TVSquad

(S14E08) "David Beckham is a wanker!" -- Archie Morris

The producers of ER certainly didn't go halvsies with the quick decline of Abby Lockhart. Getting drunk, sleeping with her new boss, leaving the baby sitter at her house until three a.m., taking Joe to the airport at the same time in the morning to see Luka in Croatia. Heck, I'm surprised that she didn't rob a liquor store with a sawed-off or, God forbid, run for political office.

Luckily, the calming influence of one Luka Kovac has returned to Chicago to get the demons that control Abby back into submission.

Gallery: ER

Yes, good old Luka -- coming to save the day. Things will get better now that he's back, according to Abby. Or, maybe not. Because, like a patient's father told her in this week's episode, you can't un-ring a bell. That's certainly true with the little fling she had with Moretti. However, she can certainly correct the wrongs that she is doing to herself with a return to drinking.

I thought that the few days Abby took off were to clear her head and try to figure out what the hell happened; perhaps even decide to stop drinking. Apparently not, as we saw when she filled her soda can with vodka. I can only hope that Abby's crying jag at the end of the episode was a realization that things aren't going to be better with Luka around and she needs to do something to correct her self-destructiveness.

Damn, I really do hate the producers of ER!

There seemed to be a theme of family that took place in this week's episode. We had Moretti's continuing issues with his son as an example. Many of you who commented about his previous appearance seemed to think he was bi-polar. However, from what Moretti says his son just started having these problems in college. I'm wondering if he's discovered something like heroin that is causing these erratic mood swings. That, or he truly is bi-polar. Yet, do manic depressives wish their fathers get stabbed by a syringe full of the AIDS virus? It's a mystery that is intriguing me and I hope it gets resolved before the Writers' Strike takes its toll.

Another example of family issues in this episode was Sarah coming back to live with Tony. Since this took up the entire cold open I thought the episode was going to be heavy on Gates and Sarah, but it was very much a 'C' story. Still, it was good to see Tony get custody of Sarah once again. I think that he has a calming influence on the girl that the grandparents just didn't have.

I was a bit confused about the scenes with Tony and Julia. First was the time frame. Last week the ER was in the middle of a heat wave complete with brown outs. Now, it looks like the show has moved squarely into fall. Then, I wondered when Julia and Tony got so chummy? In the last episode it seemed that they were just starting to get to know each other. When did they start dating? I must have missed several minutes in one episode or another.

A third example of family took place between Morris and Harold. Yes, they aren't related, but it seems that our friend Archie has taken a liking to the young doctor to the point of getting him ready for Homecoming (Harold's third). A bit of the spotlight was put on Harold this week as he connected with one of his patients. When he released the pressure from the boy's lungs and then stayed with the father during operation it just put me in the mind of another young intern named John Carter who had that one day (back in season one -- Lord I'm old) when everything finally came together for him.

Archie? Gosh, I love that boy! He has become such a well-rounded character, doing both humorus and dramatic scenes. Some of his old persona is seeping back in now that he and Hope are kaput, but there still enough of the new Archie still in there that he has become one of my favorites.

Next week -- It's Thanksgiving! Surprisingly, there isn't an episode of ER airing. This is usually when they air their Thanksgiving-themed episode. So, enjoy some turkey and I'll see you back here in time for my daughter's 7th birthday (that would be the 29th).