A Fitting End

If you watched the final episode of ER last night, what did you think of it? I thought it was very good. It stayed true to the show and it was written as if it could have been just another episode but gave the viewers something extra. The show and Carter have come full circle.

The first episode of ER had Nurse Wright waking up Dr. Greenw to tell him about a patient coming in. Carter is a new med student, very green and scared. Dr. Greene gives Carter a pep talk when he doesn’t think he can make it as a doctor. The docs are in the ambulance bay waiting for the ambulance and when they turn to go back in with the patient Dr. Greene turns around and said “you coming Dr. Carter.”

As I said, the rest of the episode was written just like any other episode with trauma, life and death. Ernest Borgnine is with dying wife whom he’s loved for 72 years, since the 6th grade. After she dies he says “so it’s over?” I felt that was a very appropriate line considering this was the last show.

Carter who was the black sheep of a very rich family has spent most of the family fortune on the Joshua Carter Center named after his son who died. On hand for the opening is Dr. Susan Lewis and Dr. Carrie Weaver, Dr. Elizabeth Corday and her stepdaughter Rachel Greene as well as Dr. Benton and his son Reese. All are faces from the past. Carter’s wife Kem comes in but he’s whisked away before he can say more than a few words with her.

The finale the Nurse Wright is waking up Archie to tend to a new patient. Julia, an intern is having doubts she can take being a doctor after a patient dies and Dr. Brenner gives her the same pep talk Dr. Greene gave Carter 15 years ago. Dr. Greene’s daughter Rachel is a senior in college and wanting to be a doctor. She’s with a group of potential med students touring County General and spends the evening with Doctor Carter at the ER. At the end the docs are in the ambulance bay waiting for an ambulance. Carter isn’t on duty but someone hands him a gown and gloves and as they turn to go back in with the patient Carter turns and says “you coming Dr. Greene.” Rachel follows him into the ER as the camera pans back giving the first full shot of the outside of County General.

The writers and actors stayed true to the show’s beginning and didn’t pull any stunts out of their hats for the finale. It wasn’t all in the mind of an autistic child as in St. Elsewhere. It wasn’t all a dream as in Newhart. It was another day in the life of the ER of County General and a fitting end to a great show.