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ER Season 1 Episode 23

Motherhood

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8.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 5/11/95

Susan is forced into the role of parent when Chloe gives birth and both Chloe and her mother, Cookie, shirk responsibility. Doug is surprised and a bit frightened when Diane suggests they move in together. Unfortunately, Linda Farrell happens to be around to take advantage of his nervousness. Carter is offered the ER sub-internship but turns it down in anticipation of receiving a surgical position. Benton gets some very sad news.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

Sad episode

8.8

By Parricida, Jun 06, 2011

A really moving one, on all the stories and somehow everything is going to end - all those ruined lovestories. Diane propose that she and Doug would move in and the way it comes out - Doug has ability to ruin everything.

And Mark.. even thought he acts like he does not care, he still - there are cases that makes him trough everything away and I am sure Jenn won't go with it.

And Carol.. oh.. poor one.. and Susan - she is like only one with clear sense in the world of madness. Why she has to hold all the responsibility and be the only one acting like grown up? Poor one too..

And Peter.. I told you, this episode made me cry...moreless
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Tarantino comes to ER and gets the best out of it.

9.5

By ginadecai, Jun 06, 2011

In fact, this episode pays tribute to women. It starts with Little Suzie being born and it ends with Peter's mother dying. It is the cycle of life. In the middle we find a 7-year-old girl with a heart disease, teenagers stabbing each other because of a boy, a young woman with an O.D. close to death, and a divorced mother who discovers that her boyfriend is too afraid to start a life together.

Tarantino explores the ER world and films shots never done before. The scene on the rooftop with Susan and Carol having a sunbath is unique, and later when they both walk through ER with their sunglasses on... it's Reservoir Dogs all over. Another fine example is the scene where Benton sits beside his mother while his sisters watches him from the doorway, the camera (and therefore the audience) doesn't move, the characters do.

The compositions, the long shots, even the dialogs, make this episode one of a kind. For example, the basketball scene. It is one long shot only interrupted when the key question is asked, it leaves the audience without seeing the answer, although we can hear it.

The blood and the flesh, the joy and the sadness, the life and the death, all of them come together in this superb episode of a terrific series. A magnificient example of what entertainment and television should be.moreless
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Tarantino directs an ER episode!!

9.7

By saxa246, Jun 06, 2011

Susan and Caarol sunbathes at the roof and talkes about the latest events in their lives. Susan gives birth to her own niece with the helps of Carter and singing like crazy "take these broken wings and learn to flyyyy!!!":D The walk when Susan and Carol comes back from the roof, with the sunglasses, Yosemite Sam t-shirt of Susan and their barefoot scenes with the bloody traumas Quentin Tarantino makes this episode unique and remarkable. Chloe finally realises that its a hard job to be a mother and there are lots of bad thing that can happen. Susan is forced to be a second mother to her niece... Great!!!moreless
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a bittersweet Mother's Day

9.2

By DanLC03, Nov 07, 2005

The only Mother's Day episode in ER history is filled with loss and miracles. It was a great episode, and that was added to by the fact that it was directed by Quentin Terrentino. We see two extremes with the two storylines. First we see Susan and Chloe's joy with the birth of their baby. This was a true milestone in ER history, because it will be important over the next 7 seasons. The birth scene is very well done. In the other scene, we see Peter's sadness about the death of his mother. It was an important point in Peter's development as a person. This is such a great episode because of the contrasting emotions.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Anthony Edwards	Dr. Mark Greene
Eriq La Salle	Dr. Peter Benton
George Clooney	Dr. Doug Ross
Julianna Margulies	Nurse Carol Hathaway
Noah Wyle	John Carter
Sherry Stringfield	Dr. Susan Lewis

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Julie Carmen	Mrs. Lafferty	Guest Star
Valerie Perrine	Cookie Lewis	Guest Star
Patrick Collins	Dr. Netzley	Guest Star
Abraham Benrubi	Jerry	Recurring Role
Conni Marie Brazelton	Conni	Recurring Role
Khandi Alexander	Jackie	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (6)
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- Carol: Uh-uh. It is a total myth that it's the bride that wants the splashy wedding.
  Jenn: I know. How big is the church?
  Carol: Well, it's too small for the 3,000 people on the groom's side, and too big for the 12 people on mine. He invited everyone he ever met.
  Jenn: So did Mark. What a nightmare. His relatives at every motel for 20 miles.
  Carol: How'd you get through it?
  Jenn: Drugs.
  (they laugh)
  Mark: Hi. What's going on?
  Carol: Pre-marital advice.
  Mark: Oh, is she telling you about how I wanted to elope but she insisted on Notre Dame?
  Carol: Yeah, right.
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- Chloe: I think it's time for the baby.
  Susan: (eyes closed, resting) You sure?
  Chloe: Uh-huh.
  Susan: You're having contractions?
  Chloe: Uh-huh, every couple of minutes.
  Susan: (jerks awake) What??!!
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- Susan: Never thought I'd deliver my own niece.
  Carol: On Mother's Day no less.
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- Susan: Where're you going on your honeymoon?
  Carol: Tag's going to Paris. I'm going to Hawaii.
  Susan: Can I go with you?
  Carol: Sure. You can leave Chloe and the baby with his 15 cousins.
  Susan: Good. Thanks.
  Carol: I might stay.
  Susan: In Hawaii?
  Carol: Yeah.
  Susan: Okay. I can do that. Do you think Tag will mind?
  Carol: He'll get over it. You don't think Chloe will mind?
  Susan: I don't think Chloe will notice.
  Carol: You think anyone noticed we're gone?
  Susan: Probably. You think we should head back?
  Carol: Probably.
  (Susan's beeper goes off)
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- Ross: Rolando, there is a horse in my parking space.
  Rolando: Why are you riding a horse?
  Ross: It's not mine, Rolando.
  Rolando: Oh. Would I call security about that?
  Ross: I wouldn't know. That's why they pay you the big bucks.
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- Susan: Are you and Tag going to try for kids soon?
  Carol: If we're still speaking after the wedding. Fifteen of his relatives arrived yesterday; thought they'd come a week early, help us do a few things around the house.
  Susan: Sounds scary.
  Carol: When I left this morning they were planning on painting a bathroom.
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NOTES (4)
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- In this episode, Beah Richards, who makes her final appearance as Peter Benton's mother, is incorrectly credited as Beah Richardson.
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- Laura Cerón makes her first appearance as Nurse Chuny Marquez in this episode. She would go on to be a mainstay of the recurring supporting cast for fourteen more seasons, until the series ended in 2009.
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- Several of the guest stars worked with director Quentin Tarantino in other productions: Kathy Griffin appears in the Tarantino-co-directed film Four Rooms (1995); Brenda Hillhouse appears in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and also in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a film written by Tarantino and starring George Clooney; and Angela Jones appears in Pulp Fiction as well as later in the Tarantino-produced movie Curdled (1996).
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- Music: "Blackbird," The Beatles (sung by Chloe and Susan)
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Director Quentin Tarantino incorporated several of his movie trademarks into this episode; cultural references are made, such as the Yosemite Sam T-shirt Susan is wearing and the singing of The Beatles song "Blackbird" during Susie's birth; and Carol and Susan are shown barefoot in the scene where they are sitting on the roof. In addition, the scene that shows the woman whose ear was bitten off by another woman echoes a scene from Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, in which a cop gets his ear cut off.
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