thursday's "er" (spoilers)

[xatalantax]

I haven't kept up with ER since the brain-tumor thing, because at that point it seemed to be turning into a soap opera. I used to watch it every week during the middle of its run (never saw the early part though). And I still think they're doing a good job with characters that you're actually interested in, even though they come and go (though I did hate that Kellie Martin character). So I see it here and there, and I did see those few horrifically intense moments like the schizophrenic stabbing (which I found haunting, partly because right before it came out I had a dream very like the episode,and I still get a really creepy feeling whenever I hear the Lo-Fi Allstars' "Battle Flag") and the helicopter amputation.

Here's what I don't get. Having a flaming helicopter fall on a guy who's already been maimed by a different helicopter ... that's silly, even comical, isn't it? Analytically I thought it was dumb, yet the scene really got to me. I've pictured it and shuddered quite a few times since.

Comments

[brigid.livejournal.com]

who got hit by a helicopter?

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

Romano - there was an accident on the roof and the helicopter fell over the side and crashed down on him. He had just been on the roof himself, and he felt freaked out (since he lost his arm up there from a helicopter rotor a while ago). So he jumped in the elevator, went back down, and ran outside for fresh air, looking panicked. Then the helicopter fell over the side and burst into flames on the way down. He looked up - you couldn't tell if he would have had time to get out of the way or not - and crouched down screaming "noooooooo!" and it landed right on him.

so you see, it sounds pretty stupid but it was very affecting.

[alonewiththemoon]

My name is badriyaz and I'm still a regular ER viewer...

yeah, I had two simultaneous reactions to the helicopter falling on Romano: give me a friggin break, and oh my god! he is cursed by his fears! I think it was effective because his fear seemed to be coming after him--it would be as though you were afraid of heights and skyscrapers kept grabbing you and putting you on their roofs every time you stepped outdoors. And you can't help having a gut reaction to that, even if it is pretty dumb in theory.

Actually I had a third reaction as well--it wasn't the UofC helicopter! Yay!

[cyclotron.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was destiny or fate. You know, you can ignore it - even evade it, but it will still get you in the end. Finally, after all these years, that asshole is dead. I have no compassion for him.

[darla.livejournal.com]

Thank you.
You're the first person i've seen agree with me. Everyone else thinks i'm being cruel, and granted if it were real life i wouldn't want him to die...but it's a tv show! The man was grating and horrible. And damned if i didn't say 20 minutes earlier "i hope the helicopter falls on him" only to...well...see it fall on him.

[cyclotron.livejournal.com]

in real life I disassociate myself from those kind of people and act is if they are not even alive. Sure I don't wish anyone dead, but I also dont wish certain people live.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

I agree he's an irredeemable asshole - his occasional moments of compassion don't do it for me - but the scene still bothered me.

[darla.livejournal.com]

i don't know. i feel like i'm desensitized to things like that. i'm a complete pacifist/veggie/dirty hippie, yet on TV i cheer for things like that. i'm a TV baby.

[pyrric.livejournal.com]

I found it too outrageous to be emotionally affecting. First of all, the CGI was really horrible--distractingly so. Secondly, isn't one horrible, psychologically traumatizing, physically catastropic encounter with a helicopter enough for one person? It seemed stupid and thus I was really incapable of caring that he was dead.

[jennever.livejournal.com]

what my boyfriend found disturbing was the fact that it wasnt even mentioned again after the actual accident. it just made it seem like an unimportant part of the storyline. which i found pretty humourous for some reason.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

I got the impression that they weren't mentioning it again because none of the other characters has actually found out yet, because they haven't found his body .. but they will in the next episode.

[cyclotron.livejournal.com]

Ya, I think they made a point by him missing the review meeting to show no one knew, then shortly before the end thredhead with the cane was looking for him. And then they only lifted the copter from the ground in the last few seconds.