All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Kovac story line I hated was when he returned from Africa, decided modern medicine and tests were a waste, and sent ill patients home.   The appendicitis case where the man's appendix ruptured because he sent the man home, requiring an open procedure and a danger of peritonitis was ludicrous.    In real life he would have been sued, and fired, but I'm not sure anyone except Corday really said anything.    

[Growsonwalls]

7 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The Kovac story line I hated was when he returned from Africa, decided modern medicine and tests were a waste, and sent ill patients home.   The appendicitis case where the man's appendix ruptured because he sent the man home, requiring an open procedure and a danger of peritonitis was ludicrous.    In real life he would have been sued, and fired, but I'm not sure anyone except Corday really said anything.    

They really dragged all the Africa storylines. I know doctors who go to Africa for work for months at a time. While they certainly come back with new experiences it's likely to be a long term detail thing. Like they go for a month every year. It's not the kind of life-changing experience Carter and Kovac doctor made it out to be.

[txhorns79]

Quote

I know someone whose friend was an ER producer around the S6-8 seasons and the scuttlebutt was that they were disappointed in Visnjic as an actor. That they were committed to the character (I guess because they had to be at that point? the cast was thinning out a lot) but that he wasn't delivering as an actor. I can kind of see it. They gave him a variety of storylines but he never showed much humor or personality other than a generalized emo angst.

I don't know.  They kept him on the show for what, six or seven seasons?  I have to think if he wasn't delivering what they needed, they would have cut him loose and simply brought in another hunky actor to brood. 

[marceline]

11 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I don't know.  They kept him on the show for what, six or seven seasons?  I have to think if he wasn't delivering what they needed, they would have cut him loose and simply brought in another hunky actor to brood. 

They did: John Stamos.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, marceline said:

They did: John Stamos.

Right, but the suggestion was that the producers were unhappy with Goran not long into his run.  My point was that if that was the case, they weren't going to wait seven or so years to let him go.  They probably would have done it within the first year.  To give an example, on Dynasty, the actress who replaced Catherine Oxenberg as Amanda Carrington was not good in the role.  She was abruptly written out halfway through the season never to return.         

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 2:31 PM, doodlebug said:

I thought it was particularly awful that it appeared that the writers wanted us to agree with Cheadle's character; that he should be allowed to participate in every aspect of patient care, even if his participation could potentially harm the patient.  No, just no.  The first line of the Hippocratic oath is 'First, do no harm'.  

I posted similar thoughts way back when this arc first ran. I love D. Cheadle as an actor--but his arc on the show was weird. I couldn't figure out what we or Corday were supposed to take from it. It didn't feel realistic at all.

[doodlebug]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 8:38 PM, Heathen said:

It didn't help that Goran Visnjic isn't a great actor. Even Clooney as Ross was more believable. 

Malucci could have been a great character, had the writers been interested in exploring his backstory and giving him decent plot lines. He was great in the episode with the molested little girl. 

I'm not sure it was so much that GV wasn't a great actor.  I think that when he was hired, TPTB didn't realize just how little English he spoke.  If you saw any of his interviews in those early days, he had a thick accent and really was not fluent.  Hiring him and then expecting him to handle a dialog heavy part complete with complicated medical jargon was a big problem for TPTB in his first few seasons.  I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for him to act while also trying to speak a foreign language with a lot of technical speech while performing pretend medical procedures onscreen.  He had won multiple awards as an actor in Croatia which is why they brought him to the US, so I've got to think he had some talent in that area.

If you've seen GV in anything in the past few years, he is now quite fluent and his acting in English has improved dramatically, IMO because he is now able to understand the dialog which gives him the ability to put his efforts into his acting.

Edited January 3, 2019 by doodlebug

[debraran]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

I'm not sure it was so much that GV wasn't a great actor.  I think that when he was hired, TPTB didn't realize just how little English he spoke.  If you saw any of his interviews in those early days, he had a thick accent and really was not fluent.  Hiring him and then expecting him to handle a dialog heavy part complete with complicated medical jargon was a big problem for TPTB in his first few seasons.  I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for him to act while also trying to speak a foreign language with a lot of technical speech while performing pretend medical procedures onscreen.  He had won multiple awards as an actor in Croatia which is why they brought him to the US, so I've got to think he had some talent in that area.

If you've seen GV in anything in the past few years, he is now quite fluent and his acting in English has improved dramatically, IMO because he is now able to understand the dialog which gives him the ability to put his efforts into his acting.

I agree with that. They all had trouble with medical jargon and sometimes the retakes were just for that. Noah was so proud he could still say some complicated procedure which he says on some talk shows. ; )

I can see how if you had to do that in English and it wasn't your native language it would be hard. Sometimes they had them tease him about his accent and phrases, a way of incorporating it in.

[Heathen]

4 hours ago, debraran said:

I agree with that. They all had trouble with medical jargon and sometimes the retakes were just for that. Noah was so proud he could still say some complicated procedure which he says on some talk shows. ; )

I can see how if you had to do that in English and it wasn't your native language it would be hard. Sometimes they had them tease him about his accent and phrases, a way of incorporating it in.

I wasn't referring as much to his accent as his wooden facial expressions, all of which seemed geared to reflect "handsome, moody man in deep thought." 

[Dr.OO7]

There was a very funny fanfic which had Luka unable to speak in anything but Croatian, resulting in the staff's complete confusion when he gave them orders. And also explaining why he and Abby did nothing but have sex.

[debraran]

I always wondered about the lack of light in his apartment even with women staying there. I think I would have said, "Can I buy just one lamp?". It might have fit the brooding part, but it was a glum place.

Edited January 4, 2019 by debraran

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I wish they could have made him laugh more often. Even depressed people have the ability to laugh once in awhile.... Clooney and Stamos laughed, at least. I mean, I get it, dating Abby isn't exactly something that puts a smile on one's face, but at least try to connect with your coworkers, or laugh behind Weaver's back. Ross had to date Carol and Gates had to date Sam, and neither of those women were exactly all that smile-inducing either. 

I've been at my new job for 3 months, and I finally have enough coworkers my age or slightly older who I bonded with over our love for Carter the other day when we were discussing 90s nostalgia. Meanwhile the staff in their early-mid 20s just looked at us with blank expressions (which is the same expression I have when they're discussing the hottest rappers of today, or when one of my coworkers says "lawl" in place of laughing, as in, "LOL").

[RedbirdNelly]

3 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I wish they could have made him laugh more often. Even depressed people have the ability to laugh once in awhile.... Clooney and Stamos laughed, at least. I mean, I get it, dating Abby isn't exactly something that puts a smile on one's face, but at least try to connect with your coworkers, or laugh behind Weaver's back. Ross had to date Carol and Gates had to date Sam, and neither of those women were exactly all that smile-inducing either. 

 

when he did smile, it did really light up his face.

[ch1]

Kovac actually joked with Carter after Africa and the Abby debacle.  Imagine the scenes we could have had if they never created that awful triangle?

[marceline]

I'm watching "Bloodline" and I have to admit that as much as Abby and Luka work my nerves I still remember how riveted I was for this ep. GV and MT killed it.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Watching reruns, I'm realizing I didn't actually care for any of the main characters except for Susan (Part I) and Carter and Benton. I liked the side characters and nurses more. Maybe because they seemed less miserable. Both Mark & Carol sure did have holier-than-thou attitudes most of the time.

Watching random season 3 episodes currently - Mark was such a freaking douchebucket about the whole Jeanie/HIV thing. 

[Growsonwalls]

On 1/4/2019 at 12:42 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I wish they could have made him laugh more often. Even depressed people have the ability to laugh once in awhile.... Clooney and Stamos laughed, at least. I mean, I get it, dating Abby isn't exactly something that puts a smile on one's face, but at least try to connect with your coworkers, or laugh behind Weaver's back. Ross had to date Carol and Gates had to date Sam, and neither of those women were exactly all that smile-inducing either. 

Carol was pretty dour when she wasn't around Doug. But when she was around Doug she was always giggling. Even when they weren't officially together. That was one of the things about Carol. 

The truly miserable romance was Mark and Corday. Those two were constantly miserable and sour around each other, so much so that you wondered why they got married.

[jewel21]

Peachtree won't show episodes past season 3 or maybe it's season 4. In any case, I stopped watching because you can only watch the same episodes over and over again so many times. It might be a good thing though based on how no one here likes the later episodes. I actually don't recall much of them and I don't remember when I stopped watching ER. 

[Dr.OO7]

16 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

The truly miserable romance was Mark and Corday. Those two were constantly miserable and sour around each other, so much so that you wondered why they got married.

No, that would be Luka and Abby, the first go-round. Even seeing her wake up in his bed couldn't convince me they were sleeping together, because they were so completely devoid of any emotion or intimacy.

Although I hated Mark by the time he and Elizabeth hooked up, I thought they were actually reasonably sweet together until Season 7 when the writers decided to throw every possible tragedy at them. And even then they were actually still loving together. It wasn't until Season 8 that they couldn't stand each other.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Camille

[CrazyInAlabama]

Honestly, I was totally Team Corday in the last season.   When your step daughter moves in, is supposed to pitch in, and is a total jerk, and then almost kills your kid by leaving her drugs around, then everything Corday did was understandable to me.      The fact that Mark refused to turn his daughter in, and no one else did either would have enraged me, and I would have made the call.  When the baby was still in the NICU, and Mark wanted Rachel to come see the baby, I would have punched him somewhere really painful.     I wouldn't have trusted Rachel around the kid ever again.     

The last episode in Hawaii was ridiculous, with Rachel knowing her father is dying, and she's off playing footsie with her new boyfriend.     

Edited January 7, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Dr.OO7]

3 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Honestly, I was totally Team Corday in the last season.   When your step daughter moves in, is supposed to pitch in, and is a total jerk, and then almost kills your kid by leaving her drugs around, then everything Corday did was understandable to me.      The fact that Mark refused to turn his daughter in, and no one else did either would have enraged me, and I would have made the call.  When the baby was still in the NICU, and Mark wanted Rachel to come see the baby, I would have punched him somewhere really painful.     I wouldn't have trusted Rachel around the kid ever again.     

Same here. If Rachel had been a good kid up until that point, if it had been something legitimate that she had that Ella got into, if Mark had done anything to punish Rachel, then I would thought Elizabeth was being unreasonable in wanting to kick her out. But none of those things were the case. I don't blame Elizabeth one bit for being completely fed up with the both of them. The fact that Rachel was still using drugs and alcohol even after that demonstrates how poor and ineffective Mark's parenting was.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Camille

[ch1]

19 hours ago, Camille said:

No, that would be Luka and Abby, the first go-round. Even seeing her wake up in his bed couldn't convince me they were sleeping together, because they were so completely devoid of any emotion or intimacy.

Although I hated Mark by the time he and Elizabeth hooked up, I thought they were actually reasonably sweet together until Season 7 when the writers decided to throw every possible tragedy at them. And even then they were actually still loving together. It wasn't until Season 8 that they couldn't stand each other.

Season 7 was just a big ball of suck.   I only watched to season 11 but season 7 was the worst season to me. Between Mark’s tumor, Benton’s nephew, Kovac killing someone, the black hole that was Luby....just bad.

[Dr.OO7]

24 minutes ago, ch1 said:

Season 7 was just a big ball of suck.   I only watched to season 11 but season 7 was the worst season to me. Between Mark’s tumor, Benton’s nephew, Kovac killing someone, the black hole that was Luby....just bad.

It really was. My post made me realize how unbelievably depressing it was. I suspect that the writers were trying to compensate for the loss of two popular characters/their Alpha couple (please spare me the plethora of "I hated them and was glad when they left" posts) by pouring on the melodrama. 

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 10:38 AM, marceline said:

I'm watching "Bloodline" and I have to admit that as much as Abby and Luka work my nerves I still remember how riveted I was for this ep. GV and MT killed it.

can you remind me what happens in Bloodline?

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, RedbirdNelly said:

can you remind me what happens in Bloodline?

Bloodline is the episode where Sam's ex takes her hostage after paralyzing Kovac with medication and Abby slips and falls and suffers a placental abruption and the baby is born. 

Most notably: besides bleeding heavily enough that she literally passes out in a huge pool of blood which has leaked through her jeans; Abby manages to be awake and in charge; directing her own care and telling the doctors and nurses what to do, refusing medication that might stop preterm labor and generally being a major PITA.  Then, during her own cesarean, she continues to issue orders to the surgical team despite the fact that she is supposed to be literally bleeding to death.  In the recovery room, after undergoing a cesarean section and hysterectomy while in hemorrhagic shock; she is sitting bolt upright, wide awake in bed when she tells Luka that she can't have more kids.  Compare and contrast with Carol's condition when she underwent the cesarean with the second twin and was actually in much less jeopardy than Abby was supposedly in.  Shows how much the quality of the show had deteriorated along with TPTB's obsession with Abby as Superwoman, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, practically perfect in every way and the insistence that MT be front and center and have more dialog than all the other actors combined in her scenes.

[Ceindreadh]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Bloodline is the episode where Sam's ex takes her hostage after paralyzing Kovac with medication and Abby slips and falls and suffers a placental abruption and the baby is born. 

Most notably: besides bleeding heavily enough that she literally passes out in a huge pool of blood which has leaked through her jeans; Abby manages to be awake and in charge; directing her own care and telling the doctors and nurses what to do, refusing medication that might stop preterm labor and generally being a major PITA.  Then, during her own cesarean, she continues to issue orders to the surgical team despite the fact that she is supposed to be literally bleeding to death.  In the recovery room, after undergoing a cesarean section and hysterectomy while in hemorrhagic shock; she is sitting bolt upright, wide awake in bed when she tells Luka that she can't have more kids.  Compare and contrast with Carol's condition when she underwent the cesarean with the second twin and was actually in much less jeopardy than Abby was supposedly in.  Shows how much the quality of the show had deteriorated along with TPTB's obsession with Abby as Superwoman, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, practically perfect in every way and the insistence that MT be front and center and have more dialog than all the other actors combined in her scenes.

I remember in that episode, Abby lying flat on her back as Doctor Coburn told her they’d have to do a hysterectomy and Abby just totally uninterested in the whole situation. And then I started thinking that she probably had that same expression on her face when she’d conceived the kid in the first place. 

That’s when I decided I’d better things to do with my time. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I imagine baby Joe has grown into an insufferable tween, much like Sam's son, with having Kovac and Abby as his parents. Like I just can't imagine them doing fun happy things and having family pictures on the walls and Kovac not having a wooden expression all the time, and Abby's probably fallen off the wagon again. If they'd even still be married. I feel like the chances of their marriage lasting was about 5%, and even that feels generous. Plus, he's got uncle Eric and grandma Maggie, and his Croatian uncle is well, all the way over in Croatia. 

[RedbirdNelly]

now I remember Bloodline. The part that I thought was really well done was when Sam gets in the van. They are leading her out, you're thinking no way you get in the van, but then the visual of her son tied up in the van. . . yeah, I'm getting in the van. Not to say that whole storyline (and then what follows) was not over the top--but that scene was gripping.

[Heathen]

I think Mark and Elizabeth had a good relationship until Ella was born and Rachel came to stay. Mark and Elizabeth's pre-baby scenes seemed genuine.

 

I still find it amusing that during Abby's caesarean, she's practically in an upright position. ER by that point was all about manufactured bullshit drama instead of anything approaching reality. 

[readster]

23 hours ago, Heathen said:

I think Mark and Elizabeth had a good relationship until Ella was born and Rachel came to stay. Mark and Elizabeth's pre-baby scenes seemed genuine.

 

I still find it amusing that during Abby's caesarean, she's practically in an upright position. ER by that point was all about manufactured bullshit drama instead of anything approaching reality. 

Truth on all of that. I even found Mark and Elizabeth's early days with Ella well done. You had the experience parent, Mark. The new, tired money dealing with being a parent with Elizebeth. It's when everything they did with Rachel that just got more and more contrived, including Mark's ex-wife, because of course she turned into a workaholic and basically told Rachel: "Be good, I have a big case!" 

Abby's character seriously was destroyed when they broke her and Carter up for the last time. She became a pit of despair that everyone was sick of. Plus, don't get me started on her ex-husband.

[debraran]

5 hours ago, readster said:

Truth on all of that. I even found Mark and Elizabeth's early days with Ella well done. You had the experience parent, Mark. The new, tired money dealing with being a parent with Elizebeth. It's when everything they did with Rachel that just got more and more contrived, including Mark's ex-wife, because of course she turned into a workaholic and basically told Rachel: "Be good, I have a big case!" 

Abby's character seriously was destroyed when they broke her and Carter up for the last time. She became a pit of despair that everyone was sick of. Plus, don't get me started on her ex-husband.

I felt sorry for Rachel in the beginning, Mom was probably working long hours, had a boyfriend and Rachel was supposed to just "be good" and acted out. It spiraled badly after that.

When I saw "Abby" in Beautiful Boy, I thought, how fitting, the fretting stepmom fit her so well. My daughter had never seen her since ER and thought she didn't have to stretch very far, she was good but it seems her niche to be distressed. : )

[statsgirl]

Mark may have been a good chief resident and later  a good doctor but he was always a terrible partner. In the first season he had made a deal with his wife that they would alternate their careers. Mark had his year as chief resident but when Jenn wanted a year for her law career, he refused.  He did it again with Elizabeth when their baby was born and Mark refused to consider a second nanny because he didn't want strangers to raise his child and then deliberately took on extra cases in the ER when Elizabeth, the chief of surgery, needed to be at work and he was supposed to look after Ella (textbook definition of passive aggressive).  He couldn't even take the responsibility looking after Ella overnight to Elizabeth could get some sleep.

Mark's treatment of Rachel in the last seasons, when he wanted to be the good guy as opposed to Bad Jenn and didn't do what was best for Rachel, was just the same.

On 1/3/2019 at 5:07 PM, doodlebug said:

If you've seen GV in anything in the past few years, he is now quite fluent and his acting in English has improved dramatically, IMO because he is now able to understand the dialog which gives him the ability to put his efforts into his acting.

 

He was the best thing about Timeless, I thought.

Putting Luka with Carol in his first season was a mistake. Carol and Doug were the most iconic couple ER ever had, it was far too soon to even think of putting her into another relationship.

Carter and Abby was a dysfunctional relationship from the time he asked her to be his sponsor and she told him no, because she's not secure enough in her own recovery. Carter wouldn't take that No and pressured her into being his sponsor. There were a lot of people who thought it was so romantic, but it wasn't to me, it was Carter failing to respect who Abby was.

Carter continued the pattern all that season too, putting down Abby's relationship with Luka (although it was pretty bad at the time but that was because both Abby and Luka were damaged0 and he was the one who pushed the relationship on her on the hospital lockdown. The year they were together was Abby  njk,l;'

Abby was trying her hardest to live up to who he wanted her to be.  In the end, Carter saw Abby for who she is and decided that he didn't want the real Abby but only after she had found the ring he was going to propose with, just before he broke up with her. Another incident to show Abby what a failure she is.

Luka and Abby had a lot of problems because the show was a soap opera but they were because both people were wounded and had a lot of work to do to recover.  But it was possible because they both ;new that they were broken and that's the first step to fixing things. Carter never had that insight.

And I  still haven't forgiven Wyle for half-assing Carter's recovery because he didn't want his character to look bad.

Edited August 22, 2021 by statsgirl
spelli g

[Heathen]

Season 2, Carter and Harper blowing off work to find somewhere in the hospital to fool around -- an early example of ER failing to mirror reality. How did Carter not get expelled from school for drinking while on duty, match day or no? 

Also, whoever cast ER did a great job of choosing James Farentino to play Ray Ross. He and George Clooney could be a real-life father and and son, right down to the fugly haircut. 

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Heathen said:

Season 2, Carter and Harper blowing off work to find somewhere in the hospital to fool around -- an early example of ER failing to mirror reality. How did Carter not get expelled from school for drinking while on duty, match day or no? 

Also, whoever cast ER did a great job of choosing James Farentino to play Ray Ross. He and George Clooney could be a real-life father and and son, right down to the fugly haircut. 

I liked his dad too and I liked how they made him "real" no corny, suddenly turning good story, but he was what he was. I'm glad they had that time together on the show. I also like Mark's dad and liked how he saw his dimensions later and he wasn't just as he remembered him. I really liked that arc.

[doodlebug]

13 hours ago, Heathen said:

Season 2, Carter and Harper blowing off work to find somewhere in the hospital to fool around -- an early example of ER failing to mirror reality. How did Carter not get expelled from school for drinking while on duty, match day or no? 

Also, whoever cast ER did a great job of choosing James Farentino to play Ray Ross. He and George Clooney could be a real-life father and and son, right down to the fugly haircut. 

ER did a really good job of casting family members.  Sally Field, annoying though Maggie was, certainly looked like she might be MT's mother.  Remember Lucy's mom coming to clean out her locker after her death?  From the moment she came onscreen, we all knew who she was even though it took Malucci a minute to realize.

Every single med student and resident in the ER would have been at the very least, subjected to significant disciplinary action if not expulsion. Back in the pilot, Ross rolls in before his shift still drunk from the night before and Mark starts an IV on him and nobody even questions whether he should be working.  For that matter, Carter came back to work way too soon after the stabbing; he could barely walk, even with crutches and was obviously in significant pain.  How did no one catch that?  Why would anyone let him work in trauma? How was he allowed to return to the place he nearly died without a psych eval?  Mark was wandering around getting radiation and chemo for a brain tumor, suffering significant aphasia, and everyone was feeling more sorry for him than worried about the patients.  That ER was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[ch1]

I thought Michael Gross as Carter’s father was great casting.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

The casting of Carter’s mom was great too, especially with her similar looks and mannerisms to Abby. At his grandfather’s funeral for instance, Abby and his mom were even dressed similarly. Since they both sucked the fun out of everything in general and for Carter, I thought their similarities were on point.

[Dr.OO7]

On 1/21/2019 at 9:54 PM, Heathen said:

Season 2, Carter and Harper blowing off work to find somewhere in the hospital to fool around -- an early example of ER failing to mirror reality. How did Carter not get expelled from school for drinking while on duty, match day or no? 

Dr. Hicks did in fact tell him that his actions were grounds for expulsion. I can only guess that Carter did some major offscreen groveling to get away with only being disciplined.

I never could understand how Carter could be so unbelievably stupid. You really couldn't wait until AFTER work to go out and celebrate? Or at least ASK your supervisor for the day off instead of just disappearing? 

On 1/22/2019 at 11:58 AM, doodlebug said:

Mark was wandering around getting radiation and chemo for a brain tumor, suffering significant aphasia, and everyone was feeling more sorry for him than worried about the patients.  

EVERYONE looked bad in that storyline. Kerry idiotically doesn't have Mark evaluated BEFORE he comes back to work, then goes behind his back to report him and doesn't have the personal or professional courtesy  to tell him to his face what she did. Then Elizabeth and Mark--the same guy who blasted her for not reporting her Alzheimer's-stricken mentor--self-righteously blast her for daring to challenge his competency.

 

On 1/21/2019 at 9:54 PM, Heathen said:

an early example of ER failing to mirror reality

ER straddled the line with this. Sometimes, Reality Ensued, other times, it was a lot of  Artistic License.

Remember when Doug raced to Carol's engagement party to tell her he loved her? We've all seen this a million times--she returns the sentiment and falls into his arms, right? 

No, she screams at him to leave her alone and her fiancé punches him.

On the other hand, we get Romano being appointed Chief Of Staff in five minutes.

[Heathen]

More ER bullshit: Doug isn't censured, let alone fired, after he brings his epileptic one-night-stand, Nadine Wilkes, into the ER in status epilepticus, and she dies. (This one hit close to home because I have epilepsy and was just beginning to come to terms with it when this episode aired.) 

On her vacation to Hawaii, Susan has a layover in Phoenix, and she has to be carried off the plane because she's so freaked out. She ends up vacationing in Phoenix instead. Later, she mentions to Mark that Chloe is still working as a claims adjuster. How the hell did perpetual fuckup/stoner Chloe ever get a job as a claims adjuster after five minutes of sobriety? (Yes, I know I asked the same question earlier in this thread.) 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Heathen

[readster]

25 minutes ago, Heathen said:

More ER bullshit: Doug isn't censured, let alone fired, after he brings his epileptic one-night-stand, Nadine Wilkes, into the ER in status epilepticus, and she dies. (This one hit close to home because I have epilepsy and was just beginning to come to terms with it when this episode aired.) 

On her vacation to Hawaii, Susan has a layover in Phoenix, and she has to be carried off the plane because she's so freaked out*. She ends up vacationing in Phoenix instead. Later, she mentions to Mark that Chloe is still working as a claims adjuster. How the hell did perpetual fuckup/stoner Chloe ever get a job as a claims adjuster after five minutes of sobriety? (Yes, I know I asked the same question earlier in this thread.) 

I feel you with the epilepsy situation, as my wife has epilepsy and I was dating a girl at the time who also has epilepsy and wasn't really happy with the episode either.

I also feel you on Chloe especially after they brought her back and her "cop husband" admitted that Chloe was using on and off, but didn't try to get her clean again or contact Susan or anyone else and then decided to cheat on her. Because that was going to go "so well over" with Chloe on her drug problems. Bad writing for the sake of drama.

[Dr.OO7]

4 hours ago, Heathen said:

More ER bullshit: Doug isn't censured, let alone fired, after he brings his epileptic one-night-stand, Nadine Wilkes, into the ER in status epilepticus, and she dies. (This one hit close to home because I have epilepsy and was just beginning to come to terms with it when this episode aired.)

I'm going to step out on a minefield here. Not to minimize your condition, but while Doug's behavior was hardly commendable, he didn't actually do anything wrong, per se. Certainly nothing that would have warranted firing him. He could have brought her in with any other medical condition that she abruptly died from. He didn't abuse her in any way--he didn't rape her, beat her, force her to take cocaine, use cocaine himself, or do anything to cause her seizure. Mark made him take a urine tox screen, but it was negative, and even though the cops were suspicious, they clearly couldn't determine that he'd done anything illegal either. Though I will say that in real life, the investigation would have been more extensive.

I always found it ironic that his archenemy Kerry, while hardly approving of his behavior, told everyone to mind their own business once she was satisfied that he wasn't impaired in any way while his friend Mark is basically looking at him like he's pond scum.

Trivia--it was supposed to be his late Season 2 girlfriend Karen who died of the overdose, but the actress didn't feel like returning. Given the tiff they had over her forging a prescription that he'd given her--the first hint of her having a drug problem--that certainly would have come back to haunt him had he dismissed it.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Camille

[Heathen]

8 hours ago, Camille said:

I'm going to step out on a minefield here. Not to minimize your condition, but while Doug's behavior was hardly commendable, he didn't actually do anything wrong, per se. Certainly nothing that would have warranted firing him. He could have brought her in with any other medical condition that she abruptly died from. He didn't abuse her in any way--he didn't rape her, beat her, force her to take cocaine, use cocaine himself, or do anything to cause her seizure. Mark made him take a urine tox screen, but it was negative, and even though the cops were suspicious, they clearly couldn't determine that he'd done anything illegal either. Though I will say that in real life, the investigation would have been more extensive.

I always found it ironic that his archenemy Kerry, while hardly approving of his behavior, told everyone to mind their own business once she was satisfied that he wasn't impaired in any way while his friend Mark is basically looking at him like he's pond scum.

Trivia--it was supposed to be his late Season 2 girlfriend Karen who died of the overdose, but the actress didn't feel like returning. Given the tiff they had over her forging a prescription that he'd given her--the first hint of her having a drug problem--that certainly would have come back to haunt him had he dismissed it.

He didn't even know her name. Don't doctors have some kind of character clauses in their employment contracts? 

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, Heathen said:

He didn't even know her name. Don't doctors have some kind of character clauses in their employment contracts? 

No, there is no enforceable character clause in anyone's employment contract that would include drunken one night stands.  It's not like what he did with Nadine was illegal nor that it was something that a lot of other people would not have done.  There are a lot of people out there who would be unemployable if having a few drinks and going home with a stranger was considered grounds for termination. Character clauses are present in many employment contracts but they usually are for things like felony convictions, not bad judgment

[Dr.OO7]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

No, there is no enforceable character clause in anyone's employment contract that would include drunken one night stands.  It's not like what he did with Nadine was illegal nor that it was something that a lot of other people would not have done.  There are a lot of people out there who would be unemployable if having a few drinks and going home with a stranger was considered grounds for termination. Character clauses are present in many employment contracts but they usually are for things like felony convictions, not bad judgment

Exactly. County wasn't some religious institution that would/could make demands on an employee's personal life.

[Gigi43]

Weaver did a lot of underhanded stuff but one thing I always felt she was right for, wanting Mark to be evaluated, she was vilified for. What? What if he wasn't fit? Somebody should die and the hospital could close to not hurt Mark's feelings? I mean that was the tone but still.

 

Multiple doctors had traumas as a result of working in the ER and came back way too fast. County shounder have had a PTSD specialist on staff for the staff.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, Gigi43 said:

Weaver did a lot of underhanded stuff but one thing I always felt she was right for, wanting Mark to be evaluated, she was vilified for. What? What if he wasn't fit? Somebody should die and the hospital could close to not hurt Mark's feelings? I mean that was the tone but still.

 

Multiple doctors had traumas as a result of working in the ER and came back way too fast. County shounder have had a PTSD specialist on staff for the staff.

I had no problem with Weaver wanting to be sure Mark was able to safely see patients, it was her underhanded approach that bugged me.

[Dr.OO7]

18 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I had no problem with Weaver wanting to be sure Mark was able to safely see patients, it was her underhanded approach that bugged me.

Yeah. Six years of working with him and she doesn't have the personal or professional courtesy to tell him to his face what she's done?

She was always such a bizarre combination of ruthless and spineless. She doesn't have the guts to admit to her culpability in the Marfan's incident, but doesn't hesitate to lie through her teeth and make sure Chen gets screwed over.

[Claire85]

So much this. I hated Kerry for just that reason. I liked her during “All in the Family,” and that was about it. 

[Dr.OO7]

1 hour ago, Claire85 said:

So much this. I hated Kerry for just that reason. I liked her during “All in the Family,” and that was about it. 

She was actually okay in Season 3, where despite still being the "straight man" to everyone else, her personality softened a bit. I wish they'd kept that characterization.

[CrazyInAlabama]

What I hate was the inconsistency, and it was as if the writers didn't know what had happened over the years with various characters.    For example, Kerry's big custody fight over Henry with Sandy's family, and it was simply resolved in a few minutes of the grandma changing her mind.    Then Henry was with both Kerry and the Lopez family, and everything was fine.    Then, Kerry meets the new woman, changes to a TV doctor in Miami, moves and nothing is said about Henry's relationship with his other mother's family.