Saturday 21 November

BLOGS

blogCategory
Previous
Back to blog
Next

The Best...ER moments

Noah Wyle as John Carter in ER
  • Posted at 4:45pm
  • 22 April 2009
  • by DavidBrown-RT
  • 18 comments

After 15 series of finely crafted trauma, ER is flatlining for ever. In a tribute to all the medics who've walked the emergency room of County General, here's my pick of the ground-breaking drama's best episodes. Do you agree with my choices? Why not post a comment below and let me know. But first of all, pass the kleenex, stat!

1. Love's Labor Lost - series one

Still in its infancy, ER delivers a harrowing, almost unbearably tragic episode that is surely its finest hour. Mark misdiagnoses a pregnant woman and it all goes very badly wrong very quickly. A shocking and bloody example of how terrible things can happen to good people.

2. Be Still My Heart/All in the Family - series six

Carter and Lucy are stabbed by a patient with schizophrenia and, after a nail-bitingly long wait, are found bleeding to death by Kerry Weaver. The staff are mobilised in a frantic effort to save them, but the outcome is the worst possible for Lucy, while Carter faces a troubled road to recovery.

3. Hell and High Water - series two

The moment George Clooney becomes a superstar as he rescues a drowning boy from a storm drain and helicopters him back to County, all the while being filmed by the TV news. Iconic and exhilarating, it sets the template for all those subsequent episodes in which cast members operate outside the emergency room.

4. The Letter - series eight

Mark Greene's death from cancer got a highly charged episode all to itself, but it's Carter's reading of the letter that tells of his demise to the assembled ER staff that sticks in the memory. Watching Susan bow her head in sorrow and the usually stoic Kerry take a moment in an examination room to cry prompts a tsunami of tears for the audience.

5. Union Station - series three

If Doug and Carol are ER's great love story, then Mark and Susan are its unrequited romance. His last-minute pursuit of her to Union Station fails to stop her leaving Chicago, even though Mark - and all the viewers at home - are desperately willing her to step down from the train.

6. Such Sweet Sorrow - series six

In the days before internet message boards provided spoilers for forthcoming episodes, Carol flees Chicago and heads to Seattle in search of her soul mate. George Clooney's reappearance in the closing seconds a year after he left the series is a wonderful surprise and provides the much-desired happy ending for Carol.

7. May Day - series six

Following his stabbing, Carter's addiction to pain medication spirals out of control and his colleagues stage an intervention to persuade him to go into rehab. The confrontation with Benton ends in blows before a highly emotional man-hug of a reconciliation between teacher and protégé outside County's doors.

8. The Book of Abby - series 15

Abby Lockhart was the character to whom bad things often happened. But her last shift before heading off with Luka sees her waltzing with desk clerk Frank, and Haleh showing her a wall in the ER where departing staff members had stuck the nameplates from their lockers. All except Carter, who hadn't wanted to deface public property.

9. Everything Old Is New Again - series one

The finale to the show's inaugural season is sweetly understated. A year after her suicide attempt in the pilot, Carol's non-wedding to Tag provides the crux of the episode. But it's the long, lingering look she gives Doug Ross in the closing minutes that hints at unresolved issues.

10. Chaos Theory - series nine

Caustic, arrogant and downright mean, Dr Romano was still a gifted surgeon whose ferocious skill in the operating theatre saved many a life. The severing of his arm in the tail rotor of a helicopter is one of those "did that really just happen?" moments, as is his demise a year later when the copter comes back to finish him off for good.

Link to this post
Post a comment | 18 comments

Comments

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 4:01pm
  • by mojimmy

I started watching ER about a year ago when I saw the first 3 series on sale on the internet - a total impulse buy that I'll never regret! I couldn't stop watching, and by December I was up to season 6. A year later, I'm still only up to season 11 (having rented seasons 4–11) so I'm not in full grieving mode yet for its demise! It's been a year's viewing filled with the most gut-wrenching of tears and life-affirming giggles! Truly one of the best dramas ever produced. The most shocking moment for me was certainly the season 9 opener, 'Chaos Theory' - I never saw Romano's accident coming (even though, once I'd paused the DVD to regain my composure, I remembered my mother once shouting loudly at the TV when the episode was originally screened - I was about 15 at the time and she was the avid ER-watcher in our household, watching it from the beginning until about 2002/2003, finally giving up with it probably because all the original cast had left and it wasn't the same anymore. I'm glad her disdain for it's latter years didn't influence my decision to buy it but in fact reinvigorated her interest in the early years, causing her to occasionally watch with me!).

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 1:13pm
  • by WilliamGallagher-RT

FAO Abby - you've got a lot to look forward to: Abby left in the 329th episode. Unfortunately no UK channel is currently airing the first season, but it has been commercially released.

Season one is on iTunes for £19.99 or if you shop around you can find the DVD for as little as £10.

  • Posted on 28 September 2009
  • at 12:51pm
  • by Abby

The very first episode of ER i watched was the one were Abby left. i cried and cried even though i didnt know the characters that well. ER is older than me!

Does anyone know where i can watch the first seasons? xxx

  • Posted on 05 September 2009
  • at 7:04pm
  • by L

Blizzard is my all-time favourite. From Mark and Susan playing Carter in a cast to Bob revealing that she was a heart surgeon back in Poland.

  • Posted on 22 August 2009
  • at 8:43pm
  • by Jane

I'm really going to miss ER. We started watching when my youngest was 10; she's now 25 and we still watch. I loved Mark's beautiful bed by the sea and was yelling at the TV through my sobs,"PLEASE don't let Pratt die" So many great moments.

  • Posted on 23 June 2009
  • at 9:15pm
  • by Sue

I think the best episode was Kisingani -season 9 last episode. Luca becomes gravely ill in Africa and is persued by rebels. Carter goes to find him. It is extremely gripping and full of excrutiating sadness. Truly brilliant!

  • Posted on 15 June 2009
  • at 11:23pm
  • by SharonMc

I have started watching ER again from Season 1 and I am again completely hooked. I had never seen the early seasons properly but having re-watched them again, it just proves that the formula just worked right from the word go. I knew I was completely addicted to ER from about season 6 after "All in the Family". When I had finished that episode I had to unclench my fists, I was so tense. From then on I watched every season religiously.

For sheer emotion, I think my favourite episodes were during Season 7 with Abby and her mother. Seeing Abby cope with Maggie's BiPolar disease were heartbreaking. Maura Tierney is such a fantastic actress and can seem hardened and vulnerable all in one go. The other episodes that broke my heart were 'The Letter' and 'On the Beach'. I have never cried, no...sobbed so much in one episode. The song 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' still brings a lump to my throat.

At the other end of the scale, for sheer humour I loved the Breakfast Club inspired episode where Kovac, Carter, Gallant, Abby and Susan are in detention. Just the look on Susan's face as Kerry Weaver opens her locker has me in stitches every time. I loved Sherry Stringfield in ER as her humour added a lighter touch to some tense moments.

Season 15 was great and I loved all the homages to the past. Am not sure if any TV show will ever hold my interest as much again and I was really sad to see it finish

  • Posted on 11 June 2009
  • at 7:24pm
  • by Christine

Mark Greene's death. I swear I have never cried so much at a television programme. I was in bits. It was marvellous to see him again in the final series. I have watched E.R. from day one and I am so going to miss it.

  • Posted on 06 June 2009
  • at 11:22am
  • by Cyd

Noah Wyle was good but he couldn't carry the show by himself. His journey into becoming the next Mark was contrived

  • Posted on 22 May 2009
  • at 12:03am
  • by Anne

I found the first episode of this last series heartbreaking. I've never cried as much as when Pratt died, it was so sad

  • Posted on 29 April 2009
  • at 10:25am
  • by Sqweno

D'oh! I meant Sam battling her ex.

  • Posted on 29 April 2009
  • at 8:04am
  • by Bru

I can't believe that you, of all people Mr Brown, would leave out the Friends episode where George and The Other One popped up...

  • Posted on 28 April 2009
  • at 10:26pm
  • by Sqweno

Rocket Romano and the helicopter was a bit daft. Have been some great characters and episodes over the years. Doug and the storm drain a bit of a cliche IMHO. Loved Jeannie's HIV storyline, Gates and his stumbling relationship with his adoptive daugter, Abby battling her ex, Benton and his deaf son, Weaver and her quest for a baby, Carter endlessly trying to just be a good doctor, Abby and her mum, Abby and Luka and their fab wedding, Abby and, well, just about anybody, Chen and her mum, Pratt and his Dad and brother, Neela and Gallant, Neela and Ray... You could go on forever. It's the interpersonals that make it fab and heart breaking, and when they die... Sob.

  • Posted on 28 April 2009
  • at 6:27pm
  • by Lynda

ER can't go on because the audience ratings are dropping. Why - because Mark, Doug, Peter and John are no longer the residents. They made it work and we welcomed all other new faces around this central rock. After John Carter left, the producers struggled but failed to find the right combination to replace the original cast. Also after 15 years, it has become impossible to come up with original story-lines. If you don't believe me, surely the fact that the team behind ER were eager to have Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Eriq La Salle and Noah Wyle make a final appearance is an acknowledgemen of their unique contribution to the success of the show.

  • Posted on 28 April 2009
  • at 3:33pm
  • by ER guru

Why all the fuss about Carol and Doug being married? Halleh told Jeannie Boulet last year that they were still together and their kids were in third grade. It is obvious they are stilll together.

My fave moment is a small one. Corday sitting alone on the train not long after Dr Greene had died, holding Ella in her arms while Tracey Chapman's song The Promise plays on the soundtrack. It is one of the many times ER has made me burst out crying.

  • Posted on 28 April 2009
  • at 1:53pm
  • by Tanya K

Seeing Doug Ross still with Carol and MARRIED!!! is a moment worth having on your list. You just wait until next week when you see the episode I am talking about. It is lovely.

  • Posted on 27 April 2009
  • at 9:10am
  • by Thomas

The only moments I wouldn't mind adding are the final moments of "Twenty-One Guns" for the sheer adrenaline-boost it commands in the viewer, and Abby's complete and utter breakdown witnessed over the course of "Blackout" - plus a few moments from the final stretch of episodes, but I won't spoil. I know those are all moments featured quite late on in the series, but you seem to have the earlier ones covered!

  • Posted on 23 April 2009
  • at 10:18pm
  • by Judith

I still find it hard to watch the scene where Carter reads that letter. Noah Wyle is such a great actor and I love the character of Carter and how he's changed over the years. Especially after Mark told him that he had to set the tone. It is very hard to think that this series is coming to an end. If Casualty can go on for ever then why cant ER?

Post a comment

Do you have something to say about this post? Share your thoughts…

Post a comment

(first or nickname only)

Please do not include any personal or personally identifiable information about yourself or others (including email addresses). All information you submit about yourself or others can be viewed by others.

Thank you for your comment

Thank you for your comments. All comments will be looked at by a moderator, however, due to the numbers of comments we receive, we can't promise that all will be posted on the site.

Post another comment

More


Advertisement