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ER Season 5 Episode 8

The Good Fight

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8.7

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/19/98

After a car accident, a girl and her father are brought into the ER. The girl, badly injured and needing surgery, shares a rare blood type with her father; when Lucy returns to the father's exam area so she can draw his blood, she finds that he has bolted. After exhausting all other possibilities, Benton operates on the girl without blood. Meanwhile, Carter and Lucy have been traveling throughout the city trying to find the father; they encounter a number of obstacles, not the least of which is a fall in which Carter dislocates his shoulder. With some astute detective work, they find the father -- who has been waiting for news about his daughter in the diner across from the hospital.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

A fight.. but with what results?

9.6

By Parricida, Nov 25, 2007

This episode had beautiful story and it was superbly written - they had very exciting story, hopes up all the time and the result - it was realistic and show us - even if we hope and try - we cannot win every time.

The had really the excitement up - clock ticking for the girl. Carter, for who it was somehow important moment to make the decision to go for the hunt for the father.. and Lucy.. they - two very different people but they tried.. and it definitely opened them more to us and they seemed to managed to work out some of their problems trying to help the girl. But I can very much think I felt as bad as Lucy at the end of the episode. Did they really helped her? What hope she has?

Magnificent episode.moreless
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Carter and Lucy fight the good fight.

9.0

By anyabr, Sep 22, 2006

This became a series classic because it was a very different episode. It went away from the County dynamic, with Carter and Lucy running around Chicago trying to find a man whose blood is the only thing that can save his little daughter.

In this episode, we see that Carter could have never been a surgeon, and that neither can Lucy be one. They are the kind of doctors that hold on to their feelings, and will do whatever it takes to save them, even if it means entering suspicious neighbourhoods and getting your Jeep set on fire. I also loved Benton on this episode, with his 'desperate measures'. He's one that was made to be a surgeon. The girl needs an operation, we'll do it, with or without blood. The episode ends with a quote that became one of ER's most famous. Carter tells Lucy that, even tough the little girl might not be completely cured, she (Lucy) fought the good fight. And she'll fight another one tomorrow. Being a doctor means fighting for your patients. That's what this beautiful episode is about, teaching us that.moreless
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They are out of the ER looking for one man who could be anywhere!

9.1

By Pinkmyst, Jul 10, 2006

Lucy and Carter are out of the ER looking for one man who could be anywhere!

I think this helps Carter and Lucy's relationship as they have to work together to find this guy.

They have quite a lot of bad luck while looking which I found added a lighter side to the episode.

It would have been so frustrating when they found the guy in the diner.

Under the circumstances the whole team that helped this little girl did a excellent job in saving her. Operating without blood was a very adventurous and risky thing to do but it paid off in the end.moreless
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Contrived and very silly - where did this episode come from?

4.9

By Ishmaelbbc, Apr 02, 2006

This has got to be one of the worst episodes of ER ever. It played like it was one of the special episodes, because it had only one storyline at its center, but somehow it was only extraordinarily bad.

The story itself wasn't that exciting, we've had our share of sick kids and except the fact that the girl couldn't get any kind of blood, there was nothing really special about that case. They even downplayed the fact that she had been kidnapped by her father. The lack of a real exciting core plot made everything else about the episode very awkward, as it got very hard to understand why every doctor and every character in the hospital got worked up about this case. The plot development of the girl itself didn't improve. They couldn't anything for a while, so they waited and waited, then there was a quick operation and that's it. Just look at the short scene of Corday taking the blood from the helicopter. Why was that scene there? What purpose did it serve, especially when (after a brutally unprofessional cut) she explains everything we need to know about the blood just in the following scene? No character of the hospital/operation segment did anything worth remembering, not even Benton who was supposed to look like some kind of hero, but because there was no reason to see why he was so concerned, there was no reason to empathize with him.

And what about the rest of the episode, the main piece about Carter and Lucy? Wasn't it strange enough to let them both search for that guy throughout the city? They were desperately trying to sell us the fact that both were destined to go on that search because of their special 'connection', they both feel but don't admit. The problem is, that they could not have pointed out that connection in a more unconvicing way and, additionally, without much premonition. There were some indications previously, but the way this episode played, was pretty weird, especially Carter's treatment of his girlfriend whom he leaves without any reason at all. The bonding that occured on their journey seemed very forced and the payoff on the roof was just lame.

In addition to that failure of character interaction there was a storyline so contrived, so obviously constructed out of spare parts, that it made me cringe. Could anyone believe the things they went through to find that guy? First, the car guy knows the father and has loaned him his car. Then they find every person in Chicago who has ever talked to the father until they track down his trailer besides a train line, where there is a message on the answering machine for Inga (!), just to tell them that he has been at Doc Magoose all day, which he did to gather information about his daughter - which he didn't. Not to forget the dislocated shoulder. Yeah, and the burning jeep. Oh, right, there also was a TB-infected ghetto block. I was just waiting for them to point out that the woman at the phone booth was a drag queen.

Up to that point season 5 has been going pretty well, nothing fancy, but also nothing really bothering. There is no reason to have an episode so bad, coming out of nowhere, after a series of good, solid ER episodes. It tried hard, but that was not a very good fight.moreless
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extremely momorable episode

9.7

By DanLC03, Aug 06, 2005

I have to admit that some of the episodes that I really like are "child in danger" stories, and I'm not really sure why. This episode is a perfect example of this. It is a great example of the best of ER. The entire ER crew rallies to help this one girl, but it isn't easy. It was one of those cases where it seems that everything is stacked against this patient, with her rare blood type and the struggle to find her dad. I think it was extremely heroic of Carter and Lucy to go to find the father, and that they did not give up. This was one of the episoodes that just kept me rivited until the very end. This is definitely one of my favorites of all time.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Alex Kingston	Dr. Elizabeth Corday
Anthony Edwards	Dr. Mark Greene
Eriq La Salle	Dr. Peter Benton
George Clooney	Dr. Doug Ross
Gloria Reuben	P.A. Jeanie Boulet
Julianna Margulies	Nurse Carol Hathaway

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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John Thaddeus	Keith Nelson	Guest Star
Ron Dean	Uncle Joey	Guest Star
Rich Komenich	Car Dealer	Guest Star
Abraham Benrubi	Jerry	Recurring Role
Ellen Crawford	Lydia	Recurring Role
Jorja Fox	Dr. Maggie Doyle	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (3)
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- Cook: You want anything to drink with that?
  Carter: Yeah, let me have a Coke.
  Cook: Anything for the boss?
  Carter: Who?
  Cook: The boss; the missus.
  (Carter gives him a questioning look)
  Cook: Your girlfriend?
  Carter: No, not my girlfriend.
  Lucy: John, come here. Come here!
  Carter: What?
  Lucy: Come here!
  (Carter gets up)
  Cook: Whatever you say, pal...
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- (Carter falls)
  Lucy: Are you ok? Dr. Carter are you ok?
  Carter: No.
  Lucy: Can you tell me your name? Do you know your name?
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- Carter: Some patients get to you more than others, I know. But when you do everything that you can, sometimes even more than you thought you could, you've got to walk away knowing you fought the good fight. You fought the good fight, Lucy. Tomorrow you'll fight another one.
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NOTES (2)
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- Previous title: "A Perfect Match"
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- Music: "Under the Boardwalk," The Drifters
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