Whom Can You Trust?
I’ve gotten a little re-hooked on E.R. in this, its last season. But I was prepared to feel disappointed by last night’s episode, which centered around Angela Bassett’s character and featured a return-from-the-dead (via flashback) appearance by Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards). The reason I was braced for disappointment was because TV Guide — of which I am currently in receipt of a free subscription — told me it would be a sucky episode and make bad use of the beloved, bald character, not to mention squander the Bassett chops.
And yet…I cried like a little flounder during this extremely well-done episode. (Yeah, I know flounders aren’t known for their crying, but I’ve got a bad cold and I don’t feel much like a land mammal.) Bassett was quite something, in an episode that jetted between her happy-mommy past and her stoic-fascist present (even though it is a bit unsettling to see Angela Bassett all smiley — warmth, for better or worse, isn’t really her trademark). Ultimately, the episode deeply hit upon the pain of allowing oneself to love, along with its corresponding redemption. And what more, I ask you, could TV Guide want from a show? It almost makes me want to question whether their compulsive attention to The Hills might not be excessive.
I’m enjoying the homages that E.R. is paying to past (and presently departing) cast member in its swan-song season. The show is a class act. Unlike the periodical that claims to be its arbiter.