Spoiler: ER - "Pain is pain"

This week's episode of ER was framed through the lens of a documentary being filmed to show the challenges of ER care in the 21st Century. Each County medical staff member sat with a film crew to talk about the job's difficulties as well as tell stories about their time at the hospital. I liked this idea because it gave the viewers a chance to hear the doctors' inner thoughts and it was a way for the regular cast members to reflect on their time on the show. As the show is winding down - with only four more episodes left - it was nice to see all of the staff members and hear their insights. What they were saying while being filmed had to do with working in the ER, but it also had a deeper, more personal message so we got to know the characters a bit better too.

Also, as a kind of comic relief in last night's episode, was Frank and Jerry. They were told by the documentarians that they were not going to be filmed because they were not medical staff and therefore nonessential. So Frank decides to film his own, competing documentary. They end up documenting the "unsung heroes" of the ER including the handy-man and other such staff members. And they even got their chance to show how essential they are. A woman is brought in and she is having an allergic reaction to peanuts. No doctor is around so Jerry finds an EpiPen and Frank administers it, thus saving this woman's life before her airway was completely closed.

But a lot of other stuff was going on last night. Here are some highlights:

- Morris and his cop girlfriend have all of a sudden become very serious. We find out that he is changing his apartment to better suit her likes and that he plans to ask her to move in with him. But while Morris is repainting his apartment, she gets shot while on a case. Before she is taken to the OR, Morris talks to her saying he hates that she puts her life in danger every day, but that he is also so proud of her for it. Her surgery is a success and while she is recovering Morris talks to her about having kids with her. Again, when did their relationship get so serious?
- Neela is visiting Morris and says she thinks Brenner is really difficult to figure out. Morris then spills that Brenner was sexually abused as a kid, something until then Neela did not know. She was already mad that Simon refused to open up to her, so this was enough to make her angry. She confronted him again and gave him a chance to tell her, but he again did not. So she broke up with him saying they must not be meant for one another. Earlier in the season Morris told Brenner he had to talk to someone about his past and his feelings because keeping it bottled up was not helping anyone. I hope he takes this break-up and wake-up call as a sign to get professional help.
- Sam visits her mom at the nursing home and she is more alert than when we last saw her. But it does not take long for them to start fighting. Before Sam leaves she tells her mom that she will keep visiting her regardless of how she is treated because she refuses to let her mom go through her sickness alone. Sam has to go out on a heart recovery in Seattle (side note - the heart is for Joanie, the mom from a few episodes ago) so Tony offers to bring back a blanket Sam had promised to bring to her mom. While there, Tony talks with the mom and she tells him she does want Sam to keep visiting. Hopefully this storyline ends with Sam and her mom reconciling, as well as Tony and Sam ending up back together.
- From the very beginning of the episode, it was clear that something was wrong with Carter. He kept coughing and was having a hard time breathing. When a small fight between Morris and his girlfriend's cop partner breaks out, Tony tried to break it up and in the process pushed Carter who fell to the ground. He then needs to be treated and seems to be having complications from his kidney failure. At one point, he even goes into V-Tak. Later in the episode, he again brings up his wife, Kem, but also mentions that she does not know about the extent of his sickness and that she should not be told. At the end of the episode, Carter gets transfered to Northwestern, a hospital one mile away, for treatment.

The theme of this episode was, as Carter said in his interview for the documentary, that something unexpected always happens in the ER and that working there never gets boring. Even after hundred of episodes, the writers of the show find a way to keep us interested each week by experimenting with interesting storylines.

The preview for next week teased appearances by not only Noah Wyle, but other previous cast members like Julianna Margulies and Eriq La Salle, as well as special guest Susan Sarandon.

Only four more to go. What did you think about last night's show?