# ER finale ... any reason to watch if I haven't been for 6 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728 "2009-04-02T16:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/21 "2009-04-03T15:35:57Z")
In my area, it’s being rebroadcast on Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/22 "2009-04-03T17:43:56Z")
I was startled to hear Goran V. say he spent nine years on the show. Where has the time gone?! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/23 "2009-04-03T18:17:58Z")
How many major characters have actually died in or near the hospital? At a rough guess, I make it four, with special mention for Maguillies’ character because as I understand it, when her suicide in the first episode was originally written, it was meant to be successful, then later changed to a near-miss. There are deep-sea fishing trawlers with better occupational safety records. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/24 "2009-04-03T19:06:53Z")
Like others, Dr. Green’s death marked the death of the series for me. After that, it was just a zombie that refused to fall down, and I would only catch occasional episodes. But I watched the finale and thought it was great. The ending seemed really well done, with the massive disaster rolling in and Dr. Green’s daughter (wow, did she grow up nicely!) being involved. There was a lot of “torch-passing” and you were left with the idea that the E. R. would continue forever. Which, I think, was the entire idea. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/25 "2009-04-03T19:11:28Z")
Seriously. Prolapsed uterus? Bleargh. Can that happen? You push so hard, you push your own uterus inside out and out. GRRRRR! :: plop:: :: gush :: Ew. Just. Ew. So glad it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/26 "2009-04-03T19:29:09Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Her name is Rachel Greene? Wouldn’t it be a better ending to have the character run into a coffee shop in her wedding dress? I just got this. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![slitterst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@slitterst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slitterst)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/27 "2009-04-03T20:18:57Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > It seemed more like a season finale, except there was no major cliffhanger. It wasn’t major, but my wife and I were bummed to not find out about the teen with alcohol poisoning. Did the parents press charges against their neighbors? Did the CT scan show anything promising? Did Uncle Jesse return the stuffed doll to her? We’ll Never Know! ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/28 "2009-04-03T20:51:42Z")
Was there any particular significance to the 6 a.m. call that Carter was waiting to make? And I had heard Carter would take over as head of the ER, but I saw no sign of that. Did I miss it or just read some incorrect speculation? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/29 "2009-04-03T22:06:25Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > Was there any particular significance to the 6 a.m. call that Carter was waiting to make? He was going to call Kem to see if she’d have lunch with him. When they parted, she said “Call me in the morning.” In my addendum to the finale, he got busy with the industrial accident, didn’t make the call, and never saw her again. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/30 "2009-04-03T22:16:38Z")
No great loss, IMO. She’s a cold fish. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/31 "2009-04-03T22:17:31Z")
I stopped watching the show when it seemed half the episodes were set in Africa. (It just seemed a cheesy _ER… Cares!_ melodramatic move.) I tuned in and out last night a few times though. Was that Gloria Stuart as the old lady with dementia (not Borgnine’s wife)? She’s not in the credits on imdb but they’re very often incomplete (especially when a show first airs). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/32 "2009-04-03T22:57:01Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > How many major characters have actually died in or near the hospital? Pratt, Lucy, Romano died in the hospital. Gallant and Greene died far away from it. If **I** had written the finale, I would have closed with a scene of those five being kind of misty wandering through the halls, because the memories of them still linger on. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/33 "2009-04-03T23:01:09Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Seriously. Prolapsed uterus? Bleargh. > > Can that happen? You push so hard, you push your own uterus inside out and out. > > GRRRRR! :: plop:: > > :: gush :: > > Ew. Just. Ew. > > So glad it’s over. My mother in law has one. She could have an internal exam without ever leaving her house. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/34 "2009-04-04T03:35:31Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > After reading the Wiki article about Ray, I remember him getting hit by the truck. I guess I haven’t really watched since then. > > I, of course, had no idea it was a 2 hour episode- but had I thought about it for more than a millisecond would probably have realized it. As a result, I assumed the clip show/retrospective would start at 9 and the show at 10 (EST). So I missed the clip show. Any idea if it will be available online? It’s on [hulu.com](http://hulu.com) ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/35 "2009-04-04T05:24:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Like others, Dr. Green’s death marked the death of the series for me. I’m the odd one out, then. When the series first started I remember reading or hearing that the set up was supposed to have been all around Carter and his experiences in becoming a doctor. So, for me, the show ended when Carter left. I still watched, off and on, depending on what was in the same time slot on another channel, but took to calling it Ican’tbelieveIstillwatchER. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/36 "2009-04-04T12:29:39Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Pratt, Lucy, Romano died in the hospital. Gallant and Greene died far away from it. My four included Pratt, Lucy and Romano and a young black guy whose name I forget - I think he was a med student or early intern who either fell or jumped in front of a train. There was that dramatic moment when they were trying to page him to come help with the mangled unrecognizable patient and everybody realized when they heard the patient’s pager that the mangled unrecognizable patient was _him_. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/37 "2009-04-04T13:30:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Pratt, Lucy, Romano died in the hospital. Gallant and Greene died far away from it. What happened to Greg Pratt? I’m another one who hasn’t watched in years, but caught some of the finale. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/38 "2009-04-04T13:45:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Pratt, Lucy, Romano died in the hospital. Gallant and Greene died far away from it. > > If **I** had written the finale, I would have closed with a scene of those five being kind of misty wandering through the halls, because the memories of them still linger on. Did you watch H:LotS too? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baby_Fish_Mouth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/39 "2009-04-04T13:51:40Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > What happened to Greg Pratt? He was in an ambulance explosion at the beginning of this season. He died in the ER a little later. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728/40 "2009-04-04T14:00:01Z")
Ah, Dr. Pratt. Most. Aptly. Named. Character. Ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-finale-any-reason-to-watch-if-i-havent-been-for-6-years/491728.md?page=3)