Using the St. Patty's Day icon.....because I can.
Thursday nights are fantastic in that I like My Name Is Earl, I love The Office, and I really love ER. Well....okay, maybe I love The Office most of all. But, still. The lineup works for me.
I was glad to see some resolution made between Earl and his father. I get that Earl spent his life being nothing more than a screwup, and I'm sure most parents would be like Carl and just want nothing to do with the kid.....but, yeah, you couldn't help but feel bad for Earl every time Carl made a nasty comment.
Joy, as always, cracks me up. The scene where she was drunk and said that Randy and Earl were probably talking about stupid stuff and then just laughed and laughed? The brothers had a whole conversation and she was just in the background, laughing so hard she couldn't make any noise, the whole time. I barely paid attention to them just because I was laughing at her.
I actually did think she and Randy hooked up at one point. It didn't make any sense to me - we know that Joy loves Darnell, regardless, and I mean, it's Randy....no way would he sleep with his brother's ex-wife - but they played it out perfectly.
I loved Billy Reed and his comments so much. I sincerely hope he is one of the many recurring characters that show up again.
Speaking of comments, I live for the moments that Catalina makes some random comment about her past. "My mother's dead." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Eh...it was her or me." What I love is that there is no explanation given. That makes it even more random and fantastic.
Oh, Miiiiiichael! I felt so bad for the guy. He is so good with kids and even though you know he would somehow manage to screw his own up, it's sad to see him realize that he never got what he wanted. Father figure, maybe not, but as he himself said - he'd be a great fun uncle. I especially loved his interactions with little Sasha. When she first came into his office and stared him down, and he was so thrown off by her? Ha!
Jim, of course, was cute with the kids, but when is Jim not cute? I loved that Pam connected with Meredith's awful son, but it did seem kind of weird that he went from being a complete terror to suddenly being respectful and kind. Even if Dwight (Mr. Poop!) told him he was awful. Speaking of, Dwight and Angela! Can you even imagine those two with children? That in itself would be a sitcom. And when Dwight was mean to Meredith's son and she smiled? Oh, ha.
Michael referring to Dwight's grandma as a Nazi war criminal was fantastic. And Stanley's tirade at Ryan being the "most terrifying" moment of his life! Aww, poor Ryan. Kelly was always cute in a neurotic way, but her insinuating to Stanley that Ryan was hitting on his kid just because she was jealous (of an eighth-grader!) kind of made me like her a little less.
I sort of wish we'd gotten footage of Ryan breaking into Michael's mom's house. They had to get the Fundledundle video somehow, right?
ETA: Also! "LittleKidLover....because now everybody will know exactly how I feel." Oh, Michael. Honey, no.
Okay, so the whole epidemic thing wasn't as big a deal as it was made out to be. I had a hard time getting into it, because hardly anybody seemed to be affected by it. Once Abby figured out what was wrong with the girl, she essentially disappeared. And yeah, I know, we were supposed to be worrying about Abby, but we could have done that while watching the girl deteriorate or get better.
Poor Weaver. I absolutely love that, rather than fear of the surgery, her whole issue was that getting a new hip would essentially erase the identity she's had her whole life. The crutch is Weaver. She's relied on that for so long, it's basically another limb to her. (I guess that's part of where they got the title from). It's like someone suggesting they amputate your leg because of gangrene....you know it's for the best, but come on, that's your leg.
It was nice that she asked Abby to be Henry's legal guardian, but a few things about it bugged me a little. Abby brought up my first point when she asked about Sandy's parents. Okay, so Kerry explained that. But from what I recall, Sandy had a shitload of brothers. Wouldn't one of them be considered the best legal guardian should anything happen to Kerry? After all, they're actually related to the boy, whereas Abby is not. I can't remember what the custody situation is - do the Lopezes share custody with Kerry, or do they just have visitation? - but if they do share custody, I would think they would have to okay Abby and Luka as guardians.
And speaking of.....shouldn't Abby have maybe run the "Hey, guess what, we might end up with another kid" idea past Luka first? I get that there wasn't really time, and technically I'm sure Abby is the only one with legal responsibility to the child....but, yeah. She made it very clear that this isn't just about Abby, this is about AbbyAndLuka, so you would think....
But we all know that if Susan was still around, she totally would have been the one Kerry asked, right? Right.
The Pratt storyline is driving me up the wall. Look, he knows that what he did was wrong. He understands that. He sees firsthand how his actions came back around to bite him in the ass. How is him turning himself in going to change any of that? If he was just fluffing it off, not realizing what he had done, then I would get that he needed something like this to set him straight. But he's already straight. Why add fuel to the fire? You could see that Luka was basically thinking the same thing, which I loved. Okay, so maybe Luka's main thought was that he shouldn't have done this in the first place, but at least he didn't get up on his high horse like St. Neela did and preach about doing "the right thing".
....and yes, I'm still pissed that Neela can KILL A PATIENT and let Gallant take the fall, but Pratt tries to do a favor for a friend and he's apparently terrible and needs to face responsibility for his actions.
But, speaking of Neela....okay, I could have done without the whole "The war is bad" lecture, especially coming on the heels of last week's Darfur episode where Carter basically had his own "The American government is a piece of shit" moment. Look, ER, we get it. We know where you stand. You couldn't make it any more obvious if you ran a crawl across the bottom of the screen informing us that Bush is a douchebag. I watch this show to be entertained, not to be clobbered over the head with some writer's political views.
I do like where the Neela/Gallant story is headed, though. As unhappy as she is with his decision, she's trying to do the best she can with it because she loves him. We all know it's doomed - it has to be, right? - but at least she is trying. It wouldn't make sense for them to spring these two characters into a marriage and then two weeks later, have him decide to go back to war and Neela then throw in the towel. Besides, the more sympathetic she looks now, the more we'll be able to understand when she hooks up with Ray. It's happening, damn it! I have faith in those crazy kids.
Seriously, the snuggle scene on the couch? I squealed. It was just so CUTE, and they're so COMFORTABLE with each other, and.....squee! I think Ray's starting to feel it a little, too. He seemed a little surprised when Neela put her head on his shoulder, but then you could see that he really liked it. Yay! I totally want Ray to fall for Neela and then fight for her when Gallant returns. If Gallant returns. Whatever.
....yeah, it's kind of sad. A year ago, I was all about Neela/Gallant. And now look at me.
Also, I loved the cookie-vention more than words can express. Frank, Ray, and Morris are golden. "We're telling you this because we care about you..." "Since when?"
Sam's story....really, I'm just relieved that Sam is finally getting a story. I know that Linda Cardellini has been busy - well, I assume she has been - but it really felt like, once Luka moved on, so did ER. And I think the story could turn out really interesting. Sure, I can't understand a damn word Armand Assante says, but he seems like a good guy. It's a great opportunity for Sam. I figured she wouldn't take it, but then he said that it was only part-time and she could stay in the ER, and I began to rethink it. It would be perfect for her. Hell, I can almost see a romantic pairing come out of it. Unconventional, sure, but again, it could be interesting. I hope she takes it.
I was glad to see some resolution made between Earl and his father. I get that Earl spent his life being nothing more than a screwup, and I'm sure most parents would be like Carl and just want nothing to do with the kid.....but, yeah, you couldn't help but feel bad for Earl every time Carl made a nasty comment.
Joy, as always, cracks me up. The scene where she was drunk and said that Randy and Earl were probably talking about stupid stuff and then just laughed and laughed? The brothers had a whole conversation and she was just in the background, laughing so hard she couldn't make any noise, the whole time. I barely paid attention to them just because I was laughing at her.
I actually did think she and Randy hooked up at one point. It didn't make any sense to me - we know that Joy loves Darnell, regardless, and I mean, it's Randy....no way would he sleep with his brother's ex-wife - but they played it out perfectly.
I loved Billy Reed and his comments so much. I sincerely hope he is one of the many recurring characters that show up again.
Speaking of comments, I live for the moments that Catalina makes some random comment about her past. "My mother's dead." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Eh...it was her or me." What I love is that there is no explanation given. That makes it even more random and fantastic.
Oh, Miiiiiichael! I felt so bad for the guy. He is so good with kids and even though you know he would somehow manage to screw his own up, it's sad to see him realize that he never got what he wanted. Father figure, maybe not, but as he himself said - he'd be a great fun uncle. I especially loved his interactions with little Sasha. When she first came into his office and stared him down, and he was so thrown off by her? Ha!
Jim, of course, was cute with the kids, but when is Jim not cute? I loved that Pam connected with Meredith's awful son, but it did seem kind of weird that he went from being a complete terror to suddenly being respectful and kind. Even if Dwight (Mr. Poop!) told him he was awful. Speaking of, Dwight and Angela! Can you even imagine those two with children? That in itself would be a sitcom. And when Dwight was mean to Meredith's son and she smiled? Oh, ha.
Michael referring to Dwight's grandma as a Nazi war criminal was fantastic. And Stanley's tirade at Ryan being the "most terrifying" moment of his life! Aww, poor Ryan. Kelly was always cute in a neurotic way, but her insinuating to Stanley that Ryan was hitting on his kid just because she was jealous (of an eighth-grader!) kind of made me like her a little less.
I sort of wish we'd gotten footage of Ryan breaking into Michael's mom's house. They had to get the Fundledundle video somehow, right?
ETA: Also! "LittleKidLover....because now everybody will know exactly how I feel." Oh, Michael. Honey, no.
Okay, so the whole epidemic thing wasn't as big a deal as it was made out to be. I had a hard time getting into it, because hardly anybody seemed to be affected by it. Once Abby figured out what was wrong with the girl, she essentially disappeared. And yeah, I know, we were supposed to be worrying about Abby, but we could have done that while watching the girl deteriorate or get better.
Poor Weaver. I absolutely love that, rather than fear of the surgery, her whole issue was that getting a new hip would essentially erase the identity she's had her whole life. The crutch is Weaver. She's relied on that for so long, it's basically another limb to her. (I guess that's part of where they got the title from). It's like someone suggesting they amputate your leg because of gangrene....you know it's for the best, but come on, that's your leg.
It was nice that she asked Abby to be Henry's legal guardian, but a few things about it bugged me a little. Abby brought up my first point when she asked about Sandy's parents. Okay, so Kerry explained that. But from what I recall, Sandy had a shitload of brothers. Wouldn't one of them be considered the best legal guardian should anything happen to Kerry? After all, they're actually related to the boy, whereas Abby is not. I can't remember what the custody situation is - do the Lopezes share custody with Kerry, or do they just have visitation? - but if they do share custody, I would think they would have to okay Abby and Luka as guardians.
And speaking of.....shouldn't Abby have maybe run the "Hey, guess what, we might end up with another kid" idea past Luka first? I get that there wasn't really time, and technically I'm sure Abby is the only one with legal responsibility to the child....but, yeah. She made it very clear that this isn't just about Abby, this is about AbbyAndLuka, so you would think....
But we all know that if Susan was still around, she totally would have been the one Kerry asked, right? Right.
The Pratt storyline is driving me up the wall. Look, he knows that what he did was wrong. He understands that. He sees firsthand how his actions came back around to bite him in the ass. How is him turning himself in going to change any of that? If he was just fluffing it off, not realizing what he had done, then I would get that he needed something like this to set him straight. But he's already straight. Why add fuel to the fire? You could see that Luka was basically thinking the same thing, which I loved. Okay, so maybe Luka's main thought was that he shouldn't have done this in the first place, but at least he didn't get up on his high horse like St. Neela did and preach about doing "the right thing".
....and yes, I'm still pissed that Neela can KILL A PATIENT and let Gallant take the fall, but Pratt tries to do a favor for a friend and he's apparently terrible and needs to face responsibility for his actions.
But, speaking of Neela....okay, I could have done without the whole "The war is bad" lecture, especially coming on the heels of last week's Darfur episode where Carter basically had his own "The American government is a piece of shit" moment. Look, ER, we get it. We know where you stand. You couldn't make it any more obvious if you ran a crawl across the bottom of the screen informing us that Bush is a douchebag. I watch this show to be entertained, not to be clobbered over the head with some writer's political views.
I do like where the Neela/Gallant story is headed, though. As unhappy as she is with his decision, she's trying to do the best she can with it because she loves him. We all know it's doomed - it has to be, right? - but at least she is trying. It wouldn't make sense for them to spring these two characters into a marriage and then two weeks later, have him decide to go back to war and Neela then throw in the towel. Besides, the more sympathetic she looks now, the more we'll be able to understand when she hooks up with Ray. It's happening, damn it! I have faith in those crazy kids.
Seriously, the snuggle scene on the couch? I squealed. It was just so CUTE, and they're so COMFORTABLE with each other, and.....squee! I think Ray's starting to feel it a little, too. He seemed a little surprised when Neela put her head on his shoulder, but then you could see that he really liked it. Yay! I totally want Ray to fall for Neela and then fight for her when Gallant returns. If Gallant returns. Whatever.
....yeah, it's kind of sad. A year ago, I was all about Neela/Gallant. And now look at me.
Also, I loved the cookie-vention more than words can express. Frank, Ray, and Morris are golden. "We're telling you this because we care about you..." "Since when?"
Sam's story....really, I'm just relieved that Sam is finally getting a story. I know that Linda Cardellini has been busy - well, I assume she has been - but it really felt like, once Luka moved on, so did ER. And I think the story could turn out really interesting. Sure, I can't understand a damn word Armand Assante says, but he seems like a good guy. It's a great opportunity for Sam. I figured she wouldn't take it, but then he said that it was only part-time and she could stay in the ER, and I began to rethink it. It would be perfect for her. Hell, I can almost see a romantic pairing come out of it. Unconventional, sure, but again, it could be interesting. I hope she takes it.