"Homeless For The Holidays" airs tonight on ABC. In this episode Carol finally decides to be friends with Jeanie but only after discovering that Jeanie is HIV+. Now I don't know about you but I think that that is just sad that it took Jeanie getting HIV to have Carol accept her as a friend. Gee Carol, that's nice of you but don't you think you should have been friends with Jeanie right from the beginning? Does anyone else agree with that? Makes you kind of wonder if Carol decided to be firends with her out of pity or did she actually do it because she wanted to be friends with her.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), June 25, 2000

Answers

Um. If you do recall, it was JEANIE who decided to pick a fight with Carol. The hostility went both ways. Jeanie confronted Carol when Carol's evalution of Jeanie wasn't what Jeanie expected. (and Carol merely said that Jeanie was not very well suited for the ER because of her timidness, not like she bashed her skills or anything)

-- JLS (ewwhatevr@aol.com), June 25, 2000.

That's not what I meant. What I meant was that it took Carol finding out that Jeanie was HIV+ to accept her as a friend, and that's sad if you ask me.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), June 26, 2000.

The scene where Carol gets the brush off from Jeanie in this eppy - could the look on Julianna Margulies face be any more opaque? I couldn't tell if Carol was upset, disturbed, feeling sorry for Jeanie or if she'd just smelled a fart. I can't understand why she always kept getting nominated for Emmys.

-- Bee (beerthee@aol.com), June 26, 2000.

You know, if you've ever been in a work situation, you know that you aren't always friends with everyone you work with. You don't automatically "click" with everyone, and reality is that sometimes individuals rub each other the wrong way. Carol and Jeanie had a civil working relationship. Sometimes that's the best you can hope for. When Carol told Jeanie that if they weren't friends, maybe they should be, I don't think the sentiments were ill-intended. She was being empathethic and mature. If Carol had never said a word, just ignored Jeanie's declaration, that would have been criticized. I saw it as a kind action on Carol's part, and a kind response from Jeanie. Very mature on both their parts. JMO

-- Kelly (Kmorgscrn@aol.com), June 26, 2000.

What I meant was that, if Jeanie never had an interest to be friendly to Carol, why should Carol go out of her way to be friendly with her? It was Jeanie who stirred up resentment. And for Carol to reach out to Jeanie and share something personal, she ought to be commended, not bashed. And Jeanie responded kindly to it, so its all good.

And Bee - Julianna Margulies is NEVER one to lack facial expressions. You might consider re-watching episodes like "The Healers", "Great Expectations", or "Going Home" once more.

-- JLS (ewwhatevr@aol.com), June 26, 2000.