Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I'm not sure if Neela and Sam would have been told who the kidney was for with all the HIPAA laws. They knew who the heart was for because Neela was on the transplant team.
I think, all they knew was that they were asked to take it back with them for that other hospital.
I think what they were trying to tell us was even from across the country, without even knowing it, Doug and Carol were instrumental in saving John Carter's life.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I was getting pumped at seeing some old cast, then susan fucking sarandon had to show up

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

That also marred the episode for me as well.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

oh shit
Ernest Borgnine
that makes up for casting susan

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

This is the first episode I have watched all the way through since Romano lost his arm to the chopper. I've seen bits and pieces since then, but not a whole ep.

It was nice to see everyone back and (as someone said before) not in throw away cameos.

The Benton/Carter stuff was great. Especially the line "You married a sista?" :lol:

Oh... and a shout out to Ernest Borgnine for a great little role... first time I've seen him since his little misstep on Fox...

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Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I was thinking of posting that clip

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

except neither side of the conversation mentioned carter which was odd

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

that's what i said. even with the good explanation by September, there should have been a connection bc i believe Neela or Sam did know Carter was back at the hospital at some point, right?

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Haven't any of you bumped into a old co-worker/friend from hs/whatever and completely forgot to mention someone/ask about someone you both knew?

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Not necessarily...maybe Carter or more likely Lewis kept in touch with Ross, and Doug thought he was in Africa. If that was the case then he wouldn't have mentioned him. Benton knew Carter was in Africa, which I think is in part why he seemed to respect him more.

As for Neela/Sam, they didn't work with Carter that much. It might have slipped their mind.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I bet there is a scene on the cutting room floor with Sam saying to Neela on the plane back to Chicago: "OH MY God! What an idiot I am! I forgot to tell him that John Carter is back! I bet he remembers him!"
And of course, Neela couldn't hear her because of the loud raggae music and she had to repeat it.



:)

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Pun intended? ;)

Chris

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Not intentionally.

... but I do remember seeing the part when the chopper came back and finished him off a few seasons later. ;)

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I tuned out regularly when Dr. Greene left and tuned out permanently when ER became "The Abby Lockhart Show" but I've been trying to catch the returning cast episodes this season.

The Dr. Greene Episode was Ok (about as good as an episode can be that brings a character back from the dead) but this epsiode was as good as anything in the show's glory days.

It's even more apparent how much this show has fallen when every time a current cast member is on screen I mentally "tune out" but when Greene/Carter/Benton/Hathaway/Ross are on screen I'm enthralled. It was a great show once and these last few episodes have been reminding me of it.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I've been fast forwarding through the current cast member scenes. There isn't a character there that I care about. On last Thursday's show I almost stopped at one point because it was Ernest Borgnine, but I kept going anyway. Also, I noticed Hedy Burress was in the last episode, but she didn't have any lines. Too bad her career never really took off because I liked her.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Yeah, That really pissed me off....

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

i haven't watched in many years but thought i'd check this one out, and was very surprised how good it was. i was surprised how ross and hathaway never found out that it was carter, but as someone said, there may be rules against it. i wonder if any of ross/hathaway/benton will return for more shows?

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I have been involved with many heart transplants and we know the names of all persons involved. It is strange that they didn't know who was getting the kidney. Also, wasn't carter a medical student or at least an intern with Ross was there? Maybe thats why he didn't mention him?

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Carter started out as an intern but became a doctor when Ross was still around....

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

This season has actually been pretty good for the most part, started off rough but one of the better ones in a while. The show has remained pretty decent for the most part just been on so long that you watch many times saying to yourself, "been there, done that."

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

If you watch the older shows, Carter and Ross had probably the least interaction out of any of the characters. Ross really only dealt with Carol and Greene (and later Weaver when he was trying to become the 3rd Attending) in almost all of his storylines, from a character perspective it was because he really only dealt with children (which he was chided for in one episode when he was told he has to see adults as well).

As far as almost anyone else, the only time I remember Ross dealing with Carter other than a few traumas with kids was when Carter needed to take a Peds rotation for a couple of episodes. Ross really didn't interact with Lewis much at all either, and for a long time didn't deal with Benton either until they got into a massive fight over treatment of a patient. Clooney's storylines were almost always isolated in the episodes other than his scenes being buddy-buddy with Anthony Edwards.

Either way, I don't really think it's that unlikely that Ross of all characters forgot about Carter. But also, how many episodes in a row can they play up the "I'm _____, how come no one remembers me?" It's seriously been done like 3 or 4 episodes in a row now.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Doug left when? In the middle of season 5 right? Thats like 10 years, I can barely remember people from grade school which was 10 years ago for me, especially the ones I wasn't particularly friends with. So I think its plausible.

As for the quality of the show, I don't think it decreased all that much, sure it had outlandish things happen one after the other, but it still seemed better than most other shows on television. Then again, I was late to the ER party and watched the seasons backwards (10-14 then the earlier ones on dvd) so who knows!

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I wanted them to know the kidney was for Carter as well, but agree with the poster that the point was probably doctors save people without even knowing who it is or if they're connected.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

I think the writers probably just wanted to create an incredibly ironic moment.

And they probably were aware that many in the audience were pulling their hair out in frustration because the recipient's identity wasn't revealed. It really worked well (for me), because I could both appreciate the dramatic irony & yet still find myself hoping they would find out. :up: to the writers.

Like others, we found ourselves amazed at how much more involved we were with the old characters. It's not just nostalgia or that we "liked' the old characters that much more...the acting/writing just seemed to ratchet up a notch. This is the first episode we've seen in a while, having just stumbled onto it after 30 Rock without knowing that the old cast was doing cameos or guest shots. We'll probably watch the rest of the season now & will go back to see the other episodes (Greene, etc.) mentioned.

Re: ER - The Final 4 Episodes -- "Old Times" -- 03/12/09
 

Ross was asking about who was still at County... I sort of took it like he just assumed Carter was still in Africa, so it didn't occur to him to ask about him....