The second season begins with a new series of powerful events that we live in differently, where victims are brought to a fire by a gang that may seem very dangerous. On the other hand, Carter seems to have delayed the arrival of a new group of medical students in his third year, and Carroll seems to ride along with the paramedics at absolutely critical moments.
It took the arrival of the exceptionally cranky, annoyingly whiny, stodgily by-the-book, apparently humorless new chief resident, Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), to reveal fully the strengths of ER.
Few shows had the guts to portray doctors as falliable, stupid and petty at times, indifferent or unable to connect to patients and some times ill-tempered.
As we have seen innumerable times since, Clooney was up to the challenge, ditching his gala event, and refusing to give up on the trapped boy, because he's a doctor, dammit, and committed to trying to save a life, no matter the odds.
The action-tracking format of NBC's "ER" injected the medical-show format with a compelling energy it never had had before, overcoming predictable plots and thin, if likeable, characters.