Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Lucy Knight arrives as a third-year medical student and immediately tests Carter's patience. Their early clashes reflect Carter's own hard apprenticeship under Benton, but working together on patients gradually brings mutual respect and attraction. Lucy's attention and focus become a concern late in the season when she tries to stop taking Ritalin, prescribed for attention deficit disorder; she struggles without it. The finale follows Lucy as she tries to regain her footing, while Weaver brings an abandoned, drugged toddler to the ER.
Peter Benton and Elizabeth Corday's relationship ends as their professional paths diverge: Corday restarts her surgical internship to stay at County, and Benton focuses on his young son, Reese. When hearing tests show Reese is deaf, Benton considers a cochlear implant but ultimately decides against it and begins learning sign language. Weaver seeks the permanent chief position, but County selects Amanda Lee instead. Lee's pursuit of Mark Greene becomes unsettling as her stories and behavior unravel; she is exposed as a fraud and leaves the hospital under unclear circumstances.
Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway settle into a committed relationship, but Ross again crosses hospital rules by telling a mother how to change medication for her disabled son. The mother uses the medication to kill the boy, leaving Ross responsible for his part in the chain of events. Under scrutiny and already on probation, he resigns before he can be fired and moves to Seattle. Carol later learns she is pregnant with twins. Greene and Corday begin a romance, and Benton faces a custody dispute when Carla announces plans to take Reese to Germany with her new husband.