Why didn't Carol like Lucy? I heard she didn't like any med students. Why was this? I can't figure it out. Please help if you can eith this question.

-- Cammie Maelhorn (rmaelhorn@home.com), May 22, 2000

Answers

I dunno, Cammie, she liked Carter. I sort of felt that Carol was indifferent to Lucy. She did not like the fact that Lucy lied about her ability to do an IV, but other than that, I think she was lukewarm about Lucy. Sure, they had their clash about which patient should be admitted for drug rehab, but that had little to do with Carol not liking Lucy and lots to do with Carol asking the resident to make the call. He did, and Lucy's patient didn't get into rehab. That wretch, Meg did :) Did I answer this question? I'm fried tonight. Hope that helps a bit, what did everyone else think?

-- Phyl (erfan@flash.net), May 22, 2000.

Carol didn't like Lucy because Lucy wouldn't ask for help. Remember when Lucy asked Carol to do an IV for her, then took the praise when Carter was surprised that a "first timer" could do so well. Carol also didn't like Lucy because Lucy had an ego that couldn't be substantiated by her experience. Carol liked competency and Dr. Carter had that, Lucy did not.

-- Carin Haseltine (cdenisehaze@usa.net), May 22, 2000.

I remember Carol made a comment about how the nurses know more than some of the new doctors, and how they end up helping train them. I also think she resented certain procedures being labeled "nurses jobs", i.e., cleaning up vomit, crap, etc. That's what was implied by some of the residents. I think she was just tired of helping them, and not getting respect in turn.

-- Ellen (dbspunky61@hotmail.com), May 22, 2000.

These new young med students come in every year and I'm sure only the very best or the very worst make impressions on the nursing staff. In real life the med students do their rotations and do not usually come back unlike in ER. If you remember back, Carter did make his share of mistakes (remember Ed?) but I still like to think of him as special.

-- maryann (map5860@aol.com), May 22, 2000.

This kind of bothered me too, because in some ways they were a lot alike, in terms of how well they worked with patients (I could see Carol acting the same way Lucy did with the heart transplant patient Valerie) and how persistent they are. Carol warned Carter to watch Lucy more closely, after he was too impressed by her "quick learning". I remember in the epi with the burnt prom victims, Carol said, "look what the cat dragged in" to Lucy, and the way she said it bothered me...though she *was* worrying about faxing Doug her big news that day. Carter went on to ask her about getting sleep, and inevitably, she did look horrible. I know, I'm jsut too defensive of Lucy! Anyways, they have shared a few friendly (though short) conversations in season 6, mainly about Malucchi, and Lucy was there to happily congratulate her about the twins and attend the baby shower. They were not friends, but they haven't had any worse confrontations than say, Elizabeth and Luka, or Benton and Luka, etc. I don't see them as enemies, but they didn't always get along the greatest.

As far as Carol's dislike for med students, she got along w/ Carter (who I think was just as quick to impress as a med student as Lucy was), and Harper, so I don't think she didn't like med students, but she did have a thing against P.A.s (because she was angry they got more credit for things above nurses, who she thought worked harder and had more schooling...), and her and Jeannie didn't get along for a long while. So I'm not too offended that Carol didn't always get along with Lucy either.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), May 22, 2000.

I remember Carol mentioning that she hated having to teach med students how to make quadruple her own salary, or something like that. Of course, that wouldn't make Carol dislike Lucy personally.

-- Joanne (bucklind@hotmail.com), May 23, 2000.

IMO, Carol had a chip on her shoulder about how nurses are perceived. She felt that nurses didn't get enough respect, so she tended to treat others who she felt "equal" to or "above" in knowledge and experience (i.e., medical students and PAs) a bit coldly. Personally, I felt she was sometimes unfair and arrogant in such situations, and this greatly affected my overall feelings regarding Carol as a character. She sometimes took out her frustration at the situation on the people involved... you know, she hated the fact that PAs made more money, were given more responsibility (when she thought nurses were just as qualified), so she took out her feelings on Jeannie. So, I don't think that she personally disliked Lucy. I think that she had a history of being a bit stand-offish with some people depending on their place in the ER. Plus, Lucy's actions with the IV really just solidified her frustration with the medical students in relation to nurses.

-- L. (bearcatiscool@yahoo.com), May 23, 2000.

When Abby first came into the ER, Carol stated that the only thing worese than residents were med students. I definatly think that Carol just didn't like med students in general (with Carter being the exception rather than the rule), I think some of that had to do with her own aspirations. A little of the subject.....I guess I do wonder why Lucy wore a shorter lab coat that the other med students, and when she was with a resident they always addressed her as Ms. Knight infront of a patient. Not that I think this is wrong, but when Carter was a med student he was refered to as Dr. Carter in front of patients. I think that both Carter and Lucy made mistakes, just like any other students who are learning, it's just that Lucy's mistakes seem to have been emphasized while Carter's were just seen as the learning experience.

-- Emma (webbef@hotmail.com), May 23, 2000.

Just in reply to the last post, med students & PA's wear short white coats. Once you graduate from med school, you get to wear the long coat. You will also be addressed as "Dr." after graduating as well. As far as I can remember, they always addressed Carter as "Mr. Carter" or "Carter" while he was a med student. If you watch the episode where Carter graduates, Susan calls him "Dr. Carter" after he puts his new coat on that Benton gave him. In reply to the posted topic, I never felt any love lost btw Lucy and Carol. I think it is for all the reasons mentioned above. Carol was a professional, and she wanted Lucy to admit her shortcomings and learn, instead of always trying to appear as if she knew it all.

Pulling for Carter's recovery :) Monika

-- Monika C. (monika@medmail.com), May 23, 2000.

I kind of thought it wasn't med students she had so much problem with as other women...it seemed to take her a while to warm up to new women in the ER...Jeannie, Lucy, etc. She finally got pretty tight with Elizabeth (revealing her pregnancy to her), but I thought that was partially because of Mark and partially because she was a doctor and in the right place at the right time. I don't remember her having as close a relationship with another woman on ER except Susan and they already knew each other when the series began. She did get along pretty well with the nurses, but she was (for most of the time) their superior...and had known them for a while too.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), May 24, 2000.

It was really only Jeanie and Doyle she had a problem with. I never really thought she had a "problem" with Lucy. She only got snappy at her that one time in "Truth and Consequences". As for the other women, she's never had any scenes with Deb that I can think of, and she seems to get along just fine with Cleo from the few scenes they've had together. She was welcoming to Abby until she found out she was a med student...then she got weird with her. But by the end of the episode she seemed to get over it. She got along with Anna, and we know she's friends with Elizabeth obviously, and she's quite friendly with the other nurses. One of my favorite scenes was the little get-together Elizabeth had at her apartment with Anna and Carol. We need more light-hearted girl talk moments like that o

-- JLS (ewwhatevr@aol.com), May 24, 2000.