As ER celebrates, or at least, has, its 300 episode, I am reflecting on some ER incidents that stick in my mind. Some were awesome, some just sticky, but when I think ER, this is what I think of. Personally, I think the show, especially in the last season and a half , has been drifting along with retread medical stories, a schmaltzy over-emphasis on unexciting love stories, and a painful overusing of characters who, several seasons back, came to their logical - and often excellent- conclusion. But, here are some ER thoughts anyhow.

Benton sends Carter to rehab…..I love a good character pay off. One that really worked well was when Benton (Eriq LaSalle) coerced a strung out Carter (Noah Wyle) to go to rehab. The whole series up until that point, the two had been mentor-mentee, then sort of friends. Here, Benton was dealing with Carter on a whole other level, almost like brothers. Benton was tough but quiet, like usual, and the one person who could get through the wounded and addicted younger doc. I love that moment.

Abby acknowledges she’s a doctor….One of the worst things about ER in the last few seasons is that they pushed the character of Abby Lockhart past her biggest moment. To some fans, Abby wasn’t complete until she married Luka and had his baby and spent the season picking out nursery furniture, if not necessarily in that order. But to me, Abby’s arc was about going from a nurse who quit school to a doctor who pushed herself to acheive a later-than-usual-in-life dream. When she finally could say to a patient "Ask for Dr. Lockhart." Last season’s wedding was okay, not that I actually saw it, but to me, Abby’s biggest moment was when she realized she had become what she was always capable of becoming.

Romano’s last scene….Talk about karma…or was it copter? Robert ‘Rocket’ Romano was often hilarious, sometimes sympathetic, and usually not a very nice guy. When he lost his arm to a copter blade he spent months wrecking havoc all over the ER. The end for this sardonic doc came when another helicopter dropped on him like a house on a witch in Oz. The irony was amazing: he feared helicopters, ran to get away from one, and it ended up falling top of him, the last thing he saw. Did he have it coming? Was it a little melodramatic? Who knows, but at least they got rid of the guy when he was still in his prime.

Luka faces death in the Congo…An arc in Africa had Luka on his knees. Caught by rebels, he was about to be shot, but wasn’t. He prayed. He let go of…I don’t know what, but he was a changed man in a very dramatic scene that should have brought the character into some kind of full circle. He was a nice guy, then kind of a lech, then tried to redeem himself. (Remember that weird scene where he asked Carter if he wanted to sleep with that nurse, and Carter said no, and Luka said ‘Then mind if I…?"….Weird for ER.) Anyhow, a very powerful scene. Of course, he had to stick around for like, ten years after that…well, maybe not ten…

Lucy diagnoses her own death…I alway think of this one scene where Lucy, the medical student, after being stabbed, was on the table or in bed or something, and she couldn’t talk, really. But Corday was explaining to her what they were doing and some complication. Lucy mouthed and whispered "P.E.?" meaning ‘Pulmumonary embollism?" She was on the ball enough to know what might be about to kill her. It always gets me on ER when someone knows their death is coming.

Mark tells Susan he loves her…Maybe my two least favorite characters, after Doug and Carol, were Susan and Mark, but I always remember how in the early years the big thing was how married/ separated Mark had a thing for Susan Lewis. And remember Lewis had that baby she was taking care of and all that? Anyhow, when Lewis left to be with her family, Mark said to her- as her train pulled out "I love you." And she said "I know." I could have cared less, but for some reason, it’s stuck in my mind.

Hathaway runs to a bad Don Henley ballad…Oh, Doug. Oh, Carol. Oh, Doug. Oh, Carol. Carol realizes she loves Doug and whatnot and runs through the airport to a Don Henley song that we then got to hear on the radio ad nauseaum for like, six months?

Corday has a snack with Benton…Here’s a funny one. When Corday first came on,she was all about getting with Benton. For some reason, the scene I recall is when she ate a hardboiled egg in front of him. You may recall the show took some heat from LaSalle for having the one black guy with a white woman. Too bad when they finally paired him off permanently with an African American woman it was the bland character Finch.

Benton jogs into the sunset…Here’s another Benton moment that stuck with me. When he and Carter had their final good bye. "You made me a good doctor." "No I didn’t. But you’ll get there." Smirk. That was pretty classic.

Mark tells Carter to set the tone…The reason this sticks in my mind is because it was the last day Mark was at County. No, actually, it sticks in my mind because nothing Carter did really set any tone, from what I could see, because he spent several years leaving the show and comng back and leaving and coming back and leaving…I did like some Carter moments, late in the series, like when he would stand up for Neela or tell Pratt to follow the rules. But as for the tone? Eh. I don’t know about that.