Flashback: What Happened To Ray On ‘ER’?
Michael Crichton’s creation ER remains one of the most popular medical dramas of all time, laying the groundwork for other successful TV shows in the genre like Grey’s Anatomy and House.
The show had quite a few interesting characters with fascinating backstories and plotlines, one of whom was Dr. Ray Barnett (Shane West), a talented doctor who conflicted between his duties as a medical practitioner and his passion for music. His time at the County General Hospital is marred by several unpleasant incidents, but the most unfortunate one occurs in the season 13 episode “I Don’t.”
In the episode, it is shown that Ray is hit by a truck while walking home drunk from a bar. Prior to the accident, Ray had an argument with his love interest, Neela. To get over the bad episode with her, Ray gets drunk at Luka Kovac and Abby Lockhart’s wedding, where he eventually gets into a fight with Tony Gates (Neela’s other love interest). Ray exits the festivities and continues drinking at a local bar, and when leaving to go home, in an attempt to answer Neela’s call, a truck hits him.
It is later revealed that Ray goes through a surgery that requires him to lose both his legs below the knee. After his legs get amputated, he makes the decision to leave for his hometown, Baton Rouge. Ray does make a return to the show for three episodes in the last season of the show, where audiences see him with a pair of state-of-the-art prosthetic legs. Neela is elated to see him, and she takes up a position at his hospital so that the couple can stay close to each other.
Ray had 70 appearances in the show, featuring in seasons 11,12, 13, and 15. The writers’ phasing out Ray’s character was a result of Shane West’s decision to leave the show to star in a pilot titled Supreme Courtships. However, unfortunately for the actor, the series never took off as Fox passed on it.
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