Wow! Looks like NBC’s promo department was kept out of the loop again. Note please that some inviso-text below reveals mammoth spoilers for tonight’s episode and smaller spoilers for next week’s.
Here’s “Dmann,” who tells us tonight's installment "is as good as 'ER' gets.”
ER 8.20 FAQ
What's it called?
ER 8.20 FAQ
What's it called?
"The Letter."
What does TV Guide say?
"A letter from Mark prompts Carter to confront Abby about her drinking, while Kerry sees the note as a reason to check her health and try her hand at romance. Meanwhile, a car crash reveals a shocking truth about Lewis's teen patient; and Pratt gets bad news about where he'll be spending his internship"
What is TV Guide not telling us?
It isn't the part of the letter that Mark Greene wrote that sends every one into a spin of introspection and self analysis.
Whats it say, spoiler boy?
Well, the message from Greene is a nice little letter, telling how great Hawaii is, how Rachel and Ella are doing, how much he misses the ER, how much fun he is having, how much he misses the camaraderie, and how much he cares about everyone.
What's the big deal?
Do I really have to tell you what the second page from Elizabeth says? You don't need to know, when you see the look on Dr. Carter (Noah Wylie)'s face, well, that tells it all, it says what you think it says. If you REALLY need to know exactly, inviso-text on my semi reliable transcription.
Mark Died this morning at 6:04 a.m. The sun was rising, his favorite time of day. I sent this on so that you might know he was thinking of you all, and that he appreciated knowing you all would remember him well.
Holy crap! So does this mean that Anthony Edwards is done?
No, luckily I have seen selected scenes from next week's episode, and I know that episode is a spotlight on the Greene family in Hawaii!
Does everyone in the ER get to hear Carter's heartfelt, choked reading of the Fax?
No, just the main nurses, Abby (Maura Tierney), Dr.Kovach (Goran Visnjic), Dr. Gallant (Sharif Adkins) and Dr. Lewis (Sherri Stringfield). Left to find out otherwise are Doctors Weaver (Laura Innes), Chen (Ming-Na) and Romano(Paul McCrane). Weaver takes it especially hard, cracking the polished exterior she puts up as a protection. She is the one who cannot keep it together, everything about this is pain. She isn't comfortable with her lover, she isn't comfortable with her staff, and she sure isn't comfortable with this week's recognizable guest patient (Chris Burke). Carrie finally decides to come in and have a drink with the rest of the cast at the lava lounge, at the urging of her girlfriend.
So she's the standout of this week?
Not above any of the other regulars, the entire cast does a wonderful job of maintaining a feeling of being skilled professionals with their job first, but with something in the background. It's obvious who is aware, and who isn't as the episode unfolds. Weaver, then Romano, then Jing-Mei is Mr. clean, Mr. cocky, Mr. professional, until he reads the board. Then, you get that deflated look. Weaver has her breakdowns, Lewis has to keep moving, so that she won't cry, after the little girl with cancer comes in, her father and her were in an auto accident, and just by blind luck, they found the tumor, Romano finds a way to ramble on and on about cancer in a way that reveals a lot about him, while cutting cancer out of the little girl. Carter comes to the realization that he has been at County the longest of anyone, and that he is now the leadership in the ER, leaving him the wonderful task of cleaning out Greene's locker, and inheriting his stethoscope. Carter steps up to the plate, as the new rock, helping Gallant when he locks up in the Trauma Room.
So Abby gets drunk?
Oh yeah, and Carter stops to talk to her about it, and Greene, and all kinds of things. No conversation in this episode ends up in the same direction it started in, the effects of the news have that kind of repercussions. It does become a bit of a confrontation, a meal, coffee and in a round about way, a decision. There's even a bit of AA humor! I can't decide if this story line fits in this episodeor not, it's hard to say. Maybe it's just like life,
What's Pratt's news?
More Mekhi Phifer next year! Pratt is coming back to the ER next season, for his residency, promising lots of more showdowns between Mr.Cocky and Mr. Disciplined. (Isn't there a law about an NBC show having more than one prominent, positive, smart black man in a single show?)
What's good?
So many things, the over all acting is perfect, the way the staff keeps on dealing with crisis after crisis, despite their grief, The old homeless black man who was Greene's patient, Lewis' tiny grace note at the bulletin board, the way life goes on at the end of the episode and above all Noah Wylie!
What's not so good?
Ummm....well, there's still my question of the leather guy from a couple months back, other than that, this is as good as ER gets.
Dmann's rating for "ER" 8.20?
***1/2
The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
- ***** better than we deserve
- **** better than most motion pictures
- *** actually worth your valuable time
- ** as horrible as most stuff on TV
- * makes you quietly pray for bulletins
Wah! Hercules “The Strong” is tearing up right now just reading this stuff. What's harder to handle than a villain finding her heart? Can't - wait!!!
