Twleve seasons in and ER has found a few ways to keep itself feeling fresh. Adding a few new cast members and sparking some unexpected romances between certainly helped it through another 22 episodes, but there’s one drawback that just can’t be overcome. ER seems to have reached a point where the supporting cast runs the show. With every season the writers introduce new characters. Some stick around, some wander off. The main characters holding down the series by this point were introduced back in season 10. They’ve developed a little, but none of them really has the strength to carry the show like Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle did.
Now, the most senior member is the oft-absent Laura Innes as Dr. Weaver, with Maura Tierney’s Dr. Abby Lockhart and Goran Visnjic’s Dr.Luka Kovac providing the other semblance of normalcy for this show with such a high cast turnover rate. For the most part, relative newcomers Dr. Gregory Pratt (Mekhi Phifer), Dr. Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra), Dr. Ray Barnett (Shane West) and Nurse Samantha Taggert (Linda Cardellini) drive most of the season’s plot. The season’s big name guest stars include John Leguizamo as hotshot teaching doctor Victor Clementa, Danny Glover as Dr. Pratt’s father, Kat Dennings as the statutory love interest of Dr. Barnett, and John Stamos in the role of Dr. Tony Gates, who goes on to become a regular.
Major plot points for the season center on Pratt’s coming to terms with his absentee father; Dr. Clementa’s introduction and relation with the pre-existing ER team; Dr. Neela’s increasingly complicated relationship with an army medical officer; and finally an impending child by two of the show’s bigger names. After the Dr. Carter-centric season 11, the events of season 12 just never quite seem to reach the same level of importance. Besides Dr. Clementa’s struggles in the ER, the entire season feels disjointed and more like four different stories happening independently rather than a single entity with multiple things happening simultaneously (something past seasons did exceptionally well).
The elements of the season’s plotline might not be the best, but the writing remains top notch. In fact, that may be the most consistently impressive part of the program, after twelve years the show’s quality hasn’t dipped at all in terms of production. To up the ante, the show undertakes a rather huge set piece when a plane crashes in Chicago and emergency crews throughout the city band together to save lives. It’s an engrossing episode and the wreckage can’t help but remind you of our nation’s own brush with airplane-oriented disaster. The season hits its share of highs and lows, but that episode stands out as a remarkable achievement for the cast and crew alike.
Where does this season stand against the rest in terms of quality? It doesn’t have Edward and Wyle driving a central story and it never has the gravity to make it as compelling as the two or three that immediately preceded it. However, compared to the seasons which followed, it’s easily superior. The most notable facet of ER’s twelfth season is the guest stars. Leguizamo’s casting as the unpopular Clementa was a beautiful idea; I’ve always thought the man was a tremendous actor. Glover’s turn as Pratt’s father gives the season some of its most poignant moments as the doctor wavers between what he knows of the man by the words of his mother and what he learns from his recent encounters. Knowing what happens in later seasons, it’s interesting to see where how Stamos started in the show (he reprises an old ER tradition of an EMT as a main character), and to his credit he has a winning personality, making his character a decent addition.
DVD Bonus Features
ER sets are always so disappointing in this field. There’s little more than a healthy supply of deleted and extended scenes, none of which could ever be considered required viewing. Oh well.
"ER: The Complete Twelfth Season" is on sale January 12, 2010 and is rated NR. Drama. Directed by Christopher Chulack, Jonathan Kaplan, Richard Thorpe. Written by Michael Crichton, David Zabel, Joe Sachs, John Wells. Starring Abraham Benrubi, Danny Glover, Goran Visnjic, John Leguizamo, Kat Dennings, Laura Innes, Linda Cardellini, Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, Parminder Nagra, John Stamos.
