The WORST episodes of ER
Every episode of ER ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of ER!
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 - Jigsaw
Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/2006
A belligerent young man with the flu presents a challenge to Morris and Sam when he refuses treatment, and later turns out to be more than he seems to be. Luka and Abby’s childcare emergency means balancing baby care with patient care in the ER until a nanny can be found, but the candidates prove less than satisfactory. Luka has an uneasy encounter with Curtis Ames at the hospital, and later Abby and Baby Joe have a "chance" encounter with Ames at the park. Pratt discovers a local church's risky drug exchange program. Neela and Gates square off at an M&M.
#2 - Darfur
Season 12 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/2/2006
Carter works in the Sudanese desert, helping treat hundreds of diseased people including a woman raped by a militant group. Back in the ER, the police accuse Clemente of shooting Jodie. Pratt and Neela work to save a 14-year-old involved in a hit-and-run accident, but Pratt is infuriated when he discovers who hit the young teen. Kovač refuses to let Clemente return to work until he is reviewed by the Impaired Physician Committee. Jodie awakens from her coma and tells the police about her shooting, and Bobby threatens Clemente's life.
#3 - Carter Est Amoureux
Season 11 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/2005
After hearing that Kem's mother is sick, Carter flies to Paris to see Kem. While there, Carter offers to move back to Africa to start all over. Birdie and Rebecca are back; Rebecca was strangled by their niece Shelley, so Birdie stabbed Shelley. Neela, Abby and Ray all make rookie mistakes with various patients. While in counseling, Sam reveals that she thinks that she and Kovač should not be together. Abby makes it clear that she and Jake do not have a future together.
#4 - Separation Anxiety
Season 15 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/8/2009
Alex is set to be released from the hospital. Doctors treat African-American brothers Curtis Bennet, 17, who has abdominal pain and 10-year-old Quincy Bennet who has a knee injury. Both were injured during a drug deal that went terribly wrong. There's still some residual tension between Gates and Sam. A female patient in police custody doesn't want to be examed by Morris. A 13-year-old patient named Anastasia messes with Neela's love life.
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#5 - Let it Snow
Season 15 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/4/2008
Banfield and Morris go to the coffee shop at 3 a.m. and are served by 20-year-old Debbie who is six-months pregnant. The doctors treat someone with a heart problem and Alex. Chaz must look for a missing 7-year-old boy who saw his sister die.
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#6 - The High Holiday
Season 15 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/11/2008
Doctors take care of 24-year-old Gloria Ortiz who is 8 months pregnant. The woman fell during an immigration raid at a tie factory and started getting contractions. Coburn discovers that the baby has a mass in the neck and head area… maybe cancer? Immigration agents come to the hospital to take Gloria into custody. Banfield has Morris do paperwork instead of seeing patients. Frank plans to dress up as Santa for the Christmas party. Neela has no intentions on going to said party claiming that last year turned out bad since Morris pinched her butt and Frank almost threw up on her. Sam pushes Dubenko to extubate Alex today instead of tomorrow. Neela is at the center of a malpractice suit.
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#7 - Shifts Happen
Season 10 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/23/2003
Pratt is left in charge of a busy night shift, with only a few med students and fellow 2nd year Dr. Coop. Pratt makes a mistake with one of his patients. Abby is looking for a loan, she finally gives in and begs her ex-husband to co-sign. Romano gets his Utah arm. Abby visits Luka, finding Gillian in the middle of saying goodbye. Corday and Dorset are sleeping together, although Corday wonders if it's too soon after Mark's death.
#8 - Refusal of Care
Season 11 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/21/2005
Lewis, Neela, and Sam are legally blocked from treating a woman dying from the effects of a hunger strike designed to prevent her son from being deported. Pratt struggles to find a way to convince a woman with breast cancer to seek treatment. Abby treats two elderly sisters involved in a mugging. To Weaver's delight, Carter donates $150 million to the hospital's new venture, in exchange for naming rights. Carter calls Kem and asks her opinion on The Joshua Carter Center, named after their stillborn son.
#10 - Blame It on the Rain
Season 12 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/2005
In the wake of heavy rains, the ER is flooded with diverse patients, including a baby involved in a suspicious car crash with her mother and a heart-attack victim visited by his sex therapist. Sam confronts Eve about her strict ways. Abby learns the details of Dubenko's condition and tactfully refuses his advances. Kovač protests when nursing home workers drop off Blaire Collins, who has been comatose for six years, for routine care, but later in the day, she unexpectedly regains consciousness.
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#11 - Here and There
Season 11 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/24/2005
Gallant and Neela have been exchanging letters regularly. Gallant struggles with the war he sees every day, while Neela is searching for her life's purpose. Gallant enlists Neela's help in getting a critically burned Iraqi girl lined up for surgery in Chicago and heads for the U.S. with 72 hours leave.
#12 - Another Thursday at County
Season 15 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/9/2008
Everyone in the ER is trying to cope with the loss of their colleague. The staff feels defensive toward the new Chief and her tough disposition. Gates and the new interns treat a bio terrorist, who has a lethal secret that endangers them all. Neela makes a great effort to get Dubenko back on the surgery staff, and gets help from an unexpected souce.
#13 - Abby Road
Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/3/2000
Third year med student (and part-time OB nurse) Abby Lockhart begins her ER rotation. A flu bug sweeps through the ER. Carter tries to help a kid with muscular dystrophy while Cleo treats a kid who's been injecting hormones into himself. Corday discovers that her mother will be coming to town and then decides to pay her a visit. Lucy treats a dying homeless man. Benton and Romano clash over the treatment of a surgical case. Luka and Carol treat a young boy whose mother is injecting him with saline to get surgical procedures done.
#15 - Cañon City
Season 12 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/2005
A frantic Sam and Luka report diabetic Alex missing after he runs away to find his father. Acting on information from the police, they follow a lead to Iowa, then eventually head for Colorado. As they travel, they discuss their relationship, Sam tells Luka she doesn't want anymore kids. After finding Alex safe, Sam tells him the truth and takes him to see his father. In the ER, Susan, Pratt, and the nurses evaluate Ray, Neela, and Abby’s first days as R2s, while each of them struggle to manage patients, new interns, and their first attempts at teaching.
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#16 - Start All Over Again
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/2001
Weaver prepares to call her birth mother, while she treats a man who was accidentally run over by his daughter while she was drunk. Susan's first day back is typically hectic, as she treats a girl with an ectopic pregnancy who refuses to stay for treatment and a man faking a coma to escape his bookie. Abby seems to notice the chemistry between Susan and Carter and gets a little jealous. Cleo has gotten a better job 40 minutes outside of Chicago. The Greene household is pretty crazy now that Rachel is living there. After Elizabeth loses another patient to a post-op infection, an investigation is launched and someone is assigned to shadow her all day to check her cleanliness. Benton panics when Roger reveals that he can't find Reese--it turns out that Jackie picked him up from school after he got in a fight. Carter's day as chief resident is marred a little when his grandmother comes to the ER after slipping.
#18 - Blackout
Season 14 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/2007
A power outage strikes on an unusually hot day, bringing nursing home patients suffering from hyperthermia to the ER. Abby and Pratt disagree about diagnostic tests for a fussy baby. Morris and Pratt get their board results, and the ER staff celebrates at Ike's. Moretti and Abby's interactions intensify, and Abby finds herself at a dark and frightening crossroads.
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#19 - Shifting Equilibrium
Season 15 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/19/2009
It's Neela's last day and everyone in the ER seems to have forgotten that she is leaving. Neela proves she is ready to be an attending when she and Dr. Dubenko argue about the treatment of two surgical cases. Meanwhile, Brenner has an epiphany about his troubled past.
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#20 - Gravity
Season 14 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/18/2007
It's a bad day for Abby, who's missing the still-absent Luka, when Joe is brought to the ER after a fall and is unable to reach Luka. Elsewhere, the day puts family first as Morris cares for a frightened child and Pratt defends his brother. Neela returns to work, and Moretti returns from a conference. A patient's mother gives the ER staffers makeovers in appreciation. The ER gets a new receptionist.
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#21 - Nobody's Baby
Season 12 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/2005
Ray attends to a surrogate mother who goes into labor prematurely after being involved in a car accident. A difficult decision must be made as the baby's life hangs in the balance. Pratt gets a visit from his estranged father Charlie. A depressed Kovač copes with another failed relationship when Sam announces she's moving out, but he gets emotional support from Abby, who joins forces with Neela to put a spoiled, rude patient in her place.
#22 - What We Do
Season 15 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/5/2009
A camera crew interviews the staff at County General for a documentary on emergency medicine. Morris’ cop girlfriend gets injured on the job and is rushed into the ER with gunshot wounds. Neela wonders why her relationship with Brenner lacks so much communication. Sam struggles to make amends with her mother.
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#23 - I Do
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/1/2005
Back from Iraq, Gallant surprises Neela by impulsively asking her to marry him. Kerry steps in to the Kovac/Clemente battle, encouraging them to get along, which results in a competition to be agreeable. Ray and a somewhat rusty Kerry treat a man with hypothermia, leading Morris to take a stand regarding the best course of action. Luka, Clemente and Sam treat a boy with HIV whose mother refuses to believe HIV causes AIDS. At the day’s end, Neela and Gallant are married, despite Neela’s doubts. At the reception, Luka and Abby celebrate his appointment as Chief of Emergency Medicine and realize they want more than just friendship.
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#24 - Heal Thyself
Season 15 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/2008
Dr. Banfield takes a run to clear her head but finds herself trying to rescue a three-year-old girl from drowning in a nearby lake. Gates tries to pull some strings in the ER to help his homeless war hero. Banfield is reminded of her own experience at County with Dr. Greene caring for her son as she tries to save the young three-year-old girl from certain death. Meanwhile, the interns continue to struggle to keep up in the ER.
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#25 - Brothers and Sisters (1)
Season 8 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/25/2002
Susan receives a message from her niece on her answering machine, saying that Chloe's "sick." The call is traced to New York City, putting Susan on a plane. Officers Boscarelli and Yokas are assigned to chaperone Susan in the search for her sister. Chloe is found in "Urinetown," suffering a broken heart, but Little Suzie is not with her. Pratt hits on Chen several times throughout the day, and also performs an unauthorized procedure with Gallant on a dying man. Abby returns to her apartment, where Carter catches her drinking a beer. He confronts Luka about her relapse, and Abby herself later. She tells Carter not to worry about her. Romano signs Weaver up to meet with the Women's Health Coalition. Corday requests immediate time off from Romano to join Mark and Rachel in Hawaii. (Unleashed (2) aired on Third Watch, season 3, episode 19.)