TVSquad

(S14E18) What? An episode where Abby's good luck finally rears its ugly head? Nah, couldn't be! Why would the producers of ER want to give Dr. Lockhart any good luck after the roller coaster that has been her life this past season? Oh, I know why...her life is going to fall apart again on next week's season finale. So, I guess it's like giving her something sweet before she needs to swallow yet another bitter life pill.

Well, we can enjoy it for a little bit, can't we?

(S14E17) "I already know. Get over yourselves." -- Archie Morris, passing by a kissing Samantha and Tony.

Ye gads, that was bloody! I mean, we've seen plenty of blood in the ER over the last 14 seasons, but that was one of the more bloodier sessions I've seen in a long time. It was just flowing everywhere. Too bad that its flow was hampered somewhere down the line by a clot because, if everything was okay, then we wouldn't of had a serious spotlight on one Archie Morris.

So, I guess things turned out well. For us, not for the patient. That was actually pretty bad. And, not for the patient's husband who...well, you'll need to find out what happened to him after the jump. So, Spoiler Alert ahead, mateys.

(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.

At the NBC party for the TCA press tour earlier this month, there was a small contingent of ER cast members floating around, but two of them happened to be my favorites: Linda Cardellini and Parminder Nagra (what, you think I was going to say Shane West?). Both actresses seem to be more prominently involved in the veteran show's storylines this year: Cardellini's Samantha Taggart has already had to deal with killing her fugitive ex-husband and now is trying to figure out how to control a son whose behavior is going south, and Nagra's Neela Rasgotra has been in a torrid affair with John Stamos' character, Tony Gates.

I caught up with both of them and asked them about how they think the year's been going so far and what's in store for each of their characters during the remainder of the season.

(S13E09) I'm with my brother Joel about new programming during Thanksgiving. Out of all the holidays we celebrate Thanksgiving should be the one that never has new episodes, even if it falls in the heart of the November sweeps. Why? Well, after ingesting so much sleep-inducing food it's hard to concentrate. If anything, Thanksgiving evenings should be reserved for three-hour long historical-period movies that feature plenty of silent scenes. You know, so you can get some sleep.

Okay, whining over, let's discuss this week's 'ER Event'.

Good lord, the producers of ER love to kill off their doctors so they won't come back again in highly paid guest-star roles! First, it was Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) who died after being stabbed by a patient (David Krumholtz of Numb3rs). Next it was Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) who died of a brain tumor. Then Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) got his ticket punched after a helicopter fell on him (this is after a helicopter blade cut off his arm in an earlier episode).

Now, they have knocked off Doctor Michael Gallant (Sharif Atkins). In Thursday's episode, Gallant (who appeared as a regular from 2001-2004) died after his convoy truck struck a roadside bomb. Gallant, who left the confines of County General to go to Iraq as an Army doctor, had a recurring role this season as he returned home, married Dr. Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra of Bend it Like Beckham) then decided to return to Iraq once again.

And now, as the season comes to an end next Thursday, there may be more death and destruction for the emergency room staff, as two prisoners start shooting up the hospital and the people, taking hostages in the meantime.

Gosh, I miss the good old days when Doctor Ross (George Clooney) would flirt with Nurse Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) or Doctor Carter (Noah Wyle) would bow under Doctor Benton's (Eriq La Salle) stare. Maybe we can have an episode where Dr. Greene returns from the dead and slaps some sense into all of them.

(Joel mentioned this as a spoiler back in the TV Squad APB #3.)