Things were going along so well until last night’s episode of ER. We were getting so close to having every doctor in the ER involved with someone else in the hospital:
Greene/Corday, Weaver/Legaspi, Benton/Finch, Lockhart/Kovac, Carter/Rena (she’ll be back), even Chen had a baby with that guy whose name I don’t remember. That would have just left poor Dr. Dave with no hospital romance. But no, they had to go and break up Carter and Rena (temporarily, I think) and Weaver and Legaspi (don’t know where that’s heading). There’s a good reason they name it [sup][sub]County[/sub][/sup] General Hospital.
Anyway I think last night’s episode was one of the worst I’ve seen in a while. There just didn’t seem to be much point to it. The whole lost baby things just seemed silly and didn’t add anything to the show or the characters. And how many times can they do the “doctor gets into a fight with an abusive parent” story line? And at the end where Mark got his competency test results and pretended the news was bad when it was really good – how original. (When Mark got hit by the kid, they should have had part of his skull pop off – now that would have been a plot twist.)
And to top things off, next week’s show is going to be an episode from the first season. Huh? Where did that come from? Of course, TNT has started showing season 1 again, and I just saw that exact episode the other day. Watching the old episodes reminds me why I started watching ER in the first place. It was much more original back then, and the characters actually had lives outside the hospital. Mark had a (non-doctor) wife and child; Benton had a mother, sister, and brother-in-law (Khandi Alexander and Ving Rhames – two great actors); Susan (Sherry Stringfield) had her wacky sister. I also miss Morganstern (William H. Macy).
Whew. I feel better now that I’ve had a chance to vent. I’ll probably be back watching again when the new episodes come on. I can’t help myself – I need some sort of 12-step program I think.
I agree, last night’s episode was kind of lame. They really played up the missing baby in the previews, but it felt like an insignificant plotline to me. It added absolutly nothing to the show as a whole. Would they have really left the mother just sitting by herself in chairs?
The Kerry/Kim thing was weird, too. When they were in the meeting with Anspaugh, it was like Kim wanted Kerry to admit to their relationship, but that wouldn’t have done anything to help her with the accusations from the young girl. I’m curious as to where that relationship is headed. I get the feeling that the writers are waiting to see what the viewer’s reactions are before making it more permanent.
I couldn’t believe the previews for next week. A show from the first season? Are they kidding? You’re right, that episode was just on Tuesday or Wednesday on TNT.
The Carter/Rena thing. Last week, I thought she said she was a resident. Now she said she is an intern. What’s the difference? Isn’t it against the rules for him to date an intern? She said she was still in school, too, and I know he can’t date a student.
The opening scenes from this week and last…I felt like I was watching “Sex and The City,” not “ER.” Jeez, enough with everyone in bed, already!
I fear it’s just going to get worse when Anthony Edwards leaves next season.
Green is the center that holds that show together. It doesn’t matter whether he rides off into the sunset, dies a tragic death or is simply written out – once the character leaves, the show self-destructs.
Since ER is still the #1 drama, and since it only has a year left in it, do you think the network or producers are going to put any effort in to correct the sad drift it’s taken? I’ll bet they go the other way and put in more soap, leading up to an emotional, five-hankie finale when Green dies, or lives, or gets abducted by aliens. And 100 million of us will be watching.