First of all, let me say that I have loved reading the responses here to the episode..They have all been wonderful and thought-provoking. Here are a couple of my thoughts:

First, Carol's reaction did not ring true to me, either. When we first see her, she's giving out orders, and I thought she didn't know yet. My best friends mother-in-law died a sudden, violent death last summer and I was in shock for days. I can't imagine anyone who worked with them not being VISIBLY shocked at the news.

Second, I liked the way Mark looked at the patient that stabbed Lucy and Carter. To me, you could tell that although he wanted to be furious with this person, it was obvious that he had no idea what he had done and was truly very ill.

And lastly..I started watching ER only when Kelly Martin started on it. I had always been a fan of hers. (and I'm not a fan of blood :) Kellie Martin's sister died at age 15 from an illness, and I couldn't stop thinking about Martin's family, and even her herself. How hard must it have been to film that episode or for her family to watch it? I have a feeling that alot of that excellent acting came from the empathy of that experience. It made the show all the more tragic and sad to me.

-- KC (kcfour@collegeclub.com), February 18, 2000

Answers

I think Carol WAS in shock, she just tends to repress her emotions if she can help it. Isn't it more true-to-character for her to remain a professional at work, do her job, then go home and cry? She doesn't have all of the details, was preparing for a trauma, was probably told abruptly of the incident...clearly it hasn't had time to sink in for her yet. Also, Mark reacted similarly at first, when he came into the ER. That's just how they respond to emotional circumstances, probably why they are such good friends.

-- Leigh (WillnGraceNYC@yahoo.com), February 18, 2000.

I think it's possible that Carol knew that she was on for a long shift and had to keep it together. Imagine if a major emergency trauma came in...."I'm sorry, I have to cry now. I'll try and help you before you die."

On the other hand, how she really did come off in the scene was, "I heard what happened. *Yawn* We're down one doc and one med student. Damn that Lucy, how dare she inconvenience me by getting murdered!?" And Carol has never been nice to Lucy. So hey, maybe she honestly didn't care at all.

-- AC (acheek@home.com), February 19, 2000.