March 3, 2003 

Through Thick and Thin

After the excitement of finally seeing Sandy in Episode 7: "Tell Me Where It Hurts"...I suppose we were bound to feel a little hungover. I think our fearless leader Erised put it best: "Speaking of timeline, do you all realize that we have waited for half a year to see Sandy again? "The Letter" was aired on May 2, so there's a half year gap between the last time we saw her and Episode 7. And we have somehow survived all this time." Although I'd say the bulk of the credit for our survival rests with the amazing Sandynista fanfic writers...who kept our spirits up with the continuing tales of Kerry and Sandy.

I think the Sandynistas deserve major brownie points for faith and devotion. Especially because after the high of Episode 7, we sat patiently through 3 weeks of near Weaver-less episodes: "First Snowfall", "Next Of Kin", and "Hindsight". But, in the end it was all worth it because we were treated to 3 holiday re-runs from last season that were all Kerry and Sandy episodes! Which I'm likely to think had to have been chosen as a lead in to the first new episode of the new year. We haven't really seen enough of Weaver and Lopez in this season to establish their continuing relationship in the eyes of non-Sandy fans....so, my guess would be that the Kerry and Sandy heavy episodes from Season 8 were a gentle reminder to prepare the viewers for the events of Episode 11.

The spoilage for this episode was rampant....and we knew the general story line long before we even got to see Kerry and Sandy's happy announcement. This made for some interesting conversation, speculation, and even depression on the part of the Sandynistas.

 

Serenade: I don't know whether to beat someone up or sob for a while. Although, the silver lining would be Kerry getting her very own plotline. One that deals with her personal life, and her IFF (come on TPTB, you know you want to give us some Sandy). Oh man. Disappointment.

Erised: The weirdest part of all this, is that we know about this before we've even seen Episode 7. It's going to be very bitter sweet watching Kerry & Sandy happy and excited when they announce that they're going to have a baby. It's almost like a Greek tragedy.

Angelfish: Thinking about this tidbit of information received late last night, I came to the realization that, if Kerry and Sandy were to physically have a child (one or the other carrying the baby), there wouldn't be a whole lot of controversy, whereas should they attempt to adopt, there could be a lot of upheaval. This could make for an interesting arc in the K/S storyline...I mean, isn't it not allowed in some states for gay people to adopt? I don't know, I'm Canadian! Could be a good issue to address.

 

When January rolled around and we finally saw "A Little Help From My Friends", I think we were all feeling a combination of overjoyed and surprised at the bittersweet tone to the story line. We finally got to see Kerry and Sandy at home, "nesting", visible evidence for all the naysayers that still couldn't accept them as a couple. Unfortunately (for us), 30 seconds of happiness was followed by 40 minutes of sadness and grief. But then, isn't ER a television drama? As always, the Sandynistas had a lot to say about Episode 11:

 

Erised: There was actually a lot more dialogue in the Kerry/Sandy scene than I had expected. I only expected a few words, but we got a few lines (though all cramped into 29 seconds)! It was a short but cute scene...their chemistry is undeniable!

I enjoyed the Kerry/Abby scenes. The sonogram scene was gut-wrenching. I liked the way Abby walked in, was surprised for a second, but understood right away...

The scene with the deaf girl was poignant, and kind of subtle at the same time. I thought it should have been the last scene of the episode instead of the Pratt scene. But given that Sandy was not there at the end, I'm kind of glad that it wasn't the last scene...that they played it subtle and just left it at that. Well, subtle in that it wasn't a big dramatic Kerry crying and fade-to-black kind of ending.

Juliana: Very interesting that she was uncomfortable opening up to her coworkers, but she didn't hold back with the deaf girl. And not to get analytical... TPTB are very clever with the whole Koko skit. They were showing irony with the contrast: That woman was trying to get pregnant for all the wrong reasons, while Kerry -- whose heart was completely in the right place -- was losing her baby.

sb4283: The episode was very sad, but Laura Innes did a fantastic job!!!

I think now, having seen the way it played out, that it was very true to Kerry's character the way the events/reactions occurred.

Piney: Kerry not calling Sandy--Seemed just right to me. I think it said an enormous amount about their relationship. To me it seemed that Kerry was protecting Sandy from the worst aspect of this event-seeing Kerry grieve. Sandy would be sad about the miscarriage but the heart ripping stuff would be to see Kerry torn up. So Kerry gave herself the time she needed to get past the shock and first wave of grief and would tell Sandy quietly at home. She may even be in a position to comfort Sandy by that time. I think it speaks volumes for the strength and maturity of the two people who have entered into this relationship. What can bigots say when the gay and lesbian relationships they see are better, stronger, more secure than their own relationships? Not much. The best revenge is to be happy and all grown up. My My, I seemed to have a lot to say...

 

Mangababe (Editor)

 

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