I had wanted to write about
ER’s final season for a while now, but to be honest I still hadn’t watched a single episode yet. So this past weekend The Blot held a mini
ER marathon watching the first five episodes of the NBC drama’s 15th season. It’s kind of sad to think
ER will finally be ending its historic run because after 15 years it’s hard to remember a time the show wasn’t on TV. I’ve been faithfully watching the hour drama since episode 1 (I was 14 years old at the time), so I can really say the show has been appointment television all of my quasi-adult life.
I never usually bank so many episodes on my DVR, but I turned off the season premier after starting to watch it a few weeks ago. You see while I knew Mekhi Phifer was leaving the show after 8 seasons, it kind of pissed me off they were killing his character, Dr. Gregory Pratt. I don’t know why shows feel like they need to kill off characters for an emotional departure, but in this case it was entirely unnecessary considering this is the medical drama’s last season.
Once I was able to get over the death of Dr. Pratt, I came to the realization that this season has actually been really good. In many ways
ER: The Final Season has turned into
ER: The Next Generation with the show getting a huge dose of new faces (the show now boasts 6 new medical students and a new ER Attending). It has also been a true final season with a series of heartfelt good-byes and the return of some very familiar faces, combining for a great send off for the NBC Thursday night staple. Along with Dr. Pratt, we’ve also said our final good-byes to fan favorites Dr. Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) and Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) who have both been on the show since season 6.
While the good-byes were to be expected, the biggest surprises this season have been the returning faces. Already we’ve seen the return of Shane West’s Dr. Ray Barnett, who left County General two years ago after being struck by a car and the amputation of both legs. It’s a real shame West left the show because his return spotlighted the great onscreen chemistry he had with Dr. Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra).
But the biggest surprise which will hopefully bring in many former viewers is the return of Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards). Edwards will be returning from the grave in a special flashback episode this Thursday, which will also explain new
ER doctor Cate Banfield’s (Angela Bassett) history with the Chicago ER. You can also expect original cast member Noah Wyle to return for a 4 episode arc as Dr. John Carter towards the end of
ER’s final 19 episodes.
If you’ve ever watched
ER over the past 15 years then I highly recommend jumping back on the bandwagon one last time. I am positive you won’t be sorry that you did, because I’m expecting a very entertaining and emotional sendoff for the show’s huge cast of characters.
ER airs every Thursday at 10/9c on NBC.
It’s finally here, ER’s 15th and final season finale. The Blot has been equally looking forward to and dreading watching one of my favorite shows come to an end. You just never know what you’re going to get with a planned series finale, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one with lots of returning cast members from the show’s rich history scheduled to appear.
I’m just hoping there are no more deaths of beloved characters, something ER has come to be known for over the years. For some reason the writers off ER just can’t let exiting characters ride off into the sunset, they always have to kill them off in some cockamamie way. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if a bomb went off in Chicago’s County General while all of the show’s past and present characters were in the building. That way the tradition of killing off the character of an actor exiting the show would still hold true.
