Season 8- Episode 2 - The longer you stay
Grrr. Looks like RTE decided to earn a few extra cent in
advertising revenue by cutting out the 'Previously on ER' bit. (mental
note - next week look at the summaries *before* the episode airs
to find out what I'm missing)
Jeez Abby, could you not stay for *five* minutes to help out your
colleagues...although given Carter's misadventures after agreeing
to see 'just one patient', maybe she had the right idea.
Kerry "Jing-Mei, you're Chief Resident, don't check with me
on every patient."
Yeah, cause I've got more important things to do, like disappear
to Doc Magoo's in the middle of my shift.
Question. Did Chen even *look* at the 'simple toe lac' before
handing it off to Carter? I mean, shouldn't she have copped on
that it wasn't as easy as all that?
Ick, TPTB really needed subtitles during Ella's scenes. Of
course, the fact that I had to keep the volume low so I wouldn't
disturb my housemates didn't help either. I know that it's
realistic...I mean, I have a niece and nephews, but this is one
time where it would have helped to be *less* accurate rather than
more, and maybe toned down the volume a bit.
Wow! Cleo the alleged Pediatrician actually treated a child this
episode!
Abby should have known better than to make a man choose between
her and his Playstation. After all, she's not *that* special ;-)
Mmm, Dave in gym clothes...yum yum.
Never thought I'd say this, but Luka is a crappy date. I mean,
first off he's reluctant to leave the pleasures of his Zombie
killing, (please, no jokes about Vampires killing Zombies) then
he brings Abby to a place where she can't get anything to eat,
and finally he abandons her for the evening to shoot pool.
Not that Abby seemed like much fun to be with *anyway*.
Shouldn't Carter have known better than to use a cell phone in
the ER?
I found it interesting - and slightly amusing - to see Peter
being treated as a 'civilian' in the other hospital's ER.
Carter (regarding his patients newest piercing) "Oh."
Carter "Where the hell is Chen?"
Probably hiding in a corner somewhere because she's realized that
she's bitten off more than she can chew.
I'm a bit disappointed with this. I mean, I remember watching 'The Crossing' and in that brief scene
when Chen was temporarily in charge (Luka had left on the
helicopter, Kerry was on her way in, and Mark was doing his
competency testing) I remember thinking that she was coping
admirably. I even said to myself (and mentioned it in my comments)
that Chen would make a good Chief someday. Obviously that was
just a 'flash in the pan' because all *this* episode showed us
was that she couldn't handle the pressure and ended up making
mistakes.
Kerry "Things are dying down (cein - yeah right) I'm going
to Doc Magoo's for a minute (cein snorts in derision...pretty
long minute) PAGE ME IF YOU NEED ME."
Talk about famous last words.
I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't already heard
what happened, but we were clearly shown Kerry holding her pager
as she was passing by Carter.
And hey, wasn't it very lucky that Carter didn't take her advice
and go home...otherwise nobody would ever have known where she'd
gotten to.
Okay, who was that man and what has he done with the *real*
Roger?
(yeah, I know, the 'Previously on ER' bit would have told me this...Thanks
a bunch RTE)
No wonder he had to ask 'is that her?'...he's obviously never
seen her before ;-)
Not that she looked like Carla anyway...
(sniffle) Peter telling Reese that 'Mommy went away' (wahhhh!!!!)
It's obvious that Dave has never even heard of Marfan's syndrome...but
I'd say that Chen has. At least, judging by her reaction when
Carter mentioned it.
Luka "You're never happy...I don't think you're capable of
being happy."
Abby "Why don't you just break up with me?"
Luka "I think you want me to."
Jeez, I don't know...I mean, last week Abby sees the Carter
mansion and realizes just how rich his family is. This week she
'wants Luka to break up with her'. Anyone else think she had a
little gold digging in mind?
All I can really say about Abby and Luka's break up scene is that
both of them were behaving like children, doing their best to
snipe at each other. I read somewhere that neither Maura nor
Goran approved of the dialogue and didn't think their characters
would say those things. I can see why.
Um, why didn't Chen ask a nurse rather than Carter to go get
Weaver? Ah, I know, it was so Carter could have his pathetically
staged fall. I mean, that was the worst screen fall I've seen.
He's running along, trips over his feet and lands on his back?
Yeah, right.
But back to the nurses. Not that they weren't needed during the
trauma, but surely one of them would have been more 'dispensable'
than Carter?
That look on Kerry's face when she came into the trauma room. She
just *knew* that the shit had hit the fan and that she should
have been there.
Chen "I was told that it was clear." I actually missed
this on the first watching because while Dave is saying, "It's
clear"; Connie is coming in and calling 'Dr.Chen',
So Chen 'should have looked at the X-Ray before signing off on
thrombolytic drugs'. You could see by the look on Carter's face
that this was a *major* bad thing to have overlooked.
Kerry "In a perfect world Dr. Malucci, I wouldn't subject *any*
patients to your care. If you knew your ass from your elbow or
even gave a damn, that man might still be alive."
Okay, when did this happen? When did Kerry suddenly start
despising Dave so much? For two years we've seen her treat him
with a sort of half-amused tolerance. She's fought her way
through a riot to rescue him, she's teased him (Dave - I'm not a
yuppie. Kerry - no but maybe when you grow up). Okay, they've
never been 'friends', but where did this sudden contempt come
from? Two years of character interactions just wiped out with a
stroke of a pen (or a clicking of a keyboard). It sucks.
So was Chen just moping in the trauma room from the time Carter
left her until he stuck his note on his door?
And speaking of the note (smirk). Like *that's* gonna work if a
trauma comes in.
Awww, poor Reese had nightmares (sniffle). But wouldn't Peter
have turned on the light to 'speak' to him?
The whole 'Kerry meets the PI and five minutes later just *has*
to rush out and speak with him in Doc Magoos' was just crazy. I
mean, she had the guys cell phone number, why didn't she arrange
to meet him *after* her shift. Did TPTB cut out a scene where
'Kerry phoned him and found out that the only time she *could*
meet him was right then', just to keep us in suspense as to why
Kerry had left her post?
(sighs)
Blame game time.
What they did wrong?
1. Dave should have waited for the tox screen results, taken the
B.P. in both arms (not sure what that would have shown, but Kerry
obviously thought it was important). He should have given Chen a
more complete history of the patient. And most importantly, he
shouldn't have committed himself to a diagnosis until he'd gotten
all the facts. Also, he looked at the x-ray and didn't see what
Kerry said was 'obvious'.
2. Chen should have looked at the x-ray before prescribing the
drug. She should have taken her time and read through all the
test results. She should have insisted on waiting until the tox
screen was back. She shouldn't have let herself get flustered by
the fact that there was so much happening.
3. Kerry shouldn't have left the ER when it was obviously still
busy. She should have signed out properly and made sure that they
knew at Admit where she was going to be. (she most definitely
shouldn't have left the ER while knowing that the only person who
knew her whereabouts was heading home on her instructions). Since
she *did* leave the ER, she should have made damn sure that she
had her pager with her at all times.
What they did right?
1. Dave sent for 'an attending or a chief resident' to sign off
on the drugs. He ordered most of the right tests (pity he didn't
wait for the results).
2. Chen when faced with something beyond her capabilities, sent
for the attending on duty (who is *supposed* to be supervising
her)
3. Kerry...um...well...I suppose she *did* take her pager with
her...just a pity she left it behind.
Ick. This whole plot sucked...big time.
Just realized that I didn't say anything much about Elizabeth and
Mark...let's see...
Mark must be going deaf if he couldn't hear Ella screaming. If
I'd been Elizabeth, then he'd have ended up *wearing* that 'poop-filled
diaper'.
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