Kimball is said to be chasing a one-armed patient on the loose) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the famous group hug from that series' finale is reenacted, including the shuffle to the tissue box) M*A*S*H (a patient #4077-Henry Blake-is said to have been injured in an aircraft crash) The Andy Griffith Show (a barber is referred to as Floyd) and the cliché, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" (Dr. While the series made a habit of incorporating television and film references, the final episode was particularly replete with them. One of the results of this has been an attempt by individuals to determine how many television shows are also products of Tommy Westphall's mind because of shared fictional characters: the "Tommy Westphall Universe". Elsewhere had been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence. The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. As they leave the room, the camera closes in on the snow globe. Donald places the snow globe on the family's television set and walks into the kitchen with Tommy and Auschlander. What's he thinking about?" Tommy shakes the snow globe, and is told by his father to come and wash his hands. I don't even know if he can hear me, because he sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Westphall arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear that he works in construction from the uniform he wears and from a conversation in this scene. Eligius, the scene changes to Donald Westphall's autistic son Tommy, and Daniel Auschlander in an apartment building. As the camera pulls away from snow beginning to fall at St. Elsewhere, titled "The Last One", ended in a context different from every other episode of the series. Elsewhere's Series Finale: The Legendary Snow. "Television's Second Golden Age" on Google Books I.Video: Victor's Wife Airs their Dirty Laundry on t.I'll write more about the ending later, and another time, I'll share my thoughts on the implications of the "Tommy Westphall Universe", the intertextual phenomenon that logically follows from this scene's revelation. We viewers know the answer-he imagines his father and grandfather as the heads of the hospital in the snow globe, and he apparently dreamed up a fifty-two year history of the place. Eligius, and his father wonders what he sees in there all day. Turns out Tommy spends most of his time staring into the snow globe, which contains a miniature building inside that looks an awful lot like St. (This was the 22nd episode of the season.) We learn that "Auschlander" is his grandfather, and his father, "Westphall", is a construction worker, whose crew just finished the twenty-second storey on a building. Tommy is sitting on the floor of an apartment, holding a snow globe in his hands. Then we see an exterior shot of the hospital, and we get a new perspective. In 1945, an angry, teenaged Donald Westphall calls the hospital's new Jewish doctor a "kike," earning him a slap from Father McCabe.) Tommy is watching snow fall through the window. Daniel Auschlander ( Norman Lloyd), who had passed away earlier that day. Eligius with his autistic son Tommy ( Chad Allen) to reclaim his post as boss after spending most of season six in New Hampshire.ĭonald is listening to opera music in the office of long-time colleague and opera buff Dr. Donald Westphall ( Ed Flanders), who has returned to St. John Gideon ( Ronny Cox), who has quit after a disastrous run as the CEO of St. Wayne Fiscus ( Howie Mandel), who has completed his residency, Dr. During the finale, we get some emotional closure for most of the show's characters, including Dr. Yes, they did the it-was-all-a-dream ending.sort of.
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