Which is good, because the ER: Remembered special that aired before the two-hour finale did nothing but tick me off. It primarily focused on the stars of the show, leaving out so much of what really made this show what it was. Yes, Dr. Ross and Dr. Kovac and Dr. Gates were dreamy, if conflicted, characters. Yes, it was awful when they killed off Mark Greene. Yes, Abby had a crazy-ass mother played by Sally Field. Yes, Dr. Romano was a jerk with a hidden sensitive side. But all of the moments I best remember were glossed over or not even mentioned at all. What about Dr. Romano getting a helicopter dropped on him? What about Jeanie Boulet's tender relationship with Anspaugh's dying son? Her singing Green Day's "Time of My Life" at his funeral still gets me all choked up. Or what about the fact that they gave her character AIDS and dealt with that in such a genuine way? Or what about William H. Macy's Morgenstern? It was like he was never even there. Or what about poor Gant, who committed suicide on the subway tracks? Or, for that matter, the fact that Hathaway was suicidal before she went on to have her little love story with Dr. Ross? Or Gallant's death in Iraq? Or really, anything about the supporting cast of nurses who have been an integral part of the supporting cast since the beginning? They got absolutely no real acknowledgment at all. Instead of feeling all warm and fuzzy going into the finale, I was just mad that whoever put this highlight reel together left out all the good stuff, the real heart and soul of what made ER the landmark show that it was.

Anyway, even with my mixed feelings about the pre-show, I still thought the finale was a solid end to this long-running series. At least John Wells and Co. know what it is about this show that has kept people watching all these years. I give them a lot of credit for the way that they've wound down this final season. Letting a lot of the characters really have their big sweeping swan songs staggered along the way (with many return appearances by familiar faces like Anthony Edwards and William H. Macy) so that the last episode could really be a swan song to the ER as a place and the ensemble as a whole, with the spotlight fairly distributed among everyone. Some may think that the episode where Carter gets a kidney transplant, which was aided by Dr. Ross and Carole Hathaway (with guest appearances by George Clooney and Julianna Margulies) should have been where it ended. I would disagree; this show had more story to tell in these last few episodes, and an appearance by Clooney or Margulies in Chicago wouldn't have really rung true. Why would they be there? And with the extra episodes, we got to say goodbye to Neela, got her reunion with Ray, saw Archie find love and watched Frank try to be sweet. Which I'm glad they got out of the way before the finale. I noticed (via twitters/Facebook updates) last night that a lot of people were watching it even though they hadn't watched in years. Having this episode focus on a bit of old-school nostalgia and really be about the patients and the medicine was something that anyone could enjoy and appreciate, even if they hadn't seen the show in the last however many seasons.

The nostalgia factor was high, but well-handled. Having Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and Peter Benton (Eriq LaSalle) on hand at the opening of the Carter Center made sense since these people had (mostly) supported him all along. I laughed out loud when Kerry told Carter that she was pretty sure he was going to fail trying to get his clinic off the ground. To have Dr. Greene's daughter Rachel (Hallee Hirsch, a.k.a. second Rachel) apply to be a med student at County, was great. To see her go from that bratty teen to a grown-up following in her father's footsteps was clever. And it made Banfield's (Angela Basset) entire character arc more worthwhile, knowing that the tough doc had a backstory at County, with Dr. Greene trying desperately to save her son, and how she was now in a position to help his daughter. Perfect. And I'm all for anything that paves the way for Rachel's stepmom Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) to come back -- I just like her. And after all these years, I feel I earned that quiet moment between Elizabeth and Benton, not a flashy goodbye or anything, just the remembrance of a relationship past. And the scene at the bar with all the old friends was well shot, with everyone talking over each other, excitedly sharing updates about their partners and their offspring. Like a reunion should be.

I'm also content with the optimistic but not, like, insanely happily-ever-after tact that they took with this episode. It felt very realistic, with Carter and Kem (Thandie Newton) not exactly mending all their wounds, but with the promise of a possible lunch or something that might lead them back together. And with Sam gently reaching out for Gates' hand in gratitude, even after the stressful year that they've had. Is there hope for either of these couples? Maybe the sweet romantics in the crowd can imagine their love reigniting and the cynics can figure that the odds are stacked against them. Either way, it was a relief not to have everything tied up in a perfect little bow, and it led to a great scene with Gates and Carter playing basketball in the ambulance bay. I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy watching the stressed-out staff blow off steam with a game of hoops.

And it wouldn't have been ER without its guest stars and steady stream of patients. The amount of patients that were seen by the doctors in this two-hour episode alone was dizzying. A teen with alcohol poisoning, the old lady with dementia, the pregnant woman having twins, the AIDS patient who found out he'd been hit with a double whammy and had cancer, a brawling bride and her crazed mother-in-law played by Marilu Henner, the horny old guy with the fractured penis, sweet Ernest Borgnine returning with his dying wife, the little boy who ate rosary beads... and still more who passed through the doors, and the big trauma from an explosion. You won't get that kind of action on House, with his one or maybe two patients a week, or really even on Grey's, where you might get a handful, but not to this extent. That insane pacing is one of things that made this show a real standout over the years, even in seasons when I wanted to stop watching (and there were many, many times when I nearly quit tuning in along the way).

The show wasn't perfect over the course of its 15 seasons -- far from it. While there were things in the finale that I didn't love (I really didn't need to see Neela on webcam or Morris stuffing his face with food constantly and acting like a little kid, when he'd come so far recently), overall I was pleased with the outcome. The quiet ways that, while the look-back special didn't give them credit, the show itself took time out to recognize the nurses who had been there all along, by showing them gush over Rachel or helping out the new kid, and also had Frank and Jerry bickering over stupid things (just like normal). It was the small stuff that made this long-time fan happy, since it was the small stuff that kept me from tuning out when they went to Africa for the millionth time or did one more horrible thing to Abby. I'm relieved that the powers that be took time to acknowledge the importance of the entire ensemble, even the bit players, who brought this show to life.

I'm sad to see this show go, but it was time. If I'm being honest, probably way past time. However, I really enjoyed this final season and its twists and turns. And I'm glad that this series got the send-off that it deserved as those emergency room doors slid closed for the last time.

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