Requested by Ella Grace. Following his death from a brain tumor, Mark's family, friends and colleagues from the ER gather to say goodbye. From "On The Beach" (Season 8 Episode 21) First broadcast May 9th, 2002
Dr. Mark Greene was and always the heart, the soul, and the center of the show. You rooted for him, you felt his pain. You could relate to him, pure and simple.
Why are you people so obsessed with comparing this to Grey's Anatomy? It's embarrassing how it's mentioned on almost every ER video. If you don't like Grey's Anatomy okay but why mention it when this is an ER video?
2024 and I cried watching this episode last night, haven't seen it since the first time around, I'd forgotten how heartwrenching it is, Mark Greene was the heart of ER 😢
Rachel paying tribute to her dad’s memory with the release of the balloon, something she used to do as a little girl but couldn’t remember even when Mark told her about it, shows just how strong their relationship was despite the difficulties in her childhood and teen years (both parents having time-consuming jobs, divorcing and having to go back and forth between them, she never had an easy childhood). Jen and Elizabeth’s reactions add so much as well, with Jen realizing what Rachel is doing for her dad and Elizabeth not knowing the backstory but quickly realizing that this is Rachel’s way of honoring her dad. It was great to see Rachel finally in a good place in the finale.
Jen’s reaction was everything in that moment. Watching Rachel run over to the balloon realizing immediately what she was doing. And watching Elizabeth not fully knowing the backstory, and not understanding it, you can tell as soon as the balloon went up to the sky she understood it was her tribute to Mark.
@@su-rv2uqShe was a teenager who was trying to find herself. But it's harder to find herself when both her parents have time consuming jobs, and her mom moved her to a whole other state so she could not see her dad that often. Also, Jen's marriage to Craig did not last, or Rachel did not like Craig. Because Mark said, Jen got married to a creep to Rachel.
Mark Greene became the character that made ER wonderful. I don't think in the early years the writers and producers wanted it to go in that direction, but his character is why the show became a great show. This to me was the saddest episode of any show ever put on tv. Great writing, great direction and great actors will always produce a great show.
@@coryfields482 Especially how it effected Ramano.If you recall the scene where Lucy went to his house on Christmas eve and asked if he would perform that special procedure for her patient.
@alphanerd7221 Source? The cue in question can be found on RU-vid and it's credited to longtime ER composer Martin Davich. I'm pretty sure that's the very music written for the episode.
Since this was from the second episode of the season, thart is doubtful. We did get some episodes in S7 leading up to Mark's death. This is how he was written out of the show.
Like many of you, Dr. Mark Greene was the defining character of ER. He was the type of doctor that you wish was your doctor; the kind of doctor that you hope you die first, before he does. Dr. Greene made you feel better in that he was fair to everyone, remained neutral as much as possible, took a stand and stood his ground, and supported his friends/colleagues. In “Orion in the Sky” (S8, Ep18), when Dr. Greene helped his last patient (the little girl with a splinter underneath her fingernail), you just knew that the end was coming. When Dr. Greene passed, I cried so immensely, and with so much sorrow, that you felt that you lost a great friend. With that powerful heartfelt piano music in the background, and when Rachel let go of that balloon, it was just all over for me. The ER series finale was right there. My sincere congratulations and gratitude to Anthony Edwards who played Dr. Mark Greene with so much passion, devotion, and dedication to that role...he made Dr. Mark Greene... REAL.
Amen. I agree with every word you said here. Mr. Anthony Edwards is an extremely fine, helluva actor. And he is the soul of this TV Series, E.R. I stopped watching, after Dr. Greene died.
Extremely well written note. Thank you, harpoon888. What you have said here is EXACTLY how I felt, still feel about Mark Greene - the man, the doctor and the friend. I always felt he was the kindest person on ER, and he did not deserve his fatal brain tumor. HE defined ER, and because he was a beautiful, kind soul he was more attractive to me than any Dr. Ross or Luka. I had been a nurse for nearly 20 yrs when ER started. Every doctor on the show reminded me of someone I worked with, even the creature named Romano. MARK GREENE defined that show for me and always will. My eyes well up with tears when I watch his last episodes. Anthony Edwards played that role to perfection.
I also agree that to me this was a series finale. The show had some good episodes, characters and plots after this and some crazy cliffhangers....but it really started getting way too far-fetched and somewhat overly political. It just wasn't as good as when Dr. Greene was the man in charge.
That scene was so powerful given she never listened to his reminiscing about when she was younger. And in their final scene when he talks about how she would always let a balloon go up to the sky. It was a beautiful way for her to say good bye to her father in that moment. It was so powerful watching Jen and Elizabeth's faces. Expecially when Jen figured it out as soon as she saw her grab the balloon, the small smile said it all. She knew it was a moment for Rachel to say good bye to Mark.
Nah, the writers just wanted some excuse to use that visual. It's a pretty saccharine trope - when someone dies, find a reason for a balloon to float away into the sky, like their soul into heaven.
Me too...the whole series keeps rerunning on my cable. Just passed the episode when Mark died and the funeral. I cried as usual. Also, the music played at the funeral was repeated when Elizabeth was in England and had an offer on her and Marks house in Chicago. She went to a quiet placed and looked at the offer and decided that she was coming back to Chicago. I just love the series. I an surprised that her and Abbeys career never really took off after ER, at least as far as I can see.
He was a great doctor, friend, teacher, husband, and father. RIP Greene One of the saddest episodes of all time. But one of the best ER episodes. Still cry my eyes out.
Ugh, I binged the first 8 seasons of ER last year, and didn't have the heart to keep going after this. Mark WAS the show. Maybe I'll try again eventually, but the episodes feel so empty without him.
What I think makes this clip so special is that it shows how unique an experience ER must have been for all the cast, given that so many were willing to come back for merely a 30 second cameo at best. Even the *absence* of George Clooney shows this. It's already been explained why he didn't come back, but it's telling that he never said that he didn't want to. He was perfectly fine returning, especially if it was under the radar and got no press. The fact that he didn't want his stardom to overshadow this moment shows how much this show meant to everyone.
@@impasse0124 Clooney didn't want to overshadow Anthony Edward's exit. Plus, NBC was mad at the producers because of how they kept Clooney's return in season 6 a surprise as they felt it prevented them from advertising such an event properly. If you want an explanation, one could argue that Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway were back at the ER covering the shifts for all the staff so they could attend the funeral, as they both know that Mark would have wanted someone to cover the ER.
Mark Greene was, without a doubt, one of the finest characters ever portrayed on TV. Brilliantly portrayed by Anthony Edwards. ER was such an incredible show!
Rewatching these scenes, and I completely forget that the scene with Mark and Elizabeth's letter was in the previous episode. Wow, it's all coming back to me now, how bold that choice was. Just hit you with the news of Mark's death, give you a week to process it, then let you enjoy an entire episode of Mark's final days in a beautifully poetic and bittersweet way.
When Doctor William Swift showed up again after years of absence for Mark's funeral, and Doug and Carol couldn't be bothered. Major respect for Wild Willy.
There should've been something to address the characters' absence. George Clooney was asked to come back as Doug for the funeral scene, but he was worried he'd be too much of a distraction and wanted the episode to fully honor Mark Greene. However, the problem was as you said: people saw it and said "Where's Doug & Carol!?"
@@sarahakm All they had to do was shoot a few seconds of Doug and Carol looking somber standing over the grave like the rest of the cast, I never could understand that 'it would be a distraction' excuse that he made. It sounds arrogant too, like George Clooney was so much more important than Mark's storyline, and a few seconds of him would overshadow it somehow. Such a waste of potential.
@@thelaw6267 Clooney was right. There would have been media coverage over their (specifically his) return that would have overshadowed the attention paid to Anthony Edwards' performance and exit, as well as the wonderful writing that turned the death of Mark Greene into a story and not just another exit. Originally there was a card on flowers that had Doug and Carol's names on them. However, that was later removed. You have to understand the hype around Clooney at that point to appreciate why his character wasn’t there. It wasn’t because Ross was a bad friend to Greene. It was because Clooney was a good one to Edwards.
@@bexlo9794 I see your reasoning, in the short term it is possible it might have been that, but in the long term I think he should have done it anyways for the sake of the story and continuity. ER was going to endure, and people would still watch it and appreciate Edwards' performance over the years after the initial media hype of Clooney doing that died down. Instead not coming back caused long term damage to the continuity and characters with the Chuck Cunningham nonsense of Mark's own best friends not even showing up at his funeral.
I cry! Every damn time I see this scene. Even more so, the beach scene with Dr. Green and his daughter. When “Somewhere over the Rainbow” starts playing, Niagara Falls!😢😢
I cannot watch Mark and Rachel's final scene with Somewhere over the Rainbow. Any other scene from ER except that one scene. I always avoid it. It is way too much!!
@@kennethtilton6137 George Clooney's official statement was that he didn't want to take away from the good bye to Dr. Greene's character. And honestly he's not wrong especially after the fuss that NBC made when they were not alerted to his cameo for Carol's closeout story.
I heard that Clooney declined to be in the episode because he didn’t want the attention his appearance would create. He wanted the episode to be about Mark and Mark alone. It had nothing to do with him being too big of a star to appear. He was actually trying to do what he thought was the right thing. No need to shame him and Julianna Margulies for that.
Said it before and I'll say it again ... The back half of SEASON 8 of ER is sheer MAGNIFICENCE. "Fix Rachel" in this episode , Rachel in the car with Jen & Elizabeth , the earlier episodes like Orion in the Sky which is just beautiful , THE LETTER where Noah possibly has his greatest ever moment in the series. Fifteen seasons of tv that networks will struggle to match again
I remember watching this when I was 13 and bawling and all these years later it still brings me to tears. Mark would have been so proud of Rachel and how she turned out… finally completing his bucket list. I don’t know anyone else but I am still waiting for the sequel series with Rachel as the lead.
I am sure Clooney and Margulies were asked to part of the funeral scene and I can understand why they said no. This was was about closure for a great character and wonderful performance by Anthony Edwards and I am sure they both knew that if they were there it would have taken away from it. In retrospect I do wish they would have done it. At the very least in their final episode in the last season I hoped they would have made mention of him in some way. It just felt as if it was a plot line that deserved some closure.
In fact, Clooney has already said that he did not know this was coming and that there was no invitation for him to return. I believe one of the reasons was that they hid his participation in the season six. That made everyone quite nervous at the time.
I agree Doug and Mark was so close they should of tried to fit it in some how. Like when Carter got his kidney and they called Carol to let her know that it went to a doctor. Maybe then a few lines could of been mentioned for Mark.
I imagine when he passed peacefully. Mark saw his parents-- welcoming him in warming hugs, and smiles. Telling him; they're proud of him, for what he's done for those as a doctor. .
Val’s PTSD I continued to watch until the middle of Season 13 - fast forwarding some stories if I didn't watch live. And I remember watching some of Season 15 as well. But I agree that the show started going downhill in Season 7. It felt less like a medical ensemble and more like a soap opera. Too much emphasis on certain characters and their relationships. And it's not like the characters didn't have drama or relationships before then. It just seemed to take over in Season 7. Seasons 1-6 were the best in my opinion. Even though Season 6 added a lot of characters, it was still good.
@@MsQuartermaine Completely agree. I do feel season 15 was actually pretty good and felt like a slight return to form, but we also know it was the final season.
Cried a lot seeing this. Mark was a great character. I never get emotional during films so much but the music and the scenery were brilliant. No other medical drama can compete this. Thank you.
I've binge watched both ER and Grey's Anatomy. ER laid a foundation that Grey's can never stand upon. This episode has to be one of the most heart breaking episodes I've even seen. Mark was special. I had to constantly remind myself that it was a show because I couldn't stop myself from crying.
ER simply revolved around Mark, Carol and Doug in its early years. We loved Juliana's beauty and acting chops, Clooney's star power (and acting chops), and the way Anthony just inhabited Mark Greene, which made him one of the most memorable characters in TV history. I don't think I've ever quite forgiven them for killing off Mark.
Surely one of the saddest deaths on the show. Nothing makes me cry as much as this scene.I really loved Kerry’s reaction to marks death. They butted heads a lot but at the end of the day they really respected each other. Poor Elizabeth - Alex really is fantastic
Watched this episode for the first time a couple of months ago and absolutely balled all the way through. When the music started for the funeral scene I instantly got goosebumps
I cannot believe every single one of them was at the funeral. Even Benton! (Greys could never) I cried like a baby 😭 What a great show this is. I just started watching ER about a month ago and I’m so glad I did.
Same here! I've had this show on my hulu watch list for almost 2 years and I never got around to it. Until FINALLY Three months ago I just sat down and started. Currently this is The latest episode I watched. There will *never* be a medical drama as good as this again ever.
I really would love to watch ER again. But remembering how many times it made me tear up back when it was first broadcast, and having taken a fair number of hard knocks in the years since, I imagine I would be bawling my eyes out from start to finish during another go around...
I remember one rumor was that George Clooney thought it would take away from the overall impact of Mark dying for him to cameo, which just seems completely ridiculous to me, if anything it would've added to it even more.
LvrOfhearts from imdb dr William “wild Willy” swift season 1 ep’s 20-25 then season 4 ep 11. www.imdb.com/title/tt0568032/ you’ll probably remember when you see the image on this link
I don't know how I did it but somehow managed to hold it together until of course the final scene with the balloon and started crying like a baby, such fitting music with Rachel smiling and looking up into the sky
Then the show started killing everybody .... starting with Romano’s helicopter death a year later....I stayed with this show for 15 Years out of loyalty....
I watched this episode earlier this week. Dr Greene was the heart of the show. Anthony Edward's was in nearly every scene during his run. I liked toward the end in the memory scenes they showed Dr Greene standing in the hospital like part of his spirit went there.
I really don’t know why I watch this. It makes me think of grandmaw every time and break down into tears. She died of cancer 21 years ago and this clip and the music make it feel as if she died just yesterday. This is why Dr. Greene’s death hits me like no other. Saddest tv death ever
I cry a lot in this episode well the whole season was so heartbreaking. Mark was so awesome and so down-to-earth at the same time. My brother admire him growing up and love er he is now a doctor
