ER: The Complete Eighth Season

GREAT Season of ER
I'm quite surprised by some of the other reviews I have read for this 8th season of ER. I found it to be refreshing and surprising. We received a very well-rounded view of many characters we had come to know, both inside and outside of the hospital. I very much enjoyed the story lines that took place on both levels. Between Dr. Benton and his family situation, Abby and her neighbor troubles, and the deteriorating home life on Doctors Greene and Corday, the hospital wasn't the only place with action. One character that really stands out in this season is Dr. Weaver. She begins the season angry and vengeful, but suddenly heroic on a dark and stormy night inside a crashed ambulance. And it's on that night where we see her take a true turn, finally towards love, and we find her emerging onto a more personable level. And while every season has been like that to a point with its characters, I thought season 8 really shined with this balance. Not only that, but we also got to see...

Where are the extras?
We can, of course, argue endlessly over which seasons are 'best' and which episodes are 'best', and there is no right or wrong answer, since we all have different tastes. IMO, Season 8 wasn't one of the better of the 'middle' seasons. I found most of the Dr. Greene/Elizabeth/Rachel stuff to be tiresome in the extreme, Kerry's 'outing' very badly handled, the Nicole story pointless, and Benton's paternity story-line utterly tedious. On the other hand, the return of Dr. Lewis and the storylines with Carter's mom were very enjoyable. Still, I generally preferred Seasons 6,7 and 9.

Be that as it may -- the DVDs. It seems that as the series goes on the DVDs become more and more bare-bones, while the price remains about the same. The extras include the usual deleted scenes (some of which were not actually deleted ...), and a very short gag reel, (which took some hunting down -- it was on a different disc than the box claimed) about a quarter of which consists of scenes of...

Last of the good years...
I would say that season eight was the last of the good years. Dr. Green leaves the show and can never return and the story lines just aren't quite as engaging as they previously were. Most importantly, almost all of the visual integrity is gone. I loved the early shows and their long, uncut steady cam shots. It seems as the show progressed through the years this went away and i find it really takes away from the ER style. All in all though, season 8 is still worth the watch and it provides enough excitement, at least it did for me.

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