Did anyone watch "ER" last night?

I usually don't watch this show because for a while the commercials were making almost every episode look like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie but last nights episode was extremely compelling. Ray Liotta plays a man, recently out of prison, who ends up in the hospital with liver and kidney trouble. The thing is, he is told that he is so far gone that he will die that day unless he gets a liver transplant, which is unlikely to happen. He is a widower and ex-con who is estranged from his son and so he faces the prospect of dying alone. Pretty much the entire episode takes place in his hospital room and at his bedside. And no, the estranged son does not show up in the end for a tearjerking, last minute reconciliation. It was rough.

Fell asleep unfortunately. I've always thought Liotta was an underrated actor. The part where he can't really talk because of the tube down his throat and his son is on speaker phone and hangs up on him and he starts crying through the tube was rough.

"Hey Dad. So are you dying. Been nice knowin' ya."

Did you see the part where he asked the nurse to touch his face? This man was dying and you could tell that he hadn't had any affection from anyone in so long.

It was probably a good decision to have one episode that slows things down a bit. He'll get an Emmy nod, I'm certain...

My wife had to crash early so we taped it. I'll watch it again tonight.

I probably gave away to much for you.

but I will watch it AGAIN tonight.

I was reading too fast and I missed the "again" part.

My brother died in much the same way, GI hemorrhage from liver damage. Don't know why I kept watching but I did.

only his exit was by way of cancer.

I usually watch this show every week and this was a winner... Liotta was great and some of the scenes were gruesome. Emmy stuff I guess.

I love it when actors make guest appearances on TV shows. It seems those episodes are usually top notch. Bob Newhart's ER appearance was the last time I watched ER. I usually have a really bad recpetion for that channel, so I don't bother, but I made sure to get my antenna working last night!

I tried so hard not to cry. It was a very moving episode. When he asked the nurse to touch his face, I just lost it.

I don't know why I didn't. I think I was just too overwhelmed by it all to cry. Does that make sense?

That's how I was when I saw Leaving Las Vegas (some similarities to this show). I was deeply affected, but I didn't cry.

nurse position at an Ohio Prison. The inmate had a 20 year sentence for rape....had serve 15....just diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer with 6 months to live. The physician thought he should stay in the Infirmary.

The chemo gave him a brief "I feel great spell" so I worked with the physician to permit him the opportunity to go back to his pod unit with his cellies...He was able to work thru the stages of death/dying. His pod mates were now his family. Governor would not give his clemency.

Wow. How did he feel about the governor refusing him clemency when he knew he was going to die anyway? Did he care?

It was always a goal to be released....he just had to ask. His family was the prison community at that point. He gave things away, said his good-byes.....

For me, it was a rewarding experience, to address the issue as a nurse and not as many, many others would do from a freeper view point. To look beyond the present and past....facilitate the individual to make peace with his victim, self, soul and higher power. To do the right thing and to advocate for the right thing regardless of consequence.

really got to me as well, but I was also truly moved at the end.

A man trying desparately to apologize to his son, with Pratt standing as a proxy. I really liked the fact, that in such a short low dialog moment, there was actually some true character development for Pratt.

A truly great episode...

I'm not a regular viewer of this show.

On edit: Never mind. I know which one you mean.

One as a daughter whose relationship with my father was somewhat strained and mostly absent from my life.

Two as a mother who's children live elsewhere and rarely keep in touch. The older you get the more you see the effect of decisions past and the regret that you didn't go in a different direction.

Tore me up as Liotta's character's last breaths were apologies unheard. That's when I cried.

admittedly, I do cry at nearly every ER, that's just me, and it sometimes hits close to home, personally and professionally, being a healthcare worker of sorts. The challenges of the hospital staff to not allow themselves to be too sensitive, just sensitive enough are "heroic measures", almost as difficult and admirable as their skills.

This episode will haunt me, though, I really felt for him, and the helplessness of the staff. Now I am wanting to call my dad just to see how he's doing, despite our frictional relationship. not estraqnged, just frictional, but he's in his later 60's and that reality is chilling.