Don’t read this if you haven’t seen last night’s episode of ER already-------
Who the heck could be killing off Corday’s patients?? I’ve been pondering this since the little sneak preview last night. Even though Romano’s an asshole, I seriously don’t think he would go as far as killing people on purpose. So—ideas anyone??
I think it’s going to be someone who is not a regular – ie, someone who we will only see in the context of being “the murdering nurse/attendant.” Kind of like that guy who assaulted Dr. Green, and who wasn’t any character before or after – just ‘the guy who assaulted Dr. Green.’ And I think this is a bit of a cop-out, BTW, but I think that’s what will happen.
Actually, I think the whole “someone is intentionally killing them” resolution (which they do appear to be foreshadowing is how it will end up) is a bit of a cop-out. I thought it was much more interesting when Corday suspected she might have some unknown bacterium and be unintentionally killing the patients. That would have been an emotional minefield for the character, and a goldmine for the actress. I would have liked to see that play out.
I also thought the scene with the Health Department guy was overdone. No “investigator” would ever tip his hand that way so early to anyone who might possibly be a suspect. To threaten her with criminal charges before having any evidence of wrong-doing? It just rang false to me.
I do like the triangle/quadrangle of Luca/Abby/Susan/John – the way Carter is drifting towards Susan because Abby doesn’t know what the hell she wants. And Laura Tierney (Abby) does a great job of conveying that indecision and that “I don’t want him but I don’t want anyone else to have him” feeling, which I think is very realistic – as is Carter’s unwillingness to sit still while she makes up her mind.
But didn’t the trailer have something about some storm? I didn’t see that. And I wish they’d quit calling every episode a “must-see, you won’t belive your eyes extravaganza.” Some of them are entertaining, character-driven, goose-the-plot-along episodes, as last night’s was. There’s nothing wrong with that, IMO; just quit trying to sell it as Armageddon, when it ain’t.
I got the impression from the scenes from the next that it may be one of the nurses. Perhaps even the nurse who kept asking Corday “are you sure?” Anyway I forget what exactly gave me that impresion, but I remember something like Corday saying “I saw you” or “what are you doing?”
Twiddle
The ‘scenes from next week’ seemed to be edited together to make us think that when Elizabeth is asking “What did you inject into my patient?” that she was speaking to Romano. I expect it will turn out that she was yelling at someone else entirely. It’ll probably turn out to be some nurse we’ve never seen in a speaking role before. Unless this is how Eriq LaSalle will be leaving the show? Nah.
Other comments on the episode: The writers must love knowing that they are responsible for making a big chunk of the viewing public grit their teeth and clench up. I am speaking, of course, about self-circumscision. And then to find out that the girlfriend was just trying to get him to go away.
One of the things I love to do while watching ER is to diagnose the patients before the doctors. I predicted meningitus 20 seconds before Dr. Lewis figured it out last night.
I bet you anything the big storm thing will be the show that airs on Thanksgiving—they always do something big for that one.
I was kind of thinking it might be the “Are you sure?” nurse myself. I don’t think they would make one of the regulars be the guilty one…although the idea of Benton is interesting. Wonder how the whole custody thing is going to play out?
Was a paternity test ever done to verify that Peter Benton is really Reese’s father?
I think Benton did take a paternity test - then ripped up the results before he read them and told Carla he didn’t care what the test said because he WAS Reese’s father in every way.
Sheri
I have two thoughts on the killer… it’s either the ‘Are you sure’ nurse, or the pathologist.
I loved Carter slamming Abby back into her place last night. I’ve never really liked her, and I thought what she was doing to Carter was just smarmy. I hope he gets together with Susan… they’ll make an adorable couple.
In the ER universe, isn’t Dr. Lewis suppsosed to be way older than Dr. Carter? Maybe 10-12 years? I didn’t watch ER back when Dr. Lewis was on before.
Dr. Lewis is a positive, protagonist character, and there’s much to like, but she seems far too old for Carter. Dr. Lewis seems matronly, while Carter still has a good deal of boyishess. I can see Dr. Lewis hooking up with Romano (kind of), but not Carter.
BTW, is Mallucci’s character off the show?
Hey, booklover - lately, Romano’s really a softie in asshole’s clothing, don’t you think? He’s been doing a whole lot of compassionate things on the show lately (complimenting Dr. Korday on her wedding day, letting Dr. Benton go home early with Reese, sticking up for Korday with the investigator, et al). I wonder if they are softening him up for something specific?
According to the IMDB, he’s listed as a cast member from (1999 - 2001). His character didn’t really seem necessary anyway.
I was also wondering about Ming-Na, but her listing is (1995, 2000 -). I like her character, so I’m hoping she’ll come back.
Sheri
I know Lewis is older than Carter but not sure how much. The haircut and (maybe) some weight gain on Stringfield’s part are making her look a little more matronly than she did before. I would puke if Lewis & Romano were together! I have noted that Romano has “softened up” a little bit—I’ve been attributing this to the fact that the writers are trying to flesh out the character a bit. It gets tiresome to have a character snipe at others week after week w/no redeeming qualities. I have noticed that they’ve lessened some of Romano’s sexual insinuations a bit.
I’m curious as to whether Ming-Na is still on the show. Key here is they haven’t cut her from the opening credits yet–if you watched when Clooney, Margulies, etc left, the first show after they were gone had them missing from the credits. Mallucci is definitely out.
Apparently, Sherry Stringfield is four years older than Noah Wyle (1967 and 1971, respectively). I don’t think that makes a romance between them a May-December pairing. But then I don’t think S.S. is particularly “matronly.” I think she looks like what she is, which is a very cute woman in her early thirties. Maybe it’s not that Susan seems so much older but that Carter seems so much younger. IMO he looks about nineteen, as he always has.
My wife commented simimlarly, really pooh-poohing Dr. Lewis’ haircut.
Yeah, Jodi, you’re right about Noah Wyle looking young. He’s like a male Katie Holmes or Winona Ryder.
Wyle and I are almost exactly the same age. Of course, I’m not quite as lucky as he in the “youthful looks” department. 
Well, let’s see. Carter would’ve been about 27 when he first appeared on the scene. Susan would only have been, at the most, 3-4 years older than he was, since she had finished her residency but was still pretty new to the doctor thing.
I think it’s more the background that the characters have together- she was always kind of motherly to him, because he desperately needed it at the time- and the fact that SS has aged and Noah seems to be going the way of Dick Clark that make a possible relationship seem odd.
Also, I thought the scene with Romano signing to Reese was adorable- I like that they’re finally fleshing out his character a bit. I don’t think it’s for nefarious reasons, just that it’s about time to show him as something other than plain evil especially with Kerri Weaver seeming to become even more a spawn of the devil.
When Korday was complaining to Green about the nurse/doctor(?) from Infectious Diseases following her around and second guessing her hygene, he says “She’s just trying to justify her job” or words to that effect. Maybe that’s exactly what she is doing, trying to keep her job by creating a crisis. It’s clearly not one of the regulars.
I would like to know more about Ming-Na, she got such a rough deal. I would hope she would fight back soon. I wonder if Luca’s puppydog is going to stick around for a while.
Hey, bordelond, introduce me to all the single matrons like her that you know, will ya?
I will say that her face is kind of wide, and the new 'do covering her forehead makes her face look wider.
Since you haven’t seen the earlier ER episodes, that excuses you from knowing that Carter once made a pass at her IIRC it was the episode where she goes with Carter to the apartment of Div, her old boyfriend, and finds that he’s moved out. He apologized profusely the next day, though.