i really can't get enough of this episode. i honestly think, after watching 18 years of television & being unber critical of them over the last 10 years of them, that this could possibly be the best episode of anything... ever.

anyway, i got to thinking lately, as i researched susan gibney & began thinking about renee walcott as a character in comparison to the other characters on 'crossing jordan' & so on & so forth... & i got to thinking about how alike renee & jordan are, & garret's relationship to both of them.

even woody says, towards the end of the episode, about how similar they are. it is especially prevalent in 'locard's exchange,' their passion, their professionalism, their stubborness... i wouldn't be surprised if renee walcott was hiding a past as equally messed up as jordan's. it was hard to see this similarity, i guess, if you weren't looking, way back when jordan & renee didn't get along, but they're both driven & powerful, which is why we adore them in the first place (& who could honestly say they don't like renee after this episode).

renee & garret are... amazing. flawed. sexy. mysterious. garret himself, IS mysterious, as seely pointed out, together they are perfect. so much the same, professional, & stubborn, not ones for vanities. to jordan, garret plays makeshift daddy while max is gone, giving her kisses on the forehead & words of encouragment. he has always been a touchstone for her in her crazy world... he cares for jordan so much, as if she were his own daughter.

but just seems to me that renee is the jordan that he gets to kiss...

this episode is amazing.

& it will be marked by the new episode of ER tonight, 'All About Christmas Eve,' because everyone knows that it's not christmas until ER premieres it's xmas special!

so at 11pm est, it can officially be the christmas season!

even though i literally have a thousand things on my plate, i decided to take a moment to come here & eagerly drink up all the reviews on last nights SMASHING episode of 'ER,' i do.

i figured i'd make a new tradition out of this, because heading back to the 'ER' site at tv.com is one of the first things i do when i start up my computer every firday. but first... what i thought...

what cuties the entire cast of 'ER' are. neela & gallant are adorable, & that's a fact. i thought that this episode embodies everything that 'ER' is all about. it's just constantly proving that it can still balance human drama & medical drama without seeming too much like a soap opera or a cold medical drama.

abby & luka were just hot. i have a ridiculous amount of emotional stock in their relationship (always had) so they better not let me down.

i'm glad the whole staff got together to celebrate gallant & neela got married... though they didn't even get all together to see mark greene & lizzie get married! it was cute, it was fun, it was exciting... i'm glad we're back to developing story lines that might actually go somewhere (& we can actually get excited about!) & still professionally focusing on the medical aspects.

i'm not exactly sure how anybody could find a way to pick out something bad... brilliant, brilliant.

i am so relieved to finally see susan gibney back on 'cj' where she belongs. i admit it, every episode, i'm sitting there just waiting for her name to pop up on the credits, but alas, it never does! imagine my shock & utter delight when i saw her in the previews for next weeks all new episide... SHE'S BACK!

she is absolutely wonderful & sadly, cj is nothing without her. ooh, just thinking about the last episode she was in (LOCARD'S EXCHANGE: quite possibly one of the greatest episodes ever) makes me so happy! she really brings something special to each episode she stars in (more like, graces with her presence). maybe it's her voice or her style or her kick ass attitude, or maybe the comfort of a familiar face that holds so much promise & intrigue...

either way, i am thrilled to have her back & am waiting anxiously for next week so i can feast on some rene walcott / suegib-isms in case i have to go without her again for a prolonged (& unfair) period of time.

BTW: i guess she was on 'criminal minds?' & i missed it?? oh well, she belongs on 'cj' & only 'cj.' i hope one day, the execs behind the scenes finally wise up & cast her permanently.

before i go check out the latest reviews on the world's best drama, ER, as is my routine every friday morning/afternoon, i thought i'd jot down a few of my own opinions. as it stands right now, i have very high opinions of last nights episode, and for once, i swear it's not because i'm an avid fan, but actually can give my honest, non-biased opinion of shows from time to time.

usually, when i go to see the numerous reviews posted on last night's episode, i am much less than thrilled...

before i go on, i must remind you that ER is in it's 12TH season...

what i'm getting lately is not a whole lot of good words to the fabric of ER, which, despite popular opinion is still pretty strong. a lot of the remarks made towards it these days are about it getting old, about repition of plot lines, and my favorite "too dramatic/not dramatic enough." when, in actuality, it's only problem is competition.

how about you tell me the name of another show that's been running for 12 years and hasn't repeated a plot line? how about you and me argue the fact that in the real world, more than one person with a gsw to the chest in 12 years will end up in a hospital? as for this drama stuff, COME ON.

i'd like to take a little trip back into the anals of ER history, when the show had a healthy mixture of intense human drama as well as a nice dose of humour. there were the episodes that were all drama, and episodes that were a lot of fun. it seems that these days whenever this ER leads to one of those extremes, it gets torn apart... make up your mind, please. even i think that this season has been a little weak, but only because of poor writing and taking the plot lines in the wrong directions. too many doctors with way too many personal issues that take over the whole episode.

anyway, about 'human shield.' it was good. maura tierney played the perfect guilty, sad, pained abby, like we knew she would. i thought that her performance at the end was (dare i say it?)... well, she at least deserves SOME kind of nod for it. clemente and kovac's little tiff at the end was good, we like when doctors rub each other the wrong way, remember? shame on the directors or whoever for shamelessly sexing up neela, just so she could look hot all episode, for really no reason in the end... but i thought her and stamos were cute. i like this ray and zoe storyline, no matter how twisted it is. at least he got his ass kicked for it. abby, of course, had her little funny lines and antics that are uniquley her. as for the cases... brava! they finally did something right. it was gut wrenching, sad, interesting... everybody had a hand in it. who didn't tear up when sydney talked to her mom again? i was really rooting for her.

oh, and luka and abby? i was trying not to let that sway how i felt about the episode... but... let's just say... hooRAY!

so now i'm off to read everybody else's reviews... finger's crossed, because last night was GOOD.