TV Review: ER Episode 12.22 Season Finale

Thursday, May 18, 2006

From NBC: Chaos strikes in County General when shots are fired and the gunmen get more and more desperate to make it out of the hospital. Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic) unknowingly puts himself in harms way while Abby (Maura Tierney) is in the line of fire. Meanwhile, Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) tries to help Neela (Parminder Nagra) as she attends to Gallant's concerned parents (guest stars Ernie Hudson, "Ghostbusters," and Sheryl Lee Ralph, "Designing Women"). Laura Innes, Linda Cardellini, Shane West and Scott Grimes also star.

My Rating: 4 out of 4

This season finale episode of ER titled Twenty-one guns opens with Pratt getting ready to attend Gallant's funeral, which is for family only. This doesn't set well with Ray, but he has to accept it. While Pratt waits for Neela to arrive, she ends up not showing. She can't handle the funeral service. Back at Luka's, Abby wakes up to find him in the nursery. She sits to join him, and she opens up a conversation a about their relationship, and he pops the question.

Back at the hospital, Carrie is informed that their are problems from the Clemente situation. Apparently, a family is seeing an opportunity to cash in by suing the hospital because of Clemente's bad doctor status. Carrie says he was cleared any wrongful duty in that one case. She is also told that Luka is also under fire here as the head of the ER. When she tells Luka that, he is not too happy because he might lose his job for something he had no responsibility for. He didn't hire Clemente, but as Carrie points out he didn't fire him either.

In the ER, several patients are brought in for care. It is also Morris' last day at the hospital, so he is going around trying to film a video to take with him. An elderly man, a young boy and a prisoner that turns out to be Sam's ex-husband are all brought in. As for Pratt, he heads over to where Neela is staying to try to convince her to go to Gallant's funeral. She is having severe problems with his death, but he is finally able to convince her to join him at the cemetery. Meanwhile, Sam has a EMT trainee named Mary shadowing her and causing havoc in the ER, as she fouls up one thing after another.

At the funeral, there is a twenty-one gun military salute in honor of Gallant, and during this time Neela remembers her times with her husband. These are shown in flashback form. Back at the hospital, Sam is taking care one of the prisoners, and he warns her of the other man brought in with him. When she goes to take care of the other, we see the EMT trainee drugging one of the cops in the hallway. She lets the other prisoner, and then goes to get the one Sam is treating. They then want Sam to accompany them out. Luka comes looking for Sam, and he then tries to play hero. The woman shoots him up with a drug that helps those in the ER with intubation, which shocks Sam.

If she doesn't intubate Luka, he will die. She finally talks the men into letting her do that before she escorts them out. However, it appears she might not have been successful before she is dragged off. As she leads the two men down the hall, she tries to signal others in the ER, and the only one that gets it is Abby, when Sam calls her Abigail. When they find out they have been caught,. they start shooting in the ER before they rush out to the car. Sam tells him to think of his son, which he already did. Alex is in the car with him, so this causes Sam to jump in with her ex.

At the ER, things are hectic following the shooting. Abby has hit her head, and it appears she might be in early labor. Jerry has been shot, and no one has seen Luka. He is still in the room, and the good news is the medicine has started to wear off, but he is tied up and unable to free himself or call for help. As for Abby, she is injured herself, and she begins to bleed and then proceeds to pass out. Luka sees this happen from the next room, and this is how this season of ER ends.

As for ER, this is another series that hasn't always won me over this season, but I still love it. In the last few episodes, the season has drastically improved, and I am glad to see it returning for another season next year. As for season thirteen, ER will be shown with no repeats next year as it has a shortened season. It will air from September through December without stopping. This should allow the show to get a full season in before a new series, The Black Donnellys, comes in during its time slot in January.