This episode actually recalls something that happened in a past episode…at the end of "Vigilance and Care", Aaron suggested that he and Jack should go out for beer sometime. At the beginning of this episode, they actually do head out to go see a football game (although Aaron isn't particularly thrilled about football). Anyway, they head out, but first Jack has to make a stop at his "bookie joint" to place his weekly bet. When the two men get inside, however, the office is ominously empty and the phones are ringing incessantly. Quickly, Jack and Aaron discover that there are four people lying around the office who have been shot, one of whom is already dead, the other three in critical condition. It turns out that of the three still alive, one is a young girl named Sally who has been shot in the abdomen, another is a man who has been shot near the chest, and the third is a man who was shot in the head. Jack later uncovers another man hiding behind a door who is unhurt, who claims his name is Leonard. Aaron calls 911 and the two doctors try to start taking care of the victims as best they can.
Meanwhile, back at Chicago Hope a woman comes in who has been brutally stabbed in her chest and face and is taken care of by Keith, then Alberghetti, and then Hanlon. They later discover that the blade of the knife used to stab the woman is lodged in her heart.
Back at the bookie joint, the police and the SWAT team arrive outside, only to discover that the gunman is still on the roof and is very willing to shoot at the police, which he does. Jack and Aaron have to begin what Aaron later calls "knife and fork surgery". Jack also calls Phillip and gets him involved by instructing him to give the police his cell phone number. Afterwards, Jack, Leonard and Aaron gather supplies from around the office, including some used needles that Jack finds in the hallway.
They begin working on the man with the stomach wound. They find that he has air in his chest cavity, so they rig up a system using tubing and a large water jug, which seems to do the trick in removing the air. Soon, Phillip arrives at the site, urging the SWAT team to help his doctors who are trapped inside and the victims whose lives they are desperately trying to preserve. Meanwhile, Jack and Aaron debate over how to help the man who has been shot in the head. Finally Aaron decides to remove the bullet and work through the bullet hole, which also eventually seems to work. Sally, however, is losing too much blood and fading in and out of consciousness.
Alberghetti has begun operating on the stabbed woman and Hanlon works on the woman's face wounds at the same time. Although there are a few tense moments, Alberghetti manages to remove the blade from the woman's heart and the woman survives the surgery. Meanwhile, the hospital staff has heard about the situation that Aaron and Jack are involved in.
In order to help Sally, Aaron decides to use the needles that Jack found to transfuse his own blood into her. Although Jack advises against it, Aaron assures him that the needles have been thoroughly sterilized with bleach, so he does it. At the same time, the shooter on the roof calls the SWAT team and asks them to send up a doctor, as he has been shot (and he agrees to release his victims if he is given aid). Jack goes up alone to help him and finds out, through conversation, and while having the man's gun pointed at his head, that the man, Larry, had bad gambling losses and was getting back at his bookie and brother-in-law, George Regis. After Jack removes the bullet from Larry's leg, Larry goes back on his word to release the "hostages" and insists that George Regis be brought to him. Later, Jack sends word to Aaron that the shooter wants a beer, and when Aaron tries to send Leonard up with it, Leonard sheepishly admits that he is not, in fact, Leonard, but really is George Regis. Shortly thereafter, Sally goes into arrest, and although both Leonard/George and Aaron try to resuscitate her, she dies. Finally, the SWAT team decides to go in.
Back at the hospital, a police officer has come in regarding the woman who was stabbed. He speaks to Hanlon and Keith and they find out that the woman, Amanda, is in fact Larry (the shooter)'s wife. They get her to call him and try to calm him down, but he hangs up on her. So the SWAT team moves in and shoots Larry multiple times, back Jack, who is still on the roof, is also hit. The victims get sent to CH and Gina takes the man shot in the head into surgery. When Jack finally arrives in the ER, he has been shot in the arm and the face and the bullet is still lodged in his brain. Hanlon and Aaron perform surgery on him, and he survives the surgery, but it is left unanswered as to whether he will have full finger function or if he might lose sight in one eye. Phillip operated on Larry, and saved his life.
Later, Hanlon goes to talk to Amanda again, telling her that her husband has been shot and her brother, George Regis/Leonard, has been put in jail. Amanda insists that it is her fault that her husband stabbed her (because she's always falling behind on the laundry), and Hanlon tells her that she needs to see a psychotherapist. Although Amanda first insists that Larry didn't mean to hurt her, Hanlon tells her that he did mean it and finally convinces her to take the card of the therapist.
Well, the main problem with this episode is that the whole thing has happened before on Chicago Hope. I feel like I say this about every episode, but in a way, it's true. Chicago Hope, as we all know, has a major "plot recycling" problem, and this episode is a prime example of this. Several seasons ago, Billy and Kate were trapped in a convenience store with a shooter and his victims and had to give medical aid while trying to remain alive until the police could come in and help them. I don't know, perhaps the writers think that since neither Billy nor Kate is on the show anymore, we've forgotten about them, and everything that happened to them has been erased from our memories, because "The Golden Hour" plot was virtually identical. So, needless to say, I wasn't particularly impressed with this episode. There is one interesting point, though, and that is that Jack's fate (not in terms of his life, but in terms of his sight) is left in the balance. This is interesting, but reminds me a great deal of the questionable fate of Aaron after his aneurysm two seasons ago. I am interested to find out what happens to Jack, but that doesn't make up for the plot recycling. The episode does have its tense moments, but I didn't feel particularly on edge or concerned about the characters during it, so all in all, I have to say that this episode was rather below par. Ah well, hopefully the next episode will be more satisfying.
