Ahead of its time

safenoe

I must admit, I only started watching St. Elsewhere from season 5, so one day I'll have to get the DVD player, move to a desert island and catch up on seasons 1 to 4. Maybe those were the prime years, and I thought the season 5 finale left things in the balance just in case the network didn't renew St. Elsewhere. Thankfully it got a sixth season to wrap things up and bring us one of the best series finales ever, ranking up there with M*A*S*H and Happy Days.

A few scenes in the final season were very harrowing. One was where Dr Jack Morrison (David Morse) and his wife (I think Joanne, played by Patricia "Thirthysomething" Wettig) are bound and gagged in a home invasion by the prisoner who raped him earlier on, and just as the rapist is about to rape Joanne, their young son picks up the rapist's gun and in a delicious irony, thinks its a toy and shoots the rapist to death in front of Jack and Joanne.

Another was where Dr Craig's wife Ellen has an affair with Dr Gideon (Ronny Cox). Dr Craig is played by William "Knight Rider" Daniels and his real life wife Bonnie Bartlett played Ellen.

score 9/10

safenoe 21 December 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3603686/