The WORST episodes of St. Elsewhere
Every episode of St. Elsewhere ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of St. Elsewhere!
St. Eligius Hospital in South Boston was not exactly the world's best health care center. Despite its flaws, it featured some of the most caring doctors and nurses you could ever meet. Led by Dr. Donald Westphall (and later by Dr. John Gideon), the hospital nicknamed "St. Elsewhere" became a sanctuary for the underdog and the downtrodden.
#1 - Good Vibrations
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/13/1987
The representative of a foreign medical group interested in the hospital visits to absorb the psychic `aura' of the place (via flashbacks) but collapses from a heart attack before he can recommend the sale.
#2 - Visiting Daze
Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1987
Axelrod allows Novino and Griffin to override his judgement; Dr. Kiem worries about her long distance marriage as she tries to help an inseparable couple make a final farewell; Luther tries to help Polly make it through a day without her medication; and Ehrlich goes to great lengths to confirm the Oseranskys' story.
#3 - Russian Roulette
Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/14/1987
Dr. Craig becomes jealous when Dr. Peltrovich is finally allowed to pursue his work with lasers; Fiscus experiences an emotional rollercoaster as he returns to work with a critical leukemia patient; and Ehrlich hits highs and lows as he accepts his ""Orphan of the Year"" award.
#4 - Brand New Bag
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/1986
The Craigs try out yet another new maid; fellow employees stab Luther in the back; Axelrod is embarrassed and rude about a patient's colostomy; and Fiscus helps Mr. Ewell's daughter take him home to die.
#5 - Heart On
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1987
Craig proceeds with his artificial heart implant despite some questions about his choice of candidates; Morrison tries to deal with the departure of Joanne for Seattle and Dr. Craig becomes suspicious about the relationship between Ellen and Dr. Gideon. AIDS patient, Brett Johnston, and his lover are victims of gay bashingan and as a result of his injuries, Brett is readmitted into the hospital.
#6 - Up and Down
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/1986
Lizzie gets involved with Griffin; a man falls while trying to scale the hospital; Luther befriends a bag lady with Tourette's Syndrome; and John Doe #6 disappears with Dr. Craig's book.
#7 - Haunted
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/23/1985
The Craigs face a tremendous loss as their first grandchild is born; a newly inspired Dr. Westphall returns to work full of ideas; and Fiscus invites himself up to Dr. Caldwell's Cape Cod retreat, where he sees a different side to the surgeon. Elliot and Marcy discover a common interest in food.
#8 - Once Upon a Mattress
Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/1986
Fiscus awakens but is deeply depressed, despite a visit from his father; Dr. Craig returns to work and his office, disregarding Dr. Kiem's feelings; Dr. Westphall decides to stop seeing Novino and his moving man comes in for a penile implant.
#9 - The Abby Singer Show
Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/18/1988
An ebullient Novino pursues Morrison; Fiscus tries to revitalize his mother's life; Rosenthal returns to duty; Wade tries to help a dying child deal with her bitterly divided parents; Griffin tests positive for AIDS; Dr. Turner returns and helps Chandler come to a decision about his future; and the Oseranskys return to take Lucy to the ""Doctor of the Year"" dinner, which ends in a flaming disaster.
#10 - Split Decision
Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/11/1988
Brett Johnston's parents come to visit; even in death Axelrod doesn't get any respect; Rosenthal waits for her release while her roommate runs away; Luther proposes to Penny; and Dr. Craig returns to St. Eligius to do a multiple transplant.
#11 - Heaven's Skate
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/1988
Judge Farnham checks into the hospital with an inoperable cancer (and asking for Floyd the Barber); Rosenthal takes Bobby Caldwell's death very hard; Dr. Craig searches for a date for a skating rink opening; Dr. Kiem is in the middle when she saves the life of a young black man shot by a Vietnamese gang member; Griffin befriends the new chaplain, who's a descendant of the hospital founder, Father McCabe; Novino and Luther compete on the ER simulator and Ehrlich tries to find his elusive parents.
#12 - Resurrection
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1987
One month after St. Eligius was shut down, it is reopened by The Ecumena Corporation and its head of medicine Dr. John Gideon. Meanwhile, Dr. Craig is offered the opportunity to design an artificial heart, which the younger doctors jokingly call the ""Craig 5000.""
#13 - Lost Weekend
Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/10/1986
Dr. Westphall tries to help an alcoholic poet he once admired; Dr. Craig puts his usual worst foot forward as he tries to persuade the Soviets to release Masha's husband; Rosenthal confronts McPhail about her drug problem; and Ehrlich makes friends with Papandrao's new boyfriend.
#14 - A Room With a View
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1986
Dr. Craig behaves boorishly to his replacement, Dr. Paulette Kiem; Birch finds a radioactive patient; Papandrao claims Ehrlich as an escort to a family birthday party; a friend of Fiscus' is admitted with a major stroke; and a hospital neighbor becomes very upset when she observes Dr. Craig's imminent departure.
#15 - Their Town
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/20/1988
Dr. Craig, Ellen, Lizzie and Novino drive to Peterborough, New Hampshire to visit Dr. Westphall on his birthday; Ellen tries to deal with changes to her hometown; Novino stirs up a lady carpenter; Lizzie finally expresses her resentment; and Dr. Craig almost destroys his friendship with Dr. Westphall.
#16 - You Beta Your Life
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/1986
Dr. Westphall helps a terminally ill teenager reach his parents; Griffin plays Birch and Novino off against each other to escape blame in a patient's death; Morrison calls Chandler on it when Dr. Turner gets involved in a dispute involving a sick child; and Dr. Craig tries to start his memoirs.
#17 - After Life
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/26/1986
Dr. Fiscus is shot. Afterwards, he experiences the afterlife and meets some old friends. Such people include old patients who died in the hospital, a few in limbo and a couple in heaven. However, he is condemed to hades and finds Dr. White swiming in circles for all eternity in a boat with only one oar. Meamwhile, the docs at St. Eligus try their hardest to keep Fiscus alive.
#18 - A Coupla White Dummies Sitting Around Talking
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/1987
A man claiming to be the true inventor of the Craig 9000 kidnaps Ehrlich; AIDS patient Brett Johnston's rib injuries have led to pneumonia and he is now determined to break with his lover; Dr. Kiem helps Amy Jeffries, a lonely St. Eligius neighbor; Griffin treats a driven young broker determined to make a million before he dies; Lucy worries that she might be pregnant; Helen returns to work; the company that owns the hospital finds itself sued for infringement and Mrs. Spooner ends her husband's suffering.
#19 - The Naked Civil Surgeon
Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/27/1988
Wade and Kiley liberate their psyches during a study of OR infection vectors; Dr. Auschlander meets the son he never knew; Morrison and Novino grow closer as they work in the ICU; and Rosenthal adjusts to life in the chemical dependency unit.
#20 - Fairytale Theater
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/1988
Phil returns from a training course at the Weigert home office; someone takes a shot at Dr. Gideon; Dr. Craig loses Flash during a rescue attempt by animal activists; the new security cameras upset Rosenthal, who continues to lose control; Novino tries to correct a misdiagnosis made 60 years ago, and a show is performed in the children's ward.
#21 - Slip Sliding Away
Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/20/1987
Luther turns sleuth to find out who is responsible for the mercy-killings; Dr. Turner takes a chance doing experimental fetal heart surgery; Axelrod gets back at Novino and Griffin; Morrison buys a gun to protect his family; Yvonne Galecki Craig comes to claim her daughter, and Ehrlich and Papandrao have second thoughts about marriage when the new owners fire everyone in the hospital.
#22 - Schwarzwald
Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/11/1987
Rosenthal tries to help her obese daughter cope with her problems; Axelrod's father brings a dog to the hospital for chemotherapy; Dr. Turner reluctantly reveals the ultrasound results to a couple looking for the perfect baby; and Dr. Westphall continues to try and find a way to keep the hospital open.
#23 - When You Wish Upon a Scar
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1986
Wade tries to get a grip on her marital problems; Fiscus throws an engagement party for Morrison; Rosenthal figures out the self-serving Griffin; and John Doe #6 returns.
#24 - E.R.
Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/7/1986
The residents worry over who will be asked to return next year; the Craigs worry over the ""Doctor of the Year"" award dinner; Fiscus grows obsessed with opening a locked door; Martin drops by with a new look; Dr. Auschlander fears death as Halley's Comet blazes overhead; and a mugging victim named Boston Massachusetts waits for treatment in the E.R.
#25 - The Equalizer
Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 4/30/1986
Rosenthal's first husband and youngest son both return to her life; Chandler comes under fire for his activism against apartheid; Dr. Turner finds it hard to let go of the Ettings' baby; The Valeres' wish is finally granted, and everyone wants to date Novino.