"ER"
Motherhood (1995)

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writers:

Michael Crichton (creator) and
Lydia Woodward (writer)

TV Series:

"ER" (1994)

Original Air Date:

11 May 1995 (Season 1, Episode 24)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

On a fateful Mother's Day, several staffers in the ER face possible life-changing events. Susan Lewis' sister Chloe gives birth to a beautiful...

Plot Keywords:

Gay Character | Violence | Operating Room | Pediatrician | Medical Drama

Cast

Anthony Edwards	...	Dr. Mark Greene
George Clooney	...	Dr. Doug Ross
Sherry Stringfield	...	Dr. Susan Lewis
Noah Wyle	...	John Carter
Julianna Margulies	...	Nurse Carol Hathaway
Eriq La Salle	...	Dr. Peter Benton
Abraham Benrubi	...	Jerry Markovic
Julie Carmen	...	Mrs. Lafferty
Conni Marie Brazelton	...	Nurse Connie Oligario
Yvette Freeman	...	Nurse Haleh Adams
Khandi Alexander	...	Jackie Robbins
Christine Harnos	...	Jennifer Greene
Andrea Parker	...	Linda Farrell
Valerie Perrine	...	Cookie Lewis
CCH Pounder	...	Dr. Angela Hicks

Language:

English

Trivia:

An EMT says that the patient he's wheeling in collapsed at "Chulack's" restaurant. Christopher Chulack produced this episode.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Season 1x23 episode "Motherhood", Yvette Freeman, who plays Haleh, is listed as a guest star in the opening and closing credits.

Quotes:

Dr. Susan Lewis: Never thought I'd deliver my own niece.
Carol Hathaway: On Mother's Day no less.

watched it mostly cause it's a QT episode, his trademarks included, but still quite sharp and dramatic for regular fans

I must confess, I'm not an avid, or even really regular, viewer of ER. A few episodes sometimes stick out that I have seen, a few really indelible images (i.e. there's one episode, which I can't totally recall, that has a woman with a bug in her ear that creeped me out intensely). But as with CSI, another show I'm not very keen on, I decided to check out a specific episode based most of all on a credited director- Quentin Tarantino in this case. Amid the big frenzy over Pulp Fiction, he got offers all over the place, and this was one of them that he took on, as he "put on the scrubs" QT himself called them, and also in a very rare case took the helm as director and not (also) as writer of the episode. This episode starts off quite intensely with, what else, a woman on the verge of delivery of her child. Right away some of that Tarantino edge comes in with the hand-held style, and while it obviously isn't there, one could guess if this weren't a network show it would be cursing galore.

The episode then unfolds with some of the character drama unfolding, but for the most part it's really focused on two things- a big helping of some head-rushing, manic hospital work on some wheeled-in-right-away patients, and on pregnancy and giving birth and such. There's even a bit of tenderness towards the latter part of the episode, which might come to be expected with the title. But those who, like me, will seek out the episode for likely QT trademarks wont be too disappointed. He does stick with the main form of the show, and if one didn't know he directed it it might be seen as usual- though above average usual- ground being covered. The hindsight does trigger some grins during the episode at the recognition of certain things, like the shots that track along (I remember there's one scene where the camera goes from one conversation to another, almost no cuts really between the two). And the aforementioned big ER scenes are a bit bloody and almost veering to the over the top. It didn't surprise me it made it on TV, but the intensity of the cuts and the action kept things going along quite well.

In short, an obscure little treat for fans of QT, and for fans of the show it provides equal doses of regular-character drama and pathos on mothering and delivery-room semantics.