ER: "And In The End..."

[angelophile]

And so, it ends. Fifteen years after it first hit television screens, the final episode of ER has aired. It'd be an exaggeration to claim they saved the best for last, but what they did was end on a high with guest stars Thandie Newton, Alexis Bledel and Ernest Borgnine getting in on the act. In the US ratings went up to 16m for the final episode after tailing off. And despite being overshadowed by fresh but bland shows like Grey's Anatomy, ER picked up more Emmy nominations - 122 - than any other drama in American TV history, was watched in 195 countries and subtitled in 22 languages. An impressive run.

What the last episode did was show the real strength of the medical drama - balancing multiple storylines with the skill of a trained juggler. Ernest Borgnine played a man whose wife was dying after 72 years together. In another storyline a teenage girl is brought into the ER in a coma after being involved in a drinking game with her friends - a game encouraged by the parents. In another a man who has lived 20 years with AIDs discovers he has cancer, while a woman pregnant with twins encounters serious complications after being in a car accident.

Interweaved with these stories, the final on-screen moments of the doctors themselves. Gates and Sam's relationship seems to heal somewhat, Morris once again shows how far he's come as a doctor while still displaying the gift for comedy that Scott Grimes has cultivated. Alexis Bledel's new doctor struggles with the life and death choices in a busy ER.

The storyline that gives some form of closure is the opening of the Joshua Carter Center. It gave an opportunity for Carter to summon many of his formr collegues, leading to guest appearances of Eriq La Salle (Peter Benton), Laura Innes (Kerry Weaver), Sherry Stringfield (Susan Lewis) and Alex Kingston (Elizabeth Corday). As they made their farewells to each other afterwards and slipped off one by one, it felt like the end.

Of course, nothing really ends and while some have expressed frustration at the lack of closure, the fact that many plotlines were left dangling, relationships left unresolved and the final scenes depicted just another day in the ER, it gave a real sense that the characters lives would go on. That while we might not see it, somewhere Carter and Morris and the many others would continue to do their work, live their lives. I found the ending to be a hopeful one as Mark Greene's daughter Rachel was reintroduced as a med student interviewing for a place at County. As the final scenes closed, the ranked doctors and nurses of the ER stood awaiting the victims of an explosion at a power plant and Carter addressed her as "Dr Greene" things felt like they'd gone full circle, but that life would continue.

For me, that was the best way they could leave it. Closing the ER, killing off Carter, all the other things that would have given the series permanent closure - those would have made it too final. I loved the open endedness of it. That life goes on and isn't always neat.

So, no explosions, no bombshells, no "oh my god, I can't believe they did that!" moment. It was contemplative and not "spectacular" (in a good way). Some characters who had been the focus this season were neglected entirely (Neela's cameo seemed unnecessary, Angela Bassett and David Lyons didn't have a lot to do and their characters didn't get any development, Scott Grimes' screentime was too short, but on the other hand all these characters shone in the previous two episodes) , but on the plus side long time minor-players such as Laura Ceron, Abraham Benrubi, Deezer, D, Ellen Crawford (waking the on call doctor as she did in the first scenes 15 years before), Troy Evans and Yvette Freema all had their chances to shine.

But for me, they set the tone. Tragedies and life-changing moments for the characters who passed through the ER - some tragic, some uplifting. Some both together (Mr "Ghandi"'s speech made me moist up, I admit it). Remarkable things happening but seemingly "just another day in the ER" for those that work there.

After 15 years it was a fitting ending for an old friend.