Subj : Episode with No Plot
To   : alt.tv.er
From : npardue
Date : Fri Oct 07 2005 06:46:16

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er

Well.... last weeks eppy was stupid and unbelievable.  Last nights was
just BORING. (And had it's share of the stupid and unbelievable too, of
course.)

I'll make my comments random today ... sort of stream of conciousness.

Dubenko must have a brain tumor.  The dialogue they wrote for him
didn't sound anything like he would say, even considering that he
obvioulsy had a lot on his mind just then. (I mean, the idea seemed
right for his character as we've seen it, but the actual wording and/or
the delivery didn't fly.)

I don't often pay close attention to the credits (and always edit them
out when I tape), but I noticed that Goran has made it to the top of
the credits. I'm guessing that next year he'll get the "and" spot.

This new nurse manager is unbearable.  I'm guessing Kerry must have
hired her, looking for someone who 'manages' with a tough hand.  But
she's a crappy manager and I don't recall ever seeing her actually work
with a patient.  (Rather needed since as near as I can tell, the only
main/supporting cast nurses left seem to be Sam and Chuny.) I'm sure
she wants to make her authority known, but throwing your weight around
like that the first day is not a good way to 'win friends and influence
people.'

Looked to me like Sam and LUka were doing their jobs well. (Certainly
better than when Sam threw the kit at him two seasons back because she
was jealous of Gillian!) No excuse for Eve to unilaterally inform her
that her schedule is being changed AND her hours are being cut.

Looks like Luka's really smoking. (Remember he told Carter way back in
"Kisangani" that he doesn't smoke?) Seeing as Goran himself is trying
to quit, must be tough on him to have to be smoking in his roles.) Must
be a hollywood thing, but can't the writers come up with any visible
way of showing 'stressed character' than to stick a cigarette in their
hand/mouth?

The Me Goodbody scene was cute.  I also found myself enjoying Neela's
photo-shoot, at least once she relaxed and learned that smiling is
sexier than pouting.

At the end, why was Neela yelling at Ray to 'shut up!' when it was
clearly his ladyfriend who was making all the noise?

Nice couple of scenes at the end with Luka and Abby. (Though Abby's new
hairstyle with the bangs and darker dye job makes her look about 12.
Maybe Luka really DID buy her a 'school-girl' outfit back when they
were seeing each other.)

I didn't care for the plot with the breast-cancer gal at all.  Maybe
Doc Sharon can fill me in on the details of her problem, but I don't
get why Abby was pressuring her to have this surgery now?  The woman
still looks pretty young.  Wouldn't 'watchful waiting' (frequent breast
exams and mammograms, and u/s scans of the ovaries) be a reasonable
safe route to take for the next 5-10 years; at least long enough to
allow her to fulfill her dream of marriage/kids. And Shaina was curious
about the "90%" risk reduction that Abby quoted her.  "If she has a
mastectomy she won't have any breasts," my brilliant daughet said, "So
how would she have even a 10% chance of getting breast cancer?"
In a more general sense, I really didn't LIKE the way Abby was
pressuring her to have the surgery. Encourage her to talk to the
oncologist, sure.  But this is not an emergecy. The poor woman does
have time to consider her options befor making a decision she will
regret.

The brawl in the trauma room definitely came out of no-where and had no
point whatsoever. (And Shaina said that she thought Luka was stronger
than that! He shouldn't have needed security's help.)

Once again trying to figure out when this was set.  The cleaning lady
told Luka it was 'the first Thursday of the month.' Eve talking about
something having been "ordered back in July and just arrived last
Friday." Greg tells Olivia that he met with Charlie 'last week.' We
know that "Canon City" was set the first week of July.  "Nobody's Baby"
seemed to be a week or two later.  But this can't be the first Thursday
in August, or Eve's line about having ordered something "back in July"
wouldn't have made sense.  Can't be the first week in September or
Greg's line to Olivia wouldn't have made sense. (And we would have
expected to see some closure on the Samka split by now.)

Kerry tells Luka that the two of them are now the only 2 attendings.
(Though I note she uses the phrase 'faculty.'  Is that new
terminology?) That can't be.  We've been told over the past few seasons
that there are usually 2 attendings on the floor at any given time.  If
we assume that attendings work 4 12/hour shifts a week, that means
there have to be 7 attendings in the ER to allow sufficient coverage.
While there have never been more than 4 in the main cast, it's assumed
that there are some invisible attentings (as well as invisible
residents/med students/nurses/of course). Jing Mei left way back last
December. She hasn't yet been replaced?  Carter gave sufficient notice
to have allowed a search to at least begin before he skipped town. I
should hope that Susan gave notice as well, and didn't just up and
quit. And then there have to be those 3 or 4 'invisible' attendings.

I'm sure more comments will come to me later, but those were the main
ones. 

Naomi

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