Watching ER

Everyone is wondering what happened on the last episode of ER. This is what happened:

The show opens with Tony in the ambulance bay on a rainy night. He takes in a teenager who passed out during a drinking game at a party named Stacy. Lydia wakes up Dr. Morris for another patient – this one an old woman who slipped and fell near the first truck (which is who brought her in). They’ve got no ID on her.

Next door Tony’s working on Stacy and it doesn’t look good.

Three hours later (7 AM), Dr. Australian comes in and gets the rundown. Dr. Morris checks in on his elderly patient (Beverly), who is now awake but who can’t remember her last name.

Tony’s patient is alive, but barely. She’s on a tube and he’s waiting to see if she wakes up. He allows Stacy’s friends to come into the room, but while he’s waiting he calls Samantha and wishes her a happy birthday. The teen girls file in and say that they were drinking vodka and Kool Aid and were playing “I never” – and that Stacy won. The parents of one of the girls – the girls house the party was at – supplied the alcohol because they rather they be drinking at home. (nice moves dumbasses) Tony has the nurse call the police.

Dr. Morris runs down the board for everyone and heads out. Dr. Brenner tells Chaz that he is to squire around a number of potential med students today.

Before Morris leaves, however, Beverly’s daughter comes in and he goes into her room. He finally manages to give the daughter a rundown and walks into the ambulance bay and screams “freedom!”

The rest of the recap is below!
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I often work a great amount on Thursday nights, and because of this I usually DVR ER and watch it on Friday morning.

I got up this morning, flicked on the TV, looked at the menu, and realized that I FORGOT TO DVR ER LAST NIGHT!!!!

Now I’m in the same boat as everyone else - trying to figure out what happened last night!

Sometimes I’m a moron….

Wow. I’ve got a lot to say, but first let me give you some previews for the final two episodes.

Next Thurday we’ll have:

COUNTY’S DOCTORS AND NURSES HELP KIDS AT CAMP DEL CORAZON— TOM ARNOLD (“THE REPLACEMENTS”) AND COURTNEY B. VANCE (“LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT”) GUEST STAR– Many of the ER doctors and nurses help out at Camp Del Corazon, a camp for kids who have had open heart surgery. Working along side the camp counselor (guest star Tom Arnold), Morris (Scott Grimes) and Brenner (David Lyons) make a huge impact on several kids at the camp. Meanwhile, Dr. Banfield (Angela Bassett) and her husband (guest star Courtney B. Vance) feel their adoption dreams slipping away when a young mother comes back for the child she abandoned in the ER. Parminder Nagra, John Stamos and Linda Cardellini also star.

And the following Thursday, the LAST EPISODE OF ER, is this:

‘ER’ SERIES FINALE — NOAH WYLE RETURNS ALONG WITH MANY ‘ER’ ALUMS– ALEXIS BLEDEL (“GILMORE GIRLS”) AND ERNEST BORGNINE (“FROM HERE TO ETERNITY”) GUEST STAR—Gates (John Stamos) works on a young teen brought in with alcohol poisoning after playing a deadly drinking game with friends. Dr. Carter (guest star Noah Wyle) opens a new medical facility for the underprivileged in Chicago and some old friends from County General all come to show their support. It’s Sam’s (Linda Cardellini) birthday and Alex (Dominic Janes) and Gates surprise her with a special gift. Meanwhile, Carter works with an intern to save a mother in labor with twins. Parminder Nagra, Scott Grimes, David Lyons and Angela Bassett also star.

And for those who want more of Dr. Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway, here are the scenes they were in:

Now let me just talk about this for a minute. I was STOKED to see Dr. Ross and Carol back on the show - and to see them together again. I kinda wanted to see what their twins looked like, though, but I guess I can live without that. What drove me nuts, however, was how they never found out that Dr. Carter was involved!!

So here’s what I’m hoping. I’m hoping that this final episode brings every alive member of the crew back. Dr. Ross, Carol, Susan Lewis (OF COURSE SUSAN!), ect, and that we get to see them all together one last time. Do you think that’ll happen?

I finally got a chance to see this past Thursday’s episode - and wow. How amazing to see Dr. Carter back!! And, I’ve gotta tell you, it’s made me very curious about what’s going on. First, some answers.

Carter needs a transplant. I first thought that he was undergoing chemo, but no, he’s on dialysis because he needs a kidney transplant. Sound familiar? Remember oh so many years ago when Carter’s kidney was injured by a psycho patient? Now it looks like he’s got to have a transplant. And who is the best person to do that transplant?

How about Dr. Benton? Eric LaSalle has already directed an episode, and he’s also going to be in an episode!

In three episodes, Dr. Benton and Dr. Carter are going to interact again!

Lots More Below -

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Oh My Gosh, I’m sorry guys! It’s been awhile since I posted here and even though I have good reasons (I was in Chicago for a few days), I have really no excuse for not posting.

Let me catch you up. First of all, I’ve watched the last two episodes. While two week’s ago’s episode wasn’t horrible, LAST night’s episode was awesome. I loved the camera work (thanks Eric LaSalle!), especially in the beginning, and I loved the little story lines inside of the episode.

My favorite one was the mother/aunt who was taking care of the daughter. Then the uncle/father comes into the picture and acts like he’s going to take care of her, but once he realizes how big of a responsibility it is to take care of a 9 year old, he disappears.

The episode was one of the better ones I’ve seen this season. We learn in it that Neela has an interview to be attending down in North Carolina, which makes Brenner confused and worried at the same time. We ALSO learn that next week, our boy Noah Wylie will be back for FIVE EPISODES! Hopefully one of those episodes will be when Dr. Ross is back - how amazing would that be?!

Do you think that ER is getting better as the season winds to a close, or worse?

You want spoilers? You got them! See below!

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Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days - a big project took me by storm. But when I resurfaced, I discovered that apparently George Clooney isn’t as adverse to returning to the ER as Julianna Margulies is. Margulies has said that she will not return as Nurse Carol Hathaway, but Dr. Ross is returning, which is even better!

According to People, George will return for a cameo, but we don’t know for how long! The set was closed so we have no way of knowing if we’ll see Dr. Ross for one minute, or lots.

I’m really excited about this, but basically? I just hope that tonight’s episode isn’t as bad as last weeks was. I’ll be back later tonight with my recap and opinions of the episode!

So the sad news is that we’ve only got until the end of March for new episodes of ER. Which means just as I’ve taken over the site, the show is going to be over! Nooooo! The good news is that we get to see tons of our favorite characters, such as Dr. Corday! Now I know Thursday’s episode was a bit…strange…but I also know that it was really nice to see Dr. Corday. I only wish she’d returned to the ER just to say hi to everyone! And I love that Jerry has been back, and, of course, seeing Dr. Greene was absolutely amazing.

Am I the only one who still cries whenever I see the episode that he dies?

Anyway, we do have a few spoilers about what is going to happen in the next few episodes, and about which characters are coming back. In order to make sure that those who don’t want to know aren’t forced to know, I’m putting all of the spoilers that I’ve got under the break!

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Show starts out with Neela talking about how the hardest thing about being a doctor isn’t being lonely or the long hours – it’s “something else”. She lying in bed and gets a phone call from Ray at 5 am. She’s actually at the hospital and on call. It’s Ray’s birthday apparently. Her pager keeps going off and she goes to see the girl from last week who has sickle cell anemia. She’s getting sicker and may need her gall bladder taken out. Neela wants her transferred to the PICU. She did a fortune for Neela and she said that she’ll be “back soon” to hear the fortune.

Neela’s overview then says that the hardest thing is making a decision quickly. She apparently has a different idea about how to treat the girl but doesn’t voice out loud. She races downstairs to the ER and sees Dr. Banfield giving herself an injection. She gets snagged by Gates to help treat a patient who is a “dream running” – he acts out what he dreams about instead of sitting still, like most people do.

Sam gives Gates back the Blackhawk tickets and tells him that it’s okay if he goes and takes someone else. He says that he doesn’t want to go with anyone else.

Jerry takes Morris outside and shows him that he’s revived his father’s motorcycle – it looks amazing. Jerry tells him that it belongs to him and Morris starts it up, with Jerry telling him to “keep the shiny side up”. He runs straight into a garbage container!

Neela is beginning surgery on the young sickle cell girl and says that she cancelled her interview.

Down in the ER, Dr. Banfield is having hot flashes while they’re treating the dream runner. Sam says that she has to go and shows up upstairs with Neela’s patient taking over the anesthesiologist’s spot because she’s doing her rotation. Suddenly the patient wakes up, sits up, and screams when she sees her stomach!

The rest of the recap is below!
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New episode tomorrow night! Yay! Are you ready for it? Here’s the preview and a few videos to tide you over until Thursday night!

WAS I DREAMING?—ALEX KINGSTON (“CSI”) REPRISES HER ROLE AS DR. ELIZABETH CORDAY—Neela (Parminder Nagra) finds herself having a recurring dream about her crazy day trying to saving a young girl with sickle cell anemia. Gates (John Stamos) works on saving a patient that jumped out of a window during his sleep. Meanwhile, Neela goes in for an attending interview and is surprised to see Dr. Corday (guest star Alex Kingston). Linda Cardellini, Scott Grimes and David Lyons also star.

There are some Youtube videos that I can’t embed, but here are the links to them!

Interview with Alex Kingston
Interview with Parminder Nagra
Corday interviews Neela

Is anyone else looking forward to seeing Dr. Corday again?!

Hi! My name is Randi and I sort of hijacked this blog.

Let me explain.

I’ve been a professional blogger for two years now and am currently running two other fan sites - Watching House and Brad Pitt Watch. But neither of those sites pertains to ER.

I began watching ER a long, long, LONG time ago. When I was in college, I wasn’t able to see ER very often, on account of the fact that I didn’t have cable, but I was able to catch up when I had my son and was at home for awhile, watching ER twice a day on TNT.

Like most fans of the show, there have been times when I have faded away, and then times when I have come back, but it’s comforting to know that I’ll be able to see my favorite actors on the show no matter how long I’m away.

Like all fans I have favorite episodes, which I’ll get into more tomorrow, and like most fans I have favorite characters.

While I’m sad that this is the last season, I am extremely enjoying the episodes! I’m stoked to see some of my favorite characters, including Mark Greene, show up.

What has your favorite episode of the season been so far? And which character do you want to return? Or have they returned already?

Just know that I plan on giving you not only recaps of the shows after they happen, but also any spoilers and information about the actors that I can find! Is there anything specific you’d like to see?

I am so glad that the strike is over. For me it has been a very bleak television season. There really isn’t anything I’ve desperately wanted to see since all of my favorite shows were on hiatus. As I mentioned before, I don’t do reality shows and beyond that, only the soaps are left.

In case you haven’t yet heard the actors report back to work tomorrow (March 6th) and new shows, six in all are scheduled to air beginning April 10th. That’s good news right? I thought so too!

From what I have read the first show to air will have Abby and Luka still in Croatia. They send an update back home and it leads Neela to believe that there is trouble in paradise. Unfortunately that is all I have for a spoiler right now because my usual sources haven’t posted much.

What’s even more good news is that Maura Tierney recently mentioned that ER WILL BE RETURNING FOR A 15TH SEASON with 22 episodes. I can’t confirm this though because the network hasn’t come out and said anything official… I’ve heard it from more than one source though. She also mentioned that she doesn’t know if she will return or not for another season. I would think she would want to see her character wrapped up properly and it is so hard to do that when the actor or actress bows out. I know, I know… her contract is up at the end of this season so she doesn’t have to return. I still think it would be a fitting end to see the characters we love walk out of the doors of County General rather than hear about an untimely death or the “Dear ER” letter that tells us they won’t be returning.

If you really, really want to have something to look forward to in the upcoming episodes airing in April then hear this: the word around is that there is a very good chance (read that very, very, very good) that you will see Shane West sometime within the first six episodes. I don’t know where…  I don’t know when… All I know is that Ray could be back for an appearance or two… and please don’t ask if he has legs or not, that’s just wrong and I don’t know.

Now if you want my opinion on bringing Shane West back for a couple of episodes… I would have to say… It’s a good move. I mean… A REALLY GOOD MOVE on NBC’s part. Over at ER’s site on NBC.com, there is a whole thread (46 pages long) dedicated to the Ray and Neela misguided love story (personally I don’t care for it but that’s just me). Shane West is one of the most popular google searches this blog has. Bringing him back after such a long hiatus and the prospect of a 15th season isn’t just a good idea… IT’S BRILLIANT. Once fans get word he would appear… I can almost guarantee a ratings jump for those shows and I can definitely guarantee that those that missed it will be searching till their eyeballs bleed for a way to see the full ER episode online.

Anyone care to agree?

Now for the fond farewell…

That would be me. I am going to be leaving Watching ER. I don’t know when it will be effective but I just wanted to take a moment and say how much I have loved blogging here at 451 press and bringing everyone ER news and scoops. Like I said in the beginning, I’ve been a fan from the show’s first episode and I will continue to be a fan even though I won’t be your go-to for ER much longer.

Anyone who wants to visit me is welcome to do so over at Chaos in the Country, The Guilty Parent and Mommy Know How.

In the meantime, lets just see where this season’s last episodes take us and enjoy the ride!

Season 15, ER spoilers, Shane West, Ray, 451 press, blogging, new episodes

Losing his legs on ER surely hasn’t hurt Shane’s Sexy status among fans or People Magazine. Shane was among the actors named Hottest Bachelors of 2007 and judging from the video interview with Shane (seen here), it’s easy to see why.

His status doesn’t seem to be going to his head though as Shane claims to be shy and not one for pick up lines. (Ladies, I bet you can think of a few to try on him though).

It doesn’t seem that his absence as Ray Barnett on NBC’s medical drama ER is crippling the demand for him on the big screen either. Shane has been busy this last year starring in three films due out some time this year.

In late Spring, expect to see Shane in The Stone House - it is scheduled to release May 14 of 2008. The basic synopsis is that Shane is among a group of United States soldiers in the Middle East who encounter a supernatural force. The movie is listed as modern horror and action, which wouldn’t be a first for Shane since he played alongside Sean Connery in A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and in Dracula 2000.

Later this year Shane West is also expected to be starring in two more movies. The first, The Lodger an adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 thriller The Lodger; West will play the character “Street”. The movie also incorporates the novel (of the same title) by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The second movie, The Gift, Shane plays a main character Max Peterson and also stars Agnes Bruckner who has appeared in movies and reoccurring guest appearances on shows such as 24. Unfortunately there are no release dates on either of these movies.

However if you can’t wait until Shane’s movies are released and you simply must see him NOW…

Be sure to check catch him in A Time for Dancing airing on February 18th at 8:00pm on TMC and then in A Walk to Remember airing on February 21st at 9:00pm on TBS.

Shane West, ER, NBC, Actors, Movies, Hot Bachelors, People Magazine

Finally the writer’s strike which has plagued Hollywood for a little over three months is coming to a close. Reports began leaking earlier this week that the end was near as talks between the WGA union and Hollywood producers started to come to a close as a deal was finally reached and voting on the proposed deal will end by February 25th.

It’s a much needed relief for actors, writers and television show producers. Not to mention you and me. I don’t know how much more reality television I could take but guarantee the number was low, very, very low.

So where does that leave ER? For one the show is still under contract to Warner Bros. to produce the rest of it’s episodes before the season ends in May. I had heard rumors in January (but I couldn’t report on them because the details were so sketchy that I didn’t want ya’ll to get your hopes up and I didn’t want hate mail if I was wrong either) that the show could have new episodes as early as April. Actually according to an article in Variety, four to six new episodes isn’t the only good news coming out of talks with Warner Bros and NBC. The show could actually be renewed for another full season in the fall. Didn’t I tell you that was possible?

Unfortunately the long strike has definitely left an impact on Hollywood as a whole with over $3 billion loss in the economy. As much as I feel Hollywood is largely overpaid as it is, I feel horrible that so many writers were out of work for this long. As a working writer, I know how competitive the business is and I am certain their families have felt the strain. My heart goes out to them. On another note though, I am pleased as punch that my show will be back in April (maybe early enough for my birthday would be FABULOUS!) and whether or not the show returns in the fall we at least have a chance to see some storylines wrapped up.

Alright… Let’s send our ER writers some positive episode vibes!

WGA, Writer’s Strike, Hollywood, NBC, Warner Bros., ER, New Episodes

Don’t lie. You know you’ve wanted to see it. You could cut the sexual tension between Sam and Tony with a knife and it’s been going on for weeks. I admit, I let out a little gasp when she kissed him. That’s right. If you missed it, Sam laid a Big Ol’ Smacker right on Tony - and it’s just in time too…

I’m not saying that sexual tension is a BAD THING. Goodness NO! I actually like a little sexual tension. Makes you work harder for it right? Makes the end result all that much sweeter and even a little hotter doesn’t it? Though there are some poor unlucky characters who are still working through their sexual tensions.

Ahem… Anyway, what I am trying to say is that the sexual tension between Sam and Tony was almost getting to be too much. What with Sam’s constant complaining and nagging -  the idea of a nurse second guessing a doctor!? But then in the next blink she is making eyes at him, smiling a coy little smile - He’s no angel! Tony is absolutely eating it up.

I don’t know what everyone else thinks about this match up but I really like the idea of Sam and Tony together. In my opinion, I think they are more evenly matched, more so than Neela and Tony EVER were. There is more of a chemistry between these two characters, albeit somewhat highschoolish, it is still an attraction and the flirtation between the two is a welcome site to the show. (Because seriously I don’t know how I feel about Skye and Dubenko together - though the words "GROSS" and "EW" come to mind).

Just in case you did miss THE KISS, a fabulous youtube member has been so kind to upload it for us so take a moment and enjoy THE KISS that we’ve been waiting to see.

Love, Romance, Character Romance, Sexual Tension, Character Hook-ups

I’ve mentioned in past blog posts that one of my favorite characters on the show is Sam. I think that Linda Cardellini is doing a fantastic job with the character but some of the fans in the forums I visit don’t agree with me. In fact, in some cases, it’s grown from a little distaste to REALLY hating Sam.

So I am putting it out there: What do you think of Sam? Most of the recent uprising stems from episode 12,  Believe the Unseen in which Abby comes back to work and confesses to all of her coworkers that her personal time off wasn’t spent with Luka in Croatia but instead in a rehab facility because she is an alcoholic. Everyone seems very supportive of her and welcomes her confession with open arms… everyone Except Sam. Instead Sam begs the question "Have you ever been drunk at work?" It’s an important question but when Abby purposely dodges (and conveniently gets interrupted by an incoming trauma) the question, Sam seems a tad disgusted.

I guess I don’t understand all the flack that Linda Cardellini’s character is getting. Sam is a strong character and I think that in the beginning they played her right and made her strong with a take no bull attitude. I’ve read comments lately where fans are coming down on her for the attitude she gave Abby.

I understand this is only a television medical drama but since ER lives to play so close to real life and deal with such real life situations, then I have to say that questioning Abby was the right thing to do. As a doctor, she has hundreds of lives in her hands, coming into work completely drunk or even feeling leftover effects of heavy drinking puts the patients at risk because she is in no condition to do her job. I wouldn’t want a coworker like that working by MY side. I think that was the point that Sam was making.

What do you think? Does Sam have cause to be angry with Abby? Let’s look at it another way, Abby isn’t the first television doctor to battle addiction… why should she be immune to disgusted and disgruntled coworkers?

Linda Cardellini, Samantha Taggert, Abby, Alcoholics, Doctors, Coworkers