do you er?

Years and years ago, way back to my early college years, I didn't get ER. My mom was an early devoted fan, and I would tease her for getting all worked up about a show whose title was a sound you mutter when you don't know what else to say. I just didn't get it.

Fast forward 15 years and here I am a blubbery mess on my couch. I haven't moved since the very last episode ever started almost two hours ago. I'm not sure why, but I haven't watched it all that much over the last few years-- maybe a handful of times in the last three seasons (before all the hype of the last few episodes-- will Clooney make an appearance or won't he was the BIG question that needed to be answered), but it doesn't really matter. I can still recognize all the faces and names, and the tone hasn't really changed since 1994. It still makes me hope that I never, ever need to be on an ER gurney, damn straight.

Sure, the story lines from this show have been predictable and overly dramatic, and no, I can't imagine that the sheer number of tragedies that have taken place within that particular ER department's walls is anywhere near typical for our country's hospitals. But the characters- oh my, there were some memorable ones, and the last few weeks of viewing have been like flipping through your old yearbooks-- lots of exclamations of "Wow, look at her!" and "Who's that again?" and "Oh my, he looks old!"

And now it's over. Since I haven't been watching it avidly for several years now, my emotional connection to the show isn't as high as if, say, Grey's Anatomy was coming to an end. (Banish the thought! Seriously!) Yet, I still sat here for two hours and cried and cried. And you want to know what thought I'm left with, after all is said and done for this show? I ask this question, but I want to forewarn you that if you haven't seen the final episode this could be considered a mild spoiler of events... from this mama's perspective, there's one thing that really bothered me from this final episode.

Why do you writers feel the need to always kill the mom??? Honestly, that mom could have lived, right? Technically, one could have an inverted uterus and recover after a significant surgery, am I correct? Why in God's name do you always pen the dramatic ending of a dead mom and motherless children? AAAHHHH!

Alrighty, I've gotten that out of my system... mostly. Overall, it was a well-written episode, dead moms excluded, and the connections between characters and shifts and actions were seamless. The cameos of players from back when I was an avid watcher were appreciated, and since I shouldn't end on a rant about pretend dead moms, I'll end with this.

I'll miss you the most, John Carter.

Watching sadly as the era of prime-time dramas is fading away,