TV Review: ER Episode 12.08

Thursday, November 17, 2005

From NBC: Neela (Parminder Nagra) thinks that she is going on a routine ambulance ride-along with Gates, (Guest Star, John Stamos), and soon finds herself in the middle of an emergency, attending to a plane crash site where many are injured and trapped inside a burning building. Meanwhile, the ER opens to trauma victims of the plane crash and Sam (Linda Cardellini) struggles with an executive decision that could cost her her job. Neela's (Parminder Nagra) bravery has won the respect of her co-workers and especially Gates the ambulance driver but, her day is not over when she receives a surprise.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

I'm not sure what has happened from the start of the season till now, but tonight's episode of ER called 'Two ships' reminded me of why I fell in love with this show to begin with. Could it be the addition of Clemente spicing things up? Or is this just show just that damned good? I'm not sure which of the two it is, but this episode was the best of the season.

We start this episode like any other day. Abby wakes up in bed with Luka at his place. Everyone else is busy at the ER. Neela is finally doing her paramedic ride along she has need to, and she thinks she is in for just another normal day. How wrong is she huh? Soon after the episode starts, Pratt is on the roof to witness the crash of a plane in mid-air, the plane falls to the ground and lands on an apartment building. There are lots of serious injuries here. Neela is one of the first to arrive with Gates, once again played by John Stamos, and he talks her through what she needs to do. There is complete and utter chaos on scene and many are dead. Those that aren't dead are severely injured and will soon be dead. We have injured both from the plane and the ground.

So much is going on, but as always a few cases stand out. One being of a mother from the building played by guest star Serena Williams. She runs out of the building with her daughter, but her son is still trapped inside.  Against orders of the police to stay out of the building, she runs back in with Neela following to help Gates find her son. Soon after she does that, there is an explosion. The mother is impaled, and Gates is injured. Neela makes a decision to stay and go for the boy, even with everyone else telling her to leave the building. She finds him and is on her way out when a piece of the building falls and blocks her way out. She eventually does find her way out of the building, but she suffers from smoke inhalation.

Once outside, she treats Gates as well, and then heads back to the ER with Pratt. Pratt has been sent out to the scene by Clemente to work on amputation. The man is fairly bad off, and they soon learn the only way he will live is if they keep compressing his heart, which they do until his family can arrive and they can be with him as he dies - a heart breaking scene during tonight's episode.

Meanwhile back at the ER, they are receiving patients from the incident, and we see everyone involved. Clemente and Luka once again go head to head once he arrives with Abby. They both had the night off, but they came in when they heard the crash. The plane hit close enough to shake up Luka's apartment a bit.
Eve is on her way out of town, and when the plane does crash, Sam seems to be the only one that even spares a moment to consider if the plane that crashed was the one Eve took off on. Sam is in charge of the ER nurses, and she does well. They were short staffed at the beginning of the episode, and with the trauma this makes things even more difficult. She makes a command decision and calls back in Nurse Helah to help with the trauma.  Those of the staff that see her are happy she's back. When Even returns to the ER, she even commends Sam on her decision to bring Helah back in.

Once things are settled down, Luka and Abby are able to finally talk about what's happening between them. In an awkward scene, the two decide to remain just friends, but the looks between them tell me this won't last for long. There is some definite tension when it comes to the two of them. Abby sticks around after he leaves. She also is the one that treats Neela for her breathing, and she tries to get Neela to stay, but she is determined to go home.

She even leaves when Abby tells her she slept with Luka. "Nice try," she said. Good thing she returned home though because just as she is opening the door, a taxicab pulls up and someone steps out. Gallant is home, and the first one he went to go see is Neela. I think I jumped out of my chair when I saw he was there, and I might have screamed. I love these two together. Although, I have noticed something between Ray and Neela, that looks to be mute point though after what they showed in tonight's previews for the next new episode. I got a little teary eyed even when they were hugging in the middle of the street at the end. She'd wanted him back for so long, and he arrived the night she probably needed him the most. She had a few scary moments in the building, and for a moment or two it looked like she wouldn't make it out. It all worked out though, and now she has her man back.

This episode was excellent television. Early episodes this season had left me really wanting more. Even with the addition of Kristen Johnston, things didn't really pick up. Things really started moving in the right direction with the addition of John Leguizamo, and I think he has made all the difference to this show. There were so many awesome lines on tonight's episode. I was really pleased, and I can't wait for the next new episode. Not sure if that will be next week since it is Thanksgiving, but whenever it is I know I'll be watching.