| ER | |
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| Season 14 | |
DVD cover
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| Starring |
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| No. of episodes | 19 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 27, 2007 (2007-09-27) – May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15) |
| Season chronology | |
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| List of episodes | |
The fourteenth season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 27, 2007, and concluded on May 15, 2008. It consists of 19 episodes. NBC and Warner Bros. had planned for the 14th season to be the series' last one and for former regular characters to appear in most episodes including the forecast series finale. Because of the 2007-08 WGA strike and the months-long shutdown/ramp-up related to it, these plans were moved onto a 15th season in 2008–09.
The series celebrates its 300th episode but due to the writers' strike this season runs three episodes shorter than normal. As a result, certain storylines were altered, including Gates' relationship with hospital chaplain Julia Dupree. With Kovač in Croatia, the focus shifts to Abby as she adapts to life as a single parent. Meanwhile, new ER chief Kevin Moretti continues to make his presence felt until he makes a swift exit, Pratt is angered when locum Dr. Wexler is appointed as Moretti's replacement, Sam and Gates start a relationship and Jeanie Boulet makes a return to the ER when her son is brought in.
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The season was executive produced by Christopher Chulack, Michael Crichton, John Wells, David Zabel, Joe Sachs, and Janine Sherman Barrois. Virgil Williams and Lisa Zwerling act as supervising producers. Wendy Spence Rosato serves as a producer. Tommy Burns is the season's unit production manager and the on-set producer of episodes. Dieter Ismagil and David Malloy served as associate producers on the first nine episodes of the season. Zabel, Sachs, Barrois, Williams, and Zwerling all worked as writers as well as producers. Karen Maser and Shannon Gross complete the writing staff.
Wells directed a single episode of the season and did not write any episodes for the first time. Chulack served as a regular director along with his production role and contributed four episodes including the series finale. Regular director Stephen Cragg also directed four episodes of the season including the series premiere. Returning director Andrew Bernstein contributed two episodes. New director Anthony Hemingway directed two episodes. Film director Rob Hardy directed a single episode, marking his debut in television. Long serving series directors Richard Thorpe and Félix Enríquez Alcalá each contribute a single episode this season. Former cast members Laura Innes and Paul McCrane continue to direct for the series, each contributing a single episode this season. Returning director Tawnia McKiernan also contributed a further episode this season.
| No. overall | No.in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
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| 291 | 1 | "The War Comes Home" | Stephen Cragg | Joe Sachs & David Zabel | September 27, 2007 (2007-09-27) | 3T6151 | 9.92[5] |
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Moretti's first day continues with a major influx of trauma patients from a panic stampede at a peace rally, and things only get worse when he sends Pratt and Morris home because they had a beer after getting off. When Neela is brought in with major trauma, the ER staff has a hard time keeping their attention focused on their patients. Abby, Greg, and Archie conspire about how to deal with a shared problem.
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| 292 | 2 | "In a Different Light" | Richard Thorpe | Lisa Zwerling & Karen Maser | October 4, 2007 (2007-10-04) | 3T6152 | 9.09[6] |
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Moretti begins to make his presence felt, as he implements changes in the way patients are seen. The ER staff differ on how to proceed when a patient comes in with a bullet in him needed as evidence. Neela finds herself the object of more attention than she wants, or needs. Abby has passport woes, and struggles with the changes being made. Pratt and Morris find themselves forced to defend their actions, while Hope prepares for a new mission. Gates struggles with his new assignment, until he befriends a precocious young patient who has already diagnosed himself with an incredibly rare condition, Fazio–Londe syndrome.
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| 293 | 3 | "Officer Down" | Christopher Chulack | Janine Sherman Barrois | October 11, 2007 (2007-10-11) | 3T6153 | 8.53[7] |
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Two wounded police auxiliary officers present challenges in the ER. Neela settles in with Abby as she recovers, while Pratt and Betina consider their relationship, after Betina fakes an orgasm Pratt reminds her that he is not a 'mind reader'. Dubenko helps Gates get his young genius patient into a drug trial. Morris spends the day in an inexplicable bad mood, until he admits to Abby that his unsupportive father has just died.
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| 294 | 4 | "Gravity" | Stephen Cragg | Virgil Williams | October 18, 2007 (2007-10-18) | 3T6154 | 10.12[8] |
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It is a bad day for Abby, who is missing the still-absent Kovač, when Joe is brought to the ER after a fall and is unable to reach Kovač. Elsewhere, the day puts family first as Morris cares for a frightened child and Pratt defends his brother. Neela returns to work, and Moretti returns from a conference. A patient's mother gives the ER staffers makeovers in appreciation. The ER gets a new clerk.
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| 295 | 5 | "Under the Influence" | Anthony Hemingway | Joe Sachs | October 25, 2007 (2007-10-25) | 3T6155 | 9.25[9] |
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As Morris prepares to take his written board exams, the staff tries to uncover details about Neela's unusual new intern. Kovač's obligations to his family in Croatia leave Abby feeling the burden of single parenthood; and Moretti, pleased with Gates' performance in the ICU, reassigns him to the ER.
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| 296 | 6 | "The Test" | Félix Enríquez Alcalá | Lisa Zwerling | November 1, 2007 (2007-11-01) | 3T6156 | 9.15[10] |
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While Morris and Pratt cram for their boards, Abby defends the interns' performance to an underwhelmed Moretti, who has hired new attending Skye Wexler (Kari Matchett) to alleviate County's staffing crunch. Elsewhere, Harold turns to Neela for guidance on a personal matter; and a teenage patient (Mae Whitman) feels neglected by the doctors and takes extreme measures.
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| 297 | 7 | "Blackout" | Christopher Chulack | David Zabel | November 8, 2007 (2007-11-08) | 3T6157 | 8.44[11] |
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In the middle of a heat wave, the A/C is out in the ER and the power keeps flickering. Lockhart and Pratt disagree over a fretful baby. Several elderly patients are brought in from a nursing home when the A/C at the home goes out. Moretti takes issue with Lockhart taking "end runs" around his premptive orders. Hope has broken up with Archie, who is fretting about his board results. When he hears that Pratt passed, he says he did also.
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| 298 | 8 | "Coming Home" | Laura Innes | David Zabel | November 15, 2007 (2007-11-15) | 3T6158 | 9.60[12] |
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Abby is still on edge from her drunken one-night-stand with Moretti and it's affecting her work; Luka's homecoming only makes her guilt worse. Moretti is preoccupied after a disturbing Skype session with his son. And Tony gets a frightened call from Sarah after she gets in over her head with a college boy; when he returns her to her grandparents he has a rancorous confrontation with her grandfather. Cases include a boy who fell off a roof, whose paraplegic father is concerned by Abby's seeming lack of concern, and a man injured during a cheese rolling event.
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| 299 | 9 | "Skye's the Limit" | Paul McCrane | Karen Maser | November 29, 2007 (2007-11-29) | 3T6159 | 8.71[13] |
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It is time for changes in the ER when Anspaugh makes an unpopular decision and appoints Skye as ER chief over Pratt. Abby has old demons to fight with, which distances her from friends and family. Even Kovač seems to be at a loss to help Abby. Love is in the air when a secret romance blooms between two doctors.
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| 300 | 10 | "300 Patients" | John Wells | Joe Sachs & David Zabel | December 6, 2007 (2007-12-06) | 3T6160 | 8.15[14] |
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Sam, Pratt, and Morris treat Melissa Tanner, a 61-year-old woman with health problems, and her 19-year-old son Lowell following a car accident. Lowell has Down's syndrome and has been living in a foster home since he was a baby. Melissa has been visiting him every week without her husband's (Peter Fonda) knowledge. Also, Neela and Dubenko have been at the dress rehearsal for the hospital holiday pageant and Dubenko has been bitten on the leg. Following the death of his father, Kovač and Abby prepare to fly out to Croatia and it appears that Abby is tackling her drinking problem.
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| 301 | 11 | "Status Quo" | Andrew Bernstein | Janine Sherman Barrois | January 3, 2008 (2008-01-03) | 3T6161 | 9.38[15] |
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After being passed over for Chief of the ER, Pratt considers taking a position elsewhere, but reconsiders after working with Jeanie Boulet. She comes in after her son, Carlos, is admitted from an apparent head injury, and he is found to have a brain lesion — possibly a sign of AIDS. Before they find out what is going on, he goes into convulsions. A female soldier comes in with a broken leg, and is discovered to be pregnant. When her husband realizes that she got pregnant while separated from him when on duty in Iraq, she says her pregnancy is the result of her rape by her sergeant there. Neela's cousin is in town for a visit, and Morris and Harold compete for her affections. Neela earns an ortho rotation. NOTE: Final appearance of Jeanie Boulet. | |||||||
| 302 | 12 | "Believe the Unseen" | Rob Hardy | Virgil Williams | January 10, 2008 (2008-01-10) | 3T6162 | 9.07[16] |
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Abby checks out of rehab and finds her way back to the ER; Harold finds new confidence after a big night with Neela's cousin; multiple survivors of a fire come in.
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| 303 | 13 | "Atonement" | Stephen Cragg | Lisa Zwerling | January 17, 2008 (2008-01-17) | 3T6163 | 8.92[17] |
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Julia tries to help a prison doctor (Jonathan Banks) seeking forgiveness after saving the son of a man he once executed, but the mother is unable to do so. Neela participates in the ortho–surgery hockey match, but discovers the surgeons have a "ringer." Pratt confronts his issues with commitment when Betina wants to take their relationship to a new level.
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| 304 | 14 | "Owner of a Broken Heart" | Christopher Chulack | David Zabel & Joe Sachs | April 10, 2008 (2008-04-10) | 3T6164 | 7.52[18] |
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Abby is about to travel to Croatia, back to Kovač and a lot of memories are going around her head. A new attending, Simon Brenner, starts in the ER. Two women come to the ER as a multiple trauma. Another patient comes into the ER after suffering chest pain. Sam's relationship with Gates intensifies after he and Julia break up and the chaplain heads off to Nepal. Morris tests a taser on himself with very unpleasant results. NOTE: First appearance of Dr. Simon Brenner. | |||||||
| 305 | 15 | "…As the Day She Was Born" | Tawnia McKiernan | Shannon Goss | April 17, 2008 (2008-04-17) | 3T6165 | 7.82[19] |
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Abby has arrived in Croatia to join Kovač and Joe. A mother of four arrives in the ER and Neela helps take care of her. Neela is in a terrible mood over her lack of a social life on her mostly-forgotten birthday. Sarah's grandfather becomes ill and Gates clashes with her grandmother and Morris over a course of treatment. Pratt puts his new management skills to the test, but is kicked to the curb by Betina.
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| 306 | 16 | "Truth Will Out" | Andrew Bernstein | Story by : Karen Maser Teleplay by : Karen Maser & Lisa Zwerling | April 24, 2008 (2008-04-24) | 3T6166 | 7.53[20] |
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Abby tells Kovač about her drinking and infidelity. Kovač takes a job at a hospice for cancer patients, bonds with a patient played by Hal Holbrook, and makes a startling decision about his and Abby's future. Abby also clashes with Neela over treatment for a Korean child with lymphoma, and shines when she saves a woman who has given birth to her thirteenth child, before having a new interview for an attending position at County. Sam's sour attitude gets her grief from both Abby and Gates, so she makes a grand gesture towards the latter. Neela's mother-of-four has bad news and Neela helps her deal with it. Brenner turns out to be Anspaugh's nephew. Dubenko's relationship with Skye collapses after he accuses her of having a pathological need for male attention.
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| 307 | 17 | "Under Pressure" | Stephen Cragg | Janine Sherman Barrois | May 1, 2008 (2008-05-01) | 3T6167 | 7.81[21] |
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A young couple (Josh Stewart and Mariana Klaveno) are admitted from a car accident after robbing a jewelry store. The hospital staff hear the news of the robbery, comparing the couple to Bonnie and Clyde, but does not realize they are the same as those just admitted. When the woman starts to bleed out, her boyfriend holds the hospital staff at gunpoint and forces them to operate in the ER. Greg refuses to let Betina push him away.
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| 308 | 18 | "Tandem Repeats" | Anthony Hemingway | Virgil Williams | May 8, 2008 (2008-05-08) | 3T6168 | 7.56[22] |
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Neela is shocked by Dubenko's decisions during her mother-of-four's surgery, and things get worse for her when she has to give the mom devastating news. Abby goes after a position at an upscale medical facility when it does not appear news on an attending position is in the offing, but shines at County while treating a young woman with a huge family secret. Brenner and his medical student have issues; a DVD of CCTV footage featuring Sam and Gates circulates at the hospital; Pratt is there for Betina and tries to help Abby's career; and Morris seeks help in the aftermath of the previous week's hostage situation.
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| 309 | 19 | "The Chicago Way" | Christopher Chulack | David Zabel & Lisa Zwerling | May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15) | 3T6169 | 8.43[23] |
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The actions of a drunken patient (Steve Buscemi) endanger everyone at County. In other events, Pratt makes a move toward becoming chief; Gates worries about his future with Sam; and Kovač has an unexpected encounter with Moretti that convinces him to forgive Abby. An ambulance explodes at the end with either Sam or Pratt inside.
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The DVD of the series includes a half-hour featurette recorded at the celebration event for the 300th episode.[24]
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