ER Must End

I was afraid that this time would come.  I have been a fan of ER since the days of Carol Hathaway, Mark Green, Doug Ross and the rest of the crew back in the day.  When it first came out, ER was a dynamic and exciting new television series with equally dynamic and exciting characters.  The writing of the show in the past has just been phenomenal.  As amazing as the acting has been on the show over the past years,  I believe that it is the writing that actually made the show what it is today.  And I am sure you all know that acting in a role on ER is no easy task.  In terms of television, ER has the hardest acting role on any show on right now. 

The whole dynamic between Carol and Dough, Jeanie and how she dealt with Aids, the love story between Neela and Galant, and so many other stories, they were written in such a way that they would captivate the audience and have then truly involved in the story from A to Z.  This could not be more true than with Mark Green.  Honestly, who could forget Dr. Green and his battle with brain tumour.  We all know he lost that battle and honestly, we could all see it coming.  But the writing during that season was probably the best its ever been on the show.  I still remember this scene where Mark is on the island and he’s walking with is daughter Rachel, both with surf boards in hand.  All of a sudden Mark starts shaking and falls to the ground.  If there is one scene out of all of ER that I will remember for the rest of my life, it has got to be that.  The Juxtaposition between the beauty of Hawaii, the palm trees, the blue sky and the tragedy that was Dr. Green and his slow, painful, emotional, dark death…honestly, I can’t explain it.  It was genius.  It was beautiful. 

But lately, I haven’t been able to feel that spark.  After Mark Green’s death, ER was still good.  You had the whole John Carter, Luka Kovac, Gregory Pratt situation in Darfur.  You had the Neela and Galant love story, Kovac’s run in with the crazy patient played by Forest Whitaker and everything else in between that I have failed to mention.  Which was all good but in all honestly, the writing, the story lines, the characters and their progression have all been going down.  It just seems like everything is going around in circles and there isn’t any real progress in the characters.  I mean there was that scare where Pratt might have left the ER but he decides to stay.  Abby goes to rehab and gets sober, which isn’t really all that big of a deal.  It just seems like nothing really is going on on ER.  There isn’t anything captivating, there isn’t anything that we can look forward too.  I have begun to notice that with all the veterens that have passed, its been a bit more difficult to create something out of the newer characters.  Don’t get me wrong, there have been some good moments but generally speaking, it really hasn’t been all that exciting.  Where there was potential, like say with Dr. Ray Barnett and his relationship with Neela after he lost his legs, they just cut Ray out of the picture completely.  And I don’t know how everyone else feels about this but personally, I don’t like the addiction of uncle Jessie (John Stamos aka Dr. Tony Gates) to the ensemble, although I must admit he has done a pretty good job thus far. 

I am pretty sure I can go on and on about how ER has gone progressively more crappier after the death of Mark Green.  But I think you get the point.  So having said that, sadly, I believe that ER, with 14 seasons under its belt, the longest running American primetime medical drama in history, should come to an end.  Maybe not this season, maybe not even next season, but soon.  They should wrap things up, do what they have to do, finish up and close the lights on the way out.  As amazing as the show still is in its current state, I believe that they should end the show while it is still decently good.  It would be so unfortunate to have a show like ER end when it gets bad.  Its just like Seinfeld; end the show when it is still good.  Its the best way to go out.  Abby doesn’t look like she’ll ever be happy, even after being sober.  Sam will keep dating and trying to find the right guy, which will take a really long time.  Neela is always up and down, I really am not sure which direction she is heading in.  Uncle Jessie is new to the ER so there is only so much they can do with the character they have engineered for him.  Pratt is gonna stay in the ER until he dies, looks like it.  I mean, you get the point.   Just end it now. 

I use the death of Mark Green as a reference point because I think ER’s climax was Mark Green.  The writing for the show, in my opinion was the best ever, just in case you’re wondering.  But good things can only last for so long.  That is the nature of this life.  And the life of ER has, or should rather, come to an end.  Lets just hope they don’t end the show like The Sopranos.  I really hope someone responds to this entry so that someone can prove me wrong and tell me I have no clue what I am talking about and that there still is life left in my beloved program.  If nobody responds, I’ll assume that I am correct in my assessment. 

Felicity

No, this is not my current state of being.  Rather, I am in a state of felicity while watching felicity.  This is my latest obsession while on winter break.  When this show came out, I was probably in grade 6 or 7 when this first came to air.  I could see that it was a good show but I never really watched it because frankly I was far too young and would not have understood any of it.  At that time, we had a family friend that was staying with us who was attending university and he was heavy into this show.  And literally, almost a decade later, I can clearly see why.  Felicity is a really good show.  If you haven’t heard of it or if you haven’t watched it, I am afraid I won’t be telling you much about it.  You have to check it out for yourself.  I just finished the first season last night.

At first I thought Felicity was just a tad bit crazy with her following Ben to New York and when she dropped out of pre-med.  But it all comes back to the title of the show, Felicity.  Although I am only beginning the second season, I can already see how its all about a person’s desire to find and attain happiness, no matter how crazy that pursuit really is.  Every character in the show is trying to attain the ultimate state of felicity.  It also shows how difficult attaining that state really is.  I mean, everyone can attain one degree or another of felicity, but to achieve the ultimate state of felicity is something that is probably one of the most difficult things in the entire world.  And the thing is, very few people actually get to reach that state.  There are the obvious themes in the show, like love, friendship, self discovery, creativity.  Some people may argue that these are cliches but I would argue that these are all things that are inherent in life and in human nature.  These themes need to be addressed in order to attain a state of felicity.  I sure know that my life involves pretty much all these themes. 

The writing is phenomenal.  And the setting is by far the best;  New York city and a university campus…it honestly can’t get any better than that.  For university students especially, I would highly recommend watching this show.  Its very addictive so don’t let it interfere with your school work.  Its too bad that the show got cancelled in only its fourth season.  It seems like there are so many good shows that get cancelled early.  That’s the nature of television I guess.  I know the Canadians are going to be mad at me when I say this but God bless American Television.