ER: The Complete Fourth Season DVD Review:

ER could have easily become just a night time soap opera when it first started in 1994, but instead it became one of the most innovative hour long dramas. Since it began it has had 108 Emmy Award nominations, 21 of which it won. While some might say that the show has long since jumped the shark, season four still had everything at its best. Most of the original cast is still in the picture, although this is the season where they slowly started to fall off. There are also a few additions to the cast in this season as well.

Season four starts off with a bang with the live episode which was groundbreaking under the guise of a documentary film team in the emergency room of the Chicago hospital. County General Hospital has a staff of great doctors who are ready to deal with whatever problems may arise, including Dr. Mark Greene played by Anthony Edwards, Dr. Doug Ross played by George Clooney, Dr. John Carter played by Noah Wyle, among others. New to the staff is Dr. Elizabeth Corday played by Alex Kingston and Dr. Anna Del Amico played by Maria Bello. This season advances the relationship between Dr. Ross and the nurse, Carol Hathaway. Ross proposes to her in the middle of the season. In fact, this is a very large season for Dr. Ross. As well as his dramatic relationship with Hathaway, his father also passes away and he makes a medical decision which could cost him his job.

There is no shortage of excitement on ER, but the relationships are mostly downplayed to keep the focus on the medical aspects of the show. It is a bit less human than some viewers may enjoy, but it is obviously in an attempt to portray an emergency room in as much accuracy as possible. Watching too many of these episodes in a row may be a bit more than the average viewer can handle because of the intensity level, but fans may be happy just to have some of the episodes from a time when the show was still at its peak.

The DVD package contains all twenty-two episodes from season four on six discs, which are held in a foldout case which slips into a cardboard cover. It is set up very similar to the previous seasons, with a few special features. There are a number of episodes with deleted scenes, and a gag reel, but the other features mostly focus on the season opener. Because the episode was historic in its live filming there was an obvious amount of attention given to it. There are two featurettes about the episode, Ambush, one showing how they filmed it and another showing how the cast and crew celebrated the intense filming after it was over.



Ryan Izay