Trivia:
- This episode appears in the VHS 4-tape boxed set, The Very Best of St. Elsewhere.
Cast
Starring
Ed Flanders as Dr. Donald Westphall
and
Norman Lloyd as Dr. Daniel Auschlander
Also Starring (in alphabetical order)
Ed Begley, Jr. as Dr. Victor Ehrlich
Ellen Bry as Nurse Shirley Daniels
Stephen Furst as Dr. Elliott Axelrod
Mark Harmon as Dr. Bobby Caldwell
Terence Knox as Dr. Peter White
Eric Laneuville as Luther Hawkins
Howie Mandel as Dr. Wayne Fiscus
David Morse as Dr. Jack Morrison
Christina Pickles as Nurse Helen Rosenthal
Cynthia Sikes as Dr. Annie Cavanero
Denzel Washington as Dr. Philip Chandler
and Starring
William Daniels as Dr. Mark Craig
Watching St. Elsewhere on Hulu or elsewhere? Feel free to comment on this episode below.
I recall as a high school kid seeing this episode when it first aired (one of the first I watched of the show), and being stunned that a network TV show could air such a violent and graphic scene. I think I taped the episode when it aired in reruns, since we'd just gotten a VCR, and rewound several times to make sure: yes, Shirley DID shoot Peter exactly where you think she did. Still kind of shocking, actually.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to see this episode until some years after it first aired. I already knew "what" had happened, but it was still unnerving to see it play out. I've enjoyed Ellen Bry's role as a regular character, but to see Shirley turn into a cold-blooded murderer is shocking and, in some ways, understandable. She feels remorse for what she said previously to Cathy. She wants to protect the women of the hospital from the rapist, so, in her mind, she sees herself as doing what must be done (especially since the justice system didn't help). While most people don't become murderers, many of us do make decisions out of fear and anger. I love the psychological realism of the show and how it was willing to push the boundaries of what could be done with regular characters.
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