After countless awards, and well documented highs and lows, ER finally closed up shop after fifteen years on the air. After the unevenness of the previous season, interrupted by the writer’s strike, many wondered if ER had enough gas in the tank to pull off twenty-two more worthwhile episodes. You can count me among the skeptics, but thankfully, the writers and producers did the series proud.
The brainchild of late best-selling author Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), Steven Spielberg, Emmy-winning producer John Wells and Emmy winner Christopher Chulack, ER was originally envisioned as a movie that would explore the inner workings of an urban hospitals emergency room. Instead, the idea was turned into a series that became an instant phenomenon, making stars of the cast, and launching George Clooney to movie superstardom.
While ER had lost some of its strength as original cast members left, and some storylines became outright ridiculous, the fifteenth season’s introduction of Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett as the new ER chief, Catherine “Cate” Banfield suggested that the show runners wanted to bring ER back to the basics of what had made the series such a success.
Minor Spoilers ahead! The season began minutes after the previous season’s finale, with the wounded from the ambulance bombing flooding County General. Dr. Gregory Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) a central character since the eighth season dies. From the start, the writing returned to the top form of earlier seasons, and a commitment to character development shone through. Episodes delivered a nice balance of drama, laughter, hard-hitting issues (including paedophilia, child abuse, alcoholism, etc) while letting us peek into the personal and professional lives of the staff at County General.
The arrival of Angela Bassett’s Dr. Cate Banfield was a real shot in the arm for the series. An emotionally damaged woman, her storyline serves as an emotional, and believable for Anthony Edwards’ Mark Greene to make a final appearance from beyond the grave. Banfield’s husband Russell is played by Bassett’s real life husband, Courtney B. Vance, which adds an interesting dynamic to the proceedings. I’ve always felt Bassett was a great actress, and she shows it here, in a role that requires her to show many different emotional sides. I only wish she had been brought on a couple of seasons earlier, she might’ve brought some life to a series that seemed on life support at times.
Noah Wyle returned for several episodes as Dr. Carter, this time facing his own medical crisis; there are also visits from Eriq La Salle’s Dr. Benton, Shane West’s Ray Barnett, Paul McCrane’s Dr. Romano, George Clooney’s Dr Ross, Julianna Margulies’s nurse Carol Hathaway, Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver, Alex Kingston as Dr. Elizabeth Corday, and Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis. With each characters return, the writers were able to find new ways to revisit them, even delivering some surprises along the way.
Despite the parade of past characters, the writers never neglected the current crop of doctors, allowing them to make their mark on ER history. The relationship between Gates (John Stamos) and Sam (Linda Cardellini) was as you might expect a bumpy ride. Archie Morris (Scott Grimes) who came to County General lacking some maturity during the tenth season, but five years later, he was one of the best doctors at the hospital. Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra) made some tough decisions and earned her happy farewell, and Simon Brenner (David Lyons) provided some of the most surprisingly intense sequences of the season.
While there weren’t any particularly weak episodes this season, a few, aside from the obviously emotional season premiere stand out. The Book of Abby (featuring the departure of Abby Lockhart), Heal Thyself (a flashback episode featuring Mark Greene), Old Times (the return of Clooney) and And In The End… (the final episode) drew highest audience numbers, and served to put a bow on a truly memorable series.
Twenty-two episodes over six discs are presented in their original 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format and look good. The show had been broadcast in high-definition for a few prior seasons, so they knew what they were doing, and the resulting image looks pristine without any edge enhancement or haloing. I always thought this would be a great show for Blu-ray, but I guess that’s not in the cards…for now.
A two-channel Dolby stereo track provides an impressive level of surround activity. Everything fires if necessary (when there’s major activity in the ER), which only helps to envelop the viewer into the experience.
English and French subtitles are available.
As with prior seasons, the special features consist of “Outpatient Outtakes,” otherwise known as deleted and extended/alternate scenes, on selected episodes which really don’t add much to the storylines. Special to this set is a “Retrospective featurette” which is just what it sounds like, and serves as a nice way to wrap up the long running series.
