ER: The Complete Fifteenth Season

After countless highs and lows over the previous five or six seasons, it was hard to know what to expect from ER's farewell season.
Fourteen, which was supposed to be the final season before the writer's strike, got off to a mediocre start and had just begun
to set up the ending during the midpoint of the season. Consequently, it came as no surprise to me when NBC announced in April
2008 that ER would get one more shot at an (uninterupted) 19 episode send off. It was the best thing that could've happened.

The fifteenth season picks up seconds after the previous season finale, with the wounded from the ambulance bombing
flooding County General. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The episode also includes a wrenching sned off for Dr. Gregory Pratt, the
final regular cast member of the show to be killed off. With this first episode, the early days seemed to be back.
The intensity that had been lacking from more recent seasons returned, and stayed with the show all throughout the
fifteenth season. The writing also improved, and several fresh storylines centered around County's newest Doc,
Catherine Banfield (NAACP Image Award Winner Angela Bassett, Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, 2009, ER).
Her character also served as a portal into the past, the key to a storyline involving Dr. Greene that allowed
Anthony Edwards, Laura Innes and Paul McCrane to reprise their roles. Throughout the season, Shane West, Noah Wyle,
Sherry Stringfield, Eriq La Salle, Alex Kingston, George Clooney and Julianna Margulies would also make
appearances.

The greatest thing about this season is how it seamlessly blends old storylines and characters with new
ones yet never makes the mistake of wasting screen time with too many syrupy reunions. Perhaps unlike
any other show in TV history, ER portrayed a workplace. Not a fantasy one where the same people are
there year after year, but where people move on, die, quit, and are replaced by other individuals who
must push forward for the greater good. Some viewers didn't like that we didn't get to see Dr. Ross
and Carol Hathaway interact with Dr. Carter or even realize that the kidney they sent to Chicago
saved his life. But that's realistic. Sometimes people move on and don't keep in close contact with
old friends, even if they didn't have a major falling out. Watching Doug and Carol work at the hospital
in Seattle pushed their characters forward instead of boxing them in to the role of "returning cast
member". The writer's thought a little outside the box, and for that I'm truly grateful.

There are many beginnings and endings in this season for the characters we've watched over fifteen
seasons. And the best thing about the series finale is that it doesn't neatly wrap up every storyline.
It leaves the viewer to add his or her own interpretation about how things will turn out. If you
looked the two hour series premiere of ER, chances are you liked the two hour finale (winner
of the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series). The last spoken line
and final shot of the series remain one it's best moments. Whether you were a loyal viewer
for all fifteen seasons or only caught the first few, this is a must watch season.

I will be sure to walk many, many miles to find a hospital-focussed television drama that comes close to the standard "ER" has set. I think, from the outset, it must have been the aim of its creator (Michael Crichton) to make an impact, and touch television viewers like no other hospital drama ever has. "ER" certainly has touched me, and I miss it so, so much. I am hoping the DVD set will include the special retrospective episode as an extra extra special feature.

ER: Season 15

In 1988 NBC cancelled the critically acclaimed hospital drama St. Elsewhere after a six year run. The Emmy winning show with an incredibly loyal fan base, though never a top ten hit, was described as reflecting the gritty reality of a big city hospital. So who would have thought that six years later two movie moguls with limited television experience such as Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg, fresh off their successful collaboration on Jurassic Park, could sell NBC on a hospital drama reflecting the gritty reality of life in the emergency room of a big city hospital?

Based on his own experience as a resident physician in a busy hospital emergency room Crichton penned a screenplay in 1974. The script remained unsold and Crichton moved on to other projects until 1994 when he and Spielberg turned Crichton's screenplay into a television pilot. The pilot which was virtually unchanged from the original screenplay aired on September 19, 1994 opposite Monday Night Football and did surprisingly well. After being moved to Thursday nights, the show became a surprise hit of the 1994-1995 season. ER would eventually anchor NBC's Thursday "Must See TV" lineup and last for fifteen seasons.

On July 12th, 2011 Warner Home Video released the fifteenth season of ER on DVD. The five disc box set contains all twenty-two episodes of the final season and "Previously on ER" a retrospective featurette.

With season fifteen being added after the show received a stay of execution due to the writers strike during season fourteen, the show was given a chance to pass on in a far more dignified manner, and the now reasonably satisfied writers were allowed to stretch their creative muscles to fill the additional episodes. In many cases the stretching of said muscles proves to be quite entertaining, and in other cases such as episode twelve "Dream Runner" in which Neela (Parminder Nagra) dreams through various actions and subsequent outcomes of the same cases over and over, or episode eighteen "What We Do" where filmmakers visit the ER, the results of the writers testing their flexibility appears to be injury inducing due to spending too much time on a couch watching reruns of MASH..

Season fifteen introduces us to Dr. Cate Banfield portrayed by Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning actress Angela Bassett who ends the train of talented stars brought in to play the hard nose boss following the departure of the brilliant Paul McCrane as Dr. Robert "Rocket" Romano in 2003. Though no one was ever able to capture the energy associated with the thoroughly enjoyable son of a bitch that was "Rocket"; Bassett lives up to her resume during stories that are clearly more about the history of the show then present day.

The final season of ER does a surprisingly good job of paying homage to this iconic series as past stars of the show are weaved into storylines which are for the most part well written and entertaining. Yes, the storyline in episode nineteen "Old Times" which catches us up with Doug Ross (George Clooney) and Carol Hathaway (Julianna Marguilies) is horribly contrived and unfulfilling, but episode seven "Heal Thyself" does not disappoint as the past and present are brilliantly brought together allowing the loyal fans to once again bid farewell to the long since deceased Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards).

Though Noah Wyle's character John Carter is utilized throughout the season to bring the past and present together, and fans are treated to the emotional farewell they crave in the two hour finale "And in the End..." as many of our favorite characters bid an emotional farewell to each other after a night on the town, the season belongs to Scott Grimes as Dr. Archie Morris becomes the well deserved focal point of the ER.

There is no question that over the last years of the show, the gritty reality of an emergency room has been overshadowed by the romantic escapades of the characters, yet it is clear that in the final season, an effort is being made to bring some of the harsh reality back to the show. Unfortunately the method utilized to succeed in the revival of reality in the ER appears to be primarily blood and guts. The need to show open wounds, scalpels cutting into flesh, and pints and pints of blood, comes across more like a director with a new toy then the reality of life in a hospital and is beneath the creativity associated with a series built on cutting edge cinematography, storytelling, and well written characters.

The featurette "Previously on ER" is entertaining and certainly allows for insight into the show through interviews with its stars, but since it appears to have been completed before the end of season fifteen, the portion dedicated to the shows many legendary guest stars fails to acknowledge those checking in during the final twenty-two episodes including Louis Gossett Jr., Amy Madigan, and a brilliant performance by Ernest Borgnine, to name a few. The failure of the featurette to acknowledge the supporting players such as Evette Freeman who had been with the show through its entire run is unforgiveable.

Recommendation: Obviously a must have for the true fan, though a level of frustration will exist for the collectors since the packaging for season fourteen and fifteen differs in size from all the previous releases, the final season of ER displays enough quality television to stand on it's own, and could easily induce a new patient in the ER to seek out previous case files.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 23 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars