01.06 Another Perfect Day

Or the one where Peter goes for a scholarship, it's Susan's birthday, Carol and Doug get kissy-kissy and Carter starts looking for a flat.

This is the third or fourth time Benton has done some crazy surgical procedure in the trauma room, thus demonstrating his commitedness to slicing and dicing, and how driven he is etc etc. We're not getting a lot else from Benton at the moment, compared to the backstory etc for the others. Even Carter is getting more variety in his elements.

Carter has a dad? Carter lives at home with his folks?

"Sometimes I think I should be going out with the patients not the doctors."
Never a truer word said in ER.

Doug is all snarled up because pasta name guy has brought in loads of bagels for Carol. Who gives a gal a load of bagels? I mean, she can't eat all of them before they go stale. Plus, no fillings. Who wants bagels without fillings? And now he's pressuring Carol into moving in with him. Like his grocery skills in purchasing bagels will make her think "this is the guy to live with".

Ooh, now Div is being a divvy, being all rude and confrontational at Malik. Yeah? Well, let's see who's still in the cast twelve years later, huh?

It has to be said the first Doug/Carol smoochie doesn't seem that smooth. There's something a bit forced about it, but it may be dodgy direction. Carol's response to kissing Doug is to be all giggly and flirty with pasta name man. Doug's response to her response is to be all snuggly with the drug sales rep. Carol's response is to move in with pasta name man and his caterer's supply packs of bagels.

"Lately I've found myself attracted to sullen and withdrawn and confused."
"Yeah? You ought to go out with me."
I bet there is Mark/Doug slash.

This is one of those episodes where there is a massive disjoint between the familar and the old. Mark comes out of the ER and crosses to a diner. But the entrance isn't the ambulance bay, and the diner isn't the diner they use in later seasons. And the roof isn't the roof. It has chairs and plants and ashtrays.

The episode does end with Susan and Carter on the roof and you realise it is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Also, the end of DVD No. 1.