Because I'm totally nosey and impatient, do you think Carter's soliloquy last week pretty much wraps up his drug story? Or is there more struggle to come? Will Benton forgive his relapse?

-- LeeS (binkyinc@xsite.net), February 03, 2001

Answers

I don't think it's ever going to be "wrapped up." Carter admitted that he thinks of getting high all the time, which is how an addict thinks. He will always be an addict, even if he never uses again, and in any crisis he has to face, there will be the temptation to relapse. He has just admitted that he pretended to do the program, without actually buying in to its central precepts, and Kerry has just told him to "start over." Maybe now he will do the program for real. It would be a good thing to see him sharing in meetings and it being a meaningful experience for him. It would be great if, down the road, Carter could be shown helping someone else in trouble as he was. As for Benton, we'll see. Benton has always tended to be a little judgmental, but he came through for Carter before and I think he will again. Hey, they have to save something for the next sweeps.

-- Melinda (mross@value.net), February 03, 2001.

I've spoken to a few recovering addicts who have been clean for at least eight years. They have told me that while they do sometimes think of using it is no where close to what it was like when were in their initial stages of recovery. They told me that once they admitted to themselves that they were addicted , it was much easier for them to begin the acceptance/ healing process. Based on what they have told me, I think now that Carter has admitted he is a drug addict , His recovering of his addiction will be much more productive and his craving while not disappearing will gradually lesson over time. Also, some of the people told me that NA/AA helped them very much. Others told me that they found other ways to dealing with their addiction that worked better for them than NA/AA did when they tried it. So, NA/AA while valuable to many recovering addict/alcoholics is not the end all. About a month ago ,My local newspaper had a article on addiction and mentioned that about the same thing for NA/AA. The article mentioned that while it was helping many recovering addicts that it was not as sucessful as once thought and that some addicts were getting getting much better results in recovery with some of the other programs available that are not twelve step programs such as NA/AA.

I do think that now Carter has admitted that he is a drug addict that he will find what works best for him and he will have success in recovering from his addiction. I think we will see vast improvement in recovery , but I doubt ER will concentrate on it much . I do think that Carter still needs to accept what happened to him on Valentines Day and start dealing with the emotional turmoil it called. I think once he has dealt with it and started to move on with his life that things will improve greatly for him in his recovery. I personally want then to wrap up his drug addiction/ PTSD/Guilt storyline this season. I wish they would show him talk more in depth about his feelings about what happened, but unfortunatly since the TPTB are going to deal with Luka's PTSD , they probably won't deal with Carter's onscreen. By season end, I want to see Carter start getting involved in storylines that have nothing to do with his recovery from the Valentines Day massacre. Until, I would like to see a few scenes that shows Carter is indeed improving and making great progress in his recovery.

-- brenda (jckwfan@aol.com), February 03, 2001.

I think that scene signaled the "end" of Carter's troubles as far as the storyline arc goes. We may get mentions of Lucy in passing, or may not. And in the future the writers may play off his status as a recovering addict (maybe some drugs in the lockup go missing and Carter gets blamed, or something like that). But I think the writers could wind up moving on to Carter's family relationships and things that have been missing in his life, since those are the ultimate cause of his addictive behavior, most likely - not losing Lucy or being wounded.

Next week's episode looks great for Carter - he's out having fun with someone he cares about, and he's interacting with his family.

As for Benton, I think that was just a one-scene thing, Carter and Benton don't interact much any more but I'm sure in a future episode there will be some understanding between them that Carter is doing better.

-- Tracy (bankybooda@aol.com), February 04, 2001.

carter starting his AA over again.. does that mean he will need a new sponser?

-- anna (nc3@postmark.net), February 04, 2001.

No, he doesn't need to get a new sponsor just because he is starting again, but he does, IMO, need another sponsor. Abby has too much going on to give him the proper attention. Each addict/alcoholic must be treated differently and Carter is one who needs attention. The fact that he glossed over the addiction and finds excuses showed he hadn't really accepted it. She let his behavior slide or ignored him while dealing with her mother and Luka. Clearly now he has accepted his problem, but it wasn't through her assistance really.

-- Minnie (tcminnie@aol.com), February 04, 2001.

I don't remember what episode it was but when Abbey asked Carter if he had told Kerry about his slip up she told that he had to find abnother sponser

-- James (eorejim@aol.com), February 05, 2001.

Carter needs a new sponsor because Abby dropped him not because of the relapse. Peter has always been judgemental of everyone except himself. He will come around eventually.

-- (ripwoman@aol.com), February 05, 2001.