Recap / ERS 1 E 02 Day One

Season 1, Episode 02:

Day One

I... just came by to see you, say hi. It's... good to see you.

Directed by Mimi Leder

Written by John Wells

Just like Lydia woke up Greene eight weeks before, a nurse abruptly rouses Dr. Lewis from her sleep as she rests in a storage room. Upon hearing about "a baby" being admitted, Lewis tries to sleep... until the nurse reveals that said child is in respiratory arrest. Lewis jumps to her feet and runs after the nurse, while a baby is wheeled in with his distraught parents following. Lewis is able to diagnose the baby and determine that he swallowed an earring. After a few tense moments, Lewis removes the obstruction in the child's throat and restarts his breathing, with the relieved parents crying afterwards.

As the day begins, Greene arrives for his shift and is told that four trauma victims are arriving by helicopter, while Carter is tasked by Lydia to look after a group of German tourists who are suffering from food poisoning. Greene, Lewis and Ross head to the roof, with the former asking the latter if he's made time to visit Carol as she recovers after her suicide attempt. Ross replies that he hasn't, and Greene tells him the longer he waits, the worse it will be. The helicopter arrives, and the four patients (who were involved in an auto accident) are wheeled out — a mother and daughter in serious condition, the father and the driver of the other vehicle. Ross, Benton and Greene begin to work on the mother and daughter, while Lewis diagnoses the father and checks on the driver's condition. Elsewhere, Carter is overseeing another patient, Mr. Zambano, who is suffering from angina. When Zambano goes into cardiac arrest, Carter calls for help, but no one else is available due to the focus on the other trauma victims. With no other options and no help coming, Carter grabs a nearby defibrilator and shocks Zambano, bringing his heart back into rhythm. Carter looks on in happiness and awe as a pair of nurses arrive to stabilize Zambano.

At lunch, Greene and Ross head out to a nearby bridge to eat and chat. Greene tells him that it's been eight weeks since Carol's suicide attempt, and again reaffirms that he should visit her. Ross says that he's tried, but wasn't able to pluck up the courage, leading Greene to offer to drive him there and be with him. They are interrupted when Ross receives a call about the young patient involved in the crash, and heads back to County.

The day continues with the doctors seeing to various patients. Lewis deals with an elderly man who becomes belligerent, leading the staff to strap him down with restraints, while Carter and Benton walking the hall talking about a "Mr. Dunhurst" who has chest pain. Carter attempts to diagnose Dunhurst's condition, only to be impeded by Benton, who tells him it was the wrong diagnosis and could cost the hospital millions in malpractice fees. Soon after, Benton visits the husband of the wife involved in the auto accident and regretfully informs him that her injuries are too severe and she is going to die, then begins to ask him about organ donation as the father breaks down sobbing. Later, the driver responsible for the accident finally wakes up, and is horrified when male nurse Malik McGrath expresses disgust that he was uninjured in the crash, while the mother died and the daughter is still in intensive care.

Greene attempts to diagnose a patient with an Embarrassingly Painful Sunburn, only to be surprised by his wife, Jen, who reveals that she's passed her bar exam. Jen pulls him into a nearby storage room and they begin to have sex, but are interrupted just after they finish by the staff when they barge into the room to get the crash carts, and find Jen... finishing up on Greene, who acknowledges the staff in exasperation.

A short while later, Greene expresses concern that the hospital staff won't forget the incident, but their attention is distracted when an elderly couple arrives in the ER. The wife is suffering from breathing problems and her condition is worsening, while her husband wants to keep her alive by putting her on a ventilator, even though it means she will be in a vegetative state. Soon after, the wife wakes up and tells Greene that she is dying and wants to go in peace. Despite her husband's initial protestations, he eventually breaks down and hugs her. Later on, as the German tourists recover and host their reception in the hospital's waiting room, Greene and Ross are called back to the main surgical area, only to find that the wife has passed. The husband sings "Old Black Magic" to her before giving her a Last Kiss and breaking down, crying.

That evening, Greene goes back home for a few hours and sits in his backyard, thinking. Jen arrives and gives him a cup of coffee, then tells him that he thought she wouldn't pass the bar exam. Mark tells her he's always believed in her and loves her, yet when she tries to be intimate, he tells her that he has to be back at work in a couple of hours. The mood ruined, Jen pointedly asks him if he's ever going to leave the hospital. Mark expresses uncertainty, but reaffirms that he still loves her and wants to make their marriage work. They hug, but Jen looks unsure of what to do...

Meanwhile, Carter goes back to his truck, only to find that a female patient he examined earlier that day (who had poison ivy on the back of her thighs) has broken into his car and is waiting for him. When he expresses surprise as to her presence, she propositions him and asks him to come home with her. Clearly smitten, he drives off with her in tow. Elsewhere in the city, Lewis gets ready for bed, with her boyfriend, psych therapist David 'Div' Cvetic, expressing concern over her actions with the patient she tried to have sent to a psych ward.

Ross finally plucks up the courage to visit Carol, and brings a bouquet of flowers to her mother's home, where she is staying. After being initially brushed off by Mrs. Hathaway, Carol tells her mother it's alright and comes to the doorway. However, Ross can't tell her how he really feels about her, and blusters through an excuse that he just wanted to see how she was doing before awkwardly ending the conversation and leaving. Carol is left confused and uncertain as to Doug's actions, while outside, he stands outside on the sidewalk and contemplates his inability to tell her his true thoughts...

As the episode ends, Mr. Dunhurst (who was originally discharged by an attending physician after dismissing his health problems) is wheeled back in, revealing that Benton's original diagnosis was correct. Benton and the other nurses begin to work on him as the camera pulls back from the operating room...

Tropes:

• Ass Shove: Implied, as a scene picks up with one of the German patients suffering from food poisoning lying on his side and wincing, while Carter pulls off a surgical glove with a grimace and drops it into a nearby trashcan.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Lewis looks no worse for wear after instantly jumping out of bed and running to meet the paramedics wheeling in the baby in the Cold Open, with her hair and makeup still set in place even though she didn't get enough sleep.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: The camera cuts from an elderly couple, grieving over the imminent loss of the wife, to a newlywed couple who have come in for treatment and are sitting happily in anticipation a couple beds over.
• Book Ends: Just like the pilot, the episode begins and ends with a doctor (Lewis in the opening, Benton in the closing scene) being woken up by a nurse regarding an emergency situation.
• Brick Joke: The German tourists suffering from food poisoning eventually recover and decide to host their wedding reception in the hospital's waiting room, with accordians playing towards the end of the episode.
• Brutal Honesty: Invoked when Greene asks Benton about one of the crash victims.
  Greene: How's the mother?
  Benton: (Beat) Maybe.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': The hospital staff abruptly barge in on Jen and Mark after they've just had sex.
• Can't Spit It Out: Due to his emotional insecurity/status as The Casanova, Ross can't tell Carol how he really feels about her, and ends the episode standing on the street alone and unsure of himself.
• Caught with Your Pants Down: Of the non-sexual variety. Greene and Ross find Carter with his pants down and sleeping in a bathroom stall, having passed out from fatigue.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Jen is seen running her hand near the emergency call button when she and Mark begin to have sex in the storage room. Several scenes later, the emergency button goes off, with the staff running to said storage room to get the crash carts... and they discover Jen and Mark finishing up as they arrive.
  • The German tourists suffering from food poisoning, initially played up as a light-hearted distraction from the otherwise-serious tone of the episode, is revealed to be connected to a later case, as the newlyweds brought in later in the episode are revealed to have had their buffet at the same place (Gerber's) as the tourists.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Mr. Zambano, the patient suffering from angina in one of the opening scenes, later goes into cardiac arrest several scenes later, forcing Carter (the only member of the staff available) to save him with the defibrilator.
• Continuity Nod: Just like Greene in the previous episode, a member of the ER staff (Lewis) is woken up by a nurse after trying to get some sleep in a private area.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • The opening credits have a slight musical variation (a softer opening set of notes) that isn't used anywhere else in the series, while the credit roll doesn't match up to the actors being shown on-screen (Anthony Edwards' and George Clooney's credits play over footage of Eriq La Salle walking out of the ER room, while La Salle's name plays over footage of Edwards wheeling his chair back [from the pilot episode]). The credit roll would be fixed by the following episode.
  • Carter's behavior at the end of the episode (accepting an invite back to a female patient's house after she stalks him back to his car) is at odds with his later characterization as someone who Likes Older Women and subverts the Casanova stereotype (he typically tries to be friends with his potential romances first before making the leap).
• Foreshadowing: At the end of the episode, Jen laments to Mark, "You're never going to leave there (County), are you?" Mark doesn't answer, but eventually, his reluctance to give up his job at County is one of the things that leads to his marriage ending.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Lewis begs Tim (one of the receptionists/general practitioners) to make her a coffee as she begins the day, having just saved the baby in the Cold Open.
• Improbable Infant Survival: Played straight in the Cold Open — Lewis manages to save the baby's life after it goes into respiratory distress.
• It's All My Fault: Ross holds this opinion regarding Carol's suicide attempt, as he believes she did it because of his actions. Greene tries to reassure him during a lunch meetup, telling him it wasn't his fault.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Lewis argues with an attending psychiatric doctor about an elderly patient who is showing signs of manic behavior. Rather than give him a bed at a psych ward, the attendant abruptly leaves after he gets a page, telling Lewis on his way out that he can't give the patient a bed. When Lewis argues the point with him, he pointedly tells her that giving a bed to that patient would take a bed away from a potential schizophrenic or maniac who could also be treated, and he doesn't have the beds to spare due to limited supplies.
• Male Gaze: In-universe, when Carter treats a female patient who has a rash on the back of her thighs. Carter becomes flustered and pauses for several seconds as he stares at the patient, who has her dress up, while Lewis (who is supervising) eyes him warily.
• Married to the Job: Much like the previous episode, it's made clear that Greene is incredibly committed to his job, to such a point that cracks are forming in his marriage. Despite the fact that Mark and Jen seemingly rekindled their love via the encounter in the storage room, she expresses sentiment that he didn't believe she would pass her bar exam, while he expresses concern when she wants to make love in the backyard and tells her that he has to go back to the hospital in a couple of hours.
  Jennifer: (to Mark) You're never going to leave, are you? The hospital, I mean.
  Mark: (Beat)) ...I don't know.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Invoked when Carter and Benson discuss Mr. Dunhurst's case. Benson asks his student to diagnose Dunhurst, leading Carter to recite a listing of drugs and tests that need to be prescribed, and if the tests read negative, to send the patient home to deal with their family doctor. Benson tells him that taking that course of action would lead the hospital into a "$2 million-dollar malpractice suit," then prescribes the correct course of action, much to Carter's chagrin.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Invoked, as Greene fears that no one will let him live it down after Jen accidentally broadcasted them having sex over the emergency response system.
• The Oner: Benton and Carter walking through the ER as they discuss the case of Mr. Dunhurst, an older patient suffering abdominal pain.
• P.O.V. Cam: Briefly, as Mr. Zambano stares at Carter as he tries to reassure him.
• Special Effect Failure: Several shots in the Cold Open make it abundantly clear that the "child" Lewis is working on is a prop dummy — seen clearly when Lewis lifts him up and turns him over.
• Stalking is Love: The female patient who has poison ivy on the back of her legs, and acts flirtatiously with Carter, later breaks into his car and surprises him when he arrives at the end of his shift. Despite expressing brief hesitation at this reveal, he ultimately accepts the situation and drives with her to her house.
• Tagalong Kid: Carter is this to Lewis, due to Benton being busy working on the trauma victims from the car accident.
• Time Skip: It's established early in the episode that eight weeks have passed since the pilot episode, with Greene and Ross commenting that Carol is at home recovering after her suicide attempt.
• Toplessness from the Back: Lewis, as she gets ready for bed after a long day's work.

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