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| Someone set him up the bomb. |
The episode begins with Doctor Robert Caldwell (Mark Harmon) returning from vacation. He's met at St. Eligius by Doctor Elliot Axelrod (Stephen Furst), who briefs him about the goings-on at the hospital in Caldwell's absence:
- The gift shop was blown up--the second explosion on the show in two days, and Doctor Philip Chandler (Denzel Washington) was injured in both explosions
- Doctor Jack "Boomer" Morrison slipped on vomit and badly injured his knee
- The John Doe with amnesia regained his memory
And those are just some of the highlights. In the episode before this one, there's a cute exchange referencing Doctor Chandler's misfortune:
"Pretty rare for someone to be injured by two separate explosions in two days!"
"It's pretty rare for someone to be present at two separate explosions in two days."
Later, the crutch-dependent Doctor Morrison meets his ex-girlfriend, Clancy Williams (Helen Hunt) at the hospital; she's been helping take care of Boomer's son while he recuperates from his injury. In a private moment, Doctor Morrison admits to Clancy,
"I can't stop thinking about you...dreaming about being together..."
Clancy rebuffs him. But later, Doctor Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel) uses the exact same language in an effort to get back together with his ex-fiance, Mona Polito (Leah Ayres). And then, a couple of scene later, Clancy says the same thing to Wayne!
"I can't stop thinking about you...dreaming about being together..."
Clancy rebuffs him. But later, Doctor Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel) uses the exact same language in an effort to get back together with his ex-fiance, Mona Polito (Leah Ayres). And then, a couple of scene later, Clancy says the same thing to Wayne!
While all this is going on, Doctor Caldwell learns that he has AIDS, thanks to a blood test taken as a precursor to scar removal surgery. A few episodes prior, the handsome Doctor Caldwell was slashed in the face by a disturbed young woman he'd picked up on that selfsame vacation. It's not directly stated, but given Caldwell's comments..."Maybe I deserve this..." in reference to his habitual sleeping around, I feel like we, the audience, are meant to imagine that the knife used in the slashing was perhaps contaminated with infected blood, perhaps from the woman who assaulted him. Or maybe not, but it feels like a bit of dramatic irony the writers enjoy--the handsome plastic surgeon not only scarred by a scalpel, but doomed by it.
Meanwhile, several members of an influential family, the Endicotts, clearly modelled after the Rockefellers or the Kennedys are at the hospital visiting their matriarch, the kindly grandmother undergoing open heart surgery to extend their life. The family is burdened with their fame and fortune and the responsibilities that come with it, three generations at odds with each other.
Meanwhile, several members of an influential family, the Endicotts, clearly modelled after the Rockefellers or the Kennedys are at the hospital visiting their matriarch, the kindly grandmother undergoing open heart surgery to extend their life. The family is burdened with their fame and fortune and the responsibilities that come with it, three generations at odds with each other.
Doctor Axelrod, not at all a part of these proceedings, is tending to a strange, angry patient who reacts violently to Axelrod's tests. At one point, the patient growls "You ever wonder why it's always you?" He delivers the line with eerie precision, looking straight into Axelrod's eyes, as if knowing that Axelrod is well-known for saying "Why me?" when he gets saddled with the worst cases.
A few minutes later, Wayne's ex-fiancee Mona runs into Doctor Morrison in the hallway and confesses that she's long had a crush on him . . . and she says . . .
"I can't stop thinking about you . . . dreaming about being together."
At this point I thought I must have been hallucinating, but I went reviewed each scene, and yes, the phrase really is used four times by four different characters--each infatuated by the other's ex-partner. It's farcical, the kind of thing that could only happen in an invented world.
It all comes to a head during the temporal intersection of three events: Doctor Craig is performing the heart operation on the Endicott patriarch, the Endicott father and son/grandson are praying together for their mother/grandmother's health while discussing their political destinies, and off-duty doctors are celebrating Doctor Morrison's birthday.
The operation ends not with tragedy, but a near-miss; the matriarch almost dies, but she pulls through. Wayne and Boomer mutually agree to pursue their exes with no hard feelings. But the women suddenly find that they're once again attracted to the men they broke up with.
And in the chapel, the deranged man that was being treated by the luckless Doctor Axelrod walks in and assassinates the matriarch's son, the man who had been destined as the next major presidential candidate. A harrowing action sequence follows, and of course poor traumatized Axelrod and recently-bombed Chandler are the doctors who try and fail to save him.
"Family Feud" is the best example yet of the show's creators winking at the audience that this is more than a straight hospital drama; it's an exploration of the soap opera genre, seeing to what heights of absurdity they can reach while still retaining the facade of a reasonably grounded work of art.
Naturally, this is my favourite episode so far. It makes me feel like the world of St. Elsewhere is a close neighbour to the world of Twin Peaks.
A few minutes later, Wayne's ex-fiancee Mona runs into Doctor Morrison in the hallway and confesses that she's long had a crush on him . . . and she says . . .
"I can't stop thinking about you . . . dreaming about being together."
At this point I thought I must have been hallucinating, but I went reviewed each scene, and yes, the phrase really is used four times by four different characters--each infatuated by the other's ex-partner. It's farcical, the kind of thing that could only happen in an invented world.
It all comes to a head during the temporal intersection of three events: Doctor Craig is performing the heart operation on the Endicott patriarch, the Endicott father and son/grandson are praying together for their mother/grandmother's health while discussing their political destinies, and off-duty doctors are celebrating Doctor Morrison's birthday.
The operation ends not with tragedy, but a near-miss; the matriarch almost dies, but she pulls through. Wayne and Boomer mutually agree to pursue their exes with no hard feelings. But the women suddenly find that they're once again attracted to the men they broke up with.
And in the chapel, the deranged man that was being treated by the luckless Doctor Axelrod walks in and assassinates the matriarch's son, the man who had been destined as the next major presidential candidate. A harrowing action sequence follows, and of course poor traumatized Axelrod and recently-bombed Chandler are the doctors who try and fail to save him.
"Family Feud" is the best example yet of the show's creators winking at the audience that this is more than a straight hospital drama; it's an exploration of the soap opera genre, seeing to what heights of absurdity they can reach while still retaining the facade of a reasonably grounded work of art.
Naturally, this is my favourite episode so far. It makes me feel like the world of St. Elsewhere is a close neighbour to the world of Twin Peaks.
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