Reviewing Movies

After fifteen Seasons this show finally wrapped last year. Although I have had only passing acquaintance it was fascinating to watch the pilot episode and see all the rookie actors whose careers this show launched before they became famous; were any of us ever that young? As Dr. Mark Greene, Anthony Edwards, who still has hair here, is the rock that holds everything together. A man who never calls in sick, he is quietly efficient making his job look easy until someone else attempts to do it. Noah Wyle arrives looking like a stray puppy dog, he at least has an excuse for looking lost as he begins his first hospital rotation as a med student. To a large extent it is through his eyes we get introduced to a large hospital emergency department.

In the same way that I question why anyone would want to be assigned to a military combat unit given my reading of War or the watching of Stop-Loss and Hurt Locker, I would wonder that anyone would want to subject themselves to the stress and constant human tragedy encountered in an ER in a major city like Chicago. The kinds of people who flourish in these situations must share similar characteristics as adrenalin junkies. The challenge is presenting oneself to the patients as a caring individual without letting this constant birage of human woe tear one apart. To empathize while maintaining objectivity; to keep one’s reserve without appearing coldly analytical; in a word to present a good bedside manner.

Of particular note is the day of the blizzard in which bored staff resort to childish games just before they get deluged with hundreds of casualties from a multi-car pile-up. The day a barely teenaged gangbanger threatens the ward with a gun until he learns that his target is already dead. Through the eyes of a newly arrived intern we confront staff member’s acceptance of the everyday occurance of man’s inhumanity to man. Produced back in the day when there were still 24 episodes in a season this package contains 4 DVD’s with 3 episodes per side.