Shaking things up: former paramedic, now intern Dr. Tony Gates arrives with a straightforward attitude and a complicated personal life. Except for his devotion to healing, he's Gallant's opposite: brash, cocksure, with a bad-boy past - and maybe he's the right prescription for Neela's broken heart. Really shaking things up: contentious Weaver leaves Country General for a career move you wouldn't expect. And the profound dramas of the outside world continue to make their way to the ER, including a hostile patient whose real condition is a secret even to himself, homeless children who escape to a magic world of their own making, and a Christmas miracle. Then again, miracles happen every day at County General.

CRITIQUE

The synopsis above should give the reader a good idea of what to expect in Season 13. While the season was broadcasting, it also became the most Emmy-nominated TV series of all time with a total of 120 nominations, which is an impressive feat. Ranking the season against the previous two, which lacked overall cohesive storytelling aside from a few standouts, the writers regain their touch in the thirteenth year by telling fresh and interesting subplots and stories. There are less Africa episodes this season as well. This is a pretty good season overall, and plays better than the previous two. After this, there are only two more seasons to go.

Continuing in the tradition of the show, the acting remains top notch and production values continue to impress. The big news, of course, is Dr. Weaver leaves the ER to pursue another job, and a new doctor by the name of Tony Gates arrives. Some of the regular characters go through changes, and guest stars this season include Forest Whitaker as a former patient of Dr. Kovac’s now suing him for malpractice, Stanley Tucci appears for two episodes in an arc that continues until the next season, and Sally Field returns for one more show.

THE VIDEO

The transfer is presented in 1.78:1 enhanced anamorphic widescreen transfer (as is the case with the previous DVD seasons) and the series looks marvelous.  The video quality is outstanding for network TV. It is clean, sharp, lucid and vivid in color.

THE AUDIO

ER is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, which isn't the best source available when 5.1 would've been preferred, the sound is still quite good despite the lack of an upgrade; the dialogue is crystal clear and the balances are adequate.  The sound effects and music never cut into the dialogue, it is all clear and easy to understand.

THE EXTRAS

Outpatient Outtakes: Unaired Scenes: These are deleted scenes from various episodes during the season that can be viewed separately on each disc; nothing of major consequence just scenes that were cut due to obvious time constraints.  These are only for hard-core fans that are really looking for more information on each storyline.

Previous seasons had a gag reel, but no such luck for Season 13 DVD.

FINAL THOUGHT

ER Season 13 is worth buying for fans of the show, and comes recommended to those following the show on DVD.