Hi I live in the UK and have only seen up until the episode where Carter has flaskbacks. It was a great episode. I have been reading this site for ages but have never contributed before. It is a great site for discussions and there are always some really interesting points made. I have been reading about all the spoilers for the final and have been wondering. What if Carter hurts himself in someway when he is thrown in the trauma room ( from the preview ). Perhaps he wil need some tests and it will turn out from the bloodwork that he has been taking drugs. This may lead up to the confrontation shown in the Canadian preview. I don't know whether this will happen. It is just my speculation.

Also, I am looking for copies of the last 5 episodes of season 5. I will gladly pay any costs for the videos or do some swaps. I have a spare copy of the episodes "Be Still My Heart" and "All In The Family"

Thanks!

-- Andrea Twigg (andrea@twigga.freeserve.co.uk), May 15, 2000

Answers

That is a great speculation Andrea!! Never thought of Carter being hurt in the trauma room and in turn have to have some tests done and that is where they find the drugs. Good thinking.

-- Paula (pbranden@dwave.net), May 15, 2000.

Or, if he is in a lot of pain after his little flight across the room :=), he could be caught taking drugs or some kind of pain relievers. What kind of bloodwork would be taken, though and for what? Just curious. I also wonder, perhaps, if they take x-rays of him, whether they will discover that hematoma Noah Wyle was talking about in ROsie?

-- samira (matb_west@chickmail.com), May 15, 2000.

As much as I DO NOT want it to be true, the closer we get to the season finale, the more plausible and obvious the whole "Carter is a drug addict" scenario seems. But from a realistic standpoint, I don't believe it makes any more or less sense than the bipolar scenario. And personally, I like the bipolar scenario better. It has so much more potential than the plain old recycled druggie storyline. Obviously, the most realistic scenario would be "Carter is suffering from PTSD", but I have a hard time believing that the powers at ER would make it oh so simple. It will be interesting to see just what enfolds this Thursday and if indeed, our beloved Carter is abusing drugs *sniff*.

Samira-What's this about Noah Wyle on Rosie? Something about a hematoma?

-- Mandii Faris (contradiction@uswest.net), May 16, 2000.

Andrea...wow, that's a great idea! I mean, he *is* literally shot across the room, hitting the wall with full force. I was kind of wondering how others would find out about drugs, unless someone just finds him with them, but that's too easy. Of course they could just suspect it from his behavior, but your idea is one I never thought of! But anyways, as much as I think it will be that he is addicted to some sort of medication (stimulants to stay awake from lack of sleep, or pain killers) I think that right now Carter has very little control over what he "should" know as wrong. He is desperate to get back to his normal life, and he doesn't know what else to do.

As for the hematoma Mandii, some people suspected that Noah Wyle's secret to Rosie O'Donnell on her show was that he would develop a hematoma and self medicate in order to hide the pain from others.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

I have actually rewound and watched that preview about twenty times, trying to figure out WHY he shoots across the room like that! I was thinking, as a funny twist from the writers, Deb accidently shocks him again (hey, you never know)! In regards to the drug thing, I think someone is going to find something out about him which will lead to the confrontation with Benton. And they will notice that something is very wrong. I don't know which I'd rather. As much as I don't like thinking of Carter as a drug addict, I don't want him to be anything else either. Why does he actually have to be addicted to drugs?

-- Joanne (bucklind@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

Joanne, I watched the preview in slow motion on my tape and realized that he flies off the top of the gurney (where he's been on top of the patient to perform a procedure or restrain him/her or whatever) and then across the room. Which of course could mean that the defibs are used again, but I'm suspecting that the patient throws him off.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 16, 2000.

Wow! I never considered the drug thing. I just figured that he was trying to repress all of his "issues" with the attack and Lucy's death, and it was eating away at him. The question of him taking stimulants to stay awake is plausible; maybe he's been having nightmares? I agree though, I hate to think of him as an addict! I watched the preview in slow motion too, but I didn't notice the patient moving. I assumed he got shocked. If that's what it was, that was quite a jolt, to sling him across the room like that! Rubi (counting the minutes til Thursday!)

-- Rubi (BayerFamily@Juno.com), May 16, 2000.

Yes. He is having nightmares and flashbacks. That is one of the reason he can't sleep. It has already been established that Carter is having major problems with flashbacks/nightmares caused by his PTSD. It is quite possible Carter started using drugs of some sort to help him get through the day to combat the tiredness and pain and drugs to try to help him sleep at night. Of course it is not working at all. Poor guy. I hope Carter starts getting better real soon.

Brenda

-- Brenda (jckwfan@aol.com), May 16, 2000.

I perceived the preview as Carter being "kicked" across the room.

Here are some of my speculations, what I thought maybe COULD happen in different scenarios (after Carter being flown across the room)............

1. He will get up so angry, and rush to attack the patient. Remember violent streaks? 2. He will get up, acting as if in no pain at all, and continue to work. Seeing this, the doctors feel that Carter should be in some kind of pain, but because he is so doped up with pain killers, he isn't. Therefore, they realize that he must be taking something. 3. A bottle falls out of his coat jacket and Jing Mei finds it, without Carter realizing this, and gives it to Mark and so the intervention (is that the word I want?) begins. 4. Will need to have some kind of blood work done. (as stated above) Hello, drugs! 5. Or, what samira thought of above....exrays being done, and they do find the hematoma on his spine and speculate that he should be struggling with either walking or lifting or be in some kind of pain, but doesn't show this because of the drugs.

So, as you can see, I do think they are going to go with the drug story and not bipolar. This doesn't make Carter a bad person or even a dirty old drug addict. This would just make him a person who was given pain killers to help with the pain, and the pain never went away, so he continued to use, which in turn made him addicted. But this is just my opinions and thoughts on the matter.

-- Paula (pbranden@dwave.net), May 16, 2000.

I agree Carter is most likly using drugs and not bipolar at all. However, jusy getting Carter to quit drugs and maybe for addiction is not enough. Drug use is a symptom of Carter's major problem which is PTSD and survivor's guilt. Carter won't be get back to his normal self until he is recovered from PTSD and survivors guilt. Those are the two biggest obstacles in Carter's way for full recovery and return to normalct. These problems along with chronic pain are what caused carter to probably take drugs in the first place. It is awful simplistic to say that if carter quits taking drugs he will be fine. He won't until he gets healed from his PTSD and survivors guilt.

-- Brenda (jckwfan@aol.com), May 16, 2000.

I have heard that it is very easy to get addicted to pain killers such as morphine, esp. when the person needs it for an extended amount of time (which Carter would have). I have also heard that it is somewhat controversial among doctors about whether drugs like morphine should be perscribed long-term because they are so easy to develop an addiction to. I can't remember exactly where I heard this, so if anyone has heard this too, please let me/us know, so I don't feel like I just dreamed up this idea!

Anyways, I don't think of Carter as a drug addict...it could happen to anyone in this situation.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.