MovieChat Forums > Mercy Street (2016) Discussion > Is that actually the last episode? and a...

Is that actually the last episode? and are they coming back next year?

posted 8 years ago by rainbowglow2001
10 replies | jump to latest

I made it through what I thought might be the last episode of Mercy Street, but it didn't seem like a total wrap up. Are they actually planning to come back next year? I actually hope not. I became enough invested that I made it through to the end but I would like to be done. Many sections do not ring true and bother me and take me out of the historical setting. For a crowded noisy suffering hospital of the time, this one is amazingly quiet (see all the empty beds around the dying solider tonight) and considering that nurse Mary had to sleep on the crowded floor the first night, where are all these empty spaces coming from? eg Mary and Aurelia alone in a seemingly large room together. And the modern day swear words ring false, and I could go on...

[–] gveronica 8 years ago

Mary and Aurelia alone in a seemingly large room together. And the modern day swear words ring false, and I could go on...

I thought that was Mary's room, hence why there was a picture of the dead Baron at the bedside table.

Census fluctuates in hospitals (even MASH had empty beds on occasion) so I don't find it out of the ordinary that sometimes it's burst to overflowing and sometimes there are empty beds.

I'll be pleased if the show gets a second season but I can also accept this as a final episode if that's what it turns out to be. Things were not perfectly wrapped up but they were left so that there is still a sense of closure.

- Aurelia got her son back, plus Samuel is back so you can assume they will grow
closer
- Jed is now an Army doctor with some authority so we can assume that he will
steer the hospital towards more humane and sympathetic medical care
- Mary has accepted the challenges of her role as head nurse and has proven that
she is no shrinking violet
- Mary and Jed have reached a place of trust and comraderie, with a hint of a
growing fondness. He's still married (though to a woman who won't ever share
his goals and ideals) but at the very least they can be a power couple in the
running of the hospital.
- The Green family: Emma may have her chance to speak with President Lincoln,
perhaps he frees father or perhaps not. She seems to be reaching a place of
some trust and friendship with the Chaplain and a place of friction with
Frank (at least as far as whether the ends justify the means). This is in
contrast with Alice who seems set to join the ranks of the more fanatical
faction that Frank belongs to. Of course we all know that both Alice and
Frank will be on the wrong side of history. The brother is finally asserting
himself but, again, he's on the wrong side of history too.
- Dr. Hale and nurse Hastings have both been subdued

[–] jbredin-97852 8 years ago

One more wrap-up: bad steward Bullen is presumably dead. He wasn't killed due to his grafting and bullying but he died because of it, when Aurelia left him to die of a possibly-treatable stab wound in the basement of a hospital.

The hospital was near-empty at the end because everyone who could get out of bed was outside to see Lincoln arriving.

[–] MadTom 8 years ago

This is in contrast with Alice who seems set to join the ranks of the more fanatical faction that Frank belongs to. Of course we all know that both Alice and Frank will be on the wrong side of history.

I think they're setting Alice up to become yet another 21st Century anachronism on this show by making her the world's first female suicide bomber.

Someone on another thread pointed out that the real-life Alice Green died of natural causes before the start of the war, so this seems like a convenient way of using the character. AnnaSophia Robb happens to be my favorite actress on this show and has been way underutilized for an actress of her experience, but I dread their doing this although I suspect that's the inevitable outcome of the setup.

[–] Paris1975 8 years ago

And it was utterly absurd. He would have already bled to death or been in such shock that his system would have shut down and prevented him from having the power of speech.

[–] dreadnoughts 8 years ago

"Many sections do not ring true and bother me and take me out of the historical setting. For a crowded noisy suffering hospital of the time, this one is amazingly quiet (see all the empty beds around the dying solider tonight) and considering that nurse Mary had to sleep on the crowded floor the first night, where are all these empty spaces coming from?"

Actually, they seem to be staying to the true timeline of the war. One of the wounded soldiers in the earlier episodes says he was wounded at McDowell (early May) which was during Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign. So, early on they are getting wounded soldiers from that campaign, which is important but a series of relatively minor battles.

In the last episode it's mentioned that McClellan has withdrawn to Harrison's Landing which is at the very end of June. The wounded from there were about 100 miles away so they would have been sent elsewhere.

So, by the last episode there wouldn't have been many new wounded to care for outside of some cavalry skirmishes in the area. If, hopefully there's a second season they are about to be overwhelmed from Second Manassas and Antietam a few weeks later.

[–] lonewolfbenji 8 years ago

I sure hope they are coming back. It's just stating to get good. And, although the last episode could be a wrap, there is still so much more I want to see. Does Sam and Auralia finally get together now that they have Gabriel? Does Mary and Jed get together? What about his wife? Does Bullen really die and who gets the blame for killing him? Does Mr.Green actually get moved to another prison far away? What happens to Frank? And much much more.

[–] ljspin 8 years ago

The wounded from the Peninsula Campaign were brought to military hospitals in Washington City and Alexandria. Yes, Harrison's Landing was 100 miles or so away, but the Landing was in southern Virginia; they were in enemy territory. The sick and wounded from that Campaign were transported by hospital ship up the coast and then up the Potomac River to Washington and Alexandria. Some of these men, especially those from Pennsylvania, New York, and New England were taken to hospitals in Philadelphia and New York City. Many of these hospital ships were outfitted, supplied, and staffed by members of the United States Sanitary Commission. (The USSC was a civilian organization very much like today's Red Cross that was authorized by Congress and President Lincoln to work with the United States Army in providing aid to the sick and wounded. In fact, in one episode, Samuel is seen carrying a crate that is marked "United States Sanitary Commission.")

Yes, the casualties from the battles and skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley would have been fairly low, and they would have been transported to Washington and Alexandria by ambulance and/or train. Most of the casualties, however, would have come from the Peninsula battles and would have been transported north by hospital ship.

As was stated before, hospital populations would fluctuate. They would rise greatly in the days after battles. They would slowly fall as soldiers died, were discharged and returned to their companies, were discharge and returned home, or were sent to finish their convalescences in hospitals closer to their homes. For example, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a good distance away from the fighting. However, Pittsburgh had a military hospital, Stanton Hospital, named for the Secretary of War and staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, to treat wounded soldiers from western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

Sorry for going on like this, but this is what happens after twenty-odd years of studying Civil War medicine as a medical re-enactor.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] schubej-1 8 years ago

According to the PBS Face Book page this was the Season Finale. See that some are critical of the series because it is not always historically accurate. Rarely are shows or movies based on historical events true to those events. This is considered to be Historical Fiction. Anyone who wants historical accuracy should stick to history books (warning: even those are not always accurate since many authors have personal agendas that sometimes ignore truth). I have enjoyed Season 1 and look forward to Season 2. With Downton Abbey concluding this is a good replacement.

[–] aurorak 8 years ago

I was surprised that was the season finale as well