5. "Ambush" - Season 4, Episode 70, Airdate: September 25, 1997
The famed live episode. It's a mistake to write this one off as a gimmick, both because it's a lot more than that and because gimmicks aren't necessarily bad things. The series had already done 69 episodes by the time the fourth season began (which is just 16 episodes shy of the entire run of The Sopranos), so something like this can help keep the series fresh for both the audience and the cast.
Looking back at it, the episode is impressive both from a technical standpoint, with all the ideas they put in to overcome any potential live errors (having it be a documentary-like episode, throwing in extras that could cover flubs, etc), but also how much business they cover from an ongoing storyline standpoint. I'd understand making a gimmick episode be simply about itself, then introduce more significant threads in the next episode, but they didn't. Not only did they continue the emotional journey of Mark Greene post-beating, but it also introduced the character of Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston), brusquely informed Dr. Carter that he'd be repeating his internship, and set up the departure of Chief of Staff David Morgenstern (William H. Macy), all threads that would power the early part of this season.
6. "Exodus" - Season 4, Episode 84, Airdate: February 26, 1998
While it was the quiet character moments that made the show great, ER was still capable of excellent action episodes, with huge emergency episodes that take over the ER. This one began with the action taking place outside of County General, with Corday attending to a man trapped in a collapsing building on a paramedic ride-along. The action picked up when a benzene spill crippled the ER, causing Dr. Weaver (Laura Innes) to collapse, and leading to mass chaos as everyone tries to figure out what to do. Carter, repeating his intern year after switching his speciality to emergency medicine, steps into the leadership vacuum, calmly directing traffic while dealing with hazard control. Amongst the frantic action, Corday tries to save her patient, and Carol and Doug are trapped in an elevator with a little girl in critical condition. "Exodus" ranks amongst the best of all the adrenaline-filled disaster episodes, standing out as a key moment in the development of John Carter.
Article comments
1 - Clare
I will miss ER so much.
Thanks for the article, Andy. You really captured the great episodes.
2 - James
Good choices. I just finished watching the last season on dvd, and before watching the very last episode I watched the series pilot. Yes - it's very noticeable how much less 'fancy medicine', as you put it,is in the earlier seasons, and how relatively slow- moving it is compared to the camera-batics on season 15 (but then slower can be better....see The Wire, The Killing, et al). The medical equipment looks positively medieval! But it's a more rounded show, encompassing politics, with several references to insurance and other financial issues, and Benton's surgical disdain for the "pill pushers" of the ER; not to mention the various interesting relationships of the first seasons (compared to which the Ray-Neela relationship of later seasons was a damp squib - I honestly didn't get any romantic spark at all, or much of any spark really). And young Carter! A masterpiece of goofy, loveable comedy, fresh-faced and fresh-minded, before the tragedies that were to befall him. I was glad you included the stabbing episode - I too find it difficult to think about, because Lucy was such a wonderful character, so well played by Kellie Martin, and her flirtacious back-and-forth with the the still young and loveable Carter was one of the highlights of the entire series for me. I vividly recall Romano overturning the table in anger when she died, and feeling upset for the rest of the day (which never normally happens with fictional TV, I hasten to add!) The story arc which followed over the next couple of seasons, with Carter becoming addicted to drugs and Benton ultimately helping him through it, was one of the most moving I have ever experienced. When that fizzled out, and Greene and Benton left, and Carter became hardened (great performance by Noah Wyle to show the change) is when I stopped watching. I've recently watched the later shows on dvd and, while there are slapstick moments and lots of fancy procedures, they lack the heart and the magic of the early years.
Wow, didn't expect to write that much! I just enjoyed the show, and I guess that whole period of my youth, so much. Thanks ER :)