Just because ER will be ending its 15 season run in a mere 5 episodes doesn’t mean the show’s characters need to stop growing and changing. In fact, the end of a long-running series is sometimes the point where the most growth and change occurs. On this week’s installment of the medical drama we saw such changes in two of our favorites: Archie Morris and Simon Brenner.
Let’s start with Archie. I’ve previously stated both here and on my reviews at TV Squad that Dr. Morris has continued to mature since he was introduced back in season ten as a second-year resident. While there have been flashes of the old Archie earlier this season and last (particularly after Hope left) they have not stopped his growth. With this week’s episode everything he has learned about love and relationships over the last few seasons culminated in a brand new, adult Archie Morris.
Think about the way he treated women on the past: saying that it would be slightly chauvinistic would probably be lessening the impact. It wasn’t until he and Hope got together that he showed a mature side of himself when it came to the opposite sex. Even then, though, he still acted like a little kid and felt like the rest of the ER staff were laughing at him. There is none of that with his current squeeze Claudia and his role as one of the senior attending docs. He is all business in this relationship because he is finally, truly in love. And, it looks good on him.
Another sign of his maturity is the way he acted after Claudia was shot. Other than lashing out to her partner, which was a legitimate emotional response, Archie was very calm about the treatment the ER docs were giving to Claudia. Rather than jumping in to try and save her single-handedly, he left the decisions to them on the next stages of her treatment. Not only did that show maturity, but it also showed extreme trust in his co-workers.
Now onto dear old Simon. While Archie’s growth into adulthood has been an on-going process, Simon’s journey was more a result of certain happenstances in this episode rather than a continuing reinvention of himself. As most of us know, Simon was touched in the no-no place as a child and it seems to have messed him up in adulthood. Hence, the potential reason for his womanizing when we were introduced to him last season (at least that’s what all the head-shrinkers like to say). He has kept this little secret bottled up inside, with only Archie as his only confidante.
Until this week. In typical television show fashion Archie blabbed about Simon’s predicament to an unknowing Neela. In turn, Neela let Simon have it because, you know, it’s always about her and not about anyone else. An argument ensued, Neela said they weren’t right for each other (let’s face it, she still has a thing for Ray) and that seemed to be it for their relationship.
This got Simon to thinking quite a bit about his situation. During an interview session with a documentary team at the hospital he seemed to come to a realization. Simon was saying something about patients or hospital relationships or something like that and the documentarian asked if, in those situations, he accepts what’s going on or denies it ever happened. Simon had to think for a bit about this and really had no answer other than, “It’s a work in progress.”
This either means that he has finally come to the realization that he needs to talk to someone about his past traumas or he’ll continue to be the stupid git that he’s always been. Seeing that he has just lost one relationship to a woman he might have actually loved, I certainly hope that he gets the help he needs.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Mar 06, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Neela making Simon feel bad because he didn’t tell her about being molested was so, so, so shitty. i think it went beyond him just getting touched, if you get my drift, and as a medical professional she should have known (or I should say they should have written her to have known) how difficult that is to deal with. I was really disgusted with her whole reaction.
Simon and Banfield are two characters introduced this season and last that the writers have done a pretty good job of getting me to not give a flying frak about. It feels like Banfield has been shoved down our throats particularly hard, and despite Basset’s outstanding job in the role, adding an unlikeable character into the mix in the last season was a very poor decision on the part of the producers.
That being said ER has been superb. The revolving returns have done well, and I’ve especially enjoyed the extended return to the ER by Noah Wyle and John Carter. Carter to was the central figure during his time as a regular cast member, as his arc and growth as a character were the easiest to track. Amidst myriad other storylines, watching John Carter grow up was what ER was about to me. Having him back completes that perfectly. I especially look forward to a reunion I expect him to make in the next episode or two.
If IMDB’s counts are right, its interesting to look at their cast page for ER. Its got the actor’s listed in order fo the number of episodes they’ve appeared in. Funny to think how some of the current actors have been around longer than some of the original cast (unsurprising is the number of supporting cast are near the top).