When a show has been on the air for 13 seasons, it’s hard to stay fresh. Sure, you can change the cast, and ER is no stranger to cast changes, but it’s hard to come up with new, original storylines. This week’s episode just had a feeling of “Been there, done that”, and sadly this feeling has been around way too much in the last couple of seasons.
So another doctor is suspended and faces the medical review board for breaking the rules. Seems like it happens to at least one doctor every year and this time it’s Pratt’s turn. At least this time it went rather quick. The suspension came at the start of the episode and the hearing was over by the time it ended. The hearing followed the standard path, and once the minister showed up with his congregation, it was a done deal. Now Pratt can go back to County and his old ways.
The most embarrassing thing about Pratt’s suspension was that Morris delivered the bad news. Archie f’n Morris. They’ve done such a lousy job turning Morris from a crappy, lazy doctor, who doesn’t give a damn about anything but himself to a responsible, resourceful medicine man. It’s like Peter Parker who woke up one day and was suddenly Spiderman. Sure, they tried to explain it by saying he wasn’t satisfied as drug company representative and he missed the action and actual work done in the ER, but that still hasn’t explained how come he can suddenly practice medicine and not just f*ck up non stop (And he was lousy even when he was an attending last year).
The Dying comedian also seemed like something we’ve seen before. How many times have we seen this a dying man comes to the ER, wants to fulfill his dreams before taking his last breath and everyone in the ER is suddenly attached to him, at least until the next dying man arrives.
And then there’s the ER romance. Abby finally gives in and wants to marry Luka. Is there anyone who hasn’t this coming a mile away after last week? And now that they’re getting married how long before they either get a divorce, one of them dies or they both leave?
As for Neela and Tony I just don’t care. Tony has too much baggage but the problem is that he was boring to begin with, so there was no reason to care about his family problems. We got bombarded with his baggage before we even had a chance to find out who he is, and that hurt the character and the relationship with Neela. It’s as if the writers want us to wish for them to fail, perhaps so that Neela will end up with Ray. Either way, I just hope this will go on the back burner.
The Curtis Ames plot was a breath of fresh air to ER. It was captivating, touching, interesting and made the audience care about the show again. Forrest Whitaker was amazing in his role, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pick up an Emmy for his performance (And if he also wins the Oscar, it will be one hell of a year for him). However, it was just one shot of excellence in a sea of mediocrity that is ER. This season is doing it for me, while some episodes haven’t been bad, they need to come up with something radical to bring this show back to the “Must See” level it once was.
