TVSquad

(S13E17) What is it with the doctors of County General and their fathers? Other than maybe Dr. Lewis' dad all of the other fathers introduced on this show have had something wrong with them. Dr. Greene's father was a hard-ass, Dr. Carter's was cold and, possibly, an alcoholic. Pratt had an issue with his dad and Abby's father abandoned her. Now, we are introduced to another troubled patriarch . . . Mike, father to Tony Gates. I know it's hard to raise kids (I have four myself and routinely roll up into a fetal position and cry my eyes out), but the fathers on ER are downright losers.

By the way, the theme of this week's show . . . Fathers (and one mother). Pretty ironic, don't you think?

In addition to having to deal with his own father, Tony also had to deal with the fact that Sarah's grandparents want to take her to Wisconsin to live on their farm and eat all of the cheese that she can. Being that Tony is possibly Sarah's father (him or Howard K. Stern. The DNA tests aren't back yet.) this is quite a blow to him. I"m up in the air as to whether Tony should mention this fact to Sarah. On one hand she should know, but I wonder if it will have an opposite effect on the relationship they have. On the other hand it could cement their relationship. On the third hand I'm sure the writers of the show have fleshed this whole plotline out. So, I should just put my hands down now.

The other major 'Father' story this week involved a former gang-banger (not that type, you pervert!) whose been shot for the 8th time. Turns out he's protecting his son, a current gang member (and ER patient), who decided to shoot another person just because of the way he looked at him. Dr. Morris (my new favorite ER doctor) tries to get the truth out of the older GSW patient but gets frustrated and asks Greg to talk to him instead because, you know, Pratt's black. In the past, this would have been one of Archie's numerous embarassing moments. Yet, with the slightly more mature Archie, the request seemed quite sincere on his part. Pratt did an admirable job of getting the son to confess the crime, saving the father from a return to the slammer.

The third 'parent' story involved Samantha, who decided to send Alex away to a boarding school. Good move. Hopefully that gets this annoying character off of the show for a few weeks. I found the scene with Alex crying 'I'm sorry' to his Mom a bit infurating; he should have said that to her several episodes ago. Once again, I don't write the show, so my opinion doesn't count. It seems that Samantha gets these storylines that really never have an endpoint, and I hope that this issue with Alex doesn't turn out to be another one.

Other items of itnerest this week . . .

• Neela and Ray, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. All right, they were kissing in Ray's truck, but saying 'Neela and Ray, sittin in a truck' would bring on an entirely different rhyme. Is Neela really dating Tony, because their relationship seems so casual. If so, then this is a major issue. If not, then . . . Meh.
• The secret engagement between Abby and Luka isn't so secret anymore now that Hope and Archie know. By the way, Hope is starting to grow on me. When she was first introduced at the beginning of the season I thought she'd be a uber-religious stereotype. But, she has changed over the episodes asnd become a more well-rounded character. Plus, she works well with Doctor Morris.
• Where have I seen Mae Lee Park before? Ah, now I know! The same actress (Julia Ling) portrayed Kim Tao on recent episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Boy or boy, she's Dubenko's golden child, isn't she? After Neela's decision last season not to participate in an organ transplant she is persona non grata with Dubenko.

Good episode all around. I like the ones where they focus on the patient-doctor relationship more than their interpersonal ones. This is the last of the ER reviews for awhile. The next time we'll see each other is when the show returns on April 12th. So, take some time during this hiatus to catch up on all of the other shows in your DVR. Until then, Toodles.