Original Air Date: October 13th, 1994

Written By Robert Nathan

Directed By Charles Haid

Streamed on Hulu

It probably isn’t shocking to psychologists and the like that I became a fan of ER when it debuted. I was a kid who was spending quite a bit of time thinking about medical things in 1994. I was living with a family to whom, until then, my only tie was that I had been their daughter’s dance partner in our high school show choir. This odd living situation was because my mother was recovering from a heart attack that had led to ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure.

In other words, I was dealing with a lot of real-life medical drama, so it probably isn’t shocking that I was attracted to a show that leaned into that.

However, even now 23 years after these first episodes aired and over 15 years after my mother eventually succumbed to her heart conditions, there are certain episodes of the show that are not easy for me to watch. “Into That Good Night” is one of those episodes.

This episode revolves, almost entirely, around one story. It is the story of Samuel Gasner, a house builder from Cleveland, Ohio, who came to Chicago for a builder’s convention. Mr. Gasner, despite his wife’s protestations, made the trip with a terminal heart condition that can only be cured by a heart transplant. Mr. Gasner, predictably because this show revolves around an emergency room, ends up having a cardiac event at the convention.

There are a lot of things about this story that are done very well. Actually, though I am biased, I have to say that this story feels the most emotionally real of any story that has been on ER to this point in the canonical rewatch. And I can honestly say that I don’t remember ever seeing it before. But that could just be because I’ve blocked it out. It was amazingly real and very hard for me to watch, or to write about now after the fact.

Mr. Gasner is played, spectacularly, by Alan Rosenberg. Rosenberg is able to capture the pathos of a man living with a death sentence over his head in such an honest way that I’m sure that many would accuse him of being overly earnest or hammy. However, as the son of a woman who spent many nights in hospital beds wondering if she was going to see the morning, I can say that, if anything, Rosenberg underplayed the role.

Most of the Gasner storyline is told as a two-person story, with Gasner interacting directly with Dr. Mark Greene(Anthony Edwards), who is able to deliver line for line with the talented actor. While I found the subject matter to be almost too personal for me, I admired the measured and poignant performances that both of these men gave to it. Unfortunately, despite Greene’s valiant attempts to find a heart for transplant, Mr. Gasner doesn’t live through the night, though he does get to die in the arms of his loving wife after saying goodbye to his 9 year old daughter.

It is absolutely brutal and beautiful, though I’m not sure I’ll ever watch it again.

Other Notable Character Moments

• John Carter(Noah Wyle) believes he may have an STI after his tryst with Liz(Liz Vassey). He tests himself as covertly as possible but is outed a bit by both Dr. Doug Ross(George Clooney) and Jerry the desk clerk(Abraham Benrubi) in some good-natured ribbing.
• Peter Benton(Eriq La Salle) doesn’t have a ton to do in the episode. He takes care of a car thief who ran down a pregnant woman(more on that later) who dies and he takes care of Ivan the liquor store owner(John LaMotta), who has been a recurring patient at this point.
• Carol Hathaway(Julianna Margulies) is the emotional rock of the ER, even if her storylines are lacking throughout this episode. She helps out all the doctors in their cases and spends a lot of time with Mark and Mr. Gasner.
• Susan Lewis(Sherry Stringfield) has a story line about a frat kid with alcohol poisoning that, I think, was just there to tease that maybe Mr. Gasner would get his heart. Other than that, she was pretty much relegated to the background throughout the episode.
• Clooney’s Ross is the person to get woken up by a nurse to open the episode, so he has that honor. He also helps a young girl with asthma to get the inhaler that her mother can’t afford to get her and saves the life of the pregnant mother and unborn child(who becomes born shortly thereafter) who are hit by the joy-riding car thief.
• Edwards’s Greene, beyond breaking my heart in the main storyline, also has to decided what to do when his wife, Jen(Christine Harnos), gets a federal clerkship in Milwaukee. He eventually tells her that he would be willing to move to Milwaukee but she tells him he’d hate it and that it is only 2 hours away. The episode ends with him embracing his wife and child as he thinks of Mr. Gasner.

Notable Guest Stars

• Alan Rosenberg as Samuel Gassner, the heart patient who makes this such a heartbreaking episode to watch.
• Sam Anderson as Dr. Jack Kayson, the cardiologist that has butted heads with Susan in the past and who seems to be a lecherous bastard who is going to sleep with Carter’s former tryst, Liz, in one scene.
• Liz Vassey as the aforementioned Liz.

MVP of the Episode

I was truly tempted to give this to Anthony Edwards’s turn as Dr. Mark Greene, as he does some amazing work in wordless scenes showing his grief at watching Mr. Gasner die. However, I wouldn’t be being honest with myself if I didn’t admit that the only person that could win this award for this episode is the fantastic Alan Rosenberg as Mr. Samuel Gasner. Rosenberg made me, a son of a long-suffering heart patient, believe him as the same. That is no small feat. It was truly a fantastic performance for which he was nominated for an Emmy.