I may be way off here...but I seem to recall hype and speculation about a suicide at the end of the season...Did anyone besides me think there was a moment when Luka might commit suicide? Notice the shot of him, THEN the train, then him...after all he's been through my thought is he was seriously considering jumping. It's obvious he wasn't planning on boarding the train, it never stopped. This episode finally showed some real depth to his charecter...more than that hyped "defining moment show" several weeks ago, that was hardly a defining moment. This episode was moving...I could feel the depth of his pain and loss... As for Carter and Benton...well, I've gushed enough. Superb, simply superb connection and depth between these two fine actors. Powerful stuff.

-- Ann (isadora@ime.net), May 19, 2000

Answers

BIG LUKA FAN HERE!!! I think that Luka probably values his life too much after all he's been through. I would have a hard time coping if I lost my children to war and had to listen to someone say that they didn't want their baby. Watching that girl deliver a stillborn baby made it hard to fall asleep. That and the huge storms we had in NJ.

-- Lisa (lisayas@yahoo.com), May 19, 2000.

I also thought Luka was going to jump - and was relieved that he didn't. I think the Star spoilers put the thought in my head.

-- Chava (ChavaW68@aol.com), May 19, 2000.

This is off-the-wall, but here goes.

What I think is going on with Luka is that he values life -- particularly young, innocent life -- very highly, but right now he's valuing his own life (and certainly his own career) almost not at all. And of course, he doesn't have much evidence that anyone else values his life.

I also don't think that at a deep level he has any commitment to the ethical substructure of American medical practice, in which doctors do not mete out justice and patients determine their own care. He probably views that outlook as a typically American luxury. (I'm not knowledgeable about medical ethics and how much they vary country-to- country, but it's pretty clear that his experience as a war victim has given him a very different moral universe than everybody else in the ER, and he seems to view their ethical priorities as relatively superficial.) Where Carol or Doug (or others in the ER), for example, might violate the rules for sentimental reasons -- violating a DNR order so someone could say goodbye to her family, providing care in a hopeless case, etc. -- Luka seems to be obsessed with JUSTICE with respect to who lives and who dies.

Having lost everything and with nothing in particular to live for, I think he's become something of a vigilante/doctor, sort of the Batman of the ER. Poor guy.

-- Elizabeth (ebs42@yahoo.com), May 19, 2000.

I am sure that Luka would not have rushed up to the artillery man who shelled his house and killed his family if he too were critically injured in the attack. I am sure that Luka now has no patience for those who take the lives of others, as he has had real live personal experience with the killing of his own family, not just a lofty theoretical point-of-view. I think after he "lost" Kate and Tess last episode, I am sure that he felt disgusted as that woman killed her baby. (I was numb and sick afterwards.) He just seemed lost, tired and depressed by the end of this episode.

-- Rachel (rachelrr@ivillage.com), May 19, 2000.

I like Luka's character and the viewpoint he brings to the show. I just hope they don't over do it. Talk about hitting us over the head. Yes, we know that the wounds of Luka losing his family so tragically are still fresh and that this no doubt influences everything he does. I just hope he's not always going to be stuck in storylines like this season's where he was always trying to correct the wrongs that happened to him, either by saving other people's babies, heroically keeping families together, exacting revenge on violent offenders or trying to be a surrogate father to Carol's babies. If this character is going to remain compelling, they need to find some other aspects of his personality to develop and make him a bit more well rounded. With Carol gone, he really has no strong bonds with any other characters. It will be interesting to see how he fits into the mix next year.

-- Christy (christy.steele@mindspring.com), May 19, 2000.

Okay you guys, there have been so many posts here that someone is suicidal. Carter. Malucci. Now Luka? Come on, not every dramatic moment on this show has to result in suicide or sex (which goes with the countless other posts suggesting that every time someone looks at someone else that there's a hot encounter coming!) We would complain if the writers did that to us, overdramatizing everything. Can't someone just have a bad day? A bad week?

-- Theresa (tduggan@c-b-e.org), May 19, 2000.

Since most of the docs have one good friend (or least someone they can talk to), well, except Romano; now that Carol is gone, who will be Luka's friend? That is, someone he could confide in when times are tough? Who is it likely to be? Or will he be a perennial loner?

-- Jane (lc19@centuryinter.net), May 19, 2000.

I picked up on something a few episodes back which really struck me at the time. Luka told Carol that he was in Vukovar (a town in Croatia) during the war. That probably doesn't mean anything to the average ER viewer, so let me give you a little bit of background on the Serbo-Croatian war.

Vukovar was shelled mercilessly during the war. Its defenders were heavily outmatched (with an emphasis on heavily). There was only one way in or out of the town - a narrow field which the Croatian Army had a precarious hold on. Nevertheless, they held out for some three months, during which time they shot down numerous aircraft and tanks. Eventually they ran out of ammunition (some say they were starved of ammuntion for political reasons, but that's another story), and the city fell in November 1991.

When the Serbian paramilitary units entered the town, many innocent people, trapped in their cellars throughout the ordeal, were slaughtered.

There was also an incident at the hospital. The Serbian paramilitary leader "Arkan" (recently assassinated) entered the hospital with his fighters and massacred every single patient there.

I don't know how far into these details the ER writers will go next season (if they go into them at all), but as I said before, when I heard the name "Vukovar", alarm bells rang in my head.

Sorry to bring up war and politics, but I thought it might help some of you put Luka's problems in better perspective.

-- PK (petar.kolakovic@utoronto.ca), May 19, 2000.

I know alot of people think that Luka is playing "God" and a vigilante doctor. But I don't think that is quite fair to say that. We do know some of his background and how that has affected his decisions. He has seen so much unnecessary violence and death and how some people think human life is worthless and has no meaning. He clearly values human life and he is a doctor trained to save lives. If, in the school yard shooting, the shooter was the only person injured I am sure Luka would NOT have denied him emergency care. Its not like he just ignored him and let him die. I was glad to hear Elizabeth side with Luka on this one. As for the pregnant woman...what doctor would not try to talk her into having that baby via c-section? The fact that legal came back with a court order to deliver that baby (even though it was too late) shows that he was justified in fighting for that baby. As a side note here...when I was pregnant with my second child my OB/GYN yelled at me one month because I only gained one pound in that month. She threatened to send me to a nutritionist and a counselor and all this stuff. I know this is a different situation, but the doctor was very overbearing. My point is, doctor's often bring in their personal values or whatever into patient care. Maybe not to the point that Luka does. I am very glad he had Cleo there to calm him down and stop him before he did something he would regret. Everybody has bad days, and poor Luka seems to have more than others, but I really enjoy his character. Of course, he was heartbroken to deliver that stillborn baby as was Cleo and the nurses, but I don't think he is suicidal. Sorry to rant, but I feel so strongly for Luka's character. I can't wait to see how they proceed with him next year.

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), May 19, 2000.

Theresa, the reason the suicide threads keep coming up is there was a spoiler (obviously incorrect) about it being a season-end storyline for a main character...hence, it's on everyone's mind.

Luka is a wonderful new character with lots of depth, a nice contrast to Malucci (as he is presented). I never thought about his jumping, but I did feel so sorry for him...so alone in this country and apparently the world.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 19, 2000.

I was trying to think of another reason for why I never thought of Luka jumping (other than he's a popular character and has a 3-year contract), and it hit me that they've already done that with Dennis Gant and probably wouldn't (though not certainly) do it again.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 19, 2000.

Elizabeth: I like your phrase "moral universe". He is definately motivated by justice. *I've said before that I like Luka's perspective. He's lived through a total war, not just the sometimes war-like goings on in the ER, so his feelings seem more real and strong to me. I don't know how he goes on, though I don't think he is suicidal. I think when a person has nothing they're true character comes out- they either crumble, or keep surviving.

-- May (archerl@cadvision.com), May 20, 2000.

I like what you say, May. I heard a speaker at our Mayor's Prayer Breakfast for community and business leaders use the phrase "moral compass" (as in America has lost its) recently and this reminded me of that. I know there's lots of other threads discussing the baby dying and I hate to bring it into this one, but I think I'm being more and more convinced that he was the right one in the situation...and the court later confirmed that (too much later). I guess the thing that keeps bothering me is the 18-year old (possibly disturbed) mother's view was legally the only one to be considered. The baby was viable. I'm sorry, I'll stop there. I don't think Luka was considering jumping, just lost in his own world. If he was suicidal, he'd have done it after his family died. He believes in life, young life especially, so much...and I think that's what I like about his "moral compass."

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 21, 2000.

LOVED how Elizabeth pointed out the difference between Doug and Luka-- that Doug is operating on more of an emotional level, while Luka has an almost obsessive need for justice (well, OK she phrased it better than I did:) ). I was never a big Luka fan, but I'm starting to like him more and more.

-- joy (joygirl01@yahoo.com), May 22, 2000.

I really did think for a second that Luka was going to be the suicide! I mean, poor guy, his lost his wife, finally found "happiness" with someone else, who left him for her true love, the other doctors in the ER always seem to disagree with him...it leaves a lot to the imigination!

-- catherine (catsclaw_007@yahoo.com), May 22, 2000.

All I know is that *I* might have to jump in front of a train if TPTB don't give Luke some joy soon! Besides a possible romance, I would also like to see him become good buddies with a co-worker. Any nominees? I was thinking perhaps Corday would be a good friend. I want to see more smiles on that lovely face.

As for the possibility Luke was considering suicide, that flashed in my mind for a moment, but considering how the character has developed, I couldn't see him doing such a thing. I do think that, as he is used to living on the edge of danger, standing right next to a speeding train wouldn't faze him much. But, dude, his body language in that last scene (heck, before that, the look on his face as he delivered the dead baby) made me cry.

-- Barbara (goodbabs@zdnetonebox.com), May 22, 2000.