What the hell happened? I turn my head for two seconds and Lucy and Carter are bleeding all over the place. I started watching the episode at about 10:30. Can someone explain to me what I missed?
Well, this guy came into the hospital because of a bad headache, blahdy blahdy blah, then Lucy figured his problem may be psychiatric.
(someone can explain all this mumbo, better)
Then Carter went into the patients room, only to have the patient come from behind the door and stab him in the back. Carter yelled for help but no one could hear him because of the Valentines Day party they were having.
When he fell onto the floor, he looked to the other side of the bed, and there was Lucy.
I am such crap at explaining things
“If anybody wants a sheep, that is proof that he exists.”
As I just spent 20 minutes discussing the episode with my co-worker, allow me to elaborate.
This guy, Paul, gets brought in from a Diner, where he attacked someone or something (wasn’t paying attention.) Lucy keeps trying to get Carter to help her, but he’s too busy flirting with Maura Ternney. She finally gets his attention long enough to do a spinal tap, which no one enjoys. (especially me, watching at home. I was CONVICED she was gonna sever the nerve. eep.) So his spinal fluid is OK, they find out from a friend of his that his behavior is hellua erratic lately. Lucy reads her trusty DSM-IV (I was so proud) and thinks he may be schizophrenic. She calls a psych consult. They don’t show up, and Paul is found wandering the lounge, getting in the way of the Valentine’s Day party preparations. (sidenote: Mark and Corday were at dinner with the parents, and my coworkers SWEARS Carrie wasn’t at the party, but I think she was.) So they have their party, and the music is BLASTING. (Dust Brothers, I think) They’re having a grand ole’ time, when someone sends Lucy to go get a knife for the cake. She goes to get it, and Carter wanted to talk to her for some reason. He was told she was checking on Paul. Carter enter’s the exam room that Paul’s in, and it’s dark. He stoops to pick up a valentine, and when he stands, Paul’s face is over his left shoulder with a knife raised. Paul stabs him and disappears. Carter screams, but the music is too loud for anyone to hear him (it was a GREAT sequence, the only sound was the music…). He falls to the floor, and turns his head to see Lucy in a pool of blood, across the room, white as a ghost, gasping for breath, and trying to say something to him. And that was it.
It was terribly well done, I think Laura Innes directed it. Reminded me of The Practice on the creepiness scale. Good stuff.
Habit rules the unreflecting herd. - Wordsworth
Almost, but I remember it a little differently.
Someone was looking for the big knife to cut the cake. No one could find it.
Carter is looking for Lucy, but she went back to check on the patient. No connection between Lucy and the knife.
I don’t remember Weaver being at the party.
BTW, Laura Innes did direct.
I had heard that Kellie Martin was leaving the show, so when the hype about this episode was building, I expected Lucy to get attacked. I didn’t expect Carter, though.
At least it was kept fairly secret, so as to not spoil the surprise. Two Star Trek shows had departing character stories spoiled by early publicity:[ul]
[li]On Star Trek DS9: TV Guide had a story about Terry Farrell leaving a full week before the episode aired, double-spoiling it by mentioning Jadzia’s death.[/li][li]On Star Trek: Voyager: After Seven joins the crew, the trailer for the next episode said one of the crew was leaving. Then at the start of that episode, Jeri Lynn Ryan was in the opening credits, but not Jennifer Lien. (She was listed as a “Special Guest Star”.) Gee, I wonder who’s leaving.[/li][/ul]
What would Brian Boitano do / If he was here right now /
He’d make a plan and he’d follow through / That’s what Brian Boitano would do.
I sat there glued to the TV for the entire hour. Can’t say that I remember Lucy ever being asked go get the knife. I don’t think she even made an appearance at the party. Weaver was not there.
Kellie Martin is leaving. She went to the PTB and asked to be let go as she was not pleased with the direction of her character. Too many new cast members and not enough time in the hour to tell a decent story.
Although I heard their injuries would be caused by a gun, I knew they would both be involved. She will die (duh) and he will live (natch).
Did the episode say anything about “To Be Continued…” at the end? I was working last night, so I missed it. Sounds like I missed a great episode.
Shadowfox
“Distinguished” Sexy assistant to Head Honcho,
Self-Righteous Clique
They did show scenes from next week. It looked like it would be pretty good.
We are, each of us angels with only one wing,and we can only fly by embracing one another
No no, the guy was brought in for a headache that he has had for two days. No history of migraine, then he starts throwing up, being disoriented. Lucy says to Carter she suspects schizophrenia, so she’s waiting for a psych consult with the patient. Carter goes looking for her to yell at her about no sewing a leg lac and gets stabbed. there is a quick mention of a knife missing, but no one is really looking for it. 
Oh yeah, meanwhile there is a Valentine’s day party going on, that explains all of the music. i think that’s it, I may have it on tape if you need it?
Yea, I heard she was going to be shot and die in Carter’s arms, which has so much more angst value. However, the stabbing was pretty darned effective.
Habit rules the unreflecting herd. - Wordsworth
“Pretty darned effective”–I’ll say! I don’t know what it was, but that whole episode really disturbed me. That last scene had me tossing and turning all night. Even now, just thinking of the look on Lucy’s face upsets me.
Does anyone else remember Paul being on the show before? He seems very familiar.
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevent.
After he came in, he made some creepy remark to Lucy about needing to go back to the restaurant and pick up his books. He said something about there having been attacks, and the bushes had lots of places to hide. Lucy asked if he had been attacked, but he indicated no.
I must say they lived up to the hype about affecting two people’s lives. I didn’t hear Kellie Martin was leaving, but the gripes listed strike me as appropriate. A whole lot of new faces, and her character has been flopped around without direction.
No, I didn’t see Weaver there yet. Is that relevant/important?
Now for my gripes. First, I’m disappointed that Carter could be so reasonable and caring and thoughtful in addressing Maura Tierney’s character, but blow off Lucy so thoroughly. I mean he has at least as much responsibility to her as his student, but he keeps brushing her off. I know it’s not new - part of an ongoing problem between them - but I thought they had worked through that. Apparently not. Apparently he’s still ignoring her and barking at her to do things, not listening to her needs, and generally blasting her for every detail that seems wrong without realizing his own complicity. Meanwhile he has plenty of time to address the other character’s problem accepting the death of the older lady. sigh
Now for the real gripe - does any one else feel this is all a little too soap opera-ish? We’ve already had Green attacked by someone in the restroom, a rapist running loose in the building, now we have a psycho killer? And this is in the same episode where they operate on a dog. Come on! Isn’t there some health code violation going on?
As for “The Practice”, it’s that very quality that made me finally quit watching it.
By the looks of next week’s preview, Weaver is the one that finds them on the floor bleeding.
It totally disturbed me, too. Even now, the thought of it creeps me out.
And just to make it all better there was a man that looked very similar to Paul, hanging around my work all day. When one of my managers told me he had to escort him out, I couldn’t get that scene with Paul over Carter’s shoulder out of my head.
“If anybody wants a sheep, that is proof that he exists.”
There was an episode in the first couple of seasons where Julianna Marguiles’ character (nurse Hathaway)gets a soft spot for a schizophrenic architect-- youngish guy, middle 20’s. I don’t know the actor’s name, but later he was on “Friends.” He played Chandler’s psycho roommate Eddie.
It’s not the same actor, but they DO look a lot alike.
The whole episode was excellent. I cried my eyes out when the parents of those two little kids died…when that little boy put his arms around his dead mother - wow.
Also, Mark Green’s father hitting it off with Elizabeth’s mother, and then singing a song karoake-style - that was fantastic.
Very haunting the way they shot the end. I expected more high drama, but it was subtle and disturbing. Well done.
Luckily I taped it. I watched it this morning and not Thursday night. I don’t have to try to get to sleep now. I thought it was easily one of the best episodes. We have the absurdity of the karaoke bar and operating on a dog interlaced with scenes of a young boy crying on his dead mother’s chest and, of course, the stabbings. I think Laura Innes did a great job.
From the rumors, I knew Lucy was going to go, but I also never expected Carter to get stabbed. And I agree, the look on Lucy’s face was haunting.
A couple criticisms: To have Carter force a spinal tap on Paul seemed incongruous with his character. Carter’s known for being very respectful of his patients. Remember his earlier remark to the Maura Tierney character (what IS her name?): “It’s not about what YOU want.” Besides, barring special circumstances, don’t they need a patient’s permission to perform such things?
Secondly, why didn’t the ER nurses try to find a relative of those poor kids? Surely there is a protocol for such things!
Finally, I just can’t imagine a party with music that loud being played in a place like an ER. How could they hear the monitors, phones, etc., let alone a patient or doctor calling out for help.
On the plus side, that Croatian guy is a major babe. I don’t even miss whatshisname.
I can’t wait for next week! Carter’s going to feel pretty bad when Lucy dies.
I completely agree. Back when I had roommates, we used to watch ER together every week. Even though we had moved out of our house by the time this season started, we had dinner together to watch ER. We were all practically drooling at the screen the first time we saw him.
I unfortunately haven’t gotten much of a chance to watch ER in the past few months. I remember that it seemed as if he and Carol Hathaway might strike up some sort of relationship. Have they been developing that plot line at all?
As an aside, I’m surprised at the number of posts this thread has gotten. I figured one person would answer my question, and then it would die. I’m kinda glad that people are continuing things, because this is, and has always been, a show worthy of discussion.