On this week’s ER, Neela and Brenner continued to snog, Banfield continued her quest of having another child, and Tony did something or other to someone that someone else did or did not like. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares about all of that, really? Doctor John Carter has returned!
Yes, the crush of man and woman alike, Noah Wyle returned to his old hunting grounds for a multiple-episode arc. What’s good about his return is he is the first alumni to come back that actually bridges the first and second (and third, and fourth) generation of ER personnel. Where the returns of Jeanie Boulet and Dr. Morgenstern have met with indifferent looks from the current crop of doctors and nurses, Carter still knows a number of people. As he integrates himself back in it will be interesting to see how he acts with his former students, who are now at the same level as him, and the newbies who never knew John as the golden child of the ER.
Now, if you thought it was going to be a light, fluffy time for Carter as he picked up some ER shifts, you would be absolutely wrong. As soon as he stepped through those bulletproof doors (ones that he fought for in an earlier season) you could tell that something was wrong with John. This was particularly true when anyone mentioned his girlfriend (wife?) Kem. Initially, the thought was she and Carter had broken up or maybe she couldn’t take the pressure of losing her only child and ended her own life.
As the episode concluded that was just not the case; it was John who had the problem. A very serious medical problem. As the camera panned across a dialysis room we saw John in a treatment chair, staring out at nothing as he contemplated how he got into this mess.
You’re probably saying to yourself, “WTF! Carter was always the picture of health on the show.” If you’re thinking that, then you don’t remember a pivotal moment in the middle of the sixth season when Carter was stabbed in the back by a crazed patient and nearly died. If I’m not mistaken the attack resulted in severe injuries to Carter’s various organs, including the kidneys. Add to that his addiction to drugs after the attack, and his time spent in Africa, where conditions are less than perfect, and you have a setup for Carter’s current medical state.
The question at this point is how far this escalates. Commenters on the official ER website are saying that Archie’s new squeeze, Claudia, dies after a shooting and Carter gets her kidney. Yet, reviewing some of summaries from upcoming episodes, Carter’s organs may be coming from another source. Either way, there better be a kidney for John Carter. If he ends up dying like so many other ER personnel have, I know there will be a riot in Burbank soon after.
So, welcome back, John Carter! Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Feb 20, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I’m excited to see Carter back, for many of the reasons that you mention… Having Morgenstern back was great, but the returns mean less when no one recognizes them. Having Carter back changes that dynamic, and his interactions with Neela and Morris prove that.
I’m looking forward to this arc also because its not a one shot deal like the other returns. We’ll see Carter try to re familiarize himself with the ER, and it really will juxtapose where we are vs where we’ve been.
So happy Carter is back. I see it now…… kidney becomes available for him, but the only surgeon who is available in Chicago to do the work is Benton–who will save his former protogé!
Spoiler:
That’s actually pretty close :)
I loved Carter as a character, but after awhile his drug addiction and West African exile became a bit too much. While I’m all for drama, it’s almost as if when the writers can’t figure out what to do they put good characters through the hellish ringer of life to a hyper level i.e. Maura Tierney.
The whole stabbing arc was fine with me, including the drug addiction (though, it seemed to me that they didn’t lay the groundwork that it was going on as well as they thought), if for no other reason than the climax:
After facing an intervention from his friends, Carter ends up slugging Peter Benton, who takes his stand without fighting back. The definition of friendship.
(And I still say the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, ‘All in the Family’ is still one of the best hours of television ever).
I wonder why he never mentioned Abby ever again? he almost proposed to her and now he doesn’t even want to know what became of her? I was vert disappointed with the way he acted with Abby….
IIRC, he specifically asked how Abbey and Luka were doing in this episode.
oh did he?? sorry then
Dorv – that scene with Carter and Benton is one of my favorite moments in TV.