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Dr. Gregory "Greg" Pratt was a fictional medical doctor from the television series ER. He was portrayed by Mekhi Phifer.

History[]

Season 8[]

Pratt's first appearance as a main character was late in the 8th season in the episode "Orion in the Sky". He was shown as a smart, but arrogant intern from a VA hospital. He meets Dr. Mark Greene on Greene's last day at County, argues with him over treating a patient, and is initially dismissive of him before becoming aware of Mark's terminal cancer when talking to the chief resident, Carter. By day's end, he has learned a little about practicing medicine from Dr. Greene.

Pratt wasn't present at Dr. Mark Greene's funeral, but in the Season 12 flashback episode "Body & Soul", it was revealed he worked that day at the hospital since it was understaffed, because most of the doctors were at Dr. Greene's memorial. Pratt later inherits Dr. Greene's locker.

In the beginning of his residency, Pratt shows immediate leadership and quick precision, but his limited experience and cowboy antics often led him to collide with his chief resident, Dr. John Carter, and other attendings on many occasions, including a thoracotomy procedure he was unqualified to do (though the patient survived) and resuscitating a patient who had been declared dead, and was brain-dead upon his "revival."

He initially clashed with med student Michael Gallant, as Michael's military background made him more "by-the-book," whereas Pratt liked to go around the rules. However, they later became close friends.

During the critical smallpox outbreak, Pratt proved his skills and courage as a swift physician by helping Dr. Luka Kovač and Dr. Jing-Mei Chen save Dr. Robert Romano's life.

The entire hospital is thrown into chaos during the evacuation gone awry, and he along with Dr. Carter, Abby Lockhart, and Dr. Chen were forced into quarantine in the ER.

Season 9[]

In Season 9, Pratt begins an on and off relationship with fellow physician Dr. Chen. During the series, it was revealed that Pratt had a mentally handicapped adopted brother named Leon living with him. Leon kept Pratt safe and focused on school during his childhood, but he was left with the reasoning ability of a small child after surviving a gunshot to the head.

Due to his handicap, Leon often got into trouble and would disrupt Pratt's professional and personal life, especially when he became involved with a group of thugs who stabbed him in the buttocks over a confiscated gun, got him thrown in jail overnight, and then made him join them on a robbery. This last incident ended with one of the thugs dead, and a cop badly injured (though he recovered thanks to good surgical work by Dr. Elizabeth Corday).

To help give Pratt a break, Carter suggested that Leon leave town for a while, leading Pratt to send his brother away to stay with other family members in Baltimore. Leon never returned to the show and was not mentioned again in future seasons.

Pratt and Gallant were briefly held for questioning by the Chicago police after a robbery/homicide occurred at a diner across the street; Chen had said that she might have seen a black man fleeing the scene.

Season 10[]

During the tenth season, Pratt was supposedly fired by the frustrated Romano, whom he had been bumping heads with ever since Romano took over the ER. This was based on bogus allegations that Romano was collecting because of his overall dislike of Dr. Pratt. However, Romano never got to present these findings before the hospital director since he never showed up at the conference (unbeknownst to the others, he had been killed by a crashed helicopter). Dr. Anspaugh (correctly assuming that Romano was biased), told Pratt to keep up the good work.

Pratt and Chen's continuing relationship began to break down when Pratt's casual flirting with new medical student Neela Rasgotra led to Pratt telling Chen that he didn't see them having a serious future together.

Their relationship ended early in Season 10 which caused Chen to be often curt and dismissive towards Pratt for a long while, but they eventually became friends again.

In the season finale "Drive", Pratt is involved in a road rage shooting while driving a patient named Elgin Gibbs home on his way to dinner with Chen.

Season 11[]

In the season premiere "One For The Road", Pratt attempts to drive away from the shooter, but his car ends up being forced off a bridge and into a Chicago river. He sustains a serious head injury while Chen sustains a gunshot wound to the leg. Unfortunately, Elgin dies from his injuries.

Pratt and Chen's interactions became infrequent due to Chen's family problems. However, in the episode "Twas the Night", Pratt arrives at Chen's house after discovering she quit her job at County. Per her father's wishes, Chen kills her father by injecting him with a drug (most likely a combination of Ativan and potassium chloride). Pratt covers for her by telling the paramedics that Chen's father died in his sleep. After Chen goes back to China to bury her father, she never returns to Chicago.

When the Chief Resident position came up in season 11, Pratt was backed at first by Dr. Luka Kovač, and later by Dr. Susan Lewis, who had often been critical of his job performance in the past. However, he decided against applying for the position due to the extra workload, so it was subsequently awarded to Dr. Archie Morris, who did not have the best personality or medical skills for the job.

Season 12[]

Now a fourth year resident in the ER, Pratt continued working in the ER, with his arrogance having softened somewhat.

In the episode, "Split Decisions", Pratt faked a blood-test to stop a friend of his from going to jail as a result of a drunk-driving incident, despite discovering that the friend had hit a patient which the ER staff had treated.

In "Out on a Limb", after an intense trauma, Pratt finally got the courage to tell the attending, Luka, about that incident and instantly Luka became enraged by Pratt's disregard for the rules. He told Pratt that he was suspended for five days without any pay, and when Pratt thanked him, Luka responded by saying, "Don't thank me. It's not an award".

After his suspension ended Pratt returned to work, ready to get back into the swing of things. His hopes were dashed when Luka announced that Pratt was going to be heading to the Congo, much to Pratt's obvious displeasure. When Pratt attempted to get out of it, Luka told him that it wasn't a request.

A while later, Pratt arrived in Darfur and was reunited with Carter, with Pratt quickly being subjected to the harsh reality of life in Africa.

Season 13[]

At the start of season 13, Pratt achieved his new title as an attending while Chaz moves in with him.

However, later on, Pratt discovers his brother in a compromising position with another man. After much denial and a talk with Weaver, Pratt begins to understand and accept his brother's homosexuality. He also supports Chaz's new job as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), but clashes with his co-workers after they encourage him to drink near-fatal amounts of alcohol.

Later in the season, Pratt discovered a church holding an illegal prescription drugs exchange program between church members. He tried to reason with the pastor to seek better alternatives. With no compromise being met, he decided to take part in the program to make it safer by donating some meds from the ER. However, when a member of the church died from the result of the drug exchange, an investigation was conducted by the police and social workers.

Pratt soon admitted to Kovač that he was solely involved in the scheme, preventing any repercussions on the department. He was arrested by the police (even though Kovač helped bail him out) and was put before the review board at the hospital for an explanation of his actions. Surprisingly, Pastor Watkins of First Mission Baptist and his congregation showed up on Pratt's behalf and explained the entire story of his contribution. The board subsequently dismissed Pratt from any suspension, allowing him to retain his medical license and job.

After being overlooked for the position of Chief of the ER in favor of new attending Dr. Skye Wexler, Pratt submitted his resignation, citing that the administration of County General did not respect him. However, he soon changed his mind after meeting former Physician Assistant Jeanie Boulet.

After this, Pratt pursued the ER Chief position, and finally was able to have a serious adult relationship with a radiologist, Dr. Bettina DeJesus.

Near the end of the season, Kovač asked Pratt to be the best man at his wedding.

Season 14[]

In the 14th season finale, Pratt entered an ambulance transporting a patient (portrayed by guest-star Steve Buscemi) who revealed himself to be a government informant in Witness Protection.

With a botched attempt made on the patient's life in the ER, the Turkish mob targeting Pratt's patient finally succeeded, when the ambulance they were in was rigged with a bomb. A subsequent explosion resulted in a season-ending cliffhanger.

Death[]

Pratt died in the season 15 premiere from injuries sustained in that explosion, despite the efforts of Dr. Morris and the team, which greatly devastated his ER colleagues. He ends up having to be put on a bypass machine due to damage to his heart while he displays signs of brain death, presumed to be from an air embolism caused by the explosion. When his brain shows no signs of recovering, Pratt is pronounced dead and his organs harvested for donation as per his wishes. During the immediate aftermath of the explosion, Pratt was more worried about treating the injured paramedic and continued giving orders from his bed.

It was further revealed in the episode that Pratt was going to receive an offer to become the new Chief of the ER which he would have accepted, had he survived.

Relationships[]

Jing-Mei Chen - Greg and Jing-Mei a.k.a. Deb dated for a while when she was a R2 (2nd-year resident) at County Hospital. Greg was there the night Jing-Mei's dad passed away at their home. Jing-Mei and Greg broke up when Jing-Mei left Chicago and went back home to China to bury her father.

Bettina DeJesus - Greg and Bettina dated for a while when she came to work at the hospital where Greg worked. Bettina and Greg's relationship went as far as engagement, but ended abruptly when Greg was killed in an accident.

Posthumous mentions[]

Funeral[]

Former doctors (such as Dr. Kerry Weaver from Florida, and Dr. John Carter from Africa) sent their condolences and gifts in honor of Pratt. At the end, Morris hands Bettina the engagement ring which Pratt had intended to give to her.

Among the ER staff who came to a remembrance at Ike's bar were Dr. Abby Lockhart, Dr. Archie Morris, Neela Rasgotra, Tony Gates, Sam Taggart, Simon Brenner, Chuny Marquez, Haleh Adams, Malik McGrath, Frank Martin, Paramedic Dumar, and Chaz Pratt (who was shown to be a new ER intern about halfway through Season 15).

The nametag wall[]

During the 15th and final season of ER, at the end of the episode "The Book of Abby", long-serving nurse Haleh Adams shows the departing Dr. Abby Lockhart a closet wall where all the past doctors and employees have put their locker name tags. Amongst them, the tag "Pratt" can be seen. The same happens again during "Shifting Equilibrium", when Dr. Neela Rasgotra puts her own name tag on the wall.


ER Characters
Characters Mark GreeneDoug RossSusan LewisJohn CarterCarol HathawayPeter BentonJeanie BouletKerry WeaverAnna Del AmicoElizabeth CordayLucy KnightLuka KovačAbby LockhartCleo FinchDave MalucciJing-Mei ChenMichael GallantGreg PrattNeela RasgotraSamantha TaggartRay BarnettArchie MorrisTony GatesSimon BrennerCate Banfield
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