TVSquad

We all know that ER is famous for its deaths. Not only of the patients that are served by Chicago's County General but of its staff as well. Particularly in its emergency room. Fact of the matter is, there have been so many deaths of ER personnel that I'm surprised that a police investigation hasn't been opened to determined if they were natural or a bit suspicious. Some of these deaths have been shocking, such as Lucy Knight's during season six. Others were long in coming, like Mark Greene's peaceful death in season 8.

(S14E19) Now, let the speculation begin!

Did you really think that ER would end its fourteenth season with everything all honky-dory at County General? You haven't watched it recently, have you? Fact is, the season-ender for the last few years has been some sort of cliffhanger. Last season the fate of Neela was unknown. The year before it was Abby and Luka. A few years before that the fates of Pratt and Jing-Mei were undecided.

Now we have two (or three, or four) characters to consider as potential victims. But, who will be the lucky -- or in this case, unlucky -- one who will end up as a patient in their very own Emergency Room when season 15 of ER begins? Let's take a look at the candidates. Oh, by the way, spoilers ahead if you didn't watch the last three minutes of the episode.

(S14E15) So, Neela.

We all know her. She's cute. She's smart. She has that lovely English accent. She draws every single man and woman into her universe with her mutant ability to make people fall in love with her (Professor X, I hope you're aware of this). We just haven't seen much of her this season. Well, except for the season premiere, but even then she was unconscious for most of the episode. Perhaps the producers decided to give Ms. Rasgotra a break this season after the whole Dubenko/Gates/Ray love triangle took up a good portion of last season. That was corrected this episode as we finally had an episode that put some focus on the good doctor after a 24-hour shift.

Why focus on her after such a long session? To show her screwing up, of course.

(S14E14) Welcome back!

We haven't seen each other for awhile -- January 17th, to be exact -- so I thought I'd bring you up to speed about what's happening on ER. Apparently, all of the main characters that started on the show are gone and have been replaced by a younger, more horny group of doctors and nurses who tend to whine a lot. Oh, there's also blood, burns, life, death, sadness, joy, naked doctors, doctors having shock treatments, alcoholic doctors who have had extra-marital affairs, blah, blah, blah.

I kid, of course (except for the horny part). If you've read any of my reviews over the last two years you'd know that I'm pretty pleased with the way the show has re-energized itself with new characters and a focus back into the happenings of the emergency room. True, there are some things that still annoy me, like the never-ending curse over Abby Lockhart, but they can be managed because there are other good things about the show.

So, I guess the only question right now is if I enjoyed this week's episode. Well, read on to find out.

(S14E13) Before I begin, a big shout out to Jen Creer for filling in on last week's ER episode, which featured the swan song of Abby Lockhart, or not, or, you know...whatever. Don't get me wrong, I like Abby. I just can't take the incessant whining about how bad she is all of the time. I thought we got past it all when Baby Joe was born. But, I guess the producers decided that P.I.T.A (Pain In the Ass) Abby was better for ratings than happy Abby. Ah, always reading the pulse of the viewer!

This week's episode was exciting because we saw the return of Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway. Well, in the guise of Tony Gates and Sam Taggart, that is. I'm sure older fans of the series have seen this relationship coming for a few weeks now and I'm surprised the producers and writers of ER didn't do it sooner. It's pretty logical when you think about it. They're both good looking (although John Stamos has looked a bit haggard these last few episodes), they are both above average in skills in the positions they hold, and they have that I-hate-you-but-I-really-love-you vibe going on. Plus, they're just so darn cute together.

Gallery: ER

(S14E12) "Were you ever drunk at work?"-- Sam to Abby

Good evening, and thank you for flying TV Squad. We know you have many choices in which television reviews you read, and we appreciate your clickage. Our regularly scheduled attendant Rich Keller is unavailable this evening, so I will be serving up complimentary opinions and maybe even a little snark. Truthiness is $5. We appreciate correct change. So, sit right back and let's get started.

Gallery: ER

(S14E07) "All this wasted energy is seriously inflating my carbon footprint!"-- Archie Morris

Welcome to Green Week on NBC. If you watched the whole NBC lineup tonight, you have noticed that they all have to work in some kind of environmental theme. My name is Jen, and I'll be our cruise director this evening, because Rich Keller is off saving polar bears in the Antarctic.

The ER is experiencing a heat wave and brownouts, which brings everyone to the ER with heatstroke and stupid injuries as they try to fix their air conditioning at home.

Gallery: ER

(S14E06) Hey you! Yeah, I'm pointing at you, the producers of ER. What the hell do you have against Abby Lockhart? I mean, ever since she was introduced way back in season six you have just piled mound upon mound of crap on her. I thought you had enough of taunting her when she gave birth to baby Joe and married Luka. But, you just decided to shovel one more mound of poopie on her because Maura Tierney, who plays Abby on the show, wants to leave? What, you didn't get enough sadistic pleasure torturing Mark Greene all those years?

Sheesh!

Gallery: ER

(S14E05) Let's start this week's review of ER with a few introductions and welcomes.

First, we welcome Harold Zelinsky to the recurring character list of ER. Harold is Neela's new surgical intern and he is a bit of a mystery. He says he's twenty-five but the ER staff at County General isn't convinced. Only a pissed-off Abby can find out how old he really is, which is nineteen. This child prodigy began college when he was only twelve after getting a perfect score on his SATs. If that isn't a ringing endorsement of home-schooling I don't know what is.

Gallery: ER

(S14E04) Man, what a crappy day for Abby. First, she gets a hairstyle reminiscent of 1976 (Pratt's comments about her being ready for her yearbook photo, and the boys comments about Farah Fawcett were the best), Then her son falls at the park and she ends up working on his condition while screaming in terror inside. On her way home, shortly after Baby Joe is discharged she nearly gets into an accident. Finally, to top it all off she craves a tumbler of wine to soothe her nerves.

Here's what I say about all of this: it's all Luka's fault.

(S14E02) Bernie, this is God. Hurry up, wilya! -- Dr. Moretti, addressing a drunk in the ER who thinks he is about to die.

Before we begin I'd like to speak to the promotions department over at NBC. Are you listening? Good. Come a bit closer to the computer screen so you can carefully hear what I am about to say . . .

No. More. Coming. Attractions.

Seriously, the previews that you create to showcase the next week's airing of ER are just out-and-out lies. The case that you focused on for this week, the one where the young, Hispanic gentleman is discovered to have a nice bullet hole in his lower back, wasn't even the main story in on the show. Heck, the man-boy and the teacher he was sleeping with had more attention paid to it! No more, please. Either retire all of those flashy production tools you have or put them to better use.

Whew! I feel better now. Let's go ahead with this week's review.

(S14E01) So, here we are.

After 13 years, numerous cast changes, various relationships, and a number of staff deaths, we come to what will probably be the final season of NBC's medical drama ER. This show has come a long way since Doctors Greene, Lewis, Benton, Carter, and Ross (and Nurse Hathaway) entered our Thursday nights. Some of the journey has been rocky (Season 7 was one of the rockiest, in my honest opinion). But, for the most part the trip has been a very good one.

(S13E23)

Dammit! ER blindsided me again! A few months ago they did it when Dr. Weaver resigned from County General. And now, in the the 13th season finale, they did it again with Ray Barnett. From the previews on last week's show we knew that Neela was going to find Ray in another hospital, so that wasn't a surprise. But, when he rolled his wheelchair to face her, well . . . Holy Crap!

(S13E20) Lights out. A-ha. Blast, blast, blast!

Oh, hello there. Didn't see you come in. I must admit you caught me singing. See, the title of this week's ER reminded me of Lights Out, the Peter Wolf song from the early 1980's. That, of course, reminds me of Wolf's former band,the J. Geils Band, which reminds me of their song Centerfold, which reminds me of MTV. That reminds me of how sucky MTV has become.

But, we're not here to talk about the glory days of a music-video channel. We're here to talk about this week's episode, which was another good one. Really, this has been a solid season for this classic medical drama. If they decided to pull the plug on the show at the end of this season I would feel quite satisfied that they left on an up note. Luckily, we have at least one more season of the show to enjoy before it goes to the Eternal Land of Syndication. In the meantime, let's talk about what went on this time around.

(S13E19) Even after 13 seasons and 285 (!) episodes ER can still get to me once in awhile. There will be that one storyline, that one character, that will just hit a raw spot with me and generate a overwhelming feeling of sadness of sympathy. This week's episode had one of those story lines.

It involved a son, who never took care of himself and was dying of heart failure, and his father, who was well into his bout with Alzheimer's Disease. As the episode progressed the son died with the father there to watch. His reaction to his son's death was a bit heart-wrenching to watch. Maybe it's because I have a young son of my own and I would never want to be in a situation where I watch him die before my very eyes.