Methinks they started from the end…
Could this be a whole Laura Innes episode? Oh, happy day.
Meh. Innes finds her long-lost biological mother and it turns out she’s a Jesus freak so we can go through the whole “how can your faith that claims to love everyone reject me becuase I’m a lesbian” bit. Hasn’t this been done to death, already? Yeesh. I was almost expecting the mother to reveal that she was also a Den mother for the local Klan Scouts chapter or something.
At least they didn’t get back to that Carter vs. the drug companies rant again.
Hmm, next week’s promo suggests one of the “Sex and the City” girls finally faces the wrath of God for her promiscuous lifestlye. Rock on!
Well, at least we finally found out why Weaver needs to walk with a cane.
A birth defect - I think she called it congenital hip dysplasia.
However, in this episode, she was walking pretty well, like she didn’t really did the cane at all.
I was just thinking to myself the other day, “It would be a shame if they cancelled ER and they never got around to talking about some of the mysteries surrounding Dr. Weaver.” I had no idea this was coming on either.
My favorite part was the Alzheimer’s patient screwing around with Pratt by repeatedly dropping the tissue box. All the while Weaver and Jane are watching his reaction with mild amusement. The look on their faces was hysterical. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m warming up to Jane. She’s much more likeable than Lucy “Let Me Please Forget Her” Knight. She annoyed the piss outta me. I cried tears of joy when she was stabbed to death.
So glad Abby hooked up with Jake/George. But puh-lease, Abby, act your age as opposed to a giggly little schoolgirl! Sheesh. We know. He’s freakin’ hot!
The gay acceptance/Jesus freak thing was predictable. ER is so preachy these days. Though I was a little sad for Weaver. I have always liked Weaver.
OTOH, I really enjoyed watching Lewis stand up to Weaver a couple of times. (“You know that break you just took? You could use another one.”) Lewis is the kind of supervisor I’d like to be. Can I get away with saying to subordinates, “Sucks to be you,” at my job? Nooooo. :mad: Sucks to be me.
The hell?.. I actually enjoyed this episode A rarity for me and recent ER season’s.
While the lesbian vs. fundy thing was predictable, I tend to like it when Weaver gets to be human. So while I thought her storyline was “meh”, I liked the moments it generated. Like when she was feeling hurt and stressed and took it out on Abby and Jake, then she was happy and being nice and buddy-buddy with them prompting Jake’s “Does she have multiple personalities?”
Despite the eyerollingness of the rest of that story, the line “I don’t want love without acceptance” was actually fairly poignant, since my ex’s is from a VERY fundy family and her dad calls her a “pervert”… Well, I just thought it was a good line. Preachy-predictable story, but with one good line.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good brawl in the ER. Liked Neela brandishing a bedpan to bash a guy on the head, then realizing “…What the hell am I doing?”
I missed the first half but I liked Kerry’s struggle with whether or not to tell her mother she was gay. I think she realized it was a deal breaker and here she was after all these years she finally meets her mom and she knows that it will probably be the only time they will be together once she reveals she’s a lesbian. I know her arguments with her mother was cliche’, still it was nice to hear it expressed so well.
I think Kerry has mellowed a bit too, I think in the past if she has walked in to a fracas in the ER she would have freaked, but this time she just asked who was winning and seemed amused by the whole thing.
That was good. Did anybody else get the feeling she was wanting him to bend over?
That’s what I thought! When he walked away she gave him a cute little wave. Can’t say that I blame her. Dr. Pratt is hot!
Wile E, that’s exactly why I liked the episode.
Plus, Laura Innes acts the hell out of every scene she’s in, and last night was no exception. Just watch her eyes, and you get everything she’s trying to say.
I’ve almost given up on this show but I loved last night’s episode. Kerry’s reaction to her mother was moving and well played. Aside from the idiot custody story line last year, Kerry remains one of the few characters on ER with integrity.
I agree with the assertion that Susan is doing a good job as boss. Watching her grow into the role this season has been one of the few reasons left to tune in.
“Love begins with acceptance” would have been stronger.
That’s why I like it when she gets a story that allows her to be human for awhile (instead of just the shows where she walks on, barks “Pratt, you’re late!”, and that’s all you see of her.)
I really like the way that her character is multi-dimensional. A lot of the time she comes off as such a bitch, but then when we get to know her we can empathize with her. And then still think “What a bitch!” later on. A very real feeling that reflects actual workplace dynamics. So your boss may be a total asshole. But if he’s married with children that means somebody found something redeemable about him, so can he really be a schmuck all of the time?
That’s what Weaver is like. Sometimes, likeable, sometimes not – more “real”.
I completely agree. Weaver is one of the few characters left on the show who comes across as a real person rather than a charicature. The only thing I wish they’d done differently with her character was not kill off her lover. That turned a great storyline about their decision to pursue parenthood into over the top melodrama.
I also agree with NotWithoutRage that Laura Innes is a terrific actress. Her performance was excellent.
I also like what they’ve done with Sherry Stringfield’s character. I’m glad they show a woman who isn’t particularly maternal and wants to go back to work rather than stay at home once she has a baby.
DISCLAIMER: I’m a stay-at-home mom myself with a part-time job so I’m not putting down women who stay at home. But I went back to work when my daughter was three months old a few hours a week just to keep myself sane. It’s very nice to see someone on television dealing with motherhood in a realistic way.
Potentially more amusing plotline: Carrie’s mother became pregnant with her after her one-and-only heterosexual encounter, after which she gave the baby up for adoption, swore off men, and became a member of a roving lesbian terrorist cell, responsible for multiple bombings of YMCA facilities and Playboy Clubs.
Interesting episode. A bit ham-fisted, though.
And it’s exactly the plot they would have had if John Irving had been their head writer (well, throw in a bicycling bear- they’ve already had aerial catastrophes).
Here’s another thumb’s up to last night’s episode. Yes, I agree that the plot and dialogue was largely paint-by-the-numbers and predictable, but even so- Carrie puts a face and personality on real gay people everywhere and this show is watched by a lot of people (including my mother) who have gay children they can’t accept unconditionally. If this helped just one of them to understand their child’s point of view just a little better then it was worth the smell of syrup. (And it’s sure as hell more likely to perform a service for American Gay-ry than Will & Grace with its “fags are funny” cartoon characters ever will.)
Now if next year Carter will perform a gender reassignment to 7 episode special guest star Wilfor Brimley, Luka will treat Darlene Gilbert’s character for ADHD and Weaver will discover her real father is still alive and being victimized by NAFTA, then we’ll be able to help a lot more people.
Hehehehe… Sara Gilbert perhaps? (I still sometimes think of her as Darlene Connor too) 
Quick question - I got home about 10 minutes into the episode and was only half paying attention. Later when I finished watching the Apprentice on tape I saw the “previously ons…” and they showed a scene with Darlene (I’m sure she has a different name on ER) saying that no one pays attention to her.
What was her subplot?
I don’t think Darlene has a subplot yet. She’s being mentored by Pratt – or whatever they call it when a resident works with an intern. (I get the hierarchy all mixed up here.)
So far we’ve seen her being stable and competent, which means that Pratt will probably come to depend on her too much, and something bad will happen because of it.