The BEST episodes of ER season 1
Every episode of ER season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of ER season 1!
ER follows the medical personnel and patients in the emergency room of Chicago's fictional County General Hospital. The doctors and nurses of County's ER confront the daily challenges of a busy urban hospital, including overcrowded waiting rooms, staffing shortages, and the impact of life-and-death decisions. While they teach the next generation of doctors, each must tackle the demands of their personal lives, at times unsuccessfully.
#1 - Love's Labor Lost
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/9/1995
Greene misdiagnoses a pregnant patient, leading to a long and arduous surgery.
#2 - 9½ Hours
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1994
Greene calls in sick so he and Jennifer can spend the day together, leaving Ross in charge of the ER. Carter works on a high school wrestler that starved himself to make weight. Hathaway counsels a young rape victim. Benton is dealing with his senile mother, and butts heads with Ross. Lewis is worried about Cvetic's growing temper problem.
#3 - Make of Two Hearts
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/9/1995
Kayson pursues Lewis romantically. Ross and Hathaway cope with a young Russian girl with AIDS whose adoptive mother abandons her. A humane policeman hauls in a dog he hit with his car.
#4 - Blizzard
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/8/1994
It's a December blizzard, and the day starts out quiet. Hathaway announces her engagement with Tag. Suddenly, County General goes into crisis mode when a 32-car pileup on an expressway inundates them with patients. Among the patients are a young male that Benton knows that lost his leg, a patient of Ross' that dies suddenly while waiting for treatment, and a man who is snowed in at home and calls Greene when his wife refuses to go to the hospital to have her baby. Lewis tries to save a man that suddenly develops an aneurysm, and the patient is saved by the most unlikely person.
#5 - 24 Hours
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/19/1994
John Carter, a third-year medical student, begins the first day of his rotation in the ER at County General Hospital. Dr. Mark Greene, an ER resident physician, considers an offer to go into private practice. Dr. Susan Lewis, another ER resident, deals with myriad patients, including one diagnosed with advanced cancer. Dr. Doug Ross, the ER pediatrician, confronts a woman about potential child abuse. The head nurse, Carol Hathaway, returns several hours after her shift as a patient, following an apparent suicide attempt.
#6 - The Gift
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1994
A transfer team is due by helicopter to receive donor organs - but Benton has not yet obtained next-of-kin approval for the organ harvest. And although it's Christmas Eve, Greene has not found time to shop for gifts. Ross crashes a party.
#7 - Love Among the Ruins
Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/4/1995
Carter's family background is discovered. Benton starts falling for a married woman. Hathaway has trouble writing her wedding vows. Greene is living with his wife in Milwaukee, but their marriage is still broken. Lewis treats a suicidal patient.
#8 - The Birthday Party
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/16/1995
Greene and Benton each have family birthday parties to attend, but ER demands may keep them away. Meanwhile, Carter mistakenly thinks it's Benton's birthday and hires belly dancers as a celebratory surprise. Hathaway considers adoption.
#9 - Long Day's Journey
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/19/1995
The nonstop parade of crises and stricken young innocents weighs heavily on Ross. Meanwhile, the heart attack victim under Lewis' care is the doctor who nearly wrecked her career. Benton hires a physical therapist, Jeanie Boulet, to take care of his mother.
#10 - Another Perfect Day
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/3/1994
Ross and Hathaway save a young boating accident victim. They give in to their feelings briefly, making Hathaway reconsider moving in with Tag. Chloe disrupts a date between Lewis and Cvetic. Benton is competing for a prestigious fellowship. Greene observes Carter in the ER, giving Carter some confidence.
#11 - Everything Old Is New Again
Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/18/1995
Both Greene and Carter get some surprising news. At Hathaway's wedding, not everything goes as planned.
#12 - Sleepless in Chicago
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/23/1995
Benton runs on no sleep for 48 hours. A con man works the floor. A mental patient poses as a hospital efficiency expert. Greene's wife wants a divorce. Hathaway's past comes back to haunt her.
#13 - Feb. 5 '95
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/2/1995
Morgenstern surprises Greene with a new job offer. A terminally ill breast cancer patient asks Greene to help her die. An armed boy threatens the hospital staff.
#14 - Motherhood
Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/11/1995
Ross must deal with commitment issues. Carter's future is uncertain. Lewis helps deliver her niece. Benton receives some bad news about his mother.
#15 - Chicago Heat
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/20/1994
The air conditioning at County General is broken. Greene brings his daughter, Rachel, to work with him while Jennifer goes apartment hunting in Milwaukee. Ross works with a 5-year-old girl that ingested cocaine. Benton tries to save a young robber shot by his frequent convenience store clerk patient. Lewis tries to deal with Chloe's worsening mental problems.
#16 - House of Cards
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/6/1995
Greene must lead seminar on the ill-fated pre-eclampsia case he recently misdiagnosed. The rivalry between Carter and Chen causes Chen to make a disastrous mistake. Lewis' pregnant sister Chloe returns from Texas.
#17 - ER Confidential
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1994
Lewis is caught in the middle as both Cvetic and Chloe have problems. Carter tries to help a suicidal transgender woman. The ER tries to save two boys who killed a girl in a car accident. Benton invites Carter to Thanksgiving with his family. Hathaway confesses her feelings about Ross to Tag after Ross begins a new affair.
#18 - Full Moon, Saturday Night
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/30/1995
The moon is full and so is the ER - filled with popsicle pledges, a would-be werewolf, and others affected by "lunar lunacy" - and Lewis is the only resident available. Coping with emotional problems, Greene's not making a good impression on the new ER chief.
#19 - Hit and Run
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1994
Ross attempts to reconcile his lingering feelings for Hathaway while dealing with a single mother and her young son after it is found that she hears voices. Benton clashes with another surgeon over a hit-and-run patient. Carter must make the notification to the parents of a young boy. A married man comes in suffering a mild heart attack while handcuffed to his mistress.
#20 - Into That Good Night
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1994
Greene mulls a decision to move to Milwaukee so his wife, Jennifer, can pursue her law career. He and the rest of the ER staff tend to a dying heart transplant candidate. Ross counsels a woman who cannot afford medication for her asthmatic daughter. Carter may have made a mistake with a former patient. Lewis has to juggle dealing with an alcohol-poisoned fraternity brother and calls from her mother to get her prodigal sister, Chloe, a job.
#21 - Going Home
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1994
Hathaway returns to work after her suicide attempt, and gets support from her co-workers and her orthopedic surgeon boyfriend, Dr. John "Tag" Tagliari. A mysterious woman comes to the ER and sings to the doctors and patients while the doctors try to find out who she is. Lewis deals with a heart patient. Benton works with an injured convenience store clerk who insists on defending himself when his store is robbed.
#22 - Men Plan, God Laughs
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/27/1995
Benton compensates his inability in helping his mother by going beyond the call to help his patients. Meanwhile, Greene attempts to save his marriage - but that means less time at work and more disfavor with the new ER chief.
#23 - Happy New Year
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/5/1995
Carter proves he's ready for the OR - but his first day in surgical attendance is a comedy of mishaps. The consequences are grave when Lewis discharges a cardiac patient. Benton must deal with a family conflict.
#24 - Luck of the Draw
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/19/1995
#25 - Day One
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1994
Lewis butts heads with the resident psychiatrist, Dr. Div Cvetic, over care for a senile patient. Greene deals with an elderly man who insists on keeping his wife on life support despite her DNR request. Benton corrects a diagnosis made by his own physician. Carter is seduced by a patient. A family comes in after an alcohol-related car accident. Greene's wife has passed the bar exam, but their celebrations are interrupted. Ross visits Hathaway, who is recovering from her suicide attempt.