Thoughts on ER's Last Episode

I have been a fan of ER since the beginning, all 15 years, so I wanted to share some thoughts on the final episode last night. I was touched by a few life issues that I saw. Ernest Borgnine played a man whose wife was dying (they were also on a couple of episodes ago).

He explained that he's known her for 72 years; he met her when he was 6 years old. He is obviously very much in love with her, and although he knows that she's dying, he's not ready to let her go. Because she is so close to death, they call her daughter, who has been estranged from her parents.

After she arrives, she says that she cried the whole drive down, and she couldn't remember what they had been mad about. She is with them when her mother dies. It is very touching later, when he lays next to his wife to say goodbye.

Another woman, this one pregnant, comes in and gives birth to twin girls, but there is a complication: her uterus is inverted, and she dies in surgery.

Tony Gates was especially upset when a teenage girl comes in with alcohol poisoning. I think it had to do with the fact that Alex, Sam's son, was in a car accident some time ago after a party (he wasn't drinking, he swerved to avoid someone else).

One of best parts of the final show, as it has been for the final season, is the reunion of characters from the past. The backdrop for the reunion is the opening of the Joshua Carter Center. Joshua was the baby that Carter and his wife lost about 5 or 6 years ago. They named the center in his honor and it will provide medical care, counseling and assistance to many people, including AIDS patients and the homeless. Attending the opening is Carter, whose estranged wife comes, Peter Benton (he was on a few episodes ago, during Carter's kidney transplant), his son Reese, Kerry Weaver, Susan Lewis, Elizabeth Corday, and the newest Dr. Green, Mark's daughter Rachel, who is now a medical student.

I was a little surprised at how uncomfortable Peter Benton and Elizabeth Corday seemed to be with each other. Some of you who are longtime ER fans will remember that Benson and Corday dated many years ago, before she married Mark Green. But they had seemed to be fine after that, so it was surprising to see them so ill-at-ease with each other.

I thought the ending was very appropriate; an explosion at a power plant sends 8 victims to the ER. Everyone jumps into action, including Rachel.

http://www.nbc.com/ER