TV review: ER this season
Oct. 10th, 2008 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ghost2Viewing ER now, it can be hard to remember that there were whole seasons when the show was the best thing out there. I don't know if anyone on my flist is even still watching it. Last season was pretty rough (I thought a couple of episodes were virtually unwatchable) but the current year is confirmed to be the final one and I'm going to the end with it.
This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of this season, as well as casting spoilers for future episodes, so the rest of it is under a cut.
The opening episode featured the death of a major character, Pratt. Bluntly, I've never been much of a Pratt fan. When he debuted on the show, he dissed Dr. Greene (possibly the show's most beloved character ever), who at the time was dying of a brain tumor. Way to start out, Pratt! To be fair, Pratt didn't know about the brain tumor at the time, but when you see a guy looking like death hung over and pulling an IV stand around with him, it doesn't take a genius to guess that maybe something bad is going on with that person and you shouldn't make snide comments until you know the facts.
Then Pratt proceeded to ignore orders, defy Carter, revive a brain-dead man and give the guy's children false hope, mouth off, carry a huge chip on his shoulder, use people, etc. No, I didn't much like him. The character improved in recent months, but it was too little, too late for me.
In all, though, I'd rather a lead character hadn't died during ER's swan song. Haven't enough bad things happened during the course of the show? Shouldn't the final season be more positive?
Maybe more of it will be.
For me, Pratt's death didn't approach the emotional impact of Mark Green's. Mark's death was brutal. His entire tragic arc hurt more than a TV show should. Pratt's demise, OTOH, had more of a "Lucy Knight" effect. Lucy was a fairly unimportant character, in the grand scheme, and some of the elements in Pratt's final scenes were far too similar to Lucy's last episode. Pratt seeming to be on the road to recovery? Lucy seemed to be as well. Pratt learning that a complication had occurred? That also happened with Lucy. Pratt crying? Lucy did that, too.
IMO, even Lucy's death played out better than Pratt's did. Back then the show was far better, the acting was superior, better characters were around (Carter! Benton! Romano! Corday! Weaver! Green!), and the emotional impact really kicked in. Though it was sad to see Pratt die, it was no classic episode.
Second episode of the season: big nosedive in quality. The new ER chief, Cate Banfield, arrived and instantly made an obnoxious impact. It's never fun when a newbie walks in the door and starts telling everyone they're doing it wrong. Making Sam look stupid in front of a patient was an especially bad move. Why didn't Banfield simply pull her aside to correct her? The annoying newbies who hogged airtime did not help matters.
Positive things: They're trying to make Brenner more interesting, Morris behaved like a competent doctor rather than buffoonish comic relief, Frank showed his human side, and Dubenko appeared. Overall, though, it was at best a forgettable episode.
CASTING! TPTB are trying to get old favorites to return, even if very briefly (BTW, flashback scenes are fair game.) Carter is already confirmed for later in the season. Greene, Romano, and Weaver will all show up soon. There's been mention of Ross and Hathaway, though apparently Clooney has been saying no (not sure about Julianna Margulies' response). I've heard that Corday, Rachel, Ella, and Benton are all on the wish list, as is only right. Apparently, Susan Lewis won't be popping back up, though, unless something changes later on. I hope it does. I want to see everyone ever, including characters I disliked.
A run of 15 seasons is a great accomplishment, especially when most of those seasons were of very high quality.
This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of this season, as well as casting spoilers for future episodes, so the rest of it is under a cut.
The opening episode featured the death of a major character, Pratt. Bluntly, I've never been much of a Pratt fan. When he debuted on the show, he dissed Dr. Greene (possibly the show's most beloved character ever), who at the time was dying of a brain tumor. Way to start out, Pratt! To be fair, Pratt didn't know about the brain tumor at the time, but when you see a guy looking like death hung over and pulling an IV stand around with him, it doesn't take a genius to guess that maybe something bad is going on with that person and you shouldn't make snide comments until you know the facts.
Then Pratt proceeded to ignore orders, defy Carter, revive a brain-dead man and give the guy's children false hope, mouth off, carry a huge chip on his shoulder, use people, etc. No, I didn't much like him. The character improved in recent months, but it was too little, too late for me.
In all, though, I'd rather a lead character hadn't died during ER's swan song. Haven't enough bad things happened during the course of the show? Shouldn't the final season be more positive?
Maybe more of it will be.
For me, Pratt's death didn't approach the emotional impact of Mark Green's. Mark's death was brutal. His entire tragic arc hurt more than a TV show should. Pratt's demise, OTOH, had more of a "Lucy Knight" effect. Lucy was a fairly unimportant character, in the grand scheme, and some of the elements in Pratt's final scenes were far too similar to Lucy's last episode. Pratt seeming to be on the road to recovery? Lucy seemed to be as well. Pratt learning that a complication had occurred? That also happened with Lucy. Pratt crying? Lucy did that, too.
IMO, even Lucy's death played out better than Pratt's did. Back then the show was far better, the acting was superior, better characters were around (Carter! Benton! Romano! Corday! Weaver! Green!), and the emotional impact really kicked in. Though it was sad to see Pratt die, it was no classic episode.
Second episode of the season: big nosedive in quality. The new ER chief, Cate Banfield, arrived and instantly made an obnoxious impact. It's never fun when a newbie walks in the door and starts telling everyone they're doing it wrong. Making Sam look stupid in front of a patient was an especially bad move. Why didn't Banfield simply pull her aside to correct her? The annoying newbies who hogged airtime did not help matters.
Positive things: They're trying to make Brenner more interesting, Morris behaved like a competent doctor rather than buffoonish comic relief, Frank showed his human side, and Dubenko appeared. Overall, though, it was at best a forgettable episode.
CASTING! TPTB are trying to get old favorites to return, even if very briefly (BTW, flashback scenes are fair game.) Carter is already confirmed for later in the season. Greene, Romano, and Weaver will all show up soon. There's been mention of Ross and Hathaway, though apparently Clooney has been saying no (not sure about Julianna Margulies' response). I've heard that Corday, Rachel, Ella, and Benton are all on the wish list, as is only right. Apparently, Susan Lewis won't be popping back up, though, unless something changes later on. I hope it does. I want to see everyone ever, including characters I disliked.
A run of 15 seasons is a great accomplishment, especially when most of those seasons were of very high quality.
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Date: 2008-10-10 04:47 pm (UTC)I was discussing all the returns with my sister as we watched the first ep, and while Clooney is saying no, apparently he did his previous small cameo (I wasn't watching yet at that point) happily and without even his agent knowing, so he seems kinda like a good guy who might just do it, but without any fanfare. It would be cool, at least.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:40 pm (UTC)what's happening with luka and abby, btw? i stopped watching right around the time they'd decided to have a baby or he got back from bosnia, or something.
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