Homecoming

Written by Jack Orman
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
 
Senior Resident Dr. John Carter completes a three-month drug rehabilitation program in Atlanta. At Chicago's County General Hospital, Chief of Staff Dr. Robert Romano stubbornly prolongs a janitors' strike, causing dangerous conditions. Romano nastily interviews Dr. Peter Benton and eventually makes him attending physician. Attending Physician Dr. Mark Greene returns from vacation with his girlfriend, Associate Chief of Surgery Dr. Elizabeth Corday. After Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Kerry Weaver tells Intensive Care Unit nurse Abby Lockhart that her education is delayed due to nonpayment, Abby berates her ex-husband for neglecting her tuition fee. Third-year resident Dr. Jing-Mei Chen keeps her pregnancy secret. And second-year resident Dr. Cleo Finch notices the lack of blacks among new medical students.
When a man rushes his wife to the emergency room too late to save her, physician Dr. Luka Kovac pretends to operate on the dead woman to ease the old man's guilt. Meanwhile, Greene performs surgery on a high school football player, Mike Palmieri (WENTWORTH MILLER), who was brutally tackled. Greene assures Palmieri's mother that the injuries are routine, until he discovers bleeding around Palmieri's heart. As Greene frantically works, dozens of injured rival football players and cheerleaders fill the emergency room--the game became a riot after Palmieri left. When Palmieri's teammates find out that he might die, they start a gigantic brawl, destroying the waiting area and injuring second-year resident Dr. Dave Malucci. Despite the melee, Greene saves Palmieri's life. Carter arrives from the airport to retrieve his car and wisely decides not to go inside the hospital.
 
 
Sand And Water
 
Written by Jack Orman
Directed by Christopher Misiano
 
Carter agrees to undergo random urine tests and constant monitoring in order to return to work at County General. He also attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. To his surprise, he encounters Abby at one of them, and she admits that she is a recovering alcoholic. Abby agrees to be Carter's sponsor. Carter's grandmother, Millicent (recurring guest star FRANCES STERNHAGEN), begs him to quit his stressful job.
After learning that an abusive diabetes patient sold his Medicare coverage to a bankrupt Health Maintenance Organization, Romano forbids Benton from operating on the man. Benton protests Romano's unethical and illegal order. But a visit from a county inspector prompts Romano to pretend the whole situation is a mix-up. Kovac and Weaver struggle with a delusional stroke patient whose lesbian partner asks the doctors not to keep her alive by machines. But legally, the decision must be made by the victim's estranged brother. An upset Chen admits to Weaver that she is pregnant after witnessing a patient, Regina Morgan (LARA HARRIS), give birth very prematurely. Unable to medically help the tiny infant boy, Abby allows the hopeful Regina and her husband to hold their son for an amazing nine hours before he dies.
Now living with Greene, Corday is continually frustrated by his cramped, dilapidated apartment. After the lovers spar with each other throughout the workday, Greene surprises Corday with a date--to a beautiful townhouse he bought for the two of them. Greene proposes marriage, and Corday joyfully accepts.
 
Music
Beth Nielsen Chapman - Sand and Water
 
Mars Attacks
 
Written by R. Scott Gemmill
Directed by Paris Barclay
 
With many staffers attending a surgical conference, the emergency room doctors are overloaded with bizarre cases--it's the day of a full moon. Making matters worse, Romano vindictively terminates Benton after being fined for the recent HMO matter that Benton protested. Abby wishes she could help more, but she has been demoted to nurse because of late tuition payments. On his first day back, Carter is also relegated to minor medical tasks until Weaver deems him fit for stressful work, but he befriends an optimistic paralyzed boy. Cleo still resents Carter for his drug addiction. Abby and Carter treat a succession of unpleasant cases, like a trio of food-poisoned Japanese businessmen and a science fiction fan who cut his ears like a "Star Trek" alien.
Soon, the understaffed emergency room is full of costumed victims from a collapsed causeway at a science fiction convention. At one point, Corday instructs Greene on a complex operation over the intercom while performing another one herself. Although Abby helps overburdened Kovac save a patient's life, Weaver scolds her for doing work for which she is no longer authorized. Abby and Kovac impulsively kiss. Meanwhile, the desk clerk, Frank (recurring guest star TROY EVANS), causes trouble by constantly telephoning his policeman friend and having patients arrested for outstanding warrants. Weaver helps a hardworking single mother wanted for minor check fraud escape, however, and orders Frank not to meddle anymore. And despite Malucci's speculation, Chen refuses to admit who got her pregnant.
 
Music
Thievery Corporation - Indra
 
Benton Backwards
 
Written by Dee Johnson
Directed by Richard Thorpe
 
Terminated from County General, Benton finds that Romano has also influenced every other local hospital not to hire him. Benton's anger causes tension in his relationship with Cleo. Corday convinces an associate in Philadelphia to hire Benton, but this would cause major problems with Benton's ex-girlfriend, Carla (recurring guest star LISA NICOLE CARSON), regarding custody of their toddler son, Reese (recurring guest star MATTHEW WATKINS). Desperate, Benton accepts Romano's demeaning offer of a per diem job with no benefits at County.
Weaver allows the recovering Carter to work on a few trauma patients, but he is still frustrated by the restrictions. Greene kindly arranges for a cosmetologist from the morgue to help a beauty pageant contestant with burned legs so she can compete that night. Carter's stress is magnified when a female gang member sneaks in and shoots to death a young gunshot patient Carter had just triumphantly saved. Chen gives hope to a mother by promising to get a surgeon to prolong the life of a terminally ill child. But Chen must later inform the distraught woman that the surgeons refused to operate on the hopeless patient.
On their first date, Abby and Kovac are attacked by a mugger with a steel pipe. Injured, Kovac protects Abby and smashes the robber's head on the ground repeatedly. Later, the man dies in the emergency room, and the police question the traumatized Kovac. Also, Greene persuades a dubious Malucci to let him play on his ice hockey team. Greene is good, but he didn't think the opposition would be so violent.
 
Music
Miles Davis - Blue in Green
 
Flight Of Fancy
 
Written by Joe Sachs and Walon Green
Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter
 
Obsessed with learning the identity of the man he killed, Kovac misses his shift and ignores messages from the worried Abby. With Greene leaving in a helicopter to rescue a heart patient and Weaver off from work, Romano puts Benton in charge of the very hectic emergency room for the first time as part of Benton's new per diem job. In a remote part of Indiana, Greene retrieves the patient, Tom Coggins (JOHN PYPER-FERGUSON), and takes off to return to the hospital. But the helicopter develops mechanical difficulties and lands roughly in a junkyard, injuring the pilot. Because Tom's fiancie, Janet Sanderling (VIVIAN WU), is waiting at County General, Greene orders the local paramedics to bring Tom there. He stabilizes Tom and, unsure if a heart donation will arrive in time to keep him alive much longer, allows him to marry Janet in a hastily arranged bedside ceremony.
While Carter treats a teenager, Trent Larson (BLAKE HERON), for a routine hand cut, Trent's grandmother confidentially warns Carter to be careful--Trent is HIV positive. The family never told Trent that his mother died from AIDS shortly after giving birth to him and that the "vitamins" he takes are to control the disease. Carter defies the elderly woman and tells Trent the truth. When Trent's girlfriend is diagnosed as HIV positive as well, she berates Trent, prompting him to flee the hospital. Later, Carter is distraught to see Trent die after being hit by a car. Weaver arrives to bring the overloaded emergency room under control and tries to console Carter. Meanwhile, upset that he could not manage his assigned task, Benton seeks sympathy from Carla, who scolds him for not being emotionally available to her. And while comforting preoccupied Kovac, Abby makes love with him.
 
 
The Visit
 
Written by John Wells
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
 
Abby is mortified when her impulsive mother, Maggie Wyczenski (recurring special appearance by SALLY FIELD), visits the hospital unexpectedly. Maggie, who suffers from bipolar disorder but refuses to take her medication, charms the staff, but Abby is unable to deal with the needy Maggie's extreme mood changes. After telling Maggie to return to Florida, where Abby's brother takes care of her, Abby guiltily allows her to stay.
Malucci is cocky when Greene and Corday allow him to work on a gravely injured gunshot victim requiring complex surgery. No one realizes that the patient is Jesse, Benton's nephew, until Cleo meets Benton's sister, Jackie, in the waiting area and notifies Benton. Benton bursts into the emergency room and roughly pushes Malucci aside after Malucci unknowingly makes disparaging comments about Jesse, assuming that he is a common gang member. Despite Benton's strenuous efforts, Jesse dies. After Benton gives the tragic news to his sister, Malucci tries to apologize to Benton for his attitude. Enraged and grief-stricken, Benton attacks Malucci, resulting in a violent fistfight.
Greene and Corday strive to escape the hospital by 6:00 p.m. to go on a romantic weekend. Romano criticizes Corday for performing an outpatient procedure on an injured surfer instead of ordering more complicated spinal surgery, implying that she is interested only in getting off work in time. Later that night, Corday must rush back to the hospital when the surfer suddenly develops serious complications from the operation.
Kovac suspects that a bruised teenager was beaten by her father, but the true culprit is her boyfriend, who also got her pregnant. Also, Chen must confront the father, Frank Bacon (MORRIS CHESTNUT), of her unborn baby, before she can give it up for adoption. And Abby worries about Carter's lack of interest in his required recovering addict meetings.
 
 
Rescue Me
 
Written by Neal Baer
Directed by Christopher Chulack
 
Greene and Corday eagerly anticipate their first Thanksgiving in the new house, but they both receive unwelcome news during the day. Romano furiously informs Corday that she is being sued for malpractice by the surfer she recently operated on and that Romano is implicated as well. Greene experiences recurring pain and dizziness and consults a radiologist. An MRI reveals that Greene has a brain tumor.
Having stayed with Abby for a week, Maggie refuses to get on the bus home to Florida. Abby tries to ignore her mother, who stubbornly sits in the waiting room all day long. Maggie watches Abby work and comforts a distraught woman who fatally injured a bicyclist. Carter defies Kovac's conflicting prognosis and performs a risky but successful procedure on a man suffering from a previously undetected blood clot. Later, an explosion rocks the emergency room when a patient lights a cigarette near a bag of ether. Abby and the patient are slightly injured, and firefighters evacuate the entire department.
After arguing with her mother and expressing resentment over her difficult childhood, Abby resignedly brings her home for Thanksgiving dinner. On their way to dinner with Cleo's relatives, Benton and Cleo argue over racial issues and cancel their plans. Chen reluctantly accepts her estranged mother's invitation to eat dinner at a lavish gathering in her parents' house. But Chen leaves after shocking her conservative mother with the fact that the father of her unborn baby is black. Greene is elated when Corday tells him she is pregnant, but he does not inform her of his brain tumor. And Weaver shares an intimate dinner out with her good friend from work, psychologist Dr. Kimberly Legaspi. After Legaspi casually mentions that she is a lesbian, Weaver is intrigued to discover that she is attracted to Legaspi.
 
 
The Dance We Do
 
Written by Jack Orman
Directed by Christopher Misiano
 
Abby's mounting frustration with her bipolar mother (Oscar-winning guest star Sally Field) goes off the charts when the woman causes a major incident at a downtown store. An uneasy Dr. Corday confronts her accusers during a tense, day-long deposition when she and the hospital are sued by a paralyzed former patient. A mourning Dr. Benton meets his nephew's beaten girlfriend (guest star Toy Connor) who informs him about the gangbangers responsible for the murder. Greene is concerned that Dr. Carter isn't maintaining the conditions of his drug treatment program. Abby's relationship with Dr. Kovac heats up but she seeks consolation from her family woes with Carter.
 
 
The Greatest Of Gifts
 
Written by Elizabeth Hunter
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
 
Christmas is just days away and Dr. Greene accompanies Dr. Corday to New York on a mission during the holiday season. Dr. Carter fights fatigue as he assists Dr. Chen during the birth of her baby. However, Carter notices that Chen's attitude toward her unwanted baby may be changing even as the adoptive parents wait patiently for their new child. In addition, Carter must fight against temptation to ruin the progress of his drug rehabilitation program. Elsewhere: Dr. Benton receives an ultimatum from Dr. Finch to remove a wayward teenaged girl from her residence; Dr. Weaver treats a boy whose face is badly mauled by a dog.
 
Music
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The First Noel
 
Piece Of Mind
 
Written by Tom Garrigus and R. Scott Gemmill
Directed by David Nutter
 
New Year's Eve falls as Dr. Greene submits to dangerous, experimental brain surgery in New York with a hopeful Dr. Corday by his side while a guilt-ridden father (guest star James Belushi) who is severely injured in a car wreck is only concerned with the safety of his teenaged son (guest star Jared Padalecki) who is also hurt. However, the dad's condition deteriorates as the irascible Dr. Romano is called on to begin desperate heart surgery and Greene's radical procedure soon develops complications.
 
Music
Crazytown - Butterfly
 
Rock, Paper, Scissors
 
Written by Dee Johnson
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
 
Dr. Benton's relationship with Cleo is further strained when the wayward teenaged girl (guest star Toy Connor) whom he's trying to help resists his efforts to move her out of Cleo's residence and into a foster home while a bishop (Oscar-nominated guest star James Cromwell) who's injured in a fall takes an interest in the brooding Dr. Kovac. Elsewhere: Kovac resents having to treat a drunken driver (guest star John Lacy) who's responsible for tearing apart a young family; as Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) recovers from his surgery, Dr. Corday receives some jolting news about her malpractice suit; Dr. Carter is urged by Abby to confront Dr. Weaver about his recent temptation to take narcotics; Weaver clashes with Dr. Legaspi (guest star Elizabeth Mitchell) over personal as well as professional issues.
 
Music
Temptations - How Sweet it is to Be Loved By You
 
Surrender
 
Teleplay by Jack Orman
Story by R. Scott Gemmill and Joe Sachs
Directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala
 
Dr. Weaver regrets her decision to report a work-related injury in an illegal sweatshop when the corrupt owners panic and try to eliminate the evidence by torching the premises -- with the illegal alien workers trapped inside while Dr. Greene returns to work with a curious change in his attitude and personality. Elsewhere, Dr. Benton is sandbagged by the wily Dr. Romano who lures him into a new position without confiding the political implications of the new job. After confessing his temptation to Weaver, Dr. Carter is restricted from issuing controlled narcotics. Abby treats two combative elderly men (guest stars Tom Poston, "Newhart" and Tom Bosley, "Happy Days") who are injured while fighting each other. Dr. Corday wavers again during surgery and risks her career.
 
Music
Amanda Ghost - Silver Lining
 
Thy Will Be Done
 
Teleplay by Meredith Stiehm
Story by Meredith Stiehm and Joe Sachs
Directed by Richard Thorpe
 
Dr. Carter must attend a charity event hosted by his grandfather (guest star and author George Plimpton) and cajoles Abby into filling in as his date at the last minute while Dr. Kovac treats an ailing Bishop Stewart (Oscar nominee and guest star James Cromwell, "Babe"). Also, Dr. Malucci is surprised by a patient's (guest star Robert Beitzel) reaction to some HIV test results, and most of the staff -- especially Dr. Romano -- takes notice of Dr. Greene's new and aggressive post-surgery attitude.
 
Music
Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment
Morcheeba - World Looking In
 
 
A Walk In The Woods
 
Written by  John Wells
Directed by John Wells
 
Dr. Greene is angered when his post-operative competency is challenged by a medical review board that could cost him his career, while a tormented Dr. Kovac can no longer ignore his crisis of faith when he accompanies an ailing but stubborn bishop (Oscar-nominated guest star James Cromwell, "Babe") to a priest's ordination. Elsewhere, Dr. Carter struggles to save the life of a child whose parents refused to immunize him against measles. Dr. Benton chafes in his new added role as director of diversity when he encounters a low-rated African-American applicant (guest star Keith Robinson), who reminds him of himself as a young student; Dr. Weaver recoils when she meets Dr. Legaspi's (guest star Elizabeth Mitchell) fellow lesbian friends; Dr. Chen returns after her maternity leave.
 
Music
Bach - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
 
The Crossing
 
Written by Jack Orman
Directed by Jonathon Kaplan
 
In the classic drama's 150th episode, a multi-car train accident scrambles the ER and Drs. Kovac, Carter and Corday are overwhelmed by the carnage at the site as they work to save an impaled mother, her young son and a trapped firefighter -- until the pregnant Corday begins to suffer painful contractions. Back at County, Dr. Benton tries to salvage a victim with a shredded aorta and even helps Carter with a tricky amputation over the phone, all of which leaves an observing med school applicant wide-eyed. Meanwhile, the bloody mayhem prompts Kovac to recall the harrowing loss of his own family and he confronts his torment with the terminally ill Bishop Stewart (Oscar-nominated guest star James Cromwell, "Babe"). Away from the hospital, Dr. Greene is summoned to the emergency from his humiliating competency testing.
 
 
Witch Hunt
Written by R. Scott Gemmill
Directed by Guy Norman Bee
Semisonic - Chemistry
 
Survival Of The Fittest
 
Teleplay by Joe Sachs
Story by Elizabeth Hunter
Directed by Marita Grabiak
 
Dr. Benton is a horrified bystander as the elderly black patient (guest star Adrian Ricard) he is treating grabs a cops gun with tragic results. Dr. Carter, who is rethinking his relationship with Rena (guest star Lourdes Benedicto), teams up with Abby to treat a class of seventh graders who become sick on their bus from mysterious toxic fumes. Meanwhile Dr. Greene learns the results of his review; and Dr. Corday is determined to prove to Dr. Romano that she can still pull long hours in the O.R.
 
Music
The Turtles - Happy Together
 
April Showers
 
Teleplay by Tom Garrigus
Story by Tom Garrigus & Dee Johnson
Directed by Christopher Misiano
 
On their rainy wedding day, Drs. Greene and Corday must fight fate to get to the altar as he overcomes several roadblocks until he is waylaid in the street by a nasty bleeding pregnant woman (guest star Alex Kapp Horner) -- meanwhile, she contends with last-minute details and her feuding divorced parents (guest stars Judy Parfitt and Paul Freeman). Elsewhere, several ER staff try to free themselves from work to attend the ceremonies, including Dr. Finch and Dr. Benton, ever mindful of the irony that he once dated Corday. However, the uninvited Dr. Weaver heads for an out-of-town medical conference and meets a friendly and appreciative man (guest star Casey Biggs). When a prison van overturns, Dr. Carter tries to save the life of a crushed corrections officer -- and gets some ribbing about his young girlfriend (guest star Lourdes Benedicto) -- while Abby treats a teenaged female prisoner (guest star Mandy Freund). Dr. Chen ministers to a hypothermic boy (guest star Ryan Wilson) found asleep on a frozen field.
 
Music
Purcell - Trumpet Voluntary
 
Sailing Away
 
Written by Jack Orman and Meredith Stiehm
Directed by Laura Innes
 
A tense Abby drops everything when notified that her mentally unbalanced mother (Oscar-winning guest star Sally Field) is found incapacitated in an Oklahoma motel, and when she insists on driving there, a sympathetic Dr. Carter accompanies her -- risking both of their respective romantic relationships. In the meantime, the road back is potholed with problems as they try to coax the disconnected woman back to Chicago for more professional help, but she resists in unexpected ways. Elsewhere, the very pregnant Dr. Corday is happily wheeled in for her baby's birth with Dr. Greene at her side. An angry Dr. Benton treats a parade of partying fraternity brothers whose alcohol-related medical problems become increasingly more serious; later, Benton offers special care for his former junior high school teacher (guest star Roger Robinson) who jump-started his interest in science as a youth.
 
Music
Styx - Come Sail Away
Kristen Hersh - Trouble
David Gray - Babylon
Cat Stevens - Oh Very Young
Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment
 
Fear Of Commitment
 
Directed by Anthony Edwards
Written by R. Scott Gemmill
 
Due to a clerical error, a startled Abby discovers that her suicidal mother (Oscar-winning guest star Sally Field) is due in court for a competency hearing and she rushes to testify that she should not be released -- but the older woman musters an alarmingly masterful display of sanity before the judge. Meanwhile, Dr. Weaver gives heartbreaking news to a sassy homeless woman (guest star Bette Ford) who once hosted a children's show that Weaver viewed as a child. Dr. Benton steps in to help a junior high school teacher (guest star Roger Robinson) who was once his mentor and now suffers a cardiac arrest. A busy Benton also injures his hand while helping a fallen biker and learns that an injured Carla (guest star Lisa Nicole Carson, "Ally McBeal") has checked into the ER with his young son Reese (guest star Matthew Watkins). A perplexed Dr. Carter treats a stricken pregnant woman (guest star Kimberly McCullough) and then is angered when her husband (guest star Henri Lubatti) informs him about what prompted her life-threatening episode.
 
Music
Cowboy Junkies - Good Friday
The Bangles - I Will Take Care of You
 
Where The Heart Is
 
Written by Dee Johnson and Meredith Stiehm
Directed by Richard Thorpe
 
A distressed Abby sees a ray of hope in the care of her mentally unbalanced mother (Oscar-winning guest star Sally Field) when she receives some sage advice from the older woman in a rare moment of clarity while Dr. Benton's old girlfriend Carla (guest star Lisa Nicole Carson, "Ally McBeal") squares off against his new love Cleo. Elsewhere: Dr. Greene's suspicions are aroused when he treats a rebellious 7-year-old boy (guest star Emmett Shoemaker) who bears signs of beatings; Dr. Carter's plans to apply for chief resident are brushed aside by Dr. Weaver while he watches fellow candidate Dr. Chen take her best shot at the position; Weaver suffers pangs of remorse when she meets the new woman in Dr. Legaspi's life and is confronted by a helpless, mentally deficient young woman (guest star Julie Osburn) whose only family member lies in critical condition; and the ER gang enjoys a spirited game of softball.
 
 
Rampage
 
Teleplay by Jack Orman
Story by Jack Orman and Joe Sachs
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
 
The ER is overwhelmed with gunshot victims when a distraught father (guest star Ted Marcoux) goes on a murderous spree at a foster care facility -- and a horrified Dr. Greene realizes that his personal connection with the madman may prove fatal for his new wife and their baby. In the midst of the chaos: Dr. Carter is put in the awkward position of helping Dr. Chen apply for the promotion that he himself was denied, Dr. Benton is unexpectedly assaulted by his ex-girlfriend Carla's husband (guest star Victor Williams), and Dr. Finch cuts her hand while treating an HIV-positive patient. Meanwhile, Dr. Romano betrays his prejudice when he tries to force out Dr. Legaspi (guest star Elizabeth Mitchell).

 

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