Well, they promised to take the show back to it’s grittier beginnings and that is definitely happening. Patients and treatments came fast and furious in this episode and surprisingly, no one died. I watched the show several times and really couldn’t keep up with it all! However, Pratt took his place an attending and teacher to the interns and residents, Luka was a smiler (sigh) and we were amazed - once again - at Maura Tierney’s gift of conveying meaning with a glance or small gesture. Bravo to one and all.

Our episode opens at the breakfast table of Gate’s and the beautiful little blonde (12 year old Sarah) and her big blonde mom. They are arguing about clothes as Gates stumbles in, ignores them as he pours himself a bowl of cereal and sits at the table. Hee hee...little blonde is lamenting the fact that she refuses to kowtow to the ‘anorexic, media fueled idea of beauty’ in her mom’s choice of clothes she should wear to school. Apparently a typical morning in any household of a middle school child.

We cut to another household - Luka’s apartment - a little messier than usual. Abby is carrying Baby Joe as Luka gets ready to leave for the hospital. They haven’t resolved the ‘nanny issue’ she says and he asks if she really wants someone else raising their child. Their plan was to stagger their shifts so they wouldn’t need childcare...and then never see one another she adds. “Besides, after your first day alone, you’ll be begging for help,” she says. Luka says to trust him, he can handle it and she asks him to help put the baby in the car because she is late for their first Mommy and Baby class. His face is priceless as he turns to look at her with a smiled of amused disbelief.

“What?’ she says...’I thought it would be fun.’ He smirks again and puts the baby in his car seat and tosses her a toy frog and tells her not to forget it. She throws it back and hits the blinds as she lifts a fussing Joe from the seat. ‘Can you say Daddy is a butt head?’ she croons. ‘Why is Daddy a butthead?’  Nice scene and really nice to see both of them acting and reacting so naturally around a baby.

Cut back to Gates’ car where he is driving little blonde to school. ‘Not my style...not me’ she is saying as she climbs into the back seat and changes her clothes - ‘damage control’. The tells him he has no idea of the kind of pressure kids today face...what to wear, what to eat, what not to eat...and Gates deducts her problems down to a boy - Adam Horner. He tells her that most guys want what they can’t have so to ignore him. She glances at him in disbelief as she climbs out of the car.

Pratt is clearly in charge in the ER as he guides new intern - Holy Roller Hope - through an intubation with Sam’s help. She is unsuccessful and steps away to allow Pratt to do it and faints.

At the Admit desk, Ray is holding the heliport pager and hands several patients off to Pratt. Pratt is concerned that Ray isn’t more personally involved and appears to be handing his patients off to medicine. Pratt whines to Luka that the whole place is crap, the equipment sucks, interns can’t fill out a chart, residents don’t give a damn about their patients. He looks at Luka and says “I know..you’re going to say that I was the same way’ to which Luka replies “I didn’t say anything.” Pratt continues with “I could chart. I could clear beds and I sure didn’t pass out when I was doing an intubation.” Luka’s response – “I know...you were really, really special.”   Pratt continues to whine about the interns - “Solomon is an idiot, Hope is annoying and incompetent, Gates should have stayed a paramedic and Jane is creepy....like the twins from ‘The Shining’....always sneaking up on me.”   Not to mention that they all did terrible on their in-service exams. Luka tells Pratt that in-services show weaknesses and strengths and to play on that. “If residents fail, it’s because you were a bad teacher.” Off he goes and Pratt turns to see Jane off in a distance, watching him and smiling.

Abby arrives a bit late for the Mommy and Baby class, introduces herself and begins taking Joe out of the front baby pack carrier she is wearing. She senses disapproval and a mom comments that she is carrying him suspended by his crotch....while the instructor tells her that the device she is using will cause hip dislocation and spinal injures. That she should be using a sling. She chuckles and tells them that she is a doctor and... interrupted when one mom says that ‘she should know better’. Abby says ‘uh...SHE is sitting right here.’ She is told that babies are happier and healthier when they are carried in a sling. Abby responds sarcastically, ‘Well, I do know that if you dress your baby like some designer accessory you are headed for problems but don’t worry because I work in an ER so I will be there to take care of her when she is 14, pregnant and with a drug overdose.” Rock ON, Abby! But the look on her face when the instructor says ‘Maybe this isn’t the right class for you...” is priceless.

Morris is walking through the halls next to a gurney of a little old lady who is thanking him for the lunch tray. He passes her - and three other charts - off to Pratt because he is late for a soccer game. His son is playing and it’s the playoffs. They are still keeping their relationship on the ‘low low’.....and off he goes. Pratt whines to Luka again and is told that he may not always have the luxury of having another attending present so he needs to learn how to handle it. Luka is off to handle an incoming trauma and Pratt hands the charts from Morris to Ray. He then approaches the group of interns surrounding a bed as Haleh is teaching them how to wrap and cast a leg. Pratt asks Solomon the difference between a Jones and a Dancer fracture. When Solomon doesn’t answer, Gates does....and correctly. They move on to curtain 2 where Morris’ patient tells Pratt she needs to see ‘Archie’. He asks Jane a cardiology question and Gates coughs the answer to her. Perturbed Pratt asks Gates how he manage to fail every subsection of the in-service exam. Gates says that he doesn’t test well. He asks Gates if his charts are current and Gates says that he is going to work on them now.

Luka rolls in a 5 year old crush victim and they are followed by Grandpa with a chainsaw injury. Gates wants to help but Pratt sends him off to work on his charts.

Upstairs in surgery Neela is given a med student, Katey Evans, who has instructions that she is to shadow her for the day....Dr Crenshaw’s orders...because she has been annoying him. Katey seems nice and chatty, especially about a passing dr. whom she dated for a while. Says he is ‘orally challenged’ and ‘refuses to dine at the Y’. Crenshaw appears and says ‘Ah, just what I like to see - making friends and saving lives.” He dumps a huge file on them for a patient on her 27th visit and tells them to review the history and prepare to present her at rounds. SO like Romano when he tells them that someone forgot to tell the patient the hospital stopped giving out frequent flier miles. Neela looks happy that she has been paged to the ER. Katey says he should use his surgical skills to remove the bug up his ass as they head for the elevator. She says she has heard horror stories of the ER. Neela tells her it’s not so bad....once you get used to the smell.

One patient after another....man. Luka takes the crush kid upstairs and Pratt is left with the chainsaw Grandpa, a welding tank explosion victim and someone with his leg/foot wrapped in sheet metal and shrapnel from the explosion. Sam calls Alex, who has been caught skipping school and tells him he has 10 minutes to get back there. Pratt is going a little nuts but is clearly in control. I remember seeing Carter do this when he first became Chief Resident or an Attending a while back......maybe Mark Greene as well?? Hmm....rite of passage on ER, I guess.

Morris is standing on the sidelines of the soccer game and is a wee bit too enthusiastic as he cheers for Max. A dad from the other team confronts him and Morris smarts off. Max’s mom asks someone on the sidelines who ‘that guy’ is.

Back at the hospital Gates is helping Hope with Morris’ old lady patient teaching her how to put in a IV line when he then tells someone (Timmy?) to open a central line kit. Hope is aghast that he is actually going to put in a central line when Gates tells her that Emma needs a CVP monitor and he is doing ‘Early Goal Directed Therapy’ - all the kids are doing it.

Crush kid bradies down in the cath lab and Luka sends Neela back down to the ER .

Abby is walking briskly toward the park and calling Luka on her cell phone. She tells him the Mommy/Baby class was a freak show and if he has a few minutes to stop by the park and say hi because she is going to look for some normal Moms so she will be there a while. She rolls the stroller up to a sand box and bench and asks if it’s okay to sit there. She is readily welcomed and one of the young women there goes off into a litany in Spanish. Abby asks if everything is okay and is told that she is saying that she thinks she is pregnant. Abby happily says ‘Congratulations!’ but they tell her no...that the father is the husband of the woman she works for. There is some conversation as ‘abortion’‘ is tossed around and then the Spanish speaking lady says something that is translated into ‘The only ones that don’t fantasize about banging their nannies are the ones already doing it.” Sort of our nanny motto, she is told. Abby is surprised. Are they all nannies? Yes...aren’t you? Abby sits a little straighter and says ‘Uh...yes...yes, I am.”

Back at the ER Pratt tells Solomon to give him some room to work on the weld burn guy. Tells him to find a new parking space.   Sam discovers a pool of blood on the floor and the chainsaw Grandpa is unconscious. Tells Pratt the head lac was a little more serious than he thought.

At the soccer game, a Max’s white mom (incidentally the same actress who played the snippy fiancée in Lindsey Lohan’s version of “The Parent Trap”...not quite so glam here.) sits in a chair next to his black mom. They are both curious about Morris and the attention he is giving to Max. Max is on a run toward the goal and kicks the ball in to score. Morris goes nuts and Max runs toward him. They bump chests and Morris pats him on the butt as he heads toward the coach and his team mates. Max’s Moms - and a couple others - head over to Morris in a rage asking if he gets his jollies from touching little boys in the park. He is then shoved by the dad from the earlier encounter. Morris pushes him aside and the guy slides across the player’s bench and crashes into the water cooler and falls onto the ground. Morris tells everyone to step aside, that he is an ER doc and to let him do what he needs to do. Max’s mom immediately plows a fist into Morris’ gut.

In another part of the park, Abby is dumbfounded as the nannies all recount their ‘adventures’ with their employers.....always traveling...never home....wearing the clothes in their closets.... They ask if she does the same. Abby says no...does she fool around with her employer...oh no. Is he ugly? Hee hee...the look on her face! Uh...no....in fact...he’s hot...he’s a doctor. One of them worked for a doctor. They wanted the kids to be safe so she drove the Lexus but they went away a lot so she could use their apartment. Abby says ‘which they didn’t know about.” Of course not. Of course not...she says.

Chainsaw Grandpa’s head is being stapled and he asks if he can be with his grandson. Sam tells him no but she will get him an update. He asks about Gates and is told that he is asking for a rib spreader. The weld burn guy is doing poorly and needs a trach. Pratt gives Neela the okay to do one. Crenshaw walks is as it is being completed and has a showdown with Pratt and Neela. He chastises her for doing the procedure and she tells him her resident wasn’t answering his pages. He gives her a backhanded compliment as they walk the patient to the elevator.

Pratt goes in search of Gates and finds him sprawled at a desk dictating notes. Pratt tells him that he can’t expect to be able to have his notes sent to a transcription service because they are needed immediately. Pratt is clearly disturbed with Gates and tells him his role is to shape Gates into a doctor and Gates tells him ‘don’t shape me...teach me...I like the shape I’m in.” Ooo.....nice comment. They are interrupted from someone looking for the doctor caring for Emma (she of the earlier central line) Gates steps up and is complimented on his care and use of Early Goal Directed Therapy. She also tells him she appreciates his printed dictation because she can never read the handwriting of anyone down there. Gates tells her it’s a ‘blue tooth’...he dictates and it’s immediately printed at the desk. She tells him she’s glad to see a resident with innovated ideas and Gates tells her he is actually an intern and the ‘blue tooth’ was Pratt’s idea. Pratt fires off that he wants to see the rest of Gates’ charts and Gates responds with ‘I bet you do!’ as he trips off to see his patient. Hee....

Morris arrives with the EMT guys pushing the injured soccer dad on a gurney. He has a black eye himself. He tells Pratt that patient is an obnoxious soccer dad that came at him, he defended himself and now he is patching the guy up. He asks if Pratt has ever been to a soccer game and says the parents are crazy.

Chainsaw Grandpa is with his son and daughter in law as they are horrified about their little crush guy. They leave and grandpa tells Pratt he was a single dad that didn’t do such a good job and was hoping to do better with his grandson.

Sam sidles up to Pratt and tells him the police are there for Morris in connection with an assault. Two moms are saying that Morris is a child molester and she has a feeling the white mom has a boxer’s fracture. Pratt says ‘WHAT is Morris’ problem?” “Brain damage is the first thing that comes to mind,” Sam responds.

Pratt is examining the white mom’s hand when the cops start to arrest Morris. Max, very scared, finally pipes up “Wait...don’t arrest my dad!” He turns to the two women...”Mom...Mom....this is my dad, Dr. Archie Morris.” Pratt pulls away and says “This is where I leave.” He nudges Morris with a smile.

Back at the admit desk Pratt hands Gates a box. Gates, happy at first, pulls out a short lab coat and frowns. Pratt is chuckling. Tells him the short coat is to remind him and everyone else that Gates is a student. Gates puts the coat on and walks away.

Abby is tossing baby crap...oops...things...into a playpen as she listens to Joe crying on the monitor. Luka comes in and asks how long he has been crying. Abby says about 10 minutes and that he will settle down. She flops onto the couch and asks how his shift was. Luka says that it was the usual - a five year old crush victim..... Abby stops him and says she doesn’t want to hear any bad stories about bad things happening to children. Luka tells her the kid lived and sits next to her on the couch. He asks how her day was and she smiles slightly. “It was divine..’ she says sarcastically. Luka tells her that he has been thinking and maybe they should get somebody like a nanny.....but she interrupts and tells him no thanks. “I thought you wanted......Changed my mind.” She wraps his arm around her neck. “No nannies.....just us.” They kiss and cuddle and smile and listen to the monitor. ‘Doesn’t sound like he’s settling down.” Abby casts impish eyes at him and Luka grins and chuckles. “Okay...I’ll get him.” He gets up and she listens on the monitor as he goes into the nursery and talks to Joe. She smiles as she hears him crooning a couple of lines of Clash’s ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ Sweet....sweet...sweet Luby stuff. Aaww......

Back at Gates place he is chatting with the big blonde about work and being frustrated. End of a restrained conversation. Little blonde calls up and asks if they are decent. Gates says he is wearing his thong. She comes up wearing the pink outfit she had changed out of in the car. Big blonde leaves...kind of reluctantly....and Sarah flops onto Gate’s bed. She tells him that he was right. She ignored the boy she liked all day and he just imed her. She asks if he saved any lives today and Gates responds that he separated Siamese twins.   Gates tells her to go make up with her Mom because he has to study. He sits on his fold out bed and turns on a tape machine to listen to a lecture.

Several things have come to mind here. The Gates/Sarah relationship is MUCH stronger that the Gates/Big Blonde relationship appears to be. Stamos works well with kids but I guess we should know that about him already. Kind of interested in seeing where this goes. Also, his reluctance to do anything in writing...and now LISTENING to a lecture rather than reading notes makes me wonder if we are going to find out about some learning issue here at some point. Could he possibly be dyslexic? I didn’t find him nearly as annoying this week as I did last week.

Pratt is signing out at the admit desk. Morris asks if he wants to join him, Max and the two Moms for dinner, Pratt just laughs. Hope asks for help in a double layer suturing. He tells her no - that he is signed out - and then changes his mind. He takes off his jacket, sits on a stool and talks her through the procedure. Pratt the Teacher...at last.