I was thinking about how the critics have compared this season to the 5th season. Well why haven't they compared this season with other seasons? I decided to compare 3rd season with this season. In the 3rd season Mark got beat up, Susan left and Doug and Carol started liking each other more. They had alot more fun back then. They had parties and get togethers. This season was very sad and a little happy. Carol went back to Doug but not before being a very depressed person who only cared about herself. Lucy died a horrible death. Carter almost died and is now hooked on drugs. Carol gave birth to twin girls. In my opinion 3rd season was alot better. They had more fun then. When Doug left the fun started going downhill. Then Lucy died and the fun was gone for the most part. I would like them to have more fun again but no parties while at work. Look what happened when they had a party the last time at work. Now you be a critic and compare a season with another season. It can be this season and l4th season or the 2nd and 5th season or whatever you'd like. Explain what the differnce was and what you did or didn't like. I didn't like them killing off Lucy and turning Carol into a depressing person. I did like Carol returning to Doug. Give it a try. I thought this would be a grat thing to do while wer're waiting until the 7th season to start. Sorry this is so long.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), June 21, 2000

Answers

I acciedently put 14 instead of 4. It's supposed to be 4th season. Sorry about that.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), June 21, 2000.

I agree with you Cammie. The 3rd season had so much more fun inserted into it. There was some great interaction between Carol/Carter, Carol/Doug , Randi, Carter/Anna, Jeanie/Al...the list goes on. I just really miss the friendship and comraderie that everyone used to have. I was just watching "Make a Wish" tonight and it struck me how much I actually missed Anna. I really wished that TPTB could've made Anna/Carol into a solid friendship. Yeah, I know they were friends, but Anna just didn't stick around long enough to have a "Susan/Carol" type friendship. Season 6 had everyone at odds with one another and the only humor that was interjected was from Dave and occasionally Elizabeth. *Sigh* I really miss Season 1-5. I also enjoyed Season 5 with Elizabeth/Peter. What a couple! Oh well..back to lurking mode for awhile.

-- Jen (noahfan@juno.com), June 21, 2000.

I loved all the friendships and humor and characters in seasons 3 and 4. I liked season 6 though but it just doesn't seem like er.

-- Splash (iluver@hotmail.com), June 21, 2000.

i think one of the reasons that everyone seemed at odds this season is that a lot of new people were put on the show all at once...dave, cleo, jing-mai, abby, luka. in the past new characters have been added more slowly and on a one at a time basis. like season three, several major characters were added, like anspaugh, maggie doyle and anna. but it wasn't in a really short time span, so we got used to having new faces. plus, character development was slow in this season because of so many new faces. i think tptb tried to make the new characters have cheesy "defining moments" that didn't really explain much instead of slowly laying solid foundations. for example...look how many seasons it took for carol and doug's relationship to come about, and how long the peter/carter relationship has been dynamic. . while er may have been more fun in the past, tragedies do happen in real life. i loved carters story because we saw the darker side, not just his good bedside manner. we actually saw him battling something and not winning and finally neeeding to get help. and we saw mark overcome the death of his father and not break down. and we saw a resolution to carols life. so i don't think this was a bad season...just one that was more sober. now, they need to work on developing the new characters like they are the old ones. sorry about my rambling!

-- Erin (earthgirl24@yahoo.com), June 22, 2000.

I agree with Erin...I really liked this season, after Be Still My Heart, every Thursday I was anxious until the season finale. It was one of the more, if not the most, dramatic seasons, which kind of depressed a few people...but it was a good storyline. I actually put most of the credit of this season's success to Carter, which is biased, but I think his story got a lot of people's attention. Now if you compare it to other years, it does seem VERY different. Season 1 seems totally different, but that happens in workplaces in real life. The supporting actors actually had storylines as well, in season 1, and now they're having trouble just fitting in enough for all of the main characters. The oddest thing is the change in Carter...if you watch the season 5 premiere, you wouldn't even believe that the grumpy, bearded guy is sweet, young Carter. He's so crabby! It's like by season 6 they just decided to block out Carter's season 5 attitude and jump back to his lovable character. Later on he was okay but the first few episodes were painful to watch. NW should have rebelled!

So for next year, I think we all agree that they need to work on commeradery...we all miss the Doug/Mark, Carol/Susan, Carol/Elizabeth/Anna type friendships. We got the Benton/Carter relationship back, now I would like to see some others. Mainly I would like to see a lot of Carter friendships...w/ Mark, Jing Mei, Dave, Benton, Kerry, maybe even Abby. Sorry it's such a Carter fest.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), June 22, 2000.

Just like you have transition eppys, I thought that Season 6 was a transition season, setting the foundation for what they're going to do next year namely in the "comaraderie" department. When you have an influx of new character, or should I say new doctors, you're going to have to give them time to settle in before they become all chummy. In season 6, I think they laid the basis for a Carter/Malucci kind of friendship, DEb/Carter friendship, they did a few things with Abby and Cleo has Peter of course, so next season I think they can develop on all of this. In retrospect though, I think the best storylines were the cause of this lack of friendship. Would Carter have been a drug addict if everyone paid attention to him like they did when Mark came back? Obviously not, and while I wish he didn't become one, truly it was a spectacular story arc, and a memorable one that will become a classic. But, I really hope that the ER gets back some fun and happiness next season.

-- samira (matb_west@chickmail.com), June 22, 2000.

Actually, the thing about Mark's attack, is that although Doug and Carol were mostly there for him, everyone wanted him to get over it after awhile. He got in a terrible mood, and there were a few discussions in season 4 between Carol and Doug about how he wasn't going to have any friends left if he went on like this (with the exception of Cythnia of course). He really didn't have much more support than Carter did. Carter tried very hard to appear okay, and he was convincing for awhile. Mark didn't hide this at all. And ironically, Doug and Carol have the same "Mark needs to snap out of his mood" conversation one season earlier, when Susan left him. Poor Mark, something's always going on with him to put him in a bad mood.

But anyways, Samira, I hope you're right about next season.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), June 23, 2000.