Discovery

(S14E09) Kevin Moretti…we hardly knew ye!

After only a handful of episodes, Kevin Moretti has left as ER chief at County General. But, boy, what an active handful of episodes it was! Not only did he turn the ER upside-down to make if more efficient, but he ended up bedding Abby as well. His reason for leaving was the way his son was acting: the boy was having some incredible mood swings that were causing concern for Moretti.

I hope this doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Kevin on ER. Frankly, the issues with his son were beginning to intrigue me as well as other viewers and I’d like to see some type of closure. However, with ER being the king of hanging story threads I wouldn’t be surprised if we never saw Stanley Tucci on the show again.

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So, who’s his replacement You would think that it would be Dr. Pratt since he’s the current senior attending at County. Uh, nope. Instead, Dr. Anspaugh decided to make Dr. Skye Wexler the temporary chief. For those of you scratching your heads trying to figure out who the hell Skye is she was a temp attending who previously appeared in just one episode. Man, I want me a temp job like that!

We learned a little bit about the type of reluctant leader Wexler would be in this week’s episode. Indecisive would be one way to describe her, too nice would be another, kiss-up would probably be a third. True, she was thrust into a job she didn’t want in an emergency room she barely knew; however, as a 10-year attending (I believe that’s what she said during the “Test” episode) she should have gained some leadership experience. I think she was beginning to get the hang of it by episode end, so we will have to see. Needless to say, I think she’ll be more like Luka and less like Moretti or Dr. Weaver were.

One thing we definitely know about her is that she is quite the minx and she knows what she likes. In this case she likes one Lucien Dubenko. I say: good for Lucien! Dubenko has grown on me as he has become a bit more regular in his ER appearances. By getting involved with Skye he is finally getting the Abby and Neela monkeys off of his back. I’ll be interested to see how this little relationship turns out.

Oh, and if you’re still scratching your head trying to remember where the hell you saw Dr. Wexler previous to ER then think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Kari Matchett was lawyer Mary Tate in several episodes of Studio 60 last season, including the last four episodes. She was also in the TNT drama Heartland and on 24 as Lisa Miller.

Right. Enough about Skye. Let’s talk about our favorite person to get tired of — Abby. I’ve been thinking about the way she’s been dressing this season. Most of the time she’s in all black. Not that I find symbolism in everything, but I’m beginning to think that the way Abby is dressing reflects her mood. During happier times she wore clothing that was much lighter in nature. As her mood has darken this season her garments have become more gloomy as well. I may be putting way too much into what she’s wearing, but it makes sense to me.

Anyhoo, Abby is downright pissed at Luka for spending so much time abroad and then bringing his brother back home. She is pretty much at her breaking point now and she let Luka have it both at the hospital and then when she came home. The home rant was alcohol-fueled, which made it even more bitter. But, it looks like all of that rage may dissipate quickly now that Luka announced that his father was dead. I think that this may be beginning of the last few times we see Luka, Abby and Baby Joe.

It may also be the beginning of the last few times we see Greg Pratt as well. After Dr. Wexler was named ER chief Pratt became very discouraged. After a talk with Archie he certainly pondered life outside of County General. It seems that Luka, who was visiting the ER at the time, was able to get Greg out of that mindset by telling him to be proactive for the hospital brass. Since we know that Mekhi Phifer is leaving ER sometime this year I’m guessing that his character doesn’t heed Luka’s advice for too long, or heeds it so well it leads to a better gig.

Other things going on this week:

• Even though they aren’t dating Gates and Sam are the new Ross and Carol. Listening to their conversation in the medical closet brought me back to those days when cowboy doctor Doug Ross tried to convince Carol Hathaway to go along with one of his schemes to help a patient. Nice to see that coming back into the ER.
• The main victim this week was a man who got his arm stuck in some type of factory machinery. I felt bad for that guy but not for his overly-stereotypical, racially biased son. Was the son’s reaction to his father’s injury a true example of what the country is feeling right now in the immigration debate The kid couldn’t wait until after his father recovered to find out what really happened at work The dude ticked me off.
• The scene where they try to revive the severely beaten son of the woman who saved the victim mentioned above.has got to be one of the quietest scenes I have watched on ER for a good long time. The lack of any background music as well as muted voices and medical instruments made for a sad, yet calming, scene.
• Tony Gates. I know I’ve said it before, but I could swear that he was channeling his Jesse persona from Full House this week. Particularly when he did his Elvis impersonation.

Ladies and gentleman, next week is a pretty big deal for ER. Not only is it their annual Christmas episode but it is also the show’s 300th episode! Pretty good for a program that has had its critics in later seasons. We will see you all next week.