ER: The Complete Twelfth Season

Season Grade: B-

DVD Features Grade: C-

Overall Grade: C+

It might be hard to believe that ER, the primetime drama staple that helped make NBC a ratings powerhouse, lasted 15 Seasons… but what’s even harder to get my mind around is the fact that we are already up to the 12th season of the show on DVD! ER wrote the book on modern day medical dramas and man it was one long ass book!

Of course there are many who believe this show jumped the shark several times in its 15 year run and they wouldn’t be that far off base. Whenever I think of ER the image that immediately jumps into my mind is the episode where the tank came rolling into the ER; in my mind that was the ultimate ‘jump the shark’ moment. However, viewers did not agree as the show continued from that moment in season 10 for another full 5 years.

In a recent review of what would be considered ER‘s successor, Grey’s Anatomy, I mentioned how medical dramas often rely on the emotional situations of the patient to some how make the doctor reflect on his or her own circumstances thereby creating the basic drama template for the show. This is of course true for ER although it’s not quiet as obvious as it is on Grey’s. The biggest difference between the two shows, however, is how hard hitting and humorless ER is. The show has its moments of laughter but they generally come from a much darker place. In an early season 12 episode two uppity women board the train with Neela and Abby and they scoff at their orthopedic doctor shoes. When one of them trips on her super high heels Neela stops to help and tells her that she may have broken her ankle. The woman snarkily replies, “If you’re a doctor then I want a second opinion,’ to which Abby replies, “You’re ankle might be broken… and you’re a bitch.” I literally laughed out loud for about a minute and a half because the delivery was so perfect and the comment so deserved. This is what I like to call ER style humor.

With 22 hours packed into this season there is plenty going on at Chicago’s County General Hospital. The season begins with the welcomed return of Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis who was one of the few remaining original cast members. In fact, as the seasons went on they started desperately trying to get anyone who was in the first few seasons to come back just to have that validation there for fans. Even desk attendant Jerry Abraham Benrubi came back a few seasons ago to help assure viewers that their favorite show still had some of its original parts. Sherry‘s return however was altogether different as she came back and left

a few more times during the run and her final exit (just two episodes into this season) was confusing to say the least. She just disappeared. I’m guessing there were some personal issues at play. In any event, it was nice to see her back even if it was only for a very brief period.

The real star of the show, and this season in particular, really became Maura Tierney as Nurse turned Doc, Abby Lockhart. Her down-to-earth grounded attitude about everything in life is always refreshing and her comically dark take on things always evokes a smile and a laugh. There’s something about the role of ‘most capable nurse’ in the ER that makes for great story telling and each time they’ve cast an amazing actress to play it. First it was Julianna Margulies as Nurse Hathaway, then it was Abby and finally the adorable Linda Cardellini as Sam Taggert. She also has quite a bit to play in this season, however the ‘breathe of fresh air’ that she was when she first joined the cast died out as she got bogged down in endless stories about her troubled son Alex, who is quite possibly the worst television character ever created. Any story involving him also involves my remote and the fast forward button.

The other stand out gal in the ER in year 12 is Parminder Nagra as Dr. Neela Rasgotra. I have to admit to really hating her when she first joined the show, but unlike the character of Sam who lost steam, Neela just gained it. She does a great job this year embracing her new found role as a teacher to the new interns and also discovering her path to surgery rather than emergency medicine. If memory serves she becomes the center of multi sided love affair with 4 or 5 different doctors at one point in a later season; this was weird because she’s not the only female doc in the place so that storyline went pretty far south, but this season she’s a delight and is given some good stuff to play. Sharif Atkins who plays Soldier Doc Michael Gallant returns in this season to marry Neela and sticks around just long enough to get the itch to return to duty and leave his new wife for the sands of Iraq.

Speaking of the men, there are mostly brand new faces here with only one original cast member, Noah Wyle returning for a couple of guest spots, left in the fold. Everyone else has either died or moved on. Of course we all know where they went; some of the actors moved on to films, some to TV movies and some just left and are now watching films and TV movies from the huge homes that their ER paychecks got them.

Among the newbies we have Scott Grimes as the red headed

Archie Morris who began as the pot smoking doc and is now somehow the chief resident. Minimal Morris is what I generally hope for in any episode. Shane West returns as the rocker doc whose band and antics with women make him one of the least predictable guys in the ER out matched only by John Leguizamo as Dr. Victor Clemente who shows up with a crazy ex-girlfriend and her abusive cop, gun toting husband not far behind. His storylines definitely added some much needed action to the show with some shoot outs and some knock down drag outs that are fun. Then we have Mekhi Phifer as Dr. Greg Pratt who has some family issues of his own to work out with the return of his once absent dad wonderfully played by Danny Glover and his constantly screwing up best friend. Last but not least we have the man who is billed in the top spot as the supposed star of the show Goran Visnjic as the hunky Croatian new head of the ER, Dr. Luka Kovac. The only things that keep Kovac from being the most boring leading man on the planet are the women that play opposite him. Is he sexy? Absolutely. Is he charming in that, ‘I can’t really understand everything you’re saying to me,’ kind of way? Sure. But without Abby and Sam there to make us care about this guy he’d be completely lost. Ultimately pairing him with Abby was the right way to go because these characters are at their most enjoyable to watch when they aren’t heavily tormented.

There are very few overly memorable episodes this year as most blend into the general theme of hardcore fast-talking emergency medicine; a plane crash here, almost epidemic there, but nothing too far out of the ordinary for the ER. Body and Soul is by far and away the best episode of the season. Guest star James Woods plays a man suffering from ALS, which is a degenerative muscular disorder that has slowly eaten away at his body and left him in a motorized wheelchair unable to move or speak without the use of a computer. The episode actually happens through a series of flashbacks which gives it a remarkable feel as you begin with his condition in the final stages and then you slowly go back to points when he was slightly healthier until you get to the very beginning when he was completely healthy. I can’t articulate why this approach worked so well but it was incredibly powerful and moving. Anyone who whines about the inequities of their life should watch this episode to remind them of how fortunate they really are. I know it made me count my blessing even before the credits began to roll.

Another episode called Lost in America stands out less so for the overall

episode than it does for the fantastic performance by guest star Shohreh Aghdashloo, who deals with the anti-Muslim sentiment in America following 9/11 that has caused a catastrophic event in her own family. This woman is a powerhouse actress. If you haven’t seen her film The Stoning of Soraya M. you’re missing out on one of the best performances of the year.

The show also did several episodes set in I.D.P. (Internally Displaced Persons) Camps in Darfur hoping to bring some light and media attention to the war torn region. I always thought it was admirable but never felt like those stories really fit in with the rest of the show. After seeing it again I’m not so certain that my original assessment was accurate. This season a brash and arrogant Dr. Pratt goes to the camp where Dr. Carter is working and the experience changes his perspective on the world and we, as the viewer, experience a similar transformation as these horrific acts are brought to light. So while they aren’t my favorite episodes to watch I think they were socially important and well worth revisiting.

The season ends with two great episodes The Gallant Hero & the Tragic Victor and 21 Guns. ER is known for some great season finales but this is definitely up there among the best. If by the end of this episode you aren’t dying (no pun intended) to see how it turns out then you just haven’t been paying attention.

Sadly, the special features on this set absolutely suck. I realize it must be hard to keep coming up with new interviews or featurettes for a show that has run for so long and has so many seasons, but c’mon at least try! As it is all we are given is deleted scenes from select episodes. I will admit that they at least did those the right way. Each episode plays and then you can watch the deleted scenes from there; they aren’t all grouped together at the end or anything. But I would have loved some interviews, some behind-the-scenes or maybe even some cool blooper reels.

If you’re someone who watched the show when it was on TV but wasn’t a complete fanatic about it revisiting it now will have an oddly familiar feel even though you won’t know exactly what’s going to happen, it won’t surprise you when it does. If you’re a die hard I must own every season person then clearly you’ve already made the purchase, but if you’re on the cusp as I am, it wouldn’t kill you to own it, but there are also plenty other more worthy shows out there and also more worthy seasons of this one.

Season Grade: B-

DVD Features Grade: C-

Overall Grade: C+