9.3/107 votesLoading...#1 - Hell and High Water
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1995
In the middle of a torrential rainstorm, Dr. Ross stumbles across a child trapped in a drainage pipe rapidly filling with water. Doug does everything possible to save the boy, Ben Larkin. Harper develops a bond with a young girl with separated parents.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: Neal Baer
9.2/106 votesLoading...#2 - On the Beach
Season 8 Episode 21 - Aired 5/9/2002
Dr. Greene's final days are spent in Hawaii with Rachel, teaching her to drive and surf. When he suffers a seizure, Elizabeth is called. Mark refuses to go home. He manages to make amends with his daughter before his eventual death.
Director: John Wells
Writer: John Wells
9.2/106 votesLoading...#3 - Freefall
Season 10 Episode 8 - Aired 11/20/2003
On Thanksgiving Day, a helicopter crash outside the ER leaves several injured, and kills Dr. Romano. Alex tries to bring Sam and Luka together.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: Joe Sachs
9.1/109 votesLoading...#4 - The Healers
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 2/22/1996
Shep and Raul respond to a massive fire without proper equipment, risking their lives to save addicts and their children. Shep will be okay, but Raul has third-degree burns covering his body; it's only a matter of time. The ER is flooded with burn victims. Chloe returns to Chicago. Doug is stood up by his father for a basketball game.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: John Wells
9.0/1011 votesLoading...#5 - 24 Hours
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/19/1994
A day's worth of trauma takes its toll on the men and women of the ER. Dr. Greene looks into leaving the ER and joining private practice. Among other events, multiple casualties are brought in when a building collapses. New medical students report for duty, including Dr. Benton's new trainee, the young and inexperienced John Carter.
Director: Rod Holcomb
Writer: Michael Crichton
9.0/105 votesLoading...#6 - Secrets and Lies
Season 8 Episode 16 - Aired 3/7/2002
After some staff members are caught going through a dominatrix's bag, Weaver makes them attend a sexual harassment seminar, where they learn about each other.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Wells
9.0/104 votesLoading...#7 - Orion in the Sky
Season 8 Episode 18 - Aired 4/4/2002
As Dr. Greene's brain tumor begins affecting his coordination, he becomes concerned that his fate will be similar to the terminally ill patients he treats.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writer: David Zabel
9.0/105 votesLoading...#8 - The Providers
Season 11 Episode 12 - Aired 1/27/2005
When a 16-year-old girl who had received a kidney transplant from her father arrives at the emergency room feeling dizzy, Carter traces the problem to a new drug that the girl was taking to control seizures related to her kidney dysfunction.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: David Zabel
9.0/104 votesLoading...#9 - Alone in a Crowd
Season 11 Episode 15 - Aired 2/17/2005
A soccer mom finds herself completely aware of everything going on around her, but is unable to move or speak after suffering a stroke.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writer: Dee Johnson
9.0/106 votesLoading...#10 - Two Ships
Season 12 Episode 8 - Aired 11/17/2005
The ER prepares to take in victims from a plane collision, while Neela and Pratt head out to the crash site where Neela makes heroic efforts. At the end of the day, Neela gets a surprising visit.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: Joe Sachs, Virgil Williams
9.0/105 votesLoading...#11 - Body and Soul
Season 12 Episode 13 - Aired 2/2/2006
Dr. Nate Lennox, a former professor with ALS, is brought in as the progression of his disease is chronicled through his own flashbacks as he is treated by each of the doctors at one point. As Lennox wants to give up, Abby fights to convince him to keep on fighting.
Director: Paul McCrane
Writer: Joe Sachs
9.0/105 votesLoading...#12 - Heal Thyself
Season 15 Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/2008
Dr. Banfield takes a run to clear her head but finds herself trying to rescue a three-year-old girl from drowning in a nearby lake. Gates tries to pull some strings in the ER to help his homeless war hero. Banfield is reminded of her own experience at County with Dr. Greene caring for her son as she tries to save the young three-year-old girl from certain death. Meanwhile, the interns continue to struggle to keep up in the ER.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.9/109 votesLoading...#13 - Blizzard
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/8/1994
A severe blizzard leaves the ER utterly devoid of patients, leaving the staff free to goof off. In the middle of their fun, a call comes from dispatch, informing the ER of a 40-car pile-up with dozens of casualties. The ER goes from being deserted to capacity. All surgeons are called in. Bob surprises everyone with a quick and life-saving decision. A new doctor, Angela Hicks, arrives just at the right time. Ross and Linda return from the Caribbean just as Carol makes a surprise announcement.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: Paul Manning
8.9/107 votesLoading...#14 - Baby Shower
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 2/15/1996
The ER hosts roughly a dozen pregnant women when a sprinkler bursts in the maternity ward. Carter plays tour guide for the visiting surgical intern hopefuls before going through the interview himself. Benton tries to bring a hopeless patient back from the brink of death in a marathon surgery. Jerry tries to convince the others that basketball player Scottie Pippen visisted. Doug visits his father.
Director: Barnet Kellman
Writer: Carol Flint
8.9/106 votesLoading...#15 - A Shift in the Night
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 4/4/1996
Mark finds himself manning a very crowded ER on his scheduled night off, filling in while Doug is out with whiplash and Susan meets with her lawyer. He tries to juggle hunger pangs, 40+ patients in the waiting room and a never-ending stream of traumas.
Director: Lance Gentile
Writer: Joe Sachs
8.9/107 votesLoading...#16 - The Gallant Hero and the Tragic Victor
Season 12 Episode 21 - Aired 5/11/2006
Pratt struggles to get a straight story when two abused boys come into the ER with their father. Two U.S. Army officers enter the ER.
Director: Steve Shill
Writer: R. Scott Gemmill
8.8/108 votesLoading...#17 - Night Shift
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 1/16/1997
Carol has to fire two of the nurses. Meanwhile, Gant feels Benton is too hard on him.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writer: Paul Manning
8.8/106 votesLoading...#18 - Fathers and Sons
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/1997
Ross and Greene travel to a near-deserted stretch of California to investigate circumstances surrounding a death in Doug's family.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: John Wells
8.8/105 votesLoading...#19 - Exodus
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/26/1998
Because of benzene that's been spread, the ER has to close. Weaver gets felled and Carter has to take the lead.
Director: Christopher Chulack
Writer: Joe Sachs, Walon Green
8.8/104 votesLoading...#20 - The Crossing
Season 7 Episode 15 - Aired 2/22/2001
In the series' 150th episode, a massive train wreck mobilizes the emergency room doctors. Corday, Carter and Kovac rush to the scene. Corday falls and injures her back, bringing on contractions in only her 25th week of pregnancy. While amputating the legs of a fallen firefighter, Corday stops because of her pain.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writer: Jack Orman
8.8/104 votesLoading...#21 - I'll Be Home for Christmas
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 12/13/2001
Benton commits perjury on the witness stand in order to gain custody of Reese. When Romano refuses to give him a more even schedule, Peter resigns and seeks a job at the clinic where Cleo is newly employed. Benton is granted custody of Reese and he and Cleo decide to move to the suburbs together. Meanwhile, Carter's father visits for Christmas with the news that he's getting divorced, Weaver and Sandy Lopez finally go on a date, and Abby catches Nicole in the maternity ward, recovering from an abortion.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writer: Dee Johnson, Meredith Stiehm
8.8/105 votesLoading...#22 - 21 Guns
Season 12 Episode 22 - Aired 5/18/2006
Chaos reigns in the ER when two prisoners are brought in for treatment, but instead plot a violent escape. Their desperate actions place one doctor in harm's way, and forces one nurse to become a tool in their plan.
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: David Zabel
8.7/107 votesLoading...#23 - Love's Labor Lost
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/9/1995
A busy Dr. Greene goes all day in solving his patients' problems until he encounters the case of a pregnant woman suffering from complications that threaten both her life and her unborn baby's.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: Lance Gentile
8.7/106 votesLoading...#24 - Union Station
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/1996
It's Susan's last day. Carol stands up for her nurses when one of them is being rotated to another department.
Director: Tom Moore
Writer: Carol Flint
8.7/106 votesLoading...#25 - Post Mortem
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/23/1997
Carter feels guilty about Gant's death. Benton doesn't want to talk about it.
Director: Jacque Toberen
Writer: Carol Flint
The Best Episodes of ER
Every episode of ER ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of ER!
ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency...
Genre:Drama
Network:NBC
Best Episodes Summary
"Hell and High Water" is the best rated episode of "ER". It scored 9.3/10 based on 7 votes. Directed by Christopher Chulack and written by Neal Baer, it aired on 11/9/1995. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "On the Beach".