I used to watch ER back when it was part of NBC’s “Must-See TV” lineup on Thursday nights. I stopped watching back in Season 4 (or thereabouts), but couldn’t remember what made me stop. At any rate, I’ve of course heard bits and pieces of news about the show over the years, most of it having to do with the various comings and goings of the different cast members. For example, I heard that Eriq La Salle left, then I heard that Anthony Edwards’s character was killed off (at his request), and finally that Noah Wyle left.

I’ve always meant to go back and watch Season 8 to see what happened to Dr. Mark Greene, but couldn’t bring myself to watch all 22 eps. So finally, I decided to just watch the final eight installments of the season, thinking that those would be enough to bring me up to speed with what was going on with Dr. Greene.

As soon as I turned ER on again, I was hooked. I loved seeing all the familiar faces (Dr. Weaver, Dr. Lewis, Carter, Dr. Greene, Jerry, Dr. Romano, the nurses) along with plenty of new ones. The writing was excellent and the episodes were compelling. Then, I suddenly remembered why I stopped watching ER: it’s not because the show went downhill after so many years on the air. It’s because I can’t stand all the blood and gore! ER totally makes me feel so fragile and mortal, and I end up worrying about the various ailments and accidents that might befall me on any given day. No thanks.

Anyway, I was right about eight episodes being enough to bring me up to speed with Dr. Greene. 8×15 starts out with Mark in NY to receive another diagnosis from a specialist who informs him that his inoperable brain tumor is indeed back. From there, we see Mark first try various therapies and treatments, and then finally accept his fate. He decides that he doesn’t want to spend his limited time hooked up to machines and whatnot; he’d rather have two good months of real living instead of four months of agony.

So he goes to Hawaii with his daughter, and is later joined by Alex (his wife) and his other daughter. He shows Rachel where he grew up, teaches her to surf, and tries to give her some advice before he dies.

We first receive news of Mark’s actual death in episode 8×20, called “The Letter”, when Carter reads a faxed letter from Hawaii. My initial reaction was, “WTH? Dr. Greene dies off screen??? What kind of departure is that?” But then the next episode, called “The Beach,” showed what happens to Mark after he leaves the ER for the last time and tells Carter that he needs to set the tone now, and that’s when we see all the Hawaii stuff.

Let me tell you, those episodes were very well done, and I thought the writers actually did Anthony Edwards/Mark Greene some justice. It seems a little silly to say this, but it was incredibly sad to watch that great TV character slowly die. Even after not watching the show on a regular basis in more than a decade, I was still hugely affected by the stories I saw.

Man, I tell ya, if I could take the blood and guts, I’d definitely start renting more of these ER DVDs!