Episode Report Card Heathen: C- | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Makemba
By Heathen | Season 10 | Episode 10 | Aired on 12.10.2003
Cut to the child in a bed, where Carter confirms that the boy has an infection that might take hold if the AIDS has weakened his immune system. Celine, frightened, begs to know if the boy will get better. "I hope so," Carter says. Celine lashes out that she only ever slept with her husband. She's sad and scared, and Carter looks back at her with a trembly beard.
It's raining outside. Kem leans sadly against a doorjamb as Carter exits the room where Celine's son lies dying. "If he gets through the pneumonia, he's going to need ARVs," Carter says. But Kem doesn't have doses for children, and Carter wants to grind up the adult pills or come up with something, but Kem shakes her head. "That little boy's going to die," Carter snaps. "Yeah," Kem nods. He can't believe she can stand there and do nothing, to which Kem snaps that she most certainly is doing something -- she's protecting the integrity of her program so that it will take root and get funding and spread to help more people. "I'm proving drug therapy works so that we can save a thousand boys," she says, firmly but not loudly. "THEN HELP ME SAVE THIS ONE!" Carter shouts, a volume switch that's totally jarring and strange, and I wish she'd slap him, except I know he wouldn't feel it through the facial forest he's cultivated. "Don't you yell at me," Kem rages. "You go home, you yell at your president, you yell at your government, tell them we need REAL money...." And we lose her as Carter begins what is one of the most embarrassing and hideous moments I've ever seen on this show. He stalks around like he's having a seizure, and then starts screaming and runs out into the rain and shrieks at the sky. It's melodramatic and awful and loud and cringe-worthy and if Kem had any brains she'd be like, "Wow, look at the annoying idiot," and dump him. I appreciate that he's passionate, but God, Carter, isn't every day in Africa that hard, and haven't you figured out a better way to cope? It's as irritating a moment as when Josh yelled at the Capitol on The West Wing. Both John Wells shows. I know Wells isn't as involved at ER this season, but still.
And right off The Scream That Bled Out A Million Eardrums, Carter is now walking through a placid village in his stupid aviator sunglasses. Great. Now he's the Unabomber. Get that beard an Emmy, people -- it's a chameleon. He greets Debbie, who shoots him a fairly irritated and closed-off look, which I can only take to mean that she didn't appreciate his hopping into bed with Kem. "Still mad?" Carter asks, grinning glibly. God, could he be any less appealing? What is wrong with him? He dumped her and now he's asking her if she's still mad, like that's some kind of flaw in her character. Shut up, Carter, and go suck on a lightning rod in the rain. "I wasn't mad," Debbie defends herself. Carter then one-ups himself by suggesting that on her next trip to the capital, Debbie should do him a favor and pick up Christmas decorations, if she can find any, and perhaps a few cylinders of oxygen. Debbie's like, "Oh, sure, I'll just hit up the 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' store, and while I'm there, do you want some condoms for your Yule Log so you can stick it to your new girlfriend, assmaggot?" Debbie's glance is stony. "I made a list," Carter says. Then shove it up your nose, Blackbeard. Sometimes I get tired of insulting Carter every other sentence, and then he does something else and I just can't help it.