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 Daily Motion.
This week, we’ve got a great episode of St. Elsewhere.
Episode 3.21 “Murder, She Rote”
(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on February 27th, 1985)
This week, Mrs. Hufnagle dies!
- After spending the entire season getting on the nerves of the doctors and the nurses, Mrs. Hufnagle died in this episode. She is found dead and apparently crushed in her bed. (Hufnagle could never figure out how to properly lower and raise the front and back of it. In this episode, it appears that she raised both at the same time.) “Hufnagle in a half-shell,” Ehrlich says. Meanwhile, the perpetually angry Nurse Lucy (Jennifer Savidge) blames herself for not responding when Hufnagle was desperately pushing her help button. Gee, Lucy, you think? Isn’t it your job to respond?
- Now, I should note that this episode features both Westphall and Craig calling out the doctor for the treatment that Hufnagle received. Both let it be known that doctors can’t just take care of the likable patients. Everyone who enters the hospital deserves quality care.
- What did Hufnagle die of? That’s what Craig is determined to find out. His first instinct is to blame Ehrlich. Then he tried to blame Kochar (former serious regular Kavi Raz, making a guest appearance). He tries to blame the nurses. But, in the end, Craig examines his notes from Hufnagle’s heart surgery and he discovers that he’s the one who made a mistake.
- In a wonderfully acted moment, Craig tells the residents that the mistake was his. William Daniels does an excellent job of showing that Craig, for all of his arrogance, is not one to shirk responsibility. When he explains how he made the mistake that led to Hufnagle’s death, it’s a brave moment for both the character and the actor.
- That said, Craig is lucky Hufnagle didn’t have a family or he would definitely be getting sued.
While Hufnagle died, Shirley Daniels returned to the ER:
- Given that Shirley has confessed to killing Peter White (even though she hasn’t gone to trial yet), clearing her to work at a hospital seems …. odd. That said, a psychiatrist says that Shirley is not a threat to others and Auschlander seems to be oddly eager for her to get to work.
- It doesn’t take long before Shirley pulls a gun on a patient. She also points the gun at Fiscus and then Morrison. She pulls the trigger and a little flag pops out that says, “Bang!”
- It was a joke! Oh, Shirely!
- Shirley laughs and then leaves the hospital.
Elliot has a date:
- Dr. Axelrod goes out on a date with Nurse Rosenthal’s odd daughter, Marcy (Jeannie Elias).
- Marcy is impressed with Elliot’s goofy sense of humor.
- Elliot takes her to the same Hawaiian restaurant that Ehrlich took the Craigs.
- A sudden fire breaks out. Elliot heroically saves the life of the restaurant’s owner.
- Marcy explains that she liked Elliot because he seemed goofy and harmless. Now that he’s a hero, she respects him too much to sleep with him.
This was a great episode! William Daniels gave his best performance in the role of Dr. Craig so far. Ellen Bry, in the role of Shirley Daniels, got one of the all-time great exits. And the underused Stephen Furst got a storyline where he did something more than just get insulted. I do feel sad for Mrs. Hufnagle, though. She wasn’t that bad.
Through the Shattered Lens 