i really can't get enough of this episode. i honestly think, after watching 18 years of television & being unber critical of them over the last 10 years of them, that this could possibly be the best episode of anything... ever.

anyway, i got to thinking lately, as i researched susan gibney & began thinking about renee walcott as a character in comparison to the other characters on 'crossing jordan' & so on & so forth... & i got to thinking about how alike renee & jordan are, & garret's relationship to both of them.

even woody says, towards the end of the episode, about how similar they are. it is especially prevalent in 'locard's exchange,' their passion, their professionalism, their stubborness... i wouldn't be surprised if renee walcott was hiding a past as equally messed up as jordan's. it was hard to see this similarity, i guess, if you weren't looking, way back when jordan & renee didn't get along, but they're both driven & powerful, which is why we adore them in the first place (& who could honestly say they don't like renee after this episode).

renee & garret are... amazing. flawed. sexy. mysterious. garret himself, IS mysterious, as seely pointed out, together they are perfect. so much the same, professional, & stubborn, not ones for vanities. to jordan, garret plays makeshift daddy while max is gone, giving her kisses on the forehead & words of encouragment. he has always been a touchstone for her in her crazy world... he cares for jordan so much, as if she were his own daughter.

but just seems to me that renee is the jordan that he gets to kiss...

this episode is amazing.

& it will be marked by the new episode of ER tonight, 'All About Christmas Eve,' because everyone knows that it's not christmas until ER premieres it's xmas special!

so at 11pm est, it can officially be the christmas season!

even though i literally have a thousand things on my plate, i decided to take a moment to come here & eagerly drink up all the reviews on last nights SMASHING episode of 'ER,' i do.

i figured i'd make a new tradition out of this, because heading back to the 'ER' site at tv.com is one of the first things i do when i start up my computer every firday. but first... what i thought...

what cuties the entire cast of 'ER' are. neela & gallant are adorable, & that's a fact. i thought that this episode embodies everything that 'ER' is all about. it's just constantly proving that it can still balance human drama & medical drama without seeming too much like a soap opera or a cold medical drama.

abby & luka were just hot. i have a ridiculous amount of emotional stock in their relationship (always had) so they better not let me down.

i'm glad the whole staff got together to celebrate gallant & neela got married... though they didn't even get all together to see mark greene & lizzie get married! it was cute, it was fun, it was exciting... i'm glad we're back to developing story lines that might actually go somewhere (& we can actually get excited about!) & still professionally focusing on the medical aspects.

i'm not exactly sure how anybody could find a way to pick out something bad... brilliant, brilliant.