Episode Report Card Kim: B- | 5 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT The Show Must Go On
By Kim | Season 11 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.18.2005
Pratt arrives at KJ's house and starts to walk him in. Pratt makes small talk about school, like, wouldn't they have covered this while they were in the car? KJ approaches his house and says he can take it from there. He runs up onto his stoop, where his father, Darnell, is passed out among a bunch of beer bottles. KJ lightly taps his father's face to wake him. Pratt walks up and tells KJ to go inside and put some coffee on. KJ has clearly been through this before, and insists that he's got it, but Pratt urges him to go inside. Pratt grabs Darnell and roughly walks him inside, then tosses him on the couch. Pratt makes sure KJ is out of the room, and then asks why Darnell didn't pick his son up. Darnell asks what time it is, and Pratt says that KJ was waiting for him. KJ stands in the kitchen and watches as Pratt yells, "Hey, you his father, you understand that? The only one he's got!" Pratt sighs and turns to meet KJ's eyes. KJ looks like he wants Pratt to leave, and Pratt does.
Shane and Neela work on Bone Poked Through Shin Boy to prep him for surgery. Lily reports that Jessica was stabilized, and that Anspaugh took her up to surgery already. Shane and Neela are called in to check on Nick, the guy who has a crush on Neela, apparently. Nick says that he's having trouble breathing, and Neela removes his cervical collar and sees that his neck is all bruised. She reports to Shane that there's "crepitus." Shane checks the neck x-ray and says that they can lose the collar, and prepares to intubate.
Sam is sitting in bed at home, reading, when the phone rings. Someone asks her a question about her credit card being stolen, and she says that it hasn't been. She listens for a minute, and then yells out to Alex while running downstairs. In the kitchen, she finds her wallet lying open on the table and her bag rummaged through. She calls to Alex again, more desperately this time, and there's still no answer. Was he supposed to be in bed? And if so, why did she immediately head to the living room when she was looking at him? And how did she not hear him sneaking out? I don't know.
Carter pees in a urinal and practices what he's going to say in his speech, but it's all trite. He flushes and washes his hand, then looks at himself in the mirror and says, "It's been eleven years. And I feel like I grew up here with all of you." He realizes the truth of what he just said and heads back out in the bar. And everyone's gone. There's one guy sitting there and Carter asks where everybody went. The guy says that they had to work and promised to return. Carter sits next to him and asks if he's new in the ER. The guy says he works in Geriatrics, but heard there would be free food. A slide projector on the table projects pictures on a nearby wall. The first is Carter with The Beard That Ate Wing and Sars's Sanity. Geriatrics glances at Carter and says he likes The Beard. The next slide is a group shot, but it flashes on screen too quickly and from too far away for me to identify the season. I know it was early on, and it was a Christmas episode. It was definitely before Clooney got the Caesar. Carter chuckles with recognition. The next one is Mark and Carter talking, and then the next one is Benton, Carter, Ross, and Greene talking. This was definitely circa Clooney filming Three Kings. What? Doesn't everyone else carbon-date ER episodes based on Clooney's hairstyle? It's not like you can use Anthony Edwards's hair as a barometer. Aaand, that's all the slides. Rip-off! I was just getting into it.