“For the men and women who pass through here, it’s probably the
most traumatic day of their life,” says Christopher Chulack, ER director/producer,
on one of ER’s Second Season Featurettes. “For
the men and women who work here, it’s Tuesday.” Harkening back to
the good old days when NBC was airing quality drama, this is the show that manages
to glamorize phrases like “scrub in,” and “treat em and street
em” while remaining marvelously true-to-life. Centering on an eclectic
bunch of alternately arrogant, persistent, and devoted ER doctors, this fantastic
season mostly belongs to Noah Wyle’s John Carter. Beginning with “Welcome
Back, Carter” (one of two episodes available with cast/crew commentary)
and concluding with “John Carter, MD,” the early journey of television’s
favorite naive medical student/resident is chronicled on ER’s Emmy winning
second season.
As the season opens, Carter’s a disgruntled medical student, referred
to as “It,” by a sarcastic ER resident. By the season’s end,
the eager Carter scores not only with fellow medical student Harper Tracy (Christine
Elise) but with judgmental mentor Benton (Eriq La Salle), a career-driven doctor
whose host of personal problems include an awkward fling with married physician
Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben, who becomes a series regular) and a power struggle
with the arrogant but influential Dr. Vucelich.
Other major developments include Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards)’s
separation from his wife (leaving room for a later hint of romance with colleague
Susan Lewis), Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes)’s dreaded Chief Resident appointment,
and Nurse Hathaway (Julianna Margulies)’s affair with a temperamental
paramedic named Shep (Ron Eldard.) While I seriously missed the Hathaway/Ross
romance, extensively developed in seasons three-five, Eldard is charming and
effective as the sweet but troubled Shep. Successfully walking a fine line between
a sympathetic boyfriend and a psychopath, Eldard fares much better here than
in his woefully miscast House of Sand and Fog role.
The most touching of the marvelously interwoven subplots-ER writers are experts
at distributing shining moments equally to series regulars and guests- involves
Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and her drug-addicted sister Chloe (Kathleen
Wilhoite), who abandons baby Susie in the season’s third episode. “She
was such an accomplished adult by the time she was nine, and so lousy at it
by the time she was nineteen,” Lewis remarks- an example of ER’s
spare yet telling dialogue. And then, of course, there’s Doctor Ross (George
Clooney), the “cowboy”/Cary Grant of County General, dismissing
rules and arrogantly- albeit charismatically- caring for his pediatric patients.
“Ounce for ounce, this show has more moments than any other series,”
Mimi Leder says on the commentary for episode “The Healers.” As
director and producer, she may be biased, but I’d have to agree. Retaining
a consistent, superior level of quality despite a host of different writers
and directors, Season Two is so addictive you can easily watch two or three
episodes and be shocked the hours have gone by. Juxtaposing mundane moments
(a game of basketball, a staff meeting), with much more dire ones (fires, shootings,
it’s an ER, what do you expect?) this Michael Crichton created drama provides
viewers with a pure dose of medical specifics, never skimping on the entertainment
value.
ER also features a fantastic slew of guest stars- William
H. Macy as the eccentric Dr. Morgenstern, Marg Helgenberg (CSI) as one of Dr.
Ross’ girlfriends, Lucy Liu as the mother of a four-year-old AIDS patient,
Michael Beach as Jeannie’s well-meaning husband, who, by the season’s
end, may have passed his ill-fate to both his wife and Dr. Benton. Never stooping
to the one-dimensionality of melodrama, ER’s writers
and directors do a pitch-perfect job of capturing the day-to-day as well as
the extraordinary, imbuing each and every episode with humor and “earned”
sentiment.
“Welcome Back Carter,” directed by action heavyweight Mimi Leder
(The Peacemaker), is accompanied by a commentary with Leder,
editor Randy Jon Morgan, and actor Laura Innes. Most of the discussion involves
styles of shooting and editing (including Leder’s famous running steadicam)
that are instrumental in creating ER’s unique look. While,
annoyingly, the commentary’s not available with scene selections, it’s
fairly informative. In addition to discussing basic “making of”
logistics, Leder and Innes give kudos to the extras (“they really are
the unsung heroes of this show”), some of whom are nurses in real life.
Leder, Morgan, and Innes also provide a commentary for “The Healers,”
one of Morgan’s favorite episodes. “The Healers” which begins
with Shep’s near death experience in a drastic fire (“you cannot
work around fire without thinking through every moment,” Leder says),
served as Leder’s last duty call as a director of ER. Like The
West Wing, which has political consultants employed on set, ER
hires medical consultants, and their input is discussed. It’s refreshing
to hear a commentary focus on editing- an often underappreciated, essential
aspect of film and TV making. Both “The Healers” and “Welcome
Back Carter” are written by Wells.
Additional, average special features are:
“On Call: The Life of an ER Director”: A standard ten-minute long
feature focusing on the series’ various directors. Includes interviews
with director of photography Richard Thorp; director/editor Jacque Toberen,
Christopher Chulack, Neal Baer, Laura Innes, Gloria Rueben, and Anthony Edwards,
who directed the episode “Take These Broken Wings.” The focus is
mostly on swift pace with which the show was shot- seven days of prep, eight
days of shooting; “We were doing more scenes per episode than any other
show on television,” says Edwards. Though interesting, “On Call”
isn’t really Season Two specific- for example, Innes talks about directing
“Power,” which aired mid-Season Five.
“Outpatient Outtakes” are comprised of fifteen deleted scenes,
nicely marked by episode. It’s easy to see why most of these scenes- for
the most part, overly expository needlessness- were taken out, although Gloria
Rueben does have a lovely moment that was removed from the episode “John
Carter, MD.”
“CUTups.” There are some amusing moments in this two minute long
collage of outtakes, but they’re too short to be satisfying. Producers
should have put more goofball Clooney antics in this feature, and less Carter
and Benton shaking their heads back and forth.
The best bonus feature is “Anatomy of an Episode: Hell and High Water.”
“Hell,” an action-packed forty minutes in which an almost-fired
Ross rescues a young boy from a storm drain, instantly becoming County’s
most lauded physician, is arguably Season Two’s most well-known episode.
Eight minutes long, the feature includes clips from the episode intended to
“make George an action hero”, as well as interviews with director
Christopher Chulack, editor Jacque Toberen, and writer Neal Baer, among others.
There’s also an interview with cast member Gloria Reuben, but, unfortunately,
none with Clooney.
ER: The Complete Second Season is a handsomely packaged four
disc set, accompanied by English, French, and Spanish subtitles, and a handy
episode guide. The bonus features aren’t worth the purchase price, but
the show certainly is. Consistently solid and often brilliant, ER
is dramatic TV at its finest.
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