One of the regrets from the "ER" disaster piece yesterday is that I didn't get around to inserting YouTube links to some of them. (In particular, the shot of Romano realizing a chopper's about to fall on him is as unintentionally hilarious as always.) I remember the last time I tried embedding YouTube clips directly into the blog, some people complained about office firewalls and/or slower load times preventing them from accessing the site. So I want to try an experiment today: I'm going to embed a bunch of "ER" clips, but only after the jump, so if you don't want to/can't view them, you don't have to. If it still causes anyone problems, let me know in the comments, or e-mail me (asepinwall(at)starledger.com) and I'll take it down.
Disaster video coming right up...
From "Hell And High Water," Doug trying to get through the grate the kid is trapped behind:
From "Random Acts," the Mark Greene beat-down:
From "Be Still My Heart," David Krumholtz gets stabby with Carter and Lucy:
From "Freefall," Romano walks into his own death:
Also from "Freefall," Susan's husband Chuck (remember him?), thought to be dead on the chopper, turns out to be very much alive:
From "The Show Must Go On," the balconies collapse and Ray does triage:
Every once in a while, I hear that song that was playing when Carter and Lucy got stabbed. And every damn time it makes me think of that scene, which I still remember seeing for the first time and being traumatized.
ReplyDeleteThe Ep where Krumholtz returns and is all apologetic still gets me angry too.
Thanks for the YouTube links, Alan! I read a forum post once where someone made the link between Romano's relationship to the helicopter as similar to that between Captain Hook and the crocodile. Not sure whether "ER" meant that intentionally too.
ReplyDeletebobman: FYI, I think the name of the song is "Battleflag" by Low Fidelity Allstars. I thought the two-parter of "Be Still My Heart" and "All in the Family" where Carter and Lucy were stabbed and the subsequent aftermath were two of the most powerful "ER" episodes ever.
I remember how shocked I was at Lucy and Carter being stabbed. I remember that shock, and how powerful it was, often now in the midst of constant spoilers. I'm not a spoiler-phobe, but there's definitely something to be said for keeping plot points such as this under wraps. It really does make a difference in the viewing experience.
ReplyDeleteI stopped watching ER after the helicopter fell on Rocket Romano. I figured nothing in the show going forward would ever be able to top that. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteMatt
The Romano clip pisses me off more than it makes me laugh, although it still is kind of funny. It still annoys the hell out of me that they'd get rid of such a long standing well portrayed character in such a bizarre fashion. Trying to figure out just exactly what they were trying to do boggles the mind. At first I thought the actor did something to piss everyone off, but McCrane's become a regular director for the show since then, so that can't be it.
ReplyDeleteI gave up with "The Show Must Go On," which I guess is ironic. I think it was Abby's question, "Why does the show have to go on?" that did it. When the writers of the program are openly questioning its existence, it may be time to pack it in.
ReplyDeleteAll these years later the episode 'Be Still My Heart' would be my favourite episode of all time. It happened mid season with no warning and I can remember crying as Carter and Lucy lay bleeding staring at each other while the rest of the hospital ate cake. I loved when Laura Innes turned up and went mental at the partiers and discovered the two. I loved her from that instant on.
ReplyDeleteThis episode was so important as it started off many storylines including Benton's love for Carter through thick and thin, Lucy's impact on the staff, Carter's addition and recovery.
I adored Lucy Knight and was devastated by her death. However her death was important and not just a ratings grabber. It had fall out for episodes and (possibly) seasons later. Her death served a great purpose to the plot of the show. I have never been as shocked, grieved or devastated by any one episode of a show. I believe them laying there silently staring at one another, unable to seek help was unbelievably touching. Lucy's chest getting cracked open the next ep was particularly jarring for viewers and the characters on the show. Oh how I miss Carter and Lucy.
Thanks, Alan! These are great. Man, do I miss old school ER episodes. It's not so bad right now, but nothing tops George Clooney.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was shocked when I first saw "Be Still My Heart." The way Lucy died was the shocking part - she pulls through the surgery and is lying awake in recovery when Elizabeth and Romano discover that she has a pulmonary embolism. And the most chilling part? Lucy looks up at Elizabeth and mouths, "PE?" God. I still can't believe they did that.
Those episodes are also notable because afterwards, Carter became the most annoying, santimonious character on the whole damn show.
max_headroom said...
ReplyDeleteI read a forum post once where someone made the link between Romano's relationship to the helicopter as similar to that between Captain Hook and the crocodile. Not sure whether "ER" meant that intentionally too.
bobman: FYI, I think the name of the song is "Battleflag" by Low Fidelity Allstars.
Actually, the artist is Pigeonhed, and this version of the song is the Lo Fidelity Allstars Remix. Available in iTunes store, BTW.
And regarding the crocodile/Capt. Hook thing between Romano and the chopper, I still prefer my analogy between Wile E. Coyote and the ACME Industries...
I've made the Hook analogy (more than once), but I think my wife beat me to it. I wrote my farewell rant four years ago.
ReplyDeleteSome days, I'm proud of my back catalog. Also found the quote where I said that Mark Greene's death "was more drawn out than the final chase scene in Face/Off multiplied by how tedious the Merovingian scene felt in Matrix II."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite episode,was the road trip Dr. Greene took to see his father and finding out he was about to die.. I think he took it with Clonney, but that was important.. And him finding out later on, he was struggling with cancer and died.. Those are the sad ones for me... I can go on, but those are the ones that I think are worth mentioning.
ReplyDeleteunlike everyone else, i was - wait for it - yup, horribly behind (this time on videotape) when Carter and Lucy were stabbed, so by the time I got to watch it, it was no longer a secret (though I did get one of myfriends to not tell me about it)
ReplyDeleteRomano's arm, however - maybe it was all the "this might me disturbing" warnings proliferating around TV (was this before or during House) - I barely noticed the warning- the one that they put up on the screen, or the fact of the helicopter being there. So I saw the whole thing. Unlike Dr Romano, my stomach held. Though I'm not sure how. Maybe it wa all those years of disasters, or that it was TV...
a year or so later, I was on the WB tour and there were wraths in the ambulanced bay (finally something interesting!) from shooting. I started to go near, but then turned around and walked away, lest I learn anything I didn't want to know yet.(though they probably took all the identifying marks away)
Romano almosst fired *Pratt* that day too...