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Jackie Peyton
Jackie Peyton
Played By: Edie Falco
A senior ER nurse who is addicted to pain killers.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did the last shot of her passed out on the floor suggest that she'll always be an addict? Or is she dead?
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: People are quick to misjudge her as a mild mannered, and kindly nurse. She's pulled a few Wounded Gazelle Gambit type ploys to avoid suspicion and get what she wants.
- Dude Magnet: Attracts the attention of most of the male cast.
- Functional Addict/Addled Addict: The former in earlier seasons, the latter towards the end.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With O'Hara. O'Hara's presence at All Saints is implied to be keeping Jackie more in line.
- Hypocrite: Big time.
- While she's been carrying on an affair with Eddie for years, she's furious when Kevin cheats on her.
- She willingly gives custody to Kevin, goes off on benders, and is uninvolved with her kids, but still acts like a Control Freak over minor things, like Grace wearing eyeliner.
- She's pretty judgmental of Sam, because he's not a Functional Addict like her.
- Karma Houdini: Zig-zagged. She's necessary enough at All Saints that her higher ups are willing to cover up her indiscretions, and sometimes she's just plain lucky. Averted in later seasons, when this ends up getting the people loyal to her fired and she has to face her actions, both legally and morally.
- Married to the Job: While she does have a husband until they divorce in season 4, her primary loyalty and sense of obligation it towards her job and identity as a nurse.
- Missing Mom: Becomes this to her kids in later seasons. Maybe permanently as of the finale.
- Parents as People: Most of her life and identity is wrapped up in being a nurse at All Saints, rather than a parent.
Zoey Barkow
Zoey Barkow
Played By: Merritt Wever
- Birds of a Feather With Lenny.
- Broken Pedestal: Fawns over Jackie in earlier seasons, but is let down by her one too many times.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's an oddball, but she earns the head nurse title for a reason.
- Character Development: Arguably the most dynamic character in the series. While she maintains her jovial attitude, she goes from an anxiety-ridden oddball to one of the most mature and competent nurses at All Saints Hospital.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: The quirkiest RN you'll ever meet. Wears kitten scrubs.
- Morality Pet: Serves as this to Jackie. Becomes her Morality Chain in later seasons.
- Also is this to Dr. Prentiss. Most of his kindlier moments are a result of him wanting to impress her.
- Opposites Attract: With Dr. Prentiss
- Parental Substitute: Becomes a mother figure to Grace, and the one who is called when Grace is in crisis, rather than Jackie.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Is often in the middle of a goofy monologue when a patient in critical condition rushes in, but she snaps immediately into a professional and competent nurse.
Eleanor O'Hara
Eleanor O'Hara
Played By: Eve Best
- A Friend in Need: Takes a lot of risks for Jackie, professionally and otherwise.
- Deadpan Snarker: There's a reason she and Jackie get on so well.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Decides to have a child without a partner, and raises her son in a lavish apartment all while maintaining her job as a doctor.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jackie. O'Hara specifically schedules her shifts so she and Jackie will be on the floor at the same time, and O'Hara is an Honorary Aunt to Jackie's kids.
- Nightmare Fetishist: States that this is why she became a doctor. Cites Fiona sending her pictures of dead animals as being the highlight of her day.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves to raise her child in England.
- Rich Bitch: Definitely prickly, definitely rich. O'Hara has lots of family money, independent of her income as a doctor. So much that she lives in a hotel and has a gigantic collection of designer shoes.
- Unknown Rival: Not unknown exactly, but Cooper is very competitive towards her while O'Hara surpass him without even realizing it.
Gloria Akalitus
Gloria Akalitus
Played By: Anna Deavere Smith
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Like many of the staff members at All Saints, she's kooky but competent. She handles both the administrative and practical aspects of her job like a champ.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her son is a drug addict and criminal who has put her through hell.
- Married to the Job: Says this verbatim. Though she might be throwing herself into her work to distract from the pain her son has caused her.
Fitch "Coop" Cooper
Fitch "Coop" Cooper
Played By: Peter Facinelli
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a competent doctor despite all of his quirks.
- Hidden Depths: Coop longs for a family and a woman who loves him.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Vies for the ER Chief title for this reason.
- In Love with Love: Desperately seeking a partner in all the wrong places. All of the women he's interested are completely outrageous choices or feigning interest so they can take advantage of him.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Is convinced that he's the most popular staff member at All Saints, and a borderline celebrity due to being featured in one promotional campaign.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: "If looks could cure..."
Carrie Roman
Carrie Roman
Played By: Betty Gilpin
- Blackmail: Has to resort to framing Coop for sexual harassment to keep her job.
- Genius Ditz: She made it through med school, but acts like a total dumbass in the ER.
- Ms. Fanservice: In-Universe, and she knows it.
Kevin Peyton
Kevin Peyton
Played By: Dominic Fumusa
- Dogged Nice Guy: Comes off this way in his interactions with Jackie.
- High-School Sweethearts: With Jackie.
- Second Love: Happily marries and has a child with a beautiful, kind woman after his divorce from Jackie.
Grace Peyton
Grace Peyton
Played By: Ruby Jerins
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: In later seasons she dates older boys, uses alcohol and drugs, lies to her parents, and is a smug little brat about it.
- Class Representative: Despite her tumultuous home life, Grace is high achieving in school and runs both the Model UN Club, and a club for children of addicts.
- Control Freak: In early seasons she freaks out if things don't go according to plan, or are messy.
- Determinator: When Grace wants something, she'll do everything in her power to get it.
- When she's under 24/7 watch from her parents because they don't want her seeing her older boyfriend, she hops in a cab while Jackie attends to a dying man.
- She's determined to go to UPenn even though her parents say is far fetched, going as far to take a bus there without their knowledge or consent, and apply for loans to pay her way without their support.
- Generation Xerox: When her parents bust her for for abusing Adderall, she cites this trope, saying that she "took a pill and still did everything she was supposed to", referencing her mother's Functional Addict status.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Though it's often to justify her bratty behavior, she does raise some very valid criticism about Jackie, including her being an absentee parent, hypocritical, and erratic.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Her friends, even her childhood ones, all seem to be jerks who get her involved in bad things.
Fiona Peyton
Ike Prentiss
Ike Prentiss
Played By: Morris Chestnut
- Dark and Troubled Past: He's a military doctor, meaning he's seen all kinds of trauma. Oh, and he served time for dealing drugs.
- Dr. Jerk: He's a competent doctor, but has terrible bedside manner and is rude to his coworkers. He's such a jerk that a former patient spray paints "Dr. Prentiss is an asshole" outside of All Saints.
- Pet the Dog: His interactions with Zoe, as well as helping a young boy move on from his PTSD after witnessing his brother die.
- Put on a Bus: Re-enlists in the army and leaves All Saints.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: And Zoey seems to have taken notice...
- Tsundere: A rare male example.
Thor Lundgren
Thor Lundgren
Played By: Stephen Wallem
- The Big Guy: His first appearances involve him staring down a man harassing Jackie. When the man later strikes her, Thor retaliates.
- Camp Gay: Has a lisp, loves show tunes, and mostly hangs out with girls.
- Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Stephen Wallem's diabetes and retinopathy were incorporated into the character. Most references to Thor's condition are references to Wallem's real experiences and the glass eye shield he shows Jackie is Wallem's real eye.
- Hidden Depths: Thor has been battling depression for years.
- Poke the Poodle: He and Zoey are "drunk donators", meaning when they get too drunk they donate money to various charities.
Mohammed "Mo-Mo" De La Cruz
Mohammed "Mo-Mo" De La Cruz
Played By: Haaz Sleiman
- Camp Gay
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears and is not mentioned afterwards. His role as Jackie's gay friend/confidant is filled by Thor.
Lenny
Lenny
Played By: Lenny Jacobson
- Amicable Exes: Attempts being "awesome exes" with Zoey after their engagement falls through.
Cruz
Cruz
Played By: Bobby Cannavale
- Jerkass: He's not to popular among his coworkers. He frequently dismisses and belittles them.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While he's a harsh man, it's clear that he loves his son. It's absolutely heartbreaking when Charlie overdoses and dies in his arms.
Charlie Cruz
Charlie
Played By: Jake Cannavale
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Jackie.
- Morality Pet: He becomes this to Jackie and his Dad, Dr. Cruz.
God /Donald
God
Played By: Michael Buscemi
Lives across from All Saints, loves yelling at people.
- A God I Am Not: After a near-death experience, Zoey triggers a panic after he describes meeting a presence of God separate from himself.
- Jerkass Gods: Early appearances had him yelling insults and curses to passerbys. He gets better.
- Morality Pet: He becomes this to Jackie, Zoey, and even Gloria. Eventually most of the ER staff seem fairly fond of him.
