# ER last night (2/15) (possible spoilers??) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044 "2003-02-14T13:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/21 "2003-02-15T00:39:35Z")
Anyone else think last night’s episode included the most ham-handed, in-your-face parallel plots ever? Okay, so Woman A needs to accept that her son is dead, and Abby’s mother is nearby listening! We don’t have to see it twice, we get it! sheesh… ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/22 "2003-02-15T00:49:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*Anyone else think last night’s episode included the most ham-handed, in-your-face parallel plots ever? Okay, so Woman A needs to accept that her son is dead, and Abby’s mother is nearby listening! We don’t have to see it twice, we get it! sheesh… \*\* Yeah, but when Abby went into the other room to take “the call”, and then we see the kid flatline at the same time, I groaned. I was all, “Yeah, yeah, patient’s dead, brother’s dead, whoopee.” But then he was alive, so that was kind of cool, or at least unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/23 "2003-02-15T00:56:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*I’ll say this, for the past three months there has simply not been enough: > > LUKA > > SEX INVOLVING LUKA > > FIGHTS INVOLVING LUKA \*\* Mmmmmmm, Luka… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/24 "2003-02-15T01:59:04Z")
Am I correctly interpreting what they did to the little car accident boy? Please tell me I’m not. It seemed to me that they left him alone, not breathing, for five minutes without O[sub]2[/sub] to see if he had brain damage. Well, if he didn’t before he would afterwards, since they always stress how important it is to do CPR to _prevent_ the brain damage that follows lack of oxygen. Is this an actually medical procedure?? It sounds like begging for a lawsuit… As for Abby and John, I hope she says yes, but I somehow don’t see them getting married without some major hitches along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/25 "2003-02-15T02:16:19Z")
Luka=ohmygodsexy!!! ---
**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:** [February 15, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/26 "2003-02-15T03:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > Am I correctly interpreting what they did to the little car accident boy? Please tell me I’m not. It seemed to me that they left him alone, not breathing, for five minutes without O[sub]2[/sub] to see if he had brain damage. Well, if he didn’t before he would afterwards, since they always stress how important it is to do CPR to _prevent_ the brain damage that follows lack of oxygen. Is this an actually medical procedure?? It sounds like begging for a lawsuit… You’re not. The standard “apnea test” involves disconnecting the ventilator for no more than a minute or so, not enough to cause brain damage but long enough to see if the patient will spontaneously start breathing on his own or show other reflexive symptons of oxygen deprivation. Failure to do so suggests truly horrendous brain damage and time to check the back of the patient’s driver’s license. [Reference](http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/surgery/trauma/P2002/temp/BrainDeathVisio.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/27 "2003-02-15T05:08:30Z")
Luka = my precious ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/28 "2003-02-15T06:22:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*Anyone else think last night’s episode included the most ham-handed, in-your-face parallel plots ever? Okay, so Woman A needs to accept that her son is dead, and Abby’s mother is nearby listening! We don’t have to see it twice, we get it! sheesh… \*\* I agree with all this and more. I have no idea who the director was for this show but on a technical level this show was incompetently put together. There was one dramatic scene where the background mood music was playing and it cut away to another scene, killing off the music before a natural stopping point. Very jarring. The scene with Abby, alone in a darkened room after seeing her mom again was both heavy handed and unnecessary. Even kept in there, the scene still went on way too long. At the end of the episode, Carrie’s walking around near the ER desk and then they cut to the very next scene, without any segue, and Carrie’s sitting on the couch later that evening. The camera angles were uninspiring, the editing abysmal, and, as **Max** points out, the plot overlaps were so in your face it was insulting. I really don’t notice these things most of the time, but then again most of the time a director’s job is for the viewer to not notice the director. Does anyone know if this was a first time director or if there were too many last minute changes? ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/29 "2003-02-15T14:36:30Z")
I happened to notice that the director was Charles Haid. He played Renko on Hillstreet Blues in the 80s. According to IMDB, he has directed a bunch of TV series episodes. [sub]I can’t tell you how glad I am you asked that question, since I happened to notice who the director was. I feel so observant. Smart, even.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/30 "2003-02-15T15:33:39Z")
PS Apparently, he also won a Director’s Guild Award for ER. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/31 "2003-02-15T15:50:47Z")
Hmm. How strange. Maybe he was just pressed for time. I almost never notice the the “behind the scenes” aspect of tv and film but when it becomes as glaring as it was on Thurs, I couldn’t help but start paying attention to it. Thanks for the info **Brynda** ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/32 "2003-02-15T16:29:41Z")
I liked this episode, but one aspect bugged the living hell out of me. The whole cancer kid plot. An ER doc giving oncology advice? Uh uh. ER docs aren’t qualified to give advice that an oncologist should give, and they wouldn’t in the real world. All the conversations about “should he continue with the chemo or not?” wouldn’t be happening in such a setting. The ER physicians would be dealing with the immediate problem of his fever and possible infection, take some blood, maybe start an antibiotic, then it would be up to the Oncologist to decide to admit the kid or not and follow up with chemo advice, plans, etc. But dramatic license and all that…blah blah blah. I guess they needed some other heart tugging plot to round out the hour. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/33 "2003-02-15T16:32:45Z")
say more things about Luka. Slowly. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/34 "2003-02-15T16:45:56Z")
Mmmmmm, Luka. Luka is Miiiiiiinnnnnee. 😉 ---
**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:** [February 15, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044/35 "2003-02-15T17:14:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*say more things about Luka. > > Slowly. \*\* Heee liiiiiives on the secooooooond floooooooor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/er-last-night-2-15-possible-spoilers/155044.md?page=1)