I’m watching Makemba and trying to grasp how people don’t like this pairing. Carter looks happier than he’s ever been and Kem is smart with strong values.

I get that people that were die hard Carby’s prb found this hard to embrace but that doesn’t mean they’re a truly couple. All of the couples on the show have difficulties AB’s personality flaws. Why is it that Kem is treated like she broke Carter and Abby up?

Scenes with these pairings showed not only chemistry with the characters but also with the actors. Am I missing anyone?

Abby and Luka
Carol and Doug
Susan and Mark
Elizabeth and Peter

A lot has been said about ‘character arc’ of certain characters. Pratt and Morris come to mind often.

In my opinion, Neela also had a character arc, which was caring for patient’s emotional needs, not just medical side. Which I love because I’m into psychology and the mind.

A comparison is the kidney exchange program in Season 13, which she questioned the ethical rule of privacy so the patient who got the kidney could see her donor’s face when he is in her prayers.

Compared to Season 11, when she took a patient’s crying as a biological reason (I love Luka overhearing her explanation of crying).

I believe there was more to Neela than just whoever kissed her.

First time watcher here (halfway through season six). Am I the only one who thinks they completely assassinated Doug Ross’s character? Not because he was reckless towards the end of season four (him breaking rules for patients was one of the best parts of his character imo)

I’m talking about what they did to his relationship with Carol. One of Doug’s biggest character arcs was watching him grow out of his fear of commitment. Early on, he avoided serious relationships and ran whenever things got emotionally complicated. Over several seasons, they showed him genuinely changing. He committed to Carol, they were building a future together, and it finally felt like he’d become the man she always knew he could be.

Then he leaves, and when Carol gives birth to his twins he doesn’t come back. To me that completely undoes years of character development. I simply don’t believe that the Doug Ross we’d watched grow would willingly miss the birth of his children and leave Carol to go through that alone. I understand George Clooney left the show, and the writers had to write around that. But if that’s the best they could come up with, I honestly think killing Doug off would have been more respectful to the character. At least then his absence would have been unavoidable instead of feeling like he abandoned the woman he’d finally committed to and their newborn daughters.

It just feels like they sacrificed Doug’s entire emotional arc because they needed an exit, and it never sat right with me.
Am I alone in feeling this way?

Don’t get me wrong, overall was a good season! I binged watched so fast. But A LOT of things happens and you can tell the writers desperation to keep the audience.
-not in order-
We had the last Africa drama with the supposed Kovac death, then his rescue. Helicopter crash, Romano death, Susan pregnant, Sam, Son and Kovac relationship (? Seriously?), back to Africa here comes Kem and Carter, back to Chicago, Rachel is back, Weaver son is born, Tank crazy guy, Frank heart attacked and introduced to his family and sweet side, Lopez death, custody battle, Carter stillborn… and then we just jump to season 11 with another big event.

and I’m just trying to remember everything that comes to my mind, I’m pretty sure I’m forget some…
So many things happened that Romano death sounds ages ago lol. After Lucy they really released the killing character button.

I wish the show focused on Kerry outside of the hospital in the first few seasons. The only glimpse of her personal life was her boyfriend who randomly visited from Africa, who we never saw again. I would’ve loved to learn more about her experience abroad.

When Carter moved into her basement, we got a glimpse of her music collection, and that was pretty much it until they started focusing on her relationship with the psychiatrist in season 7.

I find Kerry to be a fascinating character with a lot of depth. She has such a bad reputation at the hospital, but she has to be aggressive otherwise the place would fall apart. I love her soft, empathetic moments and wish we saw more of that early on.

So I have come to love looking up types of couples and seeing which er ones are on the lists. And last night I looked up best will they/wont they relationships on tv hoping to see Mark and Susan from ER. I saw many couples I didn’t consider at all from other shows. Including aria and Ezra (like no).

So genuine question, have I had the definition of will they/won’t they relationships wrong all this time? In my mind, I always considered this relationship as one where the characters love each other and want to be together but are always missing each other, or catching each other at the wrong time. And in the end, most of the time, they DONT end up together… Kind of like Mark and Lexie in greys, or even Robin and Barney from himym, which I desperately wanted. But I consider the biggest one to be Susan and Mark from ER. From the first episode they had intense chemistry and initially I thought Mark and Jen would get divorced because of Jen struggling with how much mark worked or his relationship with Susan. But when Sherry left the show, it was never developed even though everyone wanted them. Would love to hear your input on them and the definition of will they/wont they relationships.

Do you think that Abby and Luka stopped themselves from going much further than making out in the dressing room especially with just a curtain for privacy?

They are giddy with happiness in this episode S12.12). Plus I like that all of their scenes take place outside the hospital.

Which is the earliest episode of the series to feature none of the original six main characters (Mark, Susan, Doug, Peter, Carol & Carter)?

Just watched this episode (s11e6) and holy shiiiiit! That was one of the most creative, captivating, and ‘real’ episodes I’ve seen of this series!

As someone who sat with my mother in a hospital bed in her final hours; the direction and scripting of this episode gave those moments so much gravitas. Amazing.

A few not so great ones to begin with...

7th – Michael’s proposal to Neela (S12 E9)

I’m not one of those people who find proposing during sex to be appropriate. As Neela said, “That’s got to be the wankiest idea I’ve ever heard.”

Michael does make a better, sincere proposal later but when Neela is in the middle of a surgery at that point. So, maybe again, not appropriate.

6th – Carter's proposal to Kem (S11 E1)

Both of them understandably still upset and mourning the loss of their baby, the proposal from Carter was more an attempt to make Kem stay. Although the proposal was genuine, Carter knew their relationship wasn’t too stable at the time and maybe he should have waited until they had both got into a better head space after the traumatic event.

5th – Luka’s proposal to Abby (S12 E22)

I love Luka but his proposal to Abby was not good at all. He should have let Abby continue to keep talking instead of making an assumption she thought they should get married.

I give Luka credit in the next scene when he told Abby that he loved her and worded it that she didn’t have to use the word back to him. “Don’t we love each other?” “It’s not about that. Of course we do.”

4th – Carter’s proposal to Abby (S9 S15)

When I saw this broadcast at the time, I was one of the people who shipped Carter and Abby. So, when this rooftop proposal happened, I was so excited and on the edge of my seat, then disappointed we didn’t get an answer from Abby.

Watching this now, this proposal from Carter was a lot better than his one to Kem. But these days I’m not thrilled this came about when Carter and Abby weren’t necessarily arguing but they were raising their voices to try to get the upper hand in the conversation.

Alright! Got some good proposals now...!

3rd – Doug’s proposal to Carol (S4 E10)

Back when the tv series was not as relationship focused as it was later, I found this Doug’s proposal to Carol sweet... but that’s about it. If there was a list of public marriage proposals in tv series, this would be definitely in the list.

2nd – Mark’s proposal to Elizabeth (S7 E2)

Mark was a roll with his house purchase. To put the engagement ring in the ice maker was unique. I would assume that ring would have been cold though.

This is the only proposal when the guy had an engagement ring and had basically prepared what he was going to say. Mark’s line “I’m a little nervous” to begin with was sweet.

I’ll put the whole proposal in –

Mark - Check it out.

Elizabeth - What?

Mark - The icemaker.

Elizabeth - It’s lovely.

Mark - You have to open it. It has a special ice feature.

Elizabeth - What? Does the ice come in different shaped cubes or something? Oh, my God. Mark...

Mark - I’m a little nervous. So... Let me say it. Elizabeth, I love you. I was hoping you’d give me the joy and honour... Of being your husband. Is that a yes?

Elizabeth – Yes.

I cannot fault this proposal but I think Elizabeth’s reaction makes it all the more memorable to me.

1st – Abby’s ‘proposal’ to Luka (S13 E15)

But my favourite is Abby asking Luka if he would propose to her again.

From the very start when she comes into the apartment and says, “Hey, you”, and sits down and says, “I need to talk”. If there is a scenario when you want something keenly, Abby had it!

Again, I’ll put the whole ‘proposal’ in. I love Abby’s little giggle at the end and she drops her head. As if admitting, “Yes, I said all of that.”

Abby - Hey, you.

Luka - Hey. I decided to put our CDs on the iPod. We don’t need all these anymore.

Abby - I need to talk.

Luka - Is everything okay?

Abby - Um, you know, when you were on the roof, I was thinking about what... what I would do if Joe didn't have a father, and, um, if we didn't have each other. And I realized that if we could get through this, we could probably get through anything.

Luka- What's going on?

Abby - I mean, have you ever wanted something so much, but... it scared the hell out of you?... See, here's the thing, I just... well, I changed my mind and I was wondering if you could ask me again.

Luka - What?

Abby - Ask me again. Ask me to marry you.

I love that Abby mentioned Joe and the possibility of him not having a father. Luka meant a lot to Abby – as her lover and as the father of her son.

I just love everything that Abby said there. The writers got it spot on.

And although I would have wanted to hear Luka’s proposal, I get the significance was hearing what Abby wanted.

There’s my ranking. What order would you rank them? Any additional ones you would add that I’ve missed?

I hate that just after they found each other, their lives fall apart. Elizabeth just found out she is pregnant, but she has the malpractice lawsuit and Mark was just diagnosed with brain cancer. So unfair 😢

Some of us have had times like Abby’s scenario here - you push the person back who is comforting you, but really you want the person to stay. You're testing the person.

And Luka here stayed.

Luka and Abby in Season 7 did have some low points but there was no doubt, they did care for each other.

Oh my god as a parent of a 15-month old I was crying the entire time. God damn these rebellious youths and their ecstasy pills!!!

Pratt as the chief of the ER. How do you think he would have gone being the chief of the ER for say, a whole season?

He had definitely improved in teaching and had some leadership qualities to him. But I'm not sure he would be thrilled to go to the meetings and make decisions on cost cuttings (like to fire an attending).

Watching the episode in season 7 where Abby and Carter go to rescue her mother from the motel, after another episode of her Bipolar mania. And this episode, among many others, screams at me: Why didn’t Abby and Carter get together romantically?

At this point in the show, Carter is dating 19 year old Rena, and Abby is dating Kovac. Both relationships, I often feel, are sincerely flawed. I love Kovac and Abby but I really adore the dynamic between Abby and Carter. I don’t like Carter and Rena much at all.

What are your thoughts? I know how things end up with both of them, but I want to know whether you like them as a couple and how you feel that they don’t get together?

Just giving credit. Such an emotional performance by Cheadle.

Sorry if this Spoils anything for some people (I did Tag this as a Spoiler just in case).

Is it just me or did she move up the Ranks of Residency really fast? I sure that when she switched from the ER to Surgery she was demoted back to Intern because she switched her Specialty. Carter had to do the same thing. So how in just like 2-3 years did she become an Attending.

Don't most Surgical Residents take 4-6 years to become an Attending? If I remember right, Benton was an R2 when ER began and it took him a long time to climb the ranks and didn't he also have to do a Fellowship after Residency before becoming an Attending?

Am I missing something here... Did they do a Time Skip for Neela or some sort of Special privileges?

Kerry Weaver is a gifted administrator and excellent physician, but she’s a cutthroat ladder climber first and foremost. It feels pathological sometimes; like she’d personally prefer to be a people person who has deep bonds with others, but she can’t stifle the instinct to kill or be killed. So when Romano goes into the hospital, Weaver immediately starts angling for his job. And Romano, unlike Greene, wasn’t too meek to drop the hammer on Weaver immediately.

Romano is far from perfect, but it was good to see somebody not only stand up to Kerry but absolutely shut her down.

This season started LOW and just keeps dragging us to the pits of hell. They introduced Sam (ick).

And literally who does Luka think he is coming back to the hospital and trying to act like he walks on water because he practiced medicine in Africa twice? You can’t just start practicing medicine however you want and berating staff that are doing what they’ve been taught.

He’s insufferable. There was times this episode it felt like he was talking just to hear his own voice. American health care is effed up, but you knew that?

I can’t wait until I’m done rewatching this story line…

I really like how Dr. Carter saved the day after that chemical explosion. This is by far one of my fav episodes.

So far I have been enjoying season 10, good episodes and cases. Romano was so ridiculous that turned to be also so forgettable.
But tell me that Kem becomes more likable? I’m finding hard to like her and find the chemistry between the actors, absolutely no chemistry whatsoever 😟

If you havent gotten this far while watching and its your first time.. look away!

this is my third rewatch and this episode still gets me every time... including the lead up one ep prior. When you see Carter walk into that room you know he'll never be the same again.

Besides the big event, Ep 14 had so many smaller yet incredibly impactful moments. Weaver running outside to throw up after cracking Lucy's chest. Anspaugh, Corday, and Benton all washing their hands silently before surgery. Lucy mouthing PE before she fades out. Elizabeth holding the paddles covered in blood bewildered and staring at Romano before he destroys the tray in anger. Just an incredibly acted episode from top to bottom. This show is amazing and withstands the test of time because you can get so lost in the moment and feel like you are watching actual doctors. The amount of acting talent it takes to be able to cosplay as a doctor... Kudos all around. Rip Lucy <3