Er 1/5/06

I really didn’t care what Abby decided to do about her pregnancy, but I watched tonight because I was interested in what was going on with Neela and Michael. The teaser shows her angrily saying to Michael, “But you asked me to marry you!”

So I sat through that hour and guess what, no Neela/Michael, but that same scene is in the previews for next week.

Feh on ER and fake teasers. It’s a sign of desperation, mebbe?

They did a decent job of drawing me in to care about it, though. I got seriously miffed for a millisecond when they called her name, she turned around and then blammo, cut to commercial. If they had left it unresolved for another week I’da…well, I’da still watched it and, um, yeah pretty much nothing.

I’m having a justdon’tcare reaction to this entire Leguizamo storyline, I hope they fix it or have the flaming meltdown soon.

My two girlfriends and I watch it together weekly, tonight was by phone since neither could come over. We simultaneously went “But what about Neela/Micheal/Gallant?!” Totally bogus teaser. Is it that he’d already signed for another tour? Previously married? Has gonnasyphilherpalaids? What prompted that sputtering by Neela, ya think?

Yeah, what the Hell was that? He wasn’t even in the episode! My guess is he cheated on her in Iraq.

All in all a lackluster episode, as is the par for the past few seasons.

Well hell, I never dreamed they’d have new episodes on so soon. Can I have a recap, pretty please?

Heck, I could use a recap too, and I watched the damn thing. Mostly I kept my ears open for Neela while playing Tumblebugs, so I didn’t catch much except for Abby deciding to keep the baby, and Luka helping a teenager who was pregnant as the result of being raped. (Her parents are Christian and pro-life.)

I’m going to disagree with the current view and write that I loved this episode. I liked the pro-choice theme. Neela’s confrontation with Luka over the pregnant teen was brave. Luka then turned around and handled the situation in a calm and rational manner that struck just the right tone. Kerry’s response to the problem with her hips was very moving. I love how she mentioned Henry. And the part with Abby and Luka at the end had me in tears. Abby clearly wants this baby even though she knows there’s a chance it could inherit her family’s mental illness.

I almost gave up on this show at the beginning of the season. This episode made me glad I stuck around.

I agree about the Michael/Neela teaser. As the final credits were rolling, I said “what about the Neela thing?” and my wife was like- “yeah, WTF?” Then we started riffing on possible reasons for Neela’s outburst. He’s gay- he’s already married- he had his tackle shot off- he’s a woman- he’s having second thoughts about the marriage (most likely)- he’s decided to accept a post overseas and wants her to move, whatever. Regardless, I won’t care much.

At the end of the last Luka/Abby scene where she decided she wanted to keep the baby, my wife said “I sense no warmth there”. She’s right- I get no chemistry at all between these two characters. They both just seem so unhappy all the time, not necessarily with each other, just with life. It would be miserable to be around them IRL, I think.

My guess is, the Army’s shipping him somewhere else in the U.S. Didn’t Neela say in this episode that the only spot he’d found so far was somewhere in Texas?

Last night’s episode was just another punch in the stomach for my wife and me. Lately it seems like there’s just babies babies everywhere.

Did the rocker doc call Weaver “Aunt Carrie” after she threatened to impale him?

Hijack, but didn’t want to start another thread:

Can anyone think of a TV/movie instance where someone planned and went through with an abortion? I am always surprised by how they find a way to write alternatives that solve the problem but don’t have the person have an abortion. The only one I’ve seen recently where the person went through with it was Nip/Tuck where their anesthesiologist has an abortion because her baby had defects. On Grey’s Anatomy Christina was planning one but ends up ectopic. Or the person miscarries (not uncommon, I know, but conveniently used). It’s interesting to me that most other controversial subjects get shown but not abortion.

I think he just called her “Kerry,” which vexed her because of its impertinence. He’s a second-year resident; she’s the chief of staff. They’re not a first name basis.

Which brings up another issue: the chain of command in the ER seemed a little odd to me in this episode. If I recall aright, Luka was recently made chief of emergency services, no? Shouldn’t he have been the one the rocker/cradle robber doc was asking for a month off? Likewise, what was IdiotRedHeaded Resident doing telling Neela she “worked for him” and that he could prevent her from changing specialities? Yes, he’s chief resident, but shouldn’t a switch be up to Luka, not him?

Just wondering.

In response to gigi’s question:
On Days of Our Lives, the character Mimi had an abortion, which ended up being botched and she now can’t have kids. Not that I watch Days of Our Lives or anything. Aw, hell. It was a bad habit I picked up in college, okay?

In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character has one. I’m sure there are others but that’s the one that jumped out at me.

Didn’t Luka’s suggestion to the pregnant teen essentially result in an abortion? It was a forced miscarriage, but I’d think that’s just semantics.

Oh they knew that, it was just a way for the girl, if she wanted to, to have an abortion that could essentially fool her folks.

And a poster above said Neela was brave, I completely disagree, and I am Pro-choice. She had no right to confront the mother like that. Luka handled it perfectly, it was the girl’s decision and he discussed it with the girl, didn’t go out and essentially attack the mother.

In the Godfather series oof course, Michael’s wife has a n abortion and she throws it in his face later one.

That scene was later on, after she was “admitted.” The scene I’m thinking of was before the opening credits, after they re-capped the previous weeks. She had just fallen, and everyone was gathered around nagging her for one thing or another. Dr. Rocker (I’m blanking on his name) shooed everyone away, then he brought up needing time off. She threatened to impale him with her cane, and I swear he said something like “Aunt Carrie!” and she chased him off. Begin opening credits.

I rewound it two or three times thinking he said something like “But Carrie”, but it still sounded like he said “Aunt”.

Maude (Bea Arthur) had an abortion back in the early 70’s.

Didn’t Luka’s French kleptomaniac girlfriend have an abortion, and then tell him she had lied about being pregnant in the first place? (after Abby told her that a baby wasn’t a good way to trap Luka into a relationship)

That nutty black chick on MTV’s Real World: Los Angeles got a real abortion.

Can someone recap the Kerry storyline? I missed the episode

Kerry came in on a gurney after slipping on some ice outside the hospital. She didn’t want to have any workups, but the other doctors forced her to. Meanwhile, Ray asked for two weeks off to go record. He said it was such a good idea he would quit to take it. So Kerry fired him.

Meanwhile, Kerry’s MRI came back and it showed that her bad hip was in really bad shape and she was going to need a total hip replacement. So she resigned herself to getting one, although she knew this would make it hard for her to take care of her son.