Mon, Jan 6, 1997
Dr. Wilkes copes with personal and professional problems as he tries to reach a compromise with his wife regarding an unexpected pregnancy while trying to convince a suicidal patient he pulled out of the river that a crippling operation is his only chance for life. Aaron takes revenge against a deadbeat debtor by taking his money's worth from the patient's clothing store. Dr. Austin falls for a visiting dignitary.
Mon, Jan 13, 1997
The trial of Hancock's brother-in-law gets underway, with Dennis still unsure of how his sister will testify. Rumors about Phillip's personal life fly through the hospital after Maggie overhears an intimate conversation. Dr. Austin tries to save one of two children, both victims of a hit and run. Dr. McNeil decides to quit gambling. Aaron screws up his courage and decides to ask Maricela on a date.
Mon, Feb 3, 1997
Aaron reunites with an old friend, David, who has only a few months left to live. His friend suggests Aaron marry his wife, who married David over Aaron, after David dies. Aaron gets drunk and runs into (imagines?) Jeffrey. Wilkes doubts his wife when she claims to have had a miscarriage. Wilkes and Nyland's feud escalates after a patient dies. Jack refuses to listen to Phillip when he offers to help Jack overcome his gambling problem, but later asks Karen Wilder to help him. Aaron tries to figure out what to do about Maricela.
Mon, Feb 10, 1997
Kate's friend, feminist professor Marina, tries desperately to 'get pregnant' but has to work against, rather than with, her husband. Aaron works against Tommy Wilmette in an attempt to get his friend, David, approved for a controversial gene therapy treatment. Diane tries to get marijuana for an ill patient.
Mon, Mar 10, 1997
Phillip and Aaron present their plan to buy Chicago Hope to the staff, where it's met with resounding complaints. Aaron tries to define his relationship with Maricela. The ER treats a patient with numerous psychosomatic ailments. Kronk gets in trouble when he performs a lung reduction operation, a procedure vetoed by the patient's HMO. Billy visits the patient's HMO representative, the 'freaky' Jonathan Saunders, to straighten things out.
Sun, Apr 13, 1997
Nyland, fresh off his injury leave, puts all his energy into identifying an assault victim. Billy has qualms when a patient who tested positive for the breast cancer gene asks him to perform a preventive double mastectomy. Kate tries to get Sara into an exclusive school. Diane proposes to Billy.
Mon, Apr 28, 1997
Watters is reunited with his Vietnam C.O. when the colonel is admitted suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Phillip is baffled by the colonel's refusal to accept treatment. Kate has her hands full when Sara is traumatized by the accidental death of a Little League teammate. Wilkes and Nyland have a role reversal, with Danny staying calm and serene and Wilkes acting the hothead, over Ricky Jackson's use of ER supplies.
Mon, May 12, 1997
Jack has his hands full with two of Karen's patients, Harriet Owens, who hasn't moved out of his house yet, and the delusional Luke Sarison, who believes McNeil is his father. Aaron and Kate vie for chief of surgery. Phillip is invited to join his latest girlfriend, Emma, when she moves to Paris. Danny Nyland is arrested for the Jessup death, and subsequently transferred from the ER to the blood bank.
Mon, May 19, 1997
Jeffrey Geiger returns, bearing the news that he's a partner in the newly formed Hope Health Care. Kate bears with Jeffrey's advice in a critical heart transplant operation. Wilkes takes a wild helicopter ride to fetch the donor heart. Dr. Kronk tries to find a solution for his Alzheimer's afflicted father. McNeil and Shutt pontificate about life and religion following a patient's claim that she was healed by a vision of the virgin mother.
Wed, Oct 1, 1997
Watters' old romantic rival checks into the hospital in need of a heart transplant. When a heart finally arrives, Austin performs the transplant against her will, believing that the wealthy patient bribed the donor family. Aaron and McNeil work together to help a man with a rare disease that is causing his muscles to contract. Wilkes is affected when a gang member violently shoots up the ER. Billy officially asks Diane to marry him. It's mentioned that Nyland is gone, it doesn't say how or why.
Wed, Oct 8, 1997
Billy removes the kidney of a 9-year-old girl with an extensive medical history, and discovers signs that she's being abused. He suspects the girl's mother may be intentionally harming her daughter to grab attention. Aaron grapples with himself when he loses a patient while performing a simple procedure. Kate can't break away from the hospital to attend her daughter's school carnival. Jack gets caught in a sting at Bart's bar, prompting Phillip to insist that Jack enroll in Gamblers Anonymous.
Top-rated
Wed, Oct 15, 1997
Aaron announces he's leaving Chicago Hope for a teaching position at Harvard. Shortly thereafter he begins to suffer from a brain aneurysm. The aneurysm sends him into a trance state where he hallucinates several strange fantastical experiences, including Chicago Hope doctors in song and dance sketches and Jeffrey Geiger's advice on life.
Wed, Oct 22, 1997
The staff worries about Aaron when he has a series of seizures, threatening his chances to survive another operation. Jack refuses to allow a drug addict to go through a super fast detox program, using the knowledge he's gleaned from his attempts to beat gambling. A child molester asks Billy to castrate him.
Wed, Nov 12, 1997
Billy and Diane are married as Billy rushes off to South America. Diane is horrified by a teenage girl who dumped her newborn child into the trash. Dr. Austin treats a high school basketball player with a bad heart who's reluctant to quit the game. While trying to counsel a male rape victim, Aaron becomes intrigued with the mechanics of the brain. Kate connects with electrician Danny Blaines, but remains reluctant to be seen with him in public.
Wed, Nov 26, 1997
A 'girls only' weekend getaway at McNeil's cabin goes horribly wrong for Kate, Lisa and Diane, when Grad is assaulted by a native backwoodsman. The three doctors deal with the attack differently. Austin, still affected by an attack in her college days, responds with anger. Lisa remains cool and rational while Diane is paralyzed with fear.
Wed, Dec 10, 1997
Dr. Shutt counsels the family of a teenage suicide. McNeil and Hancock try to determine whether a young patient is the victim of parental abuse. Wilkes refuses to treat his absentee father after he's admitted to the hospital. Phillip, stinging from repeated rejections from his son, urges father and son to reconcile.
Wed, Dec 17, 1997
Phillip is disturbed to learn that his accountant has stolen every cent he owns. Watters' pride doesn't let him accept offers to help from both Jack and Aaron. Shutt and Dr. Catera clash over a patient's suggested treatment. Keith is arrested for drunk driving and is sentenced to community service work at Hancock's clinic. Diane's loneliness sinks her Holiday spirits. Jack plays Santa for sick children.