Just another quick question...when Carter jumped in on Mark's case and Mark told him he'd take over, the nurses (I think Lily and maybe Haleh) gave the traditional exchange of glances whenever there is trouble. They seemed to know what was going on, or at least that someting was going on; do you think the only people who knew were the ones who confronted him?

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), May 19, 2000

Answers

I can imagine that news travels fast in a hospital such as this one...what i'm wondering is how the other doctors expect to keep Carter's drug problem a secret from Romano for very long. I mean, isn't Romano going to wonder where the hell Carter is?

-- Mandii Faris (contradiction@uswest.net), May 19, 2000.

I think Romano already knows......... just a gut feeling from the look he gave to Kerry and Mark. I think he is a little hurt that he wasnt involved.

-- Jay (yeeerout@aol.com), May 19, 2000.

If Romano had been involved, Carter would have jumped off the roof because there is no way Romano would have been even the least bit compassionate. If he does know what went down, I'm sure he's not hurt that he was not included - he's pissed that he didn't get to "kick butt and take names."

-- Linda (l.brown@mindspring.com), May 19, 2000.

I don't think the nurses knew anything was up (other than, I'm sure, noticing Carter's strange behavior for weeks) until Mark told Carter to get out of the way. Prior to that moment, it seemed that they were following Carter's instructions as business as usual. Mark's firm dismissal of Carter would clearly have raised eyebrows in any case, especially if this was their first sign that something was wrong.

-- Elizabeth (ebs42@yahoo.com), May 19, 2000.

What was the point of the Romano/Elizabeth scene at the end, just filler?

-- Jane (lC@centuryinter.net), May 19, 2000.

I was just talking to a nursing friend of mine. She said that there are pretty strict rules on intervention for medical professionals. Carter could not have been fired without a major committee upheaval. And since, in the end, he went to rehab, they can't fire him now. There shouldn't be any serious reprecussions, career-wise, as long as he stays clean.

So yeah, Romano will probably find out, but even if he did, there's not a damn thing he can do about it now. Because of this, I'm glad they (Kerry, Mark, Benton) handled it the way they did.

-- S. Trelles (trelles@ix.netcom.com), May 19, 2000.

There is a very simple way to handle Carter's absence. Kerry, the ER Chief, has granted him a medical leave of absence to deal with repercussions from his attack. That is literal truth. The exact nature of the help is confidential. The matter was handled privately and Romano or anyone else has no business knowing.

-- David Goldfeder (daveg_1967@hotmail.com), May 19, 2000.

I wonder if Benton will feel reprecussions from Romano as a result of his going AWOL (albeit for a good cause!) to accompany Carter to Atlanta?

-- Susan Proto (STPteach@aol.com), May 19, 2000.

I think there must have been some reason why they showed Romano at the end of the episode other than the surgery he and Corday were to perform. He wasn't in the episode except then. He hesitated a moment after leaving giving a look to the remaining three, Elizabeth, Kerry and Mark. Wasn't that look interesting? What could it mean?

-- SB (SB@aol.comS), May 19, 2000.

I didn't think Romano's arrival was necessarily significant. In the last five minutes of the show, ER frequently shows people who haven't been there for the rest of the episode, and it seems to be their way of signalling that another shift has begun (and the shift we've been focusing on has ended). In this case, the next shift began with lots of people still lingering around, not wanting to leave with the Carter situation still unresolved. Romano might have found it odd that they were all there at all.

(Caveat: As I said in another thread, my viewing was hampered by terrible receptions, so significant "looks" by Romano would have escaped me. But his arrival seemed like a perfectly normal way to signal the the episode was almost over.)

-- Elizabeth (ebs42@yahoo.com), May 19, 2000.

Romano might have heard that Anspagh was in a conference in the ER. He might have come down to see what he could find out. Since Kerry wasn't alone and asking (in front of the others) would have made him look pretty pathetic, he pulled Elizabeth to surgery and left, after hanging out for a second to see if there was any discussion about what was happening.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 19, 2000.

I think Romano has recently shown his compassionate side. For example, the emotion he had over Lucy and the surgery on his dog. He may have feelings for Elizabeth. Who knows! I think we will see a different side of Romano next season.

-- Chloe (stevenson@erols.com), May 19, 2000.

Romano could definetly tell something was up with Kerry, Mark, and Elizabeth, from the way he walked away, watching them. None of them were in the mood to throw sarcastic comments or arguments his way; Elizabeth just simply said she'd do the extra work, and then everyone got back to their thoughtful, distracted modes again. Romano saw how odd the situation was, but didn't persist. Good thing. * loved Kerry's "same old thing comment" to Romano and then Elizabeth and Kerry exchanging looks.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), May 19, 2000.

I agree that Romano was fishing for what was going on, but I don't think he knew for sure. He looked mad as usual :). Imagine how it would have gone if he had known and become involved. Yikes.

-- May (archerl@cadvision.com), May 20, 2000.

I think the nurses would have heard about the Bactrim incident, certainly from Malik, who was there on the scene with Chen.

-- debbie (riccardoiii@aol.com), May 21, 2000.

Someone else mentioned that ER often shows a new shift coming on at the end of an epi. I love the way they do that. It gives a nice, comforting, "life goes on" kind of a feel to the shows, especially the season finales. . .a reassurance that CCG will continue to run smoothly in our absence and will be there waiting when we return.

-- joy (joygirl01@yahoo.com), May 22, 2000.