Linda Shing Movies
A tormented Kovac (Goran Visnjic) precipitates a barroom brawl and later lobbies unsuccessfully to operate on an ailing Croatian child. Demoted from surgery, Romano (Paul McCrane) becomes more irksome than ever before when he is placed in charge of the ER. A mother-to-be must choose between giving birth to her child or undergoing life-saving chemotherapy. Chen's (Ming-Na) birthday is spoiled by Pratt's (Mekhi Phifer) ill-advised gift. And the staffers get their first look at Lewis' (Sherry Stringfield) brand-new husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With this episode, recurring actor Sharif Atkins becomes a regular in the role of med student Michael Gallant, while former regular Eriq La Salle makes a brief encore appearance as Peter Benton. Greene (Anthony Edwards) tries to keep the return of his brain tumor -- and his subsequent treatment -- a secret from his wife, Elizabeth (Alex Kingston), with disastrous consequences. Chen (Ming-Na) deals with a comatose patient who has somehow become pregnant. Abby (Maura Tierney) avoids her attacker, Brian (Matthew Settle), by briefly moving in with Kovac (Goran Visnjic). And a fistfight breaks out between two of the staffers in the ER admitting room. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Don Cheadle makes his first series appearance as Paul Nathan, an overaged med student who chose to enter school only after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. During his first shift, Nathan plunges in to help the other staffers treat the victims of a Halloween party fire -- whereupon his colleagues notice that he doesn't react all that well to intense pressure. In other developments, Corday (Alex Kingston) and Romano (Paul McCrane) battle over a patient who may be facing an amputation; despite her recent erratic behavior, Weaver (Laura Innes) tries to save a baby who was all but killed in a home birth gone awry; and the romance between Chuny (Laura Ceron) and Kovac (Goran Visnjic) is sabotaged by his insatiable addiction to sex. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Forced by Romano (Paul McCrane) to work a few shifts in the ER, Elizabeth (Alex Kingston) has a run-in with Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) -- and learns for the first time about Greene's (Anthony Edwards) inoperable tumor. Elsewhere, two girls involved in a campus stabbing incident are brought into the ER. Chen (Ming-Na) handles a victim of severe trauma. And when Weaver (Laura Innes) tries to find out if her girlfriend, Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal), has been injured in a fire, she is in for a big surprise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This episode marks the final regular ER appearances of Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele. After resorting to desperate measures to retain custody of his son, Reese (Matthew Watkins), Peter Benton (La Salle) realizes that he must make a choice between the boy and his overloaded ER schedule. He opts to take a less demanding job at a clinic in the Chicago suburbs, where his current love, Cleo Finch (Michele), is already working. In other developments, a boy accidentally shot by his mom on Christmas Eve is a cause of great concern amongst the ER staffers; Abby (Maura Tierney) sees Nicole (Julie Delpy) where she didn't expect to see her; the relationship between Weaver (Laura Innes) and Lopez (Lisa Vidal) enters a new phase; and Carter (Noah Wyle) receives startling but not unexpected news about his parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After a five-year absence, Sherry Stringfield returns to ER in the role of Dr. Susan Lewis -- the same week that series regular Erik Palladino makes his farewell appearance as Dr. Dave Malucci. In Chicago to interview for a job at another hospital, Lewis drops into County General to see her former "crush" Greene (Anthony Edwards) -- and is offered a position in County's ER when Weaver (Laura Innes) fires one employee and kicks another one "downstairs." Naturally, Lewis welcomes the chance to come home -- but what will Greene's current spouse, Elizabeth (Alex Kingston), think? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide








