Wow, I'm not sure about this show, but next week sounds incredible! Sorry to anyone reading this who hasn't yet seen the preview, but I am so excited!

First of all...I was disappointed to see Luka at Carol's house...I honestly expected Doug there (not really, it was like a deja vu). I felt like he didn't belong there, just the two of them. And what was with that look between them just before it started snowing? But I was much happier to hear about next week, however, this does not look promising for a GC appearance at all. :( I wanted him to surprise her, and see him there. Also, as the overvoice guy said " and a voice from the past comes back..." did Carter hand Carol a letter? It looked like it and she looked surprised. I was thinking maybe Doug sends something to the hospital and Carter ends up giving it to her, but that doesn't make much sense. I just thought it would be cool if Carter accidently found out about Doug's offer here. Also, did anyone reminsce back to Doug's last days at County as Carol walked into the Peds ER while Kerry was in there? There was almost a dramatic pause.

I cannot believe how accurate the tabloids have been too...Kerry getting suspended, Mark's foreshadowed need to find time to take care of his father and the tension between him and Elizabeth, Carol and Luka at a late night cookout (but glad they DID NOT kiss), even Deb gave Romano a look at the beginning and I thought, oh great! But that would be too weird.

And Carter...I was very disappointed not to see the crutches, and I still do not like everyone's forgettfulness about what happened. So I was very happy to see him in previews for next week. I think then his frustrations will come out. Question: Is it Carol's voice who says "What's the matter with you?"...I hope so, because I want her to confront him about anything that's bothering him. So will Carter's story go along the lines of the tabloids too? Doesn't 'hell still have to break loose'?

So I had two very good reasons to be excited about next week: Carter and Carol. I only wish Doug was coming to HER. Otherwise, tonight's show was okay, but the best part was the preview! Sorry so long, but I just had to say all this.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), April 06, 2000

Answers

Could someone please post a synopsis of the preview? Here in Canada we didn't get much of a preview, and definitely no hints to Doug.

-- Maria (clevergirl@home.com), April 06, 2000.

I was distressed that Luka was over at Carol's house, though now we know that Kate takes after her father. ;-)

You know, I thought I just had a one-track mind, because I, too, was thinking of Doug as Carol walked into the Pedes ER!! There did seem to be a dramatic pause, as if perhaps Carol was thinking back to Baby Josh, or just Kerry breaking the rules in "Doug's" ER.

I cannot wait for this letter!! I am hoping Carol is hesitant to go to Doug, so he returns or something...holding out the hope!! I don't want TPTB to rob us of seeing Doug holding his two precious daughters -- why is it we get to see him cradle Susan's niece, Baby Josh, and dozens of babies throughout the years, yet they may deny us the right to see him with his *OWN* daughters and their mother?

I'm wondering if Carol and Carter develop a deeper bond soon? It's convenient to the writers, as they will be two of three main storylines (along with Mark & David Greene). I don't really doubt that Doug is keeping up on things with Carol through Mark, maybe he's heard of the incident in February and has since spoken to Carter?

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 07, 2000.

Arianne, i like your email address, it made me smile

-- Marcia (mlg244@is9.nyu.edu), April 07, 2000.

I think there's little question now that Noah Wyle was not pulling our legs when he let slip his little hint on Rosie. If the fact that he's now authorized to write scripts for other doctors (Benton and Cleo) isn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is! So that's how they're going to do it: Carter will be writing prescriptions for phantom patients, and nobody will be the wiser. (or, he'll be prescribing unneeded painkillers for real patients, and then helping himself to them)

And how sad - Kerry is the only one who seems to care about him, and now she's been suspended, so she won't be around to see what's going on???

So yeah, I think the tabloids were fairly accurate. All hell IS going to break loose with poor Carter...

And it was sad when Cleo started bitching him out about the diabetes patient and Carter just didn't remember. I mean, jeez, hello people! The guy has had a rather eventful last few months don't you think?

-- debbie (riccardoiii@aol.com), April 07, 2000.

After reading all your responces, I guess, I do have to apologize about critizing the tabloids (in another thread). I never really saw it (maybe the beginning of his pain killer addiction) last night about Carter having the authoriaty to write Bentons/Cleo's RX's, I just thought it was comical of Carter giving Benton that little smirk, like "ha ha look what I get to do"! :-) Also, the Kerry and Carol/Luka situations. I guess they were not that far off. Also, I thought maybe they changed their minds about the storyline of Carter hooked on painkillers, because it doesn't show that he is in any pain. The only thing I did noticed is that he seems to have black cirles under his eyes. I don't know if that was for Carter's character or if Wyle was just tired from all the work he has been doing...Fail Safe and all. Did anyone else notice how tired or run down he looked? Anyway, I am going to go watch the epi again, to see if I can pick up what all you were talking about.

-- Paula (pbranden@dwave.net), April 07, 2000.

Perhaps Carter will take painkillers to block out the emotional pain. I also think that Noah Wyle was feeding us wrong information (or perhaps they changed the scripts immediately after Rosie visited)...and so the idea that Carter will be addicted to painkillers and "all hell will break loose" this season, may not be what happens. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

-- Emma (webbef@hotmail.com), April 07, 2000.

In the preview, they had Carol yelling "What's the matter with you?" But you know how sometimes they use scenes from previous episodes in the preview? Last year, during that episode where the pregnant woman came into the clinic and complained of being in pain, and they did an ultrasound, and she asked the baby's gender and then discovered the woman was going to abort the baby because it was a girl? She yelled "What's the matter with you!?" twice, and I was thinking that that's where they got that line from for the preview. Any thoughts?

-- Alyssa (Alyssa12R@aol.com), April 07, 2000.

I really liked what someone was saying about how Kerry was the only one who was looking out for Carter and now she's been suspended...looks like the door is now open for Carter to go through some sort of big crisis thing, but my question is this...he didn't seem to be in much pain (except for the limp) in this epi...is he already on something strong? Will the scrip run out and then he'll need to write his own? I guess I feel like we needed a scene like the one where he struggled at his locker with the crutches to more realistically portray his descent into addiction.

-- nancy (ntc72@mailcity.com), April 07, 2000.

In response to those who were wondering about Carter's lack of crutches, pain etc... I noticed that when the diabetic boy came in (Eddie) and Cleo was speaking to Carter about the case, she mentioned that the boy came in "five months ago". Could all these events really be happening 5 months later from the last new episode (2 weeks ago here in Canada)? If so, it would explain a lot about Carter's new- found mobility and his difficulty in remembering Eddie's case.

Did anyone else hear this and puzzle about it or did poltergeists get a hold of my TV audio again?

-- Emma2 (bmgal@total.net), April 07, 2000.

In response to Maria's question: The preview first showed Abby having to hide a patient (I don't remember why) and then they switch to Carter with a patient and the overvoice says "Dr. Carter goes too far" or something like that, and then he throws a clipboard or something, with the impression that he's "losing it". Then they show Carter and Carol sitting in a trauma room and Carter hands her a letter, with the overvoice saying, "and amidst this a voice returns from the past" (which could indicate the letter was from Doug, but why would Carter give it to her?) and then Carol telling Mark that "...he asked me to come to Seattle again" and Mark asking what she told him.

And responding to Emma2...I think the "previously on ER" may have messed you up. What they showed between Carter and Cleo was not from last week, they were from the November or so episode "The Peace of Wild Things" (which also reran last week), which actually was about 5 months ago.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), April 07, 2000.

Alyssa, I was wondering the very same thing!!

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 07, 2000.

Thanks so much Elaine for clearing that up for me. I guess they showed "The Peace of Wild Things" again last week as a clue for those of us who don't keep careful track of these things (like me, clearly!) It now makes much more sense.

A funny coincidence: I was caught in a rare April "whiteout" mini- snowstorm yesterday around lunchtime - after 10 days of unusually mild spring weather - and I thought exactly what Carol said at the end of the ep: "Hey, doesn't anyone know it's April????" Kind of eerie that a line from an episode taped months ago would have such a "right" impact. But maybe April snowstorms are common in Chicago?

-- Emma2 (bmgal@total.net), April 07, 2000.

Well I was reading everyone's responses and I found it interesting that every one thought that the letter and/or the next epi has to do with Clooney. The preview didn't air here, but maybe the "voice from the past" has to do with thoughts of suicide. Maybe that is why Carter is giving it to Carol, because she knows what it is like. Just a thought.

If anyone has details of the preview, I would like to read it.

-- Jill (Huckabe5@bellsouth.net), April 07, 2000.

The preview that aired here (and I'm only including the part concerning the "voice...") was: "...And in the midst of it all, a voice from the past..." Carter was shown handing a letter to Carol and sort-of looking away. The next we see is Carol telling Mark that "he" has asked her to move to Seattle "again." Mark inquires about her answer, and her expression is perfectly conflicted as she looks at Mark and then looks down. So I'm assuming that the letter has to do with her speaking to Mark. From the previews shown it looks as if Carter knows the content of the letter, as well -- though these ads are often quite misleading.

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 07, 2000.

Whoops, I messed up a little above. It wasn't supposed to say the letter had something to do with her speaking to Mark (I'm tired, here!!), it was supposed to say that it has something to do with Doug.

-- Arianne (CarolRossSusanGreene@yahoo.com), April 07, 2000.

Thanks for everyone's responses. I recently had an idea in regards to Carter, Carol, Doug, and the letter. Maybe Carter handing Carol a letter has nothing to do with Doug (it could be just something about a patient) but I am hoping that it does and that they stuck that scene in the previews for a reason (although sometimes they can just be misleading). I was thinking that maybe Carol gets this moving letter from Doug asking her and his daughters to come be with him, and then after Carter flips out at Carol, they have a little talk and he tells her about how he's feeling and so Carol ends up sharing her news about Doug's offer and shows him the letter. I would love to see them bond again, like they used to. I am desperate for an episode like the "old ER".

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), April 07, 2000.

Several threads have speculated who the "voice from the past" could be and some people think it is Lucy. Didn't Lucy write Carter a letter once, telling him she didn't like his teaching style or the way he treated her, or something like that? Maybe that's the letter he is showing Carol in response to her "What's the matter with you?" and he has kept it because he always felt conflicted about it.

-- Annie (GoldenLaur@aol.com), April 07, 2000.

Lucy's letter was on her Palm Pilot and was verbal. He borrowed it and heard it. He thought she was practicing to talk to someone about him. She was really practicing to talk with him at lunch about their problems. It caused a big blow up. That might have been when he let her do her own evaluation. FYI.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), April 08, 2000.

Diana, thanks for clearing up that Lucy's letter to Carter wasn't written on paper. I absolutely could not remember, I only remembered that there was a letter!

-- Annie (GoldenLaur@aol.com), April 08, 2000.

Uhm...I hate to break a bubble here, but Carter was lying when he said that he didn't remember the boy with Diabetes. Hello? He totally remembered, but he was continuing the cover up from episodes before when he rewrote the boys file.

He remembered...and I think its going to add to the grief. We never found out what happened to the boy, except that he was still in a coma. I hope we hear more about it.

-- Marian (erfan@harmonworks.com), April 09, 2000.

Well, i have been reading these threads for several weeks now,without commenting, but i saw "Seattle" and just wanted to express my deepest regrets that Doug did not end up in Portland. I love the P-place theories, and Portland would have been lovely. As for Carter, I dont mind an anguished outburst, plotline whatever....just let him stay "carter". None of that season 5 personalitly changes. He can be upset, erratic, defiant, grieving, but i beg the ER dieties to have him express his feelings the way Carter would.

-- Jess (smayaloo@aol.com), April 12, 2000.