Hi friends, welcome to TV Tuesday. Today I’m back with season eight of ER.

Season eight starts with Weaver being obsessed with what others are saying about her coming out as gay. She was supposed to be on a trip to Africa, but I don’t think she actually went. She’s in this daze, I wonder what’s up with that.

She’s worried that Romano said anything, and I’m surprised he didn’t say anything. He was really, dare I say sweet, about it. Romano and sweet don’t belong in the same sentence, but he was good about it.

Chen got the Chief Resident position, I’m happy for her.

So Abby and Kovač are still together and Carter stayed. Interesting. I was kinda hoping Kovač would leave… I don’t know, I just don’t care for him.

I completely forgot about the guy Mark killed. Now there’s an M&M about it. Mark says everything he feels the need to say, but Elizabeth knows he killed him on purpose, he doesn’t have to say it, she just knows.

I like how they decided to show how difficult it is to be full time doctors and having a baby. Mark and Elizabeth are having a really tough time, and I love how this show shows the reality of things, and doesn’t sugar coat anything.

Speaking of, Carla, Reese’s mother dies tragically and now Peter really has to step up to be the best dad for him. They are still so cute!

First of all, what is going on with Dave’s hair this season? He looks like he belongs in the 70s!

Second, he has a patient come in and he diagnosis’s him wrong, Chen doesn’t really help, you can tell she’s got her hands full being chief resistant, and she misses things which causes them to lose the patient. They tried to call Weaver, but she lost her pager, but she still thinks they should have done better.

Also, the guy who tried to find her birth mother is back, saying he really found her this time.

Abby and Kovač finally break up. Kovač has been weird this season, not caring about anything and so she’s done. That’s when he says, you can go to Carter now. Ugh, I am not down for this love triangle!

Wow, this season is pulling no punches. Weaver up and fires Dave after he fools around again. Dave claims being a doctor is the only thing he’s good at, he can’t lose this job, then he springs it on everyone that he has a kid to support, him what? I knew there was something we were missing from him, but I never would have guessed that.

So, does this mean he’s off the show?

Rachel, Mark’s daughter is in town, apparently she’s haven’t a hard time living with her mom, and now wants to live with Mark and Elizabeth. Mark obviously falls for it, but Elizabeth, I can tell, isn’t all that thrilled about it.

Again, Romano is being nice, it’s SO weird! He tells Peter to go and spend time with his son, then he signs at Reese, talk about cute? Who is this Romano? Again he makes a fair point about being a parent, I’m seriously wondering who this new guy is.

So Chen needs to go and speak with lawyers after the whole incident. In the end she has to go on a one year suspension. Chen is so over Weaver saving her own ass and so she resigns.

So I didn’t realize that Carter was still contemplating the job at another hospital, but when Chen resigns Weaver is left with no other choice but to give the job to Carter. I have to admit, I think Carter would have been better for the job in the first place, but I have a feeling this was to keep him from leaving.

Susan is back! Holy crap… I couldn’t believe it! Apparently she’s looking for a job, obviously Weaver wasn’t going to say anything, but when she meets with Mark he tells her she should apply… or well he tells her she’s starting so I have a sneaking suspicion she’s here to stay.

You can tell that she and Elizabeth don’t get along so this is going to be veeeeeery interesting.

Well it looks like Susan isn’t liked by many. I think she and Abby got off on the wrong foot too. I think it’s all territorial though. Elizabeth is worried about how Susan is with Mark, since they did used to have a thing. And Abby is worried about Carter. Man, I hate girl hate over a guy.

God, this Abby, Carter, Kovač thing is SO annoying. Carter doesn’t want to be with Abby because she still hung up on Kovač and Abby think she she left Kovač to be with carter. Meeeehhh. Can we not?

Oof. So Elizabeth has lost 4 patients in a row so she’s been tested for diseases and followed around, now legal is taking charge and accusing her of euthanasia. Her life is so chaotic, watching it on screen I never want that life. You can see you break down, but I like how Mark believes in her.

Well now she’s realized that another doctor has been on all the same surgeries so he should have to do everything Elizabeth is going through.

Ugh, I don’t know how much I like the whole Susan/Carter thing going on. He tells her he had a crush on her, which I believe. What I don’t believe is that she had a crush on him. She was so hung up with Mark and her sister I don’t believe she had any thoughts of him. I honestly think they’re doing it to bring them together. Meh.

I do like the new medical student, Michael, he has a head on his shoulders. Apparently he’s military background.

Peter is having issues with his son. Roger, Carla’s husband wants time with him, and Peter at first wants that too, but soon it becomes too much and Peter doesn’t want that. Now Roger is threatening to sue for custody. Peter takes a DNA test to see if he’s Reece’s bio dad… turns out he’s not. Damn.

This whole court proceeding is so sad to watch because you know as a surgeon life is crazy, but he’s been told that he needs to make his son more of a priority and work less for one; I wonder if he’s going to do that.

Ugh, so Susan and Carter are officially a thing, meh. Not sure how I feel about them, well actually I don’t care for them, maybe they’ll grow on me?

Abby is still worried about Kovač. He started seeing this girl Nicole who is foreign and couldn’t get a job, so he got her one at the hospital (although she wasn’t very good at it), then she tells him she’s pregnant. The hoops this man is willing to go through for her, only to find out her life and everything she’s told him is a lie. Was this whole plot just a ruse to get Abby and him back together? If so, ugh. I’m honestly hating all the real relationships this season.

Okay, that’s a lie, Weaver has a fling going with a firefighter, Lopez, I like them, they’ve got chemistry!

So in order to really impress the judge, Peter has to cut back his hours, but obviously Romano is not about to let him do that, so Peter quits. Romano tries to reason with him, and I get Romano’s position, Peter is a great doctor, losing him is a big deal. But he has to know that his son means more. So Peter actually quits. He gets a job where Cleo works… in which I hadn’t even realized that she wasn’t working in the hospital anymore.

It’s a hard decision, one that the judge really need last to think about, but he grants custody to Peter. I’m happy for him. Honestly, he’s come a long way, and he even mentions that it took him almost losing his son to realize what’s important. So now Peter is leaving the show. All the last conversations he has with everyone is so sweet. I especially love him and Carter because Peter was such a mentor to Carter. Carter even says I’m a good doctor because of you, and in true Peter fashion he goes no your not, not yet. Some great writing, and amazing character development.

The guy who stabbed Carter a few seasons ago is back because he slipped on ice. He’s been released and is roaming the streets free. Abby tries her hardest to make sure that Carter doesn’t see him, but he hears him and that kinda sets him off. I hope it doesn’t lead him down some spiral. He’s already going through a lot with his family. His grandfather died, his grandma broke her hip, his parents are getting divorced and his mother, who has been absent through most of his life, shows up out of nowhere. Y’all about a crazy life.

Mark is really having a hard time with Rachel. First he thinks she’s doing drugs, now he finds condoms and thinks she’s having sex, but the two just argue and fight instead of try to communicate. But I like that he’s not giving up on her when things get tough. You can tell she was thinking that she’d be going back to her mom. I’m glad to see they’re trying to work it out.

Chen finds out that Weaver was looking for her pager the night her patient died so it’s proof that Weaver was trying to cover her own butt. So now she’s willing to press charges if she doesn’t get her job back. At this point there is nothing Weaver can do at this point. So she’ll be returning.

Then Weaver is having problems with her friend Lopez. Lopez is mad that she hasn’t come out yet. They try to talk it out but Weaver just about starts crying, which is so not Weaver, so Lopez just out and kisses her in front of the ER staff. Well that just about pisses Weaver off.

Like I get it can be scary to come out, and you have to come out at your own pace, but I think Weaver is going to run into this wall every time.

We already knew that no one liked Weaver, but damn! No one even wants to talk or work with her. Although she does do a good job with Mark and Elizabeth.

Just when we thought that Rachel was getting along with everyone, she slips up. She apparently had ecstasy in her bag and Ella, the baby got ahold of it someone and overdosed. What a mess. Now I don’t think Elizabeth is ever going to trust or talk to Rachel ever again. That was tough to watch, from all angles and perspectives.

Now Elizabeth tells Rachel that the only thing she can do to help is to leave their house. I get that she’s angry, but I don’t think she realizes that Rachel and Ella are both Mark’s daughter, not just Ella so he doesn’t want to press charges on Rachel. What a hot mess.

Then we see Mark bite his tongue and now he’s going in to check on his head as the tumour could be back. No not Mark, geez!

Then we have Abby, her neighbours are a couple who fight all the time. It’s so bad that he husband beats the wife. When Abby tries to help the woman, it just makes it worse, so much so, the guy comes and beats Abby. Of course this makes Kovač so upset that he goes and hunts down the man and beats the shit out of him, in true Kovač fashion. I think Kovač still really cares about Abby.

JERRY IS BACK!!!! I missed him! It’s like all these old characters are coming back and I’m living for it. Especially since we keep losing characters.

NOOO, mark’s tumour is back, it’s grown back and it’s pretty much inoperable because of where it’s growing. He’s got 5 months to live and I’m not happy about this, we just lost Peter, I can’t lose Mark too! This time if he dies, he can’t come back at all.

Is Mark too proud to tell Elizabeth that the cancer is back and that he has to go through treatment again? Or does he think she won’t care? I’m glad that Susan has his back and is taking care of him.

I was not expecting Peter to show up, turns out that Elizabeth called him to talk to him because she doesn’t know if she’s left Mark or if she’s just angry.

Elizabeth seems to be talking to a lot of people about Mark. She finally finds out that the tumour is back and she loses it. Romano finds her and he’s actually really compassionate about it, talking her through everything. It’s such a different side of him, one I never thought we’d get to see, but here we are.

They have this bottle episode where 5 characters, Carter, Susan, Abby, Kovač and Michael (of all people) are sent to this detention for bad behaviour and I don’t know what the point of the episode was supposed to be. It was two couples, or not fighting and arguing about their relationships. Was it supposed to bring them closer? Because it didn’t, and why bring poor Michael into the fold? It didn’t feel like an episode of ER.

Now that mark has to go through chemo again, I think after her talk with Romano, Elizabeth is going to try and be there for him.

Watching Mark die, essentially, is just sad. It takes a handful of patients and being called into the ER while he’s supposed to be doing chemo to realize he doesn’t want to do it anymore. He wants to live out the last two months without drugs.

Then he just leaves the hospital like it’s nothing when we all know he’s not coming back… so he is not on the show anymore?!?

We also have a new character, Dr. Pratt. He thinks he’s this big hotshot and Mark is the one to be teaching him, Pratt thinks Mark is worn out and old, but when he learns that Mark is sick his tune changes and Mark notices. He’s an interesting addition, I figured he’d be Mark’s replacement, even though I doubt he’ll be able to fill those shoes… someone like Michael probably could, not this Pratt.

God, Pratt is a twat, like he thinks he knows everything there is and this gets him into trouble, yet he doesn’t seem to care. Ugh. He’s worse than Dave!

Susan’s sister Chloe and her daughter susie go missing somewhere in New York so Susan flies to New York to try and find them. She finds Chloe drugged up, but they can’t locate Susie.

When Romano is sweet to Elizabeth about going to Hawaii to see Mark, as he won’t be able to fly home, he tells her to go. Like this sweet Romano is such a pleasant surprise.

The team get a letter from Mark and Carter reads it out loud, they all know it’s great to hear from him, what they don’t realize is it’s his goodbye, because under that is a letter from Elizabeth telling them Mark passed away.

The reaction the whole team has is just this sunken feeling. They all feel the same way, yet show it in different ways. Romano is taking over for Elizabeth in the ER and he’s in a hurry and just angry, Weaver gets angry and yells. Carter doesn’t know what to do, all he knows is that his mentor and the guy he looked up to is gone. Weaver tells him people will look up to him now, he’s going to be the one to fill the void.

When Michael doesn’t think he can help in the ER, Carter has a Mark moment with him and it’s just really nice to see.

Mark is going to be dearly missed, he was an all around good guy and great doctor. What a character to leave, but things like that need to happen. They really did a great job.

Okay, I really liked the way they ended things with Mark, I honestly didn’t need an episode where we follow Mark to Hawaii with Rachel where he lives his last days, I honestly didn’t need that. I can see why this episode exists, to give closure to Rachel, Jen and Elizabeth but eh it didn’t hit as hard as when it hit at the hospital. Those people at the hospital worked with Mark for years and spent so much time with him so it really made an impact. The viewer only saw him with his family sporadically. It was a nice to have episode.

So the season ends with a quarantine. Two children come in with what appears to be small pox. No one has seen it since 1949 and so they don’t know how to treat it. It results in a lockdown and people are furious. This is Carter’s big moment to step up and act as Mark would.

I think he did a really good job. He works very well under a crisis, and he had the place rethinking trying to break out.

Now what I had a problem with is how the actual season ended. WHAT WAS THAT?! It ends with Carter and Abby. She wants to know if everything is going to be okay, and he tells her it will be and then kisses her. Uhm, why end the season that way? Is everything going to be okay? Are they going to be a couple now? Carter and Susan never really ended, this love triangle has been annoying.

As for the season, so much has happened, I’m going to miss Mark so much, so I’m curious to see how season 9 follows up.