ER (TV Series) Chaos Theory (2002) User Reviews

A show with foresight

[tombombs · 7/10 · 5 August 2022]

Aired almost 20 years ago to the date and what does this episode treat? Monkey pox.

That said this season marks the beginning of the post-Greene era and unfortunately, the beginning of the slide into an ordinary series. It starts with The Rocket Romano losing his arm and that will eventually lead to his departure from the series. Never should have killed off his character.

Chaos Theory (#9.1)

[ComedyFan2010 · 9/10 · 9 April 2015]

Well that was some eventful episode! I knew we will start with the quarantine where last season ended, but didn't realize it would be such a big issue. They have shown issues in Africa, things happening in a German University working on figuring out what the virus is. And evacuated the whole hospital.

The only ones who stayed were the ones who had to be quarantined. And they ended up spending there two weeks! This was actually the fun part. Pratt and carter playing soccer and breaking a window was very fun. And at the en Weaver asking Pratt to work the day he got released was a good joke too.

But the evacuation was very dramatic and indeed chaotic. There was a real tragedy when Romano had his hand chopped off by a helicopter. Man that scene was shocking. I am worried for him, hope they will be able to save it, at lest he is alive.

Doomed From the Start

[spasek · 8/10 · 9 April 2022]

There are two things that will destroy a relationship before it really starts:

1. Being with someone because you're lonely

2. Trying to change the other person

The Carter/Abby dynamic felt more like a good friendship than anything beyond that. Abby and Luka always had the romantic chemistry. But Carter makes the mistake of trying to fix Abby. And she's right: she isn't broken. You're essentially telling the other person that they aren't good enough.

And Abby makes the mistake of going to meetings for Carter (as revealed in the episode, "The Letter.") That doens't work either. Unless it's for yourself, you're essentially admitting that you aren't good enough for the other person.

The hospital is evacuated due to the "monkey pox." Romano famously has his arm cut off by a rescue helicopter. Unfortunately, this won't be the last "run-in" he has with a helicopter either when ER decided to go for a "jump the shark" moment. And we have Chen who still forgets that she's an attending, and yet she still lets Pratt walk all over her.

Meanwhile, Corday has returned to England with the hopes of starting a new life. Of course, she finds the hospital besieged with male chauvinism and terminologies and procedures almost foreign to her. Corday was always my favorite female doctor on the show. I truly wished they'd found a way to keep her character going. Alex Kingston was always on the top of her game.

Aside from Lewis coming back, Carter is the last of the original cast left (not counting the nurses). ER almost feels like a shell of its former glory. Few shows remain strong heading into a ninth season, and it's clear that the writers were trying to find new, fresh stories to keep the show going. While it succeeds, for the most part, the show would never recapture the beauty and solid writing of the first six seasons. Whenever I rewatch the series, I'm constantly reminded of how good the series was with the original cast. The show could be replicated but never duplicated.

Interesting credit roll

[DoodleWhit · 10/10 · 11 January 2023]

As many times as I have watched this series, I just noticed something for the first time. During seasons 1-8 Mark was in a chair that he slid across the area in the opening. Carter was standing -- in the first episode of this season, all of a sudden Carter is in a chair in the opening credits, sliding across an area. Almost symbolic that he is now the lead of the show. He is the first of the opening credits now also.

This was a good episode even if unrealistic. Glad to see Carter and Abby finally get their relationship actually started, even though I never figured it was going to last long term.