Ann Sweeny | Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

This week, Peter White faces the judgment of the medical board.

Episode 2.12 “Hearing”

(Dir by Charles Braverman, originally aired on February 1st, 1984)

At his disciplinary hearing for giving a controlled substance to an undercover officer, Dr. White lies to protect Shirley Daniels. Even though Shirley tossed him the keys to the drugs on that night, White says that he took the keys without Shirley noticing. It’s a rare case of Dr. White actually trying to help someone else. It gets Shirley off the hook but it leads to Dr. White receiving a two-year suspension from working in an ER or prescribing medicine. Westphall and Auschlander both agree that Dr. White’s career is probably over but Westphall, who has been White’s biggest supporter since he returned from rehab, says that they’ll find a place for him in the hospital.

The new X-ray tech, Lee Tovan (Robert Daniels), cannot hear. His supervisor (Raymond Singer) claims that Lee is too difficult to work with. Westphall pledges to support Lee, no matter how much his supervisor complains.

Victor meets Roberta’s wealthy parents and, to everyone’s shock (especially his), he manages to charm them. Victor also asks Dr. Craig if he can use his house for the wedding. Dr. Craig misunderstands and thinks that Victor is asking him to be his best man. Victor explains that he’s already asked his friend, “Dogger,” to be best man. Craig rolls his eyes but agrees to let Victor use the house.

Finally, Dr. Auschlander asks Fiscus to help him get some marijuana to help with his chemo side effects. Fiscus tries and fails to call his old college weed guy and then asks Luther if he knows anyone who deals drugs. Luther rightly points out that Fiscus is stereotyping him but he still manages to get Auschlander a baggie of joints. Auschlander gets high. For a first time smoker, he gets REALLY high! He also ultimately decides that marijuana is not for him.

This episode was a bit uneven. I liked the irony of White saving Shirley, just to potentially lose his own career as a result. (Saying that he stole the keys probably didn’t help his case.) Victor’s wedding storyline has been kind of dragged out more than it needs to be but it’s still entertaining to watch Dr. Craig get frustrated with him. Norman Lloyd was adorable playing stoned. But the storyline about the deaf x-ray tech was sabotaged by some very bad acting and some very heavy-handed writing. That was a shame.

Next week, Victor Ehrlich gets married!

This week, Peter’s in trouble …. again!

Episode 2.7 “Entrapment”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on December 7th, 1983)

Oh, that Peter White! Always in trouble for something!

This week, a woman comes into the Emergency Room with her baby and begs for some Seconal, just to help her get some sleep. Peter says that Seconal might be too powerful a drug but he’s moved by the woman’s pleas. Finally, he gives her the drugs. The next morning, Dr. Craig and Dr. Westphall get a call. The woman was an undercover cop and now, Dr. White — a recovering drug addict himself — is under investigation.

Both Dr. Craig and Dr. Auschlander think that the solution is to just kick Peter out of the hospital. Westphall disagrees, saying that Peter has come a long way since he completed rehab. Westphall promises Peter that he and Auschlander will support him when his hearing comes up.

As for Dr. Craig, he finally found out that his secret admirer was Kathy Martin. This led to Ellen Craig (played by Bonnie Bartlett, William Daniels’s real-life wife) heading down to the morgue and politely telling Kathy to stay away from her man before then mentioning that, if politeness hadn’t worked, she was prepared to beat Kathy up. I love Ellen. She’s one of the best characters on the show.

Meanwhile, Irish kid Eddie Carson (Eric Stoltz), who was admitted to the hospital last week, is upset because he’s going to have a big ugly scar on his face. He’ll probably be even more upset when he discovers that a rival Irish teenager (a protestant, naturally) planted a bomb in his family’s restaurant and blew up his parents.

This was an okay episode. The highlight was definitely Ellen confronting Kathy Martin. As for the other storylines, Eddie Carson’s story felt a bit contrived while Peter White’s story was just getting started. I assume the hearing will be next week. It’s interesting to see Peter as the victim for once. Usually, it’s his own stupidity that screws things up for him. This week, he really was unfairly targeted.

We’ll see what happens next week.