First things first, I'm from the UK. (If you send me nice feedback about this article, I'll even tell you where). Which means that I'll finally see 'Four Corners' in January . The winter's never seemed so long, I tell you. So, what's the wait actually like?
Well, sometimes it hardly seems like a wait at all. I mean, I read the summaries and reviews at www.digiserve.com/er, which are a mine of information. (Quick shout-out to the team there - you all do a great job.) I can get screencaps, and even download clips from KimandKerry.com, (now weavered.com) which, as you would expect, focuses exclusively on Kerry. No complaints there, but I try to avoid this, my only moment of weakness so far having been the end of 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic'. (quick comment: oh. my. God.).
That's because there's nothing quite like seeing the show. You can read all the reviews you like, but nothing can *really* bring across the little touches that make the show: the glances thrown across a room, the expression on someone's face, the delivery of certain lines. Reviews can't fully do justice to how the characters interact. The atmosphere created from a few simple words cannot be transmitted by a computer screen. Take the S6 episodes, Be Still My Heart and All In The Family. No review could really transmit the desperation in Carter's voice as he whispered 'Lucy', nor could I give you a feel for Romano's desperation as he shocked Lucy even after she'd gone asytole purely through what I write. And often I find some of my most memorable moments not even mentioned in reviews, simply because they're not really that important. They don't add much, if anything, to the furthering of the plot, but they can make the show.
In some ways, maybe I get the better end of the deal, coz I get it over a longer period of time. Stick with me here. I get the instant reaction on Drop The Chalupa, then as everyone calms down a bit, I find out what actually happened to make an entire page of posts read something like "Oh. My. GOD" - yes, that would be the ending of 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic' again. Then I get my hands on the a.t.e. review, get the detail - the best lines, the best looks, the little funny asides. Then I get the Chalupa analysis (we take our ER seriously over there), which can be the most fun. And of course, how could I forget Mighty Big TV (now television without pity), one of the funniest sites around.
But I digress. Then, after all this, and a wait of some months, I finally see the show, which just rounds it all off for me. So maybe I do get it better...my season lasts from September through July, at least. Still, despite having written all this, if I could see the show earlier, would I? Would I bypass all the fun I've just described, given half a chance? Absolutely.