]

30 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I don't think Elizabeth's issue was with Rachel staying with them, it was the fact that Mark didn't discuss it with her first. It's Elizabeth's house too. They had a newborn and were still struggling to balance their parental roles, it wasn't the best time to be adding an unruly teen who had her own mother at wits end. Mark owed Elizabeth the courtesy of discussing the arrangements with her beforehand instead of dropping another ingredient into the chaos and shrugging it off like it was no big deal. Then again, Rachel is the worst, so I find myself sympathizing with Corday.

Yeah, IIRC that was Corday's stated reason when Mark first "broached the subject", aka went ahead and agreed without talking to his wife first. I would have had a much bigger problem with it than Corday, tbh, to the point where I would have insisted that Rachel go back to her mother until a plan could be worked out. She should never have been allowed to stay in Chicago after running away. She got busted coming home way after curfew and got grounded- sucks but it happens and is not a big deal. So she decides to take off to Chicago where she proceeds to run around her father's place of work, yelling dramatically? You don't reward that kind of behavior.

Not to mention Mark always gave in to whatever Rachel wanted. (It was almost laughable how easy it was for her to get him to agree to let her stay and how obvious it was that she was lying.) He wanted to be the fun parent, the one she ran to, which always forced Jen and then Corday to play the role of the disciplinarian. Whom Mark would often side against. 

[doodlebug]

3 minutes ago, slf said:

Yeah, IIRC that was Corday's stated reason when Mark first "broached the subject", aka went ahead and agreed without talking to his wife first. I would have had a much bigger problem with it than Corday, tbh, to the point where I would have insisted that Rachel go back to her mother until a plan could be worked out. She should never have been allowed to stay in Chicago after running away. She got busted coming home way after curfew and got grounded- sucks but it happens and is not a big deal. So she decides to take off to Chicago where she proceeds to run around her father's place of work, yelling dramatically? You don't reward that kind of behavior.

Not to mention Mark always gave in to whatever Rachel wanted. (It was almost laughable how easy it was for her to get him to agree to let her stay and how obvious it was that she was lying.) He wanted to be the fun parent, the one she ran to, which always forced Jen and then Corday to play the role of the disciplinarian. Whom Mark would often side against. 

At the very least, it should've been made clear to Rachel that, even if she stayed in Chicago, the punishment for breaking the rules was transferrable and she would be grounded there, too, for the designated period of time.  And, then, when she proceeded to come home two hours late shortly thereafter, the grounding would've been reinstated and extended.  Mark was such a wimpy father, letting her run all over him.

[RedbirdNelly]

ok I'm behind everything else so just dropping by to comment on season 8, episode 1, which jumps back and forth from various people's points of view. I was not really fond of them doing that. Didn't seem that necessary--not like we are watching something happen where point of view really adds to figuring out "what really happened." Also, hard on the casual observer (me) who is half paying attention. . .

[Bastet]

"Elizabeth, if I ever needed surgery, or Reese did, I'd come to you."

Aww.  I love their friendship.

[Zoe]

Were the TWoP forums around back in 2001?  I remember there was some place where everybody's eyes were rolling out of their heads at that Spanish soapboxing.

[desertflower]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Elizabeth was written as such a humorless shrew in these episodes.  She barely seems to notice her baby except to complain about how tired she is, how leaky her breasts are, how the childcare situation isn't working.  It would've been so nice to have a moment or two of Elizabeth actually enjoying her child rather than being constantly crabbing about how hard it all it.  

Yes, I think that would've helped. It's not that her reactions and complaints about being a new mother weren't valid, it's just that's all they showed! And she was very cold to Susan when they first met, for no particular reason. It's too bad because I think the version of Elizabeth who first came to the show would've gotten along pretty well with Susan. 

[slasherboy]

On 10/24/2017 at 0:53 PM, RedbirdNelly said:

them writing Malucci out that way really was weird. Just seemed out of character for the show.

I missed this episode.  Could someone tell me how and why Malucci was written out?  How was it out of character for the show?  Thank you!

Can't. Stand. Rachel.  When I was married, my step-son spent 2 summers with us and if he had decided or was asked to live with us permanently, I would have divorced over that instead of the affair with my best friend. But that's neither here nor there.

[ch1]

Malucci was on thin ice for making a wrong call on a heart patient (with Chen’s help) that resulted in the patient dying.  He then got caught by Weaver having sex with an EMT in an ambulance.  When Weaver fired him he tried asking for his job back but when Weaver wouldn’t relent he called her “a Nazi dyke” and stormed out of the ER.  It was a cheap way to write him out.

[doodlebug]

21 minutes ago, slasherboy said:

I missed this episode.  Could someone tell me how and why Malucci was written out?  How was it out of character for the show?  Thank you!

Can't. Stand. Rachel.  When I was married, my step-son spent 2 summers with us and if he had decided or was asked to live with us permanently, I would have divorced over that instead of the affair with my best friend. But that's neither here nor there.

Malucci was taking care of a young man who was having what appeared to be a heart attack.  He decided that the guy must've been doing cocaine and that he needed a dose of a blood thinner, TPA, to break up the clot; even though he didn't have a tox screen back to prove the drug connection.  Chen was Chief Resident and he essentially bullied her into approving the med since it had to be approved by the chief resident or an attending.  Chen tried to page Kerry who was supposed to be supervising but was not in the hospital, to discuss it with her and Kerry didn't answer because she didn't have her pager with her.  Anyway, they give the TPA and the guy crashes and, as he is circling the drain, Carter comes in and looks at the guy's chest film and his build and realizes he has Marfan's syndrome and his aorta is dissecting.  The tox screen is also negative.  In that case, giving a clot buster like TPA can be fatal.  Turns out Malucci didn't assess the guy properly and didn't look at the chest film carefully, and Jing-mei took him at his word rather than checking everything herself.  The guy dies after Kerry, who was out on a personal errand, arrives back and tells them to quit.  She is mightily pissed at the misdiagnosis and also obviously panicked when she realizes she doesn't have her pager and couldn't be reached.

Next episode, Romano lets Kerry know the whole incident is being investigated by the hospital attorneys due to the misdiagnosis and somebody's head is going to roll.  She, as always in self preservation mode, doesn't tell anyone about her pager and instead, clearly has it out for Dave.  Later in that episode, Dave is found by Kerry in the back of an ambulance with a paramedic making whoopee.  Kerry fires him on the spot despite his reminder that there are rules and reviews and such.  She virtually forces him to leave at which point he announces he has a child to support (first we've ever heard of that) and calls her a 'Nazi dyke' as he leaves. 

It was out of character in that, while Malucci was a bit of a cowboy and an adrenaline junkie; he did seem to like and respect Weaver.  He also wasn't known to be the sort to use language like that.  The fact we found out something so important about the character just as he was being written out after getting so little over 2+ prior seasons was also frustrating.  Then, there's the fact that tons of characters were shown to have gotten it on in the ER including Mark and his wife in the bathroom in Season 1 and Doug and Carol visiting the storage room of love in the third season (I think).

[Bastet]

18 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

It was out of character in that, while Malucci was a bit of a cowboy and an adrenaline junkie; he did seem to like and respect Weaver. 

I've seen no evidence Malucci ever respected anyone at the hospital.  Maybe Mark, or at least he didn't disrespect Mark.  He was an unprofessional asshole, and I'm glad to have him off my screen.  If the job was so important to him because he had a kid to support, maybe he should have taken it seriously any one of the other however many times he got written up.  Kerry fired him when she did in order to make him, as Romano said, a good old-fashioned scapegoat, and that was an asshole move.  But based on his record, the review process they talked about would likely have resulted in termination being approved.  And given the way he spoke to and about people in the past, I thought his parting shot at Weaver was sadly characteristic.

It was, however, cheap storytelling to focus on him for that episode, complete with elevator heroics, and toss in a throwaway line about a kid, all because it was his last episode.

[Bastet]

Carter, I still love you, but mocking the very notion that people get upset when their pets die is gross.

I'm sure they put it in to segue to the Gamma revelation, but I found it off pitch for him to make a point of bringing it up after the fact (and then continuing to tease, even when Susan shared her own experience).  It seems more likely to me he wouldn't have registered it all, but if he had it would have been a passing thought that it's nice Susan took a moment to acknowledge the patient's grief and calm her down so everyone could focus on her medical care.

[kissedbyarose]

Just sliding in here to let you guys know that I enjoy reading your posts. I was at a friend’s house over the summer when I saw POP was showing ER so I promptly went to the library and started mainlining the seasons. I’m on season 12 now (and I realized during my marathon that I stopped watching regularly around season 9 and by the time Carter was gone, so was I.) and I just to throw in my two cents:

Season 10 was pretty awful. Abby was pretty much the best nurse/medical student ever and all the Attendings loved her and there were several men drooling over her and it was pretty excessive plus I’m not really sure why we had to follow each and every one of her rotations. Do you even have time to be a nurse and a med student?

I liked Mark and Elizabeth in the beginning but it pretty much all went to hell during season eight and the writing for Elizabeth never recovered as she was pretty much shoved in the background then left under the most underwhelming way ever. She is one of my favorites. Susan too (even when she came back).

LOL @ at the second helicopter. That’s all I got. But I definitely agree that the later seasons definitely started to get more ridiculous each season - 2 helicopters? army tanks? the small pox outbreak? 

The new characters aren’t as likeable and/or their storylines suck. Morris? Awful. Ray? Meh. Pratt is pretty one note and so is Neela but I kinda relate to her so she gets a pass. Sam had potential but then I dislike all storylines involving children/teenagers and her kid is terrible and so was that whole thing with his father. 

I’m sorry for jumping ahead but I just wanted to get that out before I forgot. Also John Carter will always have a place in my heart. :)

[voiceover]

11 hours ago, absnow54 said:

then she had a 3.5 second scene with Benton, where they were just like "parenting, am I right?" and she came right back to life. Ugh, they had some really great chemistry. 

Yeah, loved that; it was similar to their teasing back-and-forth over surgeries that a scowling Cleo witnessed.

I give the writers credit for honoring their "exes-ship".  Very realistic.  I've already bored on in not one but two threads here about why breaking up those two was a crime against nature.

[slasherboy]

3 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Malucci was taking care of a young man who was having what appeared to be a heart attack.  He decided that the guy must've been doing cocaine and that he needed a dose of a blood thinner, TPA, to break up the clot; even though he didn't have a tox screen back to prove the drug connection.  Chen was Chief Resident and he essentially bullied her into approving the med since it had to be approved by the chief resident or an attending.  Chen tried to page Kerry who was supposed to be supervising but was not in the hospital, to discuss it with her and Kerry didn't answer because she didn't have her pager with her.  Anyway, they give the TPA and the guy crashes and, as he is circling the drain, Carter comes in and looks at the guy's chest film and his build and realizes he has Marfan's syndrome and his aorta is dissecting.  The tox screen is also negative.  In that case, giving a clot buster like TPA can be fatal.  Turns out Malucci didn't assess the guy properly and didn't look at the chest film carefully, and Jing-mei took him at his word rather than checking everything herself.  The guy dies after Kerry, who was out on a personal errand, arrives back and tells them to quit.  She is mightily pissed at the misdiagnosis and also obviously panicked when she realizes she doesn't have her pager and couldn't be reached.

Next episode, Romano lets Kerry know the whole incident is being investigated by the hospital attorneys due to the misdiagnosis and somebody's head is going to roll.  She, as always in self preservation mode, doesn't tell anyone about her pager and instead, clearly has it out for Dave.  Later in that episode, Dave is found by Kerry in the back of an ambulance with a paramedic making whoopee.  Kerry fires him on the spot despite his reminder that there are rules and reviews and such.  She virtually forces him to leave at which point he announces he has a child to support (first we've ever heard of that) and calls her a 'Nazi dyke' as he leaves. 

It was out of character in that, while Malucci was a bit of a cowboy and an adrenaline junkie; he did seem to like and respect Weaver.  He also wasn't known to be the sort to use language like that.  The fact we found out something so important about the character just as he was being written out after getting so little over 2+ prior seasons was also frustrating.  Then, there's the fact that tons of characters were shown to have gotten it on in the ER including Mark and his wife in the bathroom in Season 1 and Doug and Carol visiting the storage room of love in the third season (I think).

Wow, doodlebug, you're an incredible filler-in-er.  Thanks for the story-telling!

Edited October 26, 2017 by slasherboy

[ktwo]

4 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Chen tried to page Kerry who was supposed to be supervising but was not in the hospital, to discuss it with her and Kerry didn't answer because she didn't have her pager with her. 

Great sum up. Just have to add that I had totally forgotten that Weaver was not just at Doc Magoo's to get something to eat, she was meeting with the PI about her birth mother. That is completely ridiculous. This show acted as if these people never had any time off when things like that would be appropriate to accomplish. A couple episodes later (Susan's first one back, I think?) Weaver is calling her birth mother from the phone in the lounge. I mean, come on. Kind of underscores Malucci's point that this place is all she has.

[jjj]

9 hours ago, Zoe said:

Were the TWoP forums around back in 2001?  I remember there was some place where everybody's eyes were rolling out of their heads at that Spanish soapboxing.

Yes, this is one of the seasons covered by TWoP recaps.  I swear they take as long to read as watching an episode, but are much more satisfying!  (See below for link.)

I am (as predicted) out of time for watching these seasons, but I saw the two episodes today about Elizabeth's patients dying from sepsis.  Did that ever get a resolution?  It seemed just to drift away after she accused a more senior male doctor (whose office she entered without permission) and he just scoffed at her, while Romano said "cut it out".  Is that the end of that sub-arc?  It certainly was a lot of screen time.

I have to say that if I were at Elizabeth's age with a first and only child of my own, no way would I leave my baby with a young teenager like Rachel -- even without all of Rachel's acting out, a young teenager who has never cared for babies should not be left alone with one for long periods of time.  Not fair to either child.  (I completely missed that Elizabeth had her baby!  Saw the wedding on Saturday, and then saw a baby this week!)

Here is a link to the TWoP recaps, which went from Season 6-11 -- even TWoP could not manage to snark at the final seasons of "ER".  Note:  Sometimes the TWoP archive disappears, and then comes back -- just be prepared for that possibility, and love it while it is there, because someday it will not be there:   http://web.archive.org/web/20140329210210/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/er/