Im in denial about the end ofER.
(Except in syndication/on my TiVo.)
Here are eightERhallmarks that no other show has managed to achieve:
1.
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Coburn (my favorite Amy Aquino FTW).
Continuity and the slow burnRemember when Mark Greene was assaulted (Random Acts in season 4)?
Characters tend to be consistent, and the shows internal memory actually works.
3.DeathSome of the deaths onERcan bite me so hard seriously, how slowly can Dr. Greene die?
Must we sit through Ray Liottas agonyfest?
But then there were the where-were-you-when deaths that pushed the borders of cheap soapiness but stayed withinERs dramatic bounds.
Im not even getting into the patient deaths, lest I never emerge from this black hole of crying.
No other shows deaths seem to have the same resonance.
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4.
But Dr. Weaver, however uptight, was also an ethical beacon whose medical skills were unimpeachable.
When his Alzheimers got worse, who would visit him or take care of him, he wondered.
I would, Kerry choked out.
And then I cried.
Seriously, Im tearing up now just thinking about it.
Benton was a tightass except he was the best teacher Carter could ever dream of having.
A ton, as it turns out.
Believable medical issuesThis goes with a caveat:Sometimes.
Some of the medical stuff on the show?
Almost comically over-the-top baloney.
(Im not even talking accuracy, though everyone doing CPR with their elbows bentmakes me insane.
Im talking…that small pox scare.
There arent that many regular-people characters on TV.
Guest starsAgain, Ill add sometimes.
Plus the before-they-were-stars roster is amazing: Loves Labor Lost, the iconic first-season episode, stars Bradley Whitford.
SurvivalHow the hell didERhang on this long?
And after two or three seasons of abject flailing, how did it get back on track?
Despite sagging ratings and hefty production costs,ERsomehow outlived its initial contemporaries.
Think of how many patients flatline, then get shocked, then come back to life.
(Charge 200…clear!
[shock] Still in v-tach.
Charge 250…clear!
SoERhas needed the paddles a few times.
What did I leave out, PopWatchers?
MoreERon PopWatch:ERfinale sob session: Whitney Pastoreks ER memories
