I wanted to say a few this things about "Be Patient". I just found this site a couple of months ago so I never made any comments about this episode. This may be a little long. First regaurding Lucy's mom. I knew it was her even before she said anything to Dave. Don't ask me how I knew but I did. When Carter saw her he nodded his head like he knew it was her. Did he know her? I don't think he's ever seen her before. But yet he acted as though he knew who she was. I guess because she looked alot like Lucy. When Carter was talking to her he said that Lucy was better than he ever gave her credit for. Um, Carter, you don't say something like that to someone who has just lost their only child. He should have said that Lucy was the best med student he ever had and she would have been a great doctor. By the way, did Lucy have any brothers or sisters? I don't think she did but I'm not sure. I think Carter is feeling guilty though. You could tell when he talked to Lucy's mom. When she said that Lucy talked about Carter the most I thought well if that doesn't make him feel really guilty nothing will. Why didn't they show the memorial service for Lucy? I mean come on. They had one for Scott and he wasn't even a main character. I'm not saying that what happened to him wasn't bad because it was. But they could have showed a little bit of it. When Scott died Jeanie sang at the funeral. So she's not there anymore. There are other people that can sing, right? I would have like to see Elizabeth talk to Lucy's mom. She was the last to see Lucy alive. Well actually one of the two people but do you really think Ramano would say something to comfort her. He was upset when Lucy died but I doubt he would know what to say to her mom. Elizabeth probably would. The last comment is regaurding Carol. Is she actually caring about someone else besides herself? I'm shocked! I'm glad as well. Maybe Lucy's death had an impact on her after all. Sorry this was long. Please feel free to add whatever you want.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), July 08, 2000

Answers

i think you are being a little hard on carter here. it would have sounded cheesy and over-energetic if carter had said she was his best med student ever. he was right about the fact that she was better than he gave her credit for and lucy's mother seemed to understand this. i think it was a legitimate comment on carter's part. You also have to consider that he outright lied about the pain to prottect lucy's mother. What good would it have done for her to know her daughter had suffered horribly and lived the last hours of her life in pain? I agree that carter felt guilty...you can see it in his facial expressions the whole time mrs. knight was talking to him. Remeber that while it was horrible that lucy died, carter almost died too. he may have been partly responsible, but nothing will change the fact that she is gone. once carter stops beating himself up over this i think he will feel a lot better. And about the memorial service...scott's was included because that is what his storyline included. lucy's story is done, except in memories held by the staff. my imagination did a fine job of filling in this piece, and i think it was left unseen so it wouldn't fall short of expectations.

-- Erin (earthgirl24@yahoo.com), July 08, 2000.

I wasn't trying to be hard on Carter. That was just a thought of what he could have said instead of she was better than she ever gave her credit for. I did think he was right to lie to Lucy's mom about the pain part. It would be easier to think she was in no pain than to think that she was. I hope next season Carter is back to his normal self if that's even possible after going through what he did.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), July 08, 2000.

Why the statement about Carol caring about someone other than herself? Can't you find examples from the six seasons where she shows compassion for others?

-- Phyl (erfan@flash.net), July 08, 2000.

I didn't mean Carol didn't show compassion to others in the first 5 seasons. I meant this season she was depressing and didn't care about anyone but herself. She's one of my favorite characters but they basically killed her this year even though they didn't. I'm not the only one who notice she changed this season. Compare her during season 3 or 4 with this season. They should have just had her leave with Doug.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), July 08, 2000.

Lucy had probably mentioned to her mother that Carter was very tough on her. If so, Carter's statement (that Lucy was better than he gave her credit for) was consistent. If Carter had told Lucy's mother that Lucy was his best student, it would have sounded fake to her.

-- Driad (Driad@mailcity.com), July 08, 2000.

This may be stupid but was Be Patient on this past Thursday? I thought it was Humpty Dumpty that is why I didn't watch it.

-- Splash (iluver@hotmail.com), July 09, 2000.

No. It's on this Thursday.

-- Andie (no@no.com), July 09, 2000.

In response to your question about Carter knowing Lucy's mom, we are led to believe that they have never met before, because she asks "Dr. Carter?" to confirm that it's him. But the casting people did a great job of finding someone who looks like KM only older, and the director did a great job of having her look so much like Lucy when Carter sees her: standing there, head tilted, waiting on him. So, yes, I believe he knew who she was. I think he might have mistaken her for Lucy for a split second, that's why he did the double take.

I'm not much on lying, so I don't think that Carter should have gushed about Lucy. Besides, as someone pointed out, Barbara Knight would have known he was lying about it. Lucy must have mentioned that things with Carter were less than perfect. Barbara Knight probably, deep down, knew he was lying about Lucy's pain, too. But he did the right thing there, because it would have been pointless to cause HER more pain at that moment. I think the whole conversation was about Carter feeling guilty, anyway.

We are also led to believe that Lucy had no siblings, because her dad abandoned them when her mother was pregnant with her, and she said she was raised by a single mom. So there Carter was, feeling guilty about Lucy being dead, seeing her face lying on the floor covered in blood, and having to face a mother who has lost her only child. Ouch. No wonder it was so hard for him to look her in the eye.

I really did love that scene, but I loved the one with Barbara clearing out Lucy's locker more. I actually cried watching her cry, taking out the things that made up the mundane, day-to-day activities of Lucy's life.

-- Avan (avanveck@aol.com), July 10, 2000.

I really loved the scenes with Carter in Be Patient...he couldn't look anyone in the eye. For a long time I was upset that so little was mentioned of Lucy and Carter's reaction. Although now that I think about it, they did bring her up but were probably careful not to overdo it. I, personally would not have minded if they went on about LUcy's death like crazy, but not everyone would. I loved Carter's conversation with Ms. Knight, his pained expressions, and careful attention to her, as uncomfortable as he was. I also appreciate his first question to Deb about Lucy's patients and her memorial service. He didn't look anyone in the eye throughout the whole show, there was a very evident sadness in him that we never saw before and I think he portrayed it wonderfully.

As for Carol, honestly, although everyone was back to their everyday lives (Kerry, Deb, Benton, Mark, etc.), I didn't like Carol working so hard on these girls. It just bothered me, although in their time, it had been awhile, the attack was over and it had sunk in to everyone, I just wanted to see more concern over Carter.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), July 12, 2000.