Skye's the Limit
There's a new chief in townagain. And apparently, she's just as horny as the last one. I love that Lucien happened to be the beneficiary of Wexler's "love the one you're with" approach to relationships, though I don't think that will end up satisfying him emotionally in the long run.
Despite some light moments in this episode directed by the former Dr. "Watch out for that helicopter" Romano,
Paul McCrane, there was some heavy stuff going on tonight. Wexler's first night in her new job brought a tragic case of a misunderstanding gone terribly wrong. The bigoted son's misguided attempt at revenge over his father's life-altering injury went awry and resulted in the murder of the Hispanic woman's son. Meanwhile, Pratt found himself at a career crossroads as he began to doubt his future at County; and Tony juggled the demands of his own parenting adventures while handling the case of an injured boy and his emotionally-detached father.
The overriding theme of the complicated relationships between fathers and sons even carried over into Luka and Abby's ongoing struggle. As Luka earnestly attempted to reconnect with his wife, son and friends, his detachment from the situation with Abby became more apparent. Abby's pent-up anger and frustration bubbled over into more self-destruction as her drinking continued to escalate. In a way, it seems to me that the writers really boxed themselves into a corner with this storyline and I don't like that Abby is the one paying the price. Luka's protracted stay in Croatia did seem somewhat unrealistic in light of what the man has gone through to find his way back to a family. The revelation of his father's death came like a punch in the gut because I really felt like Abby has a legitimate right to be hurt and angry and was finally opening up and being honest about it. I just wish that they had allowed the character to struggle with her emotions without having a complete meltdown. While I have faith that Luka and Abby are in this for the long haul, I am concerned about how they will reconcile this storyline with
Goran Visnjic's finite time on the show.
It is hard to believe that next week, we will be celebrating ER's 300th episode. That is quite an achievement for a television drama. Here's hoping this landmark episode will offer some hope that things for our favorite docs will improve soon.
