Recap / ER S1 E17 "The Birthday Party"

Season 1, Episode 17:

The Birthday Party

Doug stares out a window after having a one-night stand with a woman named Pamela, whose name he makes the mistake of not immediately remembering. He tells her he has to go to work and promises to call her, though she tells him "(you) won't" before he walks out of her apartment. At County, he runs into Carol, who tells him that she's still waiting for someone from CPS to pick up Tatiana. Doug offers to watch over the girl as Carol gets some sleep, passing Lydia (who gives an Aside Glance after noticing he's in unusually early) on his way to check up on the girl.

Elsewhere, Benton is woken up by his nephew, Jesse, before Jackie arrives and apologizes. It's revealed that Benton spent the night crashing at Jackie's house, and she and Walter eat breakfast while reminding Benton of a birthday party that will be held for Mae later that evening. Despite his concern over the day's schedule, he promises Jackie he'll be able to make it in time for the party.

Back at County, the day begins with Benton becoming exasperated when he discovers his schedule won't allow him to get away in the evening, while Carter deals with a patient that's poured gasoline on himself and threatened to light himself on fire — a situation that's only defused when Benton sprays him down with a fire extinguisher and Lily grabs the lighter he was holding. Elsewhere, Doug deals with a boy brought in who got his head stuck in a mount of a tiger — a mount that the boy's father is more concerned about destroying instead of saving his son.

While Mark and Susan deal with a repeat patient named Rene who's been wheeled in after a drug overdose, Doug treats a boy who got his head stuck in a mounted tiger head and Benton treats a fisherman who accidentally lopped off the index finger on his left hand, Carol meets with a rep from Child Protective Services and hears about Tatiana's situation - the girl will be sent to a hospice that can look after her, as no other home will take her due to the fact she has AIDS. Despite Tatiana's reluctance to leave the ER, Carol convinces her to go — but looks concerned while seeing her walk out.

Carter and Chen are tasked with recovering the fisherman's missing finger, which the patient thinks is in a container with other fish caught during the day. As they rifle through the container, Chen brings up the subject of a competitive subeye surgical internship that will be offered to one of the interns working at County. Carter claims that he hadn't heard of it up to this point, while Chen claims she applied as soon as the internship became available — but she notes that at the end of the day, Benton will have the largest voice regarding who gets the internship. The discussion ends as they locate the severed finger and send it to Benton to reattach. A short time later, Carter asks Benton what his chances of getting the internship would be, and the latter tells him it will be the same as everyone else - one in 13 candidates, if he applies.

The staff's attention is diverted when a young boy, Drew, is brought in suffering from a gunshot wound that's hit his spine. As Malik posts x-rays of the boy's chest area and Doug and Benton mull their options for surgery, a second boy, Kyle, appears at the door to the trauma room, covered in blood, and tells them he unintentionally shot his brother. Doug goes out to speak with the boys' father, Thomas, a police officer who realizes he didn't have his gun cabinet locked. Doug admits that he isn't sure whether Drew will pull through his injuries, leaving both Thomas and Kyle distraught.

Benton runs into Dr. Hicks outside one of the trauma rooms, who stops him and asks why he's been swapping so many shifts as of late. He admits to her that he's been distracted due to his ailing mother as of late, while Lydia pesters him in the background to see a pair of patients suffering from abdominal pain. Hicks tells her to leave, then tells Benton that if his family is causing concern, he can always take a hiatus and return for the following year's residency program. Understanding what this hiatus could mean for his career, Benton tells her it's not necessary, and that he's always ready to do the job.

Afterwards, Lydia brings Benton in to an examination area where Carter is watching over two women who appear to be "writhing" on their beds. Flummoxed as to how to explain what's happening to them, and Carter saying their heart rates are racing, Benton is left at a loss for words... until the two "patients" reveal themselves to be belly dancers, called in by Carter and Lydia over the former mishearing Benton talking about a "birthday party" on the phone. Benton gives Carter a Death Glare as the dancers wrap part of their dresses around him. Meanwhile, Doug (watching the performance with amusement) is called away to diagnose a child who fell out of a second-storey balcony, while her father looks on and is completely nonplussed with her condition. Doug wryly notes that it's a "tough day to be a kid".

Later in the day, Carol checks out a possible church for her wedding with Tag — but pointedly tells him that she hates the venue, as it looks more like a "mausoleum". The discussion turns to Tatiana, and Carol admits that she not only wants to do more to help her, she wants them to adopt her. Tag rails at her for wanting to adopt a child who may not have long to live, and then says they could be watching her slowly die for years before pointedly asking if she wants that scenario. The conversation is left open-ended as he drives back to work, leaving her unsure as to what to do...

Diane Leeds arrives at the ER and goes looking for Doug, passing the injured girl's father in the waiting area, while Jeanie Boulet runs into Peter in the foyer and asks for a lift to Mae's birthday. Benton tells her he doesn't know if he'll be able to make it due to work, while she unintentionally reveals that she has a husband, prompting him to react in surprise to the revelation (and her noting she doesn't wear her wedding ring when working with patients}. Benton tells her she'll have to find a ride with someone else before he's called away on a case.

While Doug is checking in with another patient, Malik calls him away and asks him to see something. In the trauma room, he examines the injured girl's back... only to discover a boot print on the back, indicating that the girl's father, Wilson, intentionally kicked her off the balcony.

Incensed, Doug races out of the room and confronts Wilson, punching him in the face as Mark, Malik and Diane react in shock. Doug is eventually restrained, while Wilson breaks down crying in response. Mark tells him afterwards that Wilson won't be able to press charges against him — given that said father is now being investigated for child abuse. However, Morgenstern is recommending that Doug attend therapy sessions to stop his anger issues.

As night looms, Carol and Jerry head out for the evening, night clerk Rolando arrives to relieve Jerry of desk duties, Doug goes to find Diane (who's still waiting for him in the lounge) and speaks briefly about what happened, and a white supremacist is brought in after being stabbed during an altercation. As the night shift prepares to operate on them, Benton opts to ignore Mae's birthday party and take part in the operation.

Carol opts to visit the group home Tatiana was sent to, and finds that the girl's been moved to an "infant room" due to a lack of space in the facility. As the administrator of the home watches, Carol talks to Tatiana and cheers her up, leading the woman to smile in response before leaving.

It's also revealed that Rachel Greene's birthday is on the same day as Mae's and, like Benton, Mark shows up late to her birthday party. While he gives Rachel a kiss, Jen is incensed about him showing up after the fact, and tells him that Craig, the other clerk at her workplace helped her set up the birthday party. The situation gets more combative when Jen admits that she bought Rachel a Super Nintendo system, despite Mark's caution that Rachel's too young, and the conversation then pivots to Jen admitting that she will be working as a clerk out of state next year. When Mark reacts in shock, she tells him that since he made a decision for himself (planning to take the Attending Physician role at County), she can decide on some things for herself...

Benton also arrives back at Jackie's house... only to find out that Mae's party ended an hour earlier. Distraught at realizing he missed another function, Benton nearly has a breakdown as Jackie rails at him, Walt tells him to give her a couple of days and Jeanie (who is still at the house) tells Benton her husband has arrived to pick her up. Benton throws a bouquet of flowers he'd purchased across the room and reels back in confusion as everyone leaves him alone...

The day ends with Rene being wheeled back into County, having suffered an unspecified drug overdose, while her father, Mr. Franks (who previously acted dismissive with Mark about Renee's problems earlier in the day) accompanies her. As the episode ends, Susan and other staffers work desperately to try and save Rene's life, while Mr. Franks stands outside and reels in shock after being dismissive of her problems earlier in the day.

Tropes:

• Abusive Parents: Wilson, the father who was shown to have kicked his own daughter out of a second-storey window. It's doubtful anyone was feeling sorry when Doug showed up and kicked his ass in response.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Subverted; the mother with the malnourished son all but rails at Doug for recommending her community resources, such as food banks and shelters, despite her kid's sorry condition.
  Doug: Your son's teeth are rotting out of his head... take the food."
• Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with an incident where a repeat patient (Rene) is wheeled in after having a drug overdose, with both Mark and Susan trying to ensure that she stays alive.
• Break the Haughty: When a mother who brought in a malnourished child (and has three other children at home) acts indignant about Doug getting Lydia to write up a list of food banks, shelters and other resources for them, Doug pointedly tells her to stop complaining and take advantage of the food, because "(your son's teeth) are rotting out of his head."
• Brutal Honesty: Benton outright admits that he isn't playing favorites with the subeye surgical internship, and tells him his chances are one in thirteen. This turns into a case of Blatant Lies by the end of the season, when the audience discovers Benton recommended him to Dr. Hicks for the internship, even going so far as to argue his case about Carter to her.
• The Casanova: Subverted. Doug beds another conquest... who is just like him; a woman who Really Gets Around and makes it clear that she doesn't remember his name either. The fact that this scene is underscored by the "Doug and Carol Love Theme," which plays as he walks to work while thinking to himself, and speaks with Carol before saying (about looking after Tatiana), "That's what friends are for, right?" implies that he still hasn't got over her, though he doesn't make his feelings visible.
• Children Are Innocent: Invoked, as multiple children are seen either in distress or in shock over dangerous situations, prompting Doug to comment that, "It's a tough day to be a kid."
• Continuity Nod:
  • Doug's conversation with his one-night stand, which results in neither of them remembering the others name, directly ties back to the conversation Doug had with Linda about the exact same thing (that he'll forget her name) during the episode "Happy New Year".
  • An example of both this and Foreshadowing, Jen once again mentions "Craig", the other articling clerk at her workplace... who helped her set up the arrangements for Rachel's party. When Mark asks where "Craig" is, Jen pointedly dodges the subject...
• Death Seeker: It's suggested that Rene is prone to this, as she has repeatedly told her father that she wants to kill herself, even if he doesn't believe her.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the brief time they're shown together on-screen, Carol and Tag argue about what church they want to get married in, and whether or not to adopt Tatiana, with their dialogue suggesting their engagement isn't quite as joyous as the audience might have initially believed...
  • Susan wryly comments to Mark that she has a bad history with relationships, and that she can't stay with someone for a long period of time, pointing out that she doesn't think she'll ever get married. In Season 9, Susan does get married after getting drunk with a nurse named Chuck Martin, but quickly has the marriage annulled, and by the end of the series, she's still single.
• Hypocrite: Presuming that this episode takes place directly after the events of the previous episode (in which Doug pointedly told Mark that he doesn't schedule any romantic engagements on Valentine's Day), the opening of this episode proves he went back on his word, as he's seen waking up and leaving his one-night stand.
  • Jen is visibly annoyed that Susan bought a birthday present for Rachel, prompting Mark to snap "Don't even start", clearly equally annoyed at her unrelenting jealousy over their friendship, when not two minutes earlier, she was rubbing it in his face that her opposite-sex friend was there to help set up and host the party. It gets even worse when a few months later, Mark learns that they've been having an affair.
  • Mark himself is ticked off when Jen informs him that she's decided to continue working as a legal clerk without discussing it with him, even as she truthfully points out that he did the exact same thing to her regarding his job.
• Idiot Ball: Mr. Franks has such a poor handle on his daughter's whereabouts that he's completely dismissive of her drug-fueled behavior, ignores Mark's comments for her to get help, and nearly gets into a fight with her ex-boyfriend in the middle of one of the exam rooms. It takes her being brought in again, in even worse shape than before, for him to realize how badly he screwed up.
• Immediate Sequel: Carol's dialogue in the opening sequence to Doug indicates that only a handful of hours have passed since the ending of the previous episode (as Tatiana was still under a single-day admission within the hospital before a CPS rep arrives to pick her up).
• Innocently Insensitive: Lydia butts in several times on a private conversation Benton is having with Dr. Hicks about his future as a medical resident (ostensibly to lead him to his "surprise birthday party"...), clearly not realizing the tone of the conversation. It takes Hicks telling her that "he'll go when we're finished" for her to back off.
• Irony: At the end of the episode, Benton admits to Jeanie that he missed Mae's party to stabilize the condition of a patient who would love nothing more than to see him dead.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Doug makes it a point to go after the abusive father who brought in his daughter for treatment after he'd kicked her out of a window. Afterwards, Mark points out that the father, Wilson, was last seen being questioned by detectives and will likely be charged with child abuse.
• Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places:
  • It's not directly stated, but Doug's one-night stand and his behavior afterwards (trying to court Diane) suggest that he broke up with Linda and is looking elsewhere for love.
  • Also invoked with Benton, who seems intent on pursuing a relationship with Jeanie until she lets slip that she has a husband, Al, and that she normally takes off her wedding ring when dealing with patients like Mae.
• Match Cut: From Tatiana turning onto her right side to sleep, panning into darkness beside the bed... then to Benton, who's also sleeping and turns slightly before being woken up by his nephew, Jesse.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Mr. Franks, Rene's father, acts dismissive and ignorant when Mark tries to ascertain what drug problems she has (his inability to control Rene's druggie ex-boyfriend notwithstanding). When Rene is wheeled back in at the end of the episode, he's nearly in shock and left to stand alone outside the trauma room, holding his head and nearly crying.
• Running Gag: Benton being given birthday gifts by members of the staff throughout the episode, due to Carter making arrangements after mistakenly hear him talk about a birthday party (actually for his mother) over the phone.
• Shout-Out: The boy claiming he shot his brother by accident is seen wearing a Yakko Warner t-shirt during one scene.
• Spotting the Thread: Lydia appears to figure out that Doug came into work early due to having left one of his numerous flings, as she gives him a notable Aside Glance when he tries to excuse his behavior by claiming he came in early (with his dialogue suggesting this isn't the first time he's done it).
• Uncertain Doom: The episode ends with Renee in critical condition, with Susan working feverishly to try and save her life and begging her not to die. It's never revealed, even in subsequent episodes, whether Renee lived or died.

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