1632
Subj : Re: Episode with No Plot
To   : alt.tv.er
From : Banty
Date : Fri Oct 07 2005 10:03:17

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er

In article <1128689176.856063.244110@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
npardue@indiana.edu says...
>
>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 liked it.  Introduced a main character, moved ahead on some relationships. 
And we have had "XX's Bad Day" plots before, haven't we?  This was "Luka's
Really Bad Day".

We have really different impressions of a lot of points...

>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.)

It looked to me that he was behaving as a man under stress  - nothing crazy or
otherwise impared.  To see him like that in oncology fit right in.  So the scene
flew for me, I guess.


>
>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.

No defense on the new hours and how that was imposed.  But, there *was* a pretty
apparent problem with decisions being made based on who wanted to be away from
whom.  That's not "doing their jobs well".

>
>The Me Goodbody scene was cute.  

That scene irritated me.  Can't put a finger on why - maybe it just struck me as
really contrived.

>I also found myself enjoying Neela's
>photo-shoot, at least once she relaxed and learned that smiling is
>sexier than pouting.

That was cute.

>
>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.

If she's so nervous about it she's going to Mexico and endangering herself,
she's not a candidate for "watchful waiting".  I liked that subplot - seemed
right on.  In character with Abby's ability to connect with strangers' inner
motivations and therefore be very convincing in her advice.  (As opposed to how
poorly she does in personal relationships, both characteristics being due to her
upbringing and family circumstances.)

>
>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.)

Again - with two ex's, and the whole question of safety and parenting and
differences about these, it seemed right on to me.

Although I wondered if Luka was holding back his strength.  Luka was in the
middle of a Really Bad Day and probably wasn't in a groove that would let him
just take strong action..


>
>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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