Customer Reviews

ER: The Complete Twelfth Season

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

ER had some ups and downs it's last five seasons, and this was the lowest point. Why? I can sum 90% of it up in one word: Africa.

After leaving the show in the season 11 finale, it was announced that Noah Wyle would return for several episodes in season 12. That sounded great...at first.
Then the episodes aired, and it was more of Dr. Carter in Africa. The writer's already made their points with this storyline in season 10. The Africa episodes in season 12 simply don't add anything to the story, and are just more of the same.
Granted, none of these Africa episodes are as bad as "Makemba" from season ten, but
they still consume too much of season 12.

And now for the other 10% of the problems.

There is an episode in the first half of the season callled "dream House", and it is probobly the worst non-Africa episode of the series. It focuses on Abby and Neela treating a baby Monkey. There were other occasions where animals were treated in the ER, but this case takes up too much time and lacks effective exectution.
Also, the season premiere was weak.

Now, for what I did like:

Kristen Johnston (I'm not sure if I got her name right) and John Leguizamo all have good recurring roles, and James Woods is excellent in an episode where he plays
a former teacher of Abby's, who has ALS. Woods received a well deserved emmy nomination for this role.

There is an excellent storyline where Kovac treats a woman who emerges from a coma after several years, and on a personal note he and Abby's relationship was rekindled.

There are some other good patient storylines (an Islamic girl is the victim of an honor killing, a child used as a human shield by her abductor, etc) and Scott Grimes becomes a regular cast member, which I wasn't happy about at first, but starting with the season finale and continuing through the remainder of the series, Dr. Archie Morris became (in my opinion) one of the best charachters of the series.

One last thing I want to discuss is the season finale, 21 Guns. This is a polarizing episode among ER fans. It caused many to tune out for good, while causing others to wait at the edge of their seat for the season 13 premiere. I was somewhere in the middle. After twelve seasons, the show had already done so much gunplay in the hospital that this finale pushed believeability. However, it was an intense way of pushing some tired old storylines out of the way (Sam's ex-boyfriend) while paving the way for a strong start to season 13 (and some fresh storylines) I personally believe in it's fifteen years on the airway, ER did stretch believeability when it came to gunfights in the hospital, but compared to some other popular shows, I don't think this was even close to the worse
case of stretching reality (24's Jack Bauer couldn't possibly survive everything the writer's have thrown at him, and Meredith on Grey's Anatomy would've died in the Ferry accident episode (and no, I don't watch Grey's Anatomy).

I will definately be adding season 12 to my collection, but I see much of it as merely a bridge to better seasons.

I really love E.R., it is definetly one of my all time favorite t.v. shows. I plan on purchasing all of the box sets as they become available. This season(12), marks a real change in County Hospital, I think. Noah Wylie (Dr. John Carter) has left to go to Africa to be with his love, Kem, and Dr. Luca Kovac is now in charge. I really enjoyed most of the episodes in this season, and am anxious to see what season 13 holds in store. I've not seen any of the episodes after this season, so 13-15 is all new to me, as I was always working on Thursday nights when the episodes originally aired, and syndication hasn't shown many, if any of season 13.
I do wish they would go ahead and release the next three box sets sooner, seein that E.R. is no longer on network t.v. Oh, well, patience is a virtue, huh?!

Just like previous seasons of ER, as well as those of most typical television series, season 12 had its high points and low points. Probably the most criticized low point of this season are the Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) focused "Africa" episodes. When Wyle left after the season 11 finale (in plot terms, he went to Africa to offer medical aid), it was announced that he would be appearing in several episodes of season 12. The concept sounded great on paper, but it feels like the writers just didn't execute it effectively. Much of Dr. Carter's screen time feels like a re-hash of previous plot elements that adds nothing to the plot and exists solely to bring the popular character back into the show. Thankfully, there are some other redeeming factors in season 12, but sadly the Dr. Carter "Africa" plot arc tends to weigh down the quality of the season a little too much for me.

Another big "controversy" in season 12 was the finale, "21 Guns." This became a seriously polarizing episode for ER fans, and left a good part of the fan population waiting on the edge of the their seats for season 13, while the others stopped watching completely. I admit that I was somewhere in the middle of this. The plot kept me riveted to the TV, and once the credits rolled, I was hungry for more. While the plot does revolve around yet another gunfight in the ER, it feels like a fresher approach to a tired plot line. However, the episode pushed the possibilities of reality even further than most other episodes in the ER series (okay, so many popular shows are even less believable than "21 Guns," but part of the appeal of ER to me is its realism and believable nature) and felt like a little too much fiction for ER.

Some of the redeeming factors, to me, were some of the fabulous patient plot arcs. "Body and Soul" for example, which features James Woods as a former teacher of Abby's with ALS, was my favorite episode of the season. The emotions felt completely real and the acting was amazing. Woods even received a well-deserved Emmy nomination for the episode. Scott Grimes (Dr. Archie Morris) even became a full-time cast member. Though he had a somewhat rocky start, he later developed into one of the best characters of the entire series.

The bonus features for season 12 pretty much follow the standard for previous seasons. Features include outtakes and deleted scenes that were never aired, but the cast and crew interviews or recaps that appear on some previous seasons have been dropped. I was okay with this overall since I only really watch the outtakes and the deleted scenes, but more hard-core fans would see this as a little bit of a letdown.

ER season 12 also includes English and French subtitles in a gorgeous widescreen presentation. The overall look of the show has definitely been cleaned up from its time spent on television, but I was surprised at the lack of Spanish audio or even subtitles for Spanish-speaking fans.

While some episodes are better than others, season 12 is a decent watch overall, even though it's not my favorite season. I wouldn't discourage fans from adding it to their collections, but it may not be enjoyable enough to non-hardcore fans to make the investment.

I agree with many of the reviews about the Africa episodes, but I think they are vital to the storyline of John Carter. This is where he meets his wife, she gets pregnant, and they have to make the decision to go back to Chicago for the baby. Although some of the episodes may be boring, and yes, there didn't need to be quite so many of them, they are a necessity for Carter's background. These episodes give us insight into the humanity of Carter and his desire to help those outside of Chicago County General. Great show, not the best season, but vital to the development of characters and the last three seasons of the show.

I am not an ER regular, however, I started watching because of Shane West's character (Dr. Ray Barnett). I started with Season 11 and became obsorbed with the series so far. The casting is suberb and the story lines are excellent. I not only am intrigued with West, but I absolutely am fastinated with the other characters I've watched. ER is one of the Best shows I didn't have the sense to watch but am not catching up on. I have since watched Season 12, which I have to say is excellent and I have just ordered Season 13.

Bought this season to see how one patient who comes out of a long coma only to fall back into one when she has flashbacks of her tramatic accident which made her comatose in the first place.

This season is super awesome. Great story lines. The season finale makes you want more ER STAT! Totally recommend it.

Boxset was new just as described and it was a great price. Delivery of the DVDS were fast. I was very impressed with the seller.

The best acting Medical jargon,the story lines were great keeps you interested ,one of the best medical shows ever on T.V.

Love this season, it's worth getting the only think I didn't care for in this season is the Afria episodes. Amazing other then those episodes. Season Finale has a huge cliffhanger which makes you want to watch the next season.