What are you thoughts regarding last night’s ER?
Here are my idle ramblings…
ER is famous for throwing in lots of medical terminology in the dialog, (which I like), but this show took it to the hundreth power. This episode definitely made me pay attention throughout.
I was getting dizzy with all of the time shifting. I’ll need to watch the rerun to get it all.
That was an amazing special effect when we see Ramano’s stump after the surgery. That was a very touching scene between him and Elizabeth.
Did Carter say something like “Did you fire Ramano?” to Kerry just as she was getting on the elevator?
Is Carter getting burned out by all the tragedy he sees coming into the ER, and is looking for a change of some sort? He also doesn’t have any interest in Abby anymore.
I’ve almost stopped watching ER. I used to rearrange my schedule to see it; now I can’t be bothered to tape it. The writing, the direction, even the acting isn’t what it used to be.
Last night’s episode, however, was almost like the old days. I loved the contrast between Pratt’s shift and Carter’s, especially how Pratt had a fantastic “John Wayne” day for his last shift and Carter’s day sucked from beginning to end.
I also enjoyed the Romano subplot. The guy is such a bastard, but with great subtlety and depth. He’s probably the most complex TV character since Albert Golo on “North of 60”. Elizabeth recognizes him for the bastard he is, but sees something more behind the shell. Rocket/Lizzie is about the only romantic paring on the show that I could still give a rat’s ass about.
The only part I didn’t care for was the call from Luka, the rather meaningless meeting of Abby and Carter, and the subsequent plunge back into the soap-opera plots they have been into all season. I probably won’t bother watching the season-ender next week.
The episode was a victory of style over substance, with the audience the loser. They even succumbed to the very 70s-ish split-screen effect. I found it extremely hard to follow and frustrating. It was like a first-time director said, “Hey, look what I can do in the editing lab!”
I did like the Romano sub-plot. The post-amputation effect they used was very similar to the effect used in Forest Gump with the Lt. Dan character. Hmm… not surprisingly, the best part of the episode – the scene between Corday and Rocket – was one where they didn’t use that annoying flip-flop effect.
Yeah, the split-screen didn’t work, but I liked the switching back and forth between the shifts…Carter walks out a door, and cut to Pratt walking in through the same door. It worked for me.
As much as I liked the idea, the entire episode gave me a headache reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. It was one step away from a shaky hand camera.
I love ER, haven’t missed a single episode since the pilot, and I won’t stop watching. I’ll just grumble every time they experiment.
It was obvious that Pratt wasn’t leaving from the first moment. I’m glad he didn’t; I really like his character.
I am hoping that Luka is killed next week. That man needs to die.
Isn’t that horrible?
That was really, really confusing. I didn’t like the time shifting at all. It was almost like some of it was backwards in time (the man with the heart attack) and some of it wasn’t. The inconsistency of the time shifting was just too hard to follow.
The arm stump was pretty cool.
Rushgeekgirl, that is horrible! Luka is too beautiful to kill off!
Not sure when the spoiler tag is appropriate, so I’ll err on the side of caution.
The concept of the episode:
I wasn’t paying close attention to the the day/time text so initially thought they telling the story end-to-beginning. Given that they’ve already done that once, I’m glad I was wrong. I’m also glad I taped it. I watched about 10 minutes and then started all over again at the beginning because I was so confused.
Carter:
I’ve always liked Carter. If for no other than the fact that all the luxury of his home-life (I had garden-envy) doesn’t really mean a lot…rather than being opiated by wealth he still struggles with deep emotions and a deep caring for other people. His guilt over not letting the MI patient write the note to his kids just about broke my heart. . I’m glad that he’s getting out of County for a while to “finish” grieving for his Gamma. Rio, even with his dad, would have been better, but not what the world hands Carter.
Romano:
Damn! Becausehe is usually such a jerk the vulnerablity he displayed pre-surgery (not being able to straight-out ask Corday to be with him in the OR) was very touching…as were his final words in the episode. I agree with others that that scene was the best of the episode
Luka:
I like Luka (if for no other reason than that the actor is gorgeous!) but I’m getting pretty tired of his self-destructive slide. I’d like to get back to the Luka we saw in his first season. Yeah, Carol bruised an already broken heart…get over it, move on. (but don’t leave the show…I’d miss the eye-candy)
Other:
The baby was cut from the mother’s womb? Vot da Hell??? I completely missed (even going back on the tape) what the story was with that. Some nutcase attacked a pregnant woman and took her in-utero baby? What was the part about the call from her husband? Was it the husband that did it? Somebody help me out on this, please.
If I understood correctly, the call was from some other woman’s husband. He had come home and found her with a baby that she said she gave birth to. He knew it was not hers, and took it away and hid it in the alley where the hospital people could find it. He stayed anonymous so his wife wouldn’t get in trouble.
I also was disliking of the back and forth during the shifts. It was annoying and more than a little confusing, I thought.
I also really was touched by Romano’s attack of conscience pre-surgery. I think that the writers will EVENTUALLY get him and Lizzie together. I really like t hem together and thought they should’ve been together all along.
I think they are going to strand Luka and Carter in the bloody Congo for most of next season.
I think Abby’s brother will become more of a ‘permanent’ cast member in the show.
I think Pratt and Jing-Mei will get married.
I haven’t watched a full episode of ER in a while, since I pretty much watch Survivor/CSI/Without A Trace on CBS on Thursdays now.
Can someone fill me in on what happened to Romano’s arm? It seems like I saw him in a cast a few weeks ago, and now all of a sudden his arm is amputated? I seem to recall seeing a clip of it getting hacked off by some sort of helicopter accident, but if that’s the case, what was up with the cast a few weeks ago?
Ihave one thing I’ve never understood about Abby’s character, and one of the reasons I hate her so much.
She’s a recovering alcoholic, right?
Who only recently backslid, right?
And who smoked heavily until recently, right?
But who can’t seem to see that her brother will only fully benefit from treatment for his BPD when he is willing to accept the treatment and diagnosis and own his well-being.
Surely she should have had that concept drilled into her at AA?
Romano’s now-nonexistant arm has had several difficulties since they reattached it. He’s had it nearly crushed by a gurney and then he burned the crap out of it on a stove burner after that. That’s prolly why you saw in a cast a few weeks ago. About 6 eps back (I think) was when it almost got crushed by the gurney. After he burned it so badly, they said there was almost NO chance of recovery of the arm and so he decided to amputate.
Hehehe, no problem. Paul McCrane is a fantastic actor. I hate Romano, but I also love him. He’s such a jerk! It’s great!
I read spoilers for the next season, so I know what happens. I also read spoilers for this episode-although I only taped it, and haven’t watched it yet.
I think we DID see a return to the OLD Luka, on the last episode. Good. I like Luka.
Oh, and Carter and Luka are extremely hot. Especially Luka. The man just ooozes sex.
What happens with Romano? In a spoiler box, please, and only, only, only for Romano. I want to remain unspoiled for the rest.
Does he get a scary hook, which would be in keeping with his character? Or one of those life-like prosthetic arms, which is my real guess, since the actor really didn’t lose an arm?
But… isn’t she married? Oh… that was in “The Single Guy”.
… Forget I mentioned it.
ps:
"Upon returning to New York, Ming-Na performed off-Broadway, where she was discovered and then cast on “As the World Turns,” in the first contract role for an Asian actor in daytime television. " Cool, no?
As well as the main character voice in Mulan and Final Fantasy.
