St. Elsewhere: Season 4
Season 4 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of St. Elsewhere Season 3.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 4 Progress Shield
Remembrance of Things Past
Sep 18, 1985
The hospital review board acquires a new member from the psychiatric floor; Chandler experiences long-suppressed resentments when he treats a Vietnamese patient; and Dr. Turner cou
Fathers and Sons
Sep 25, 1985
The Craigs meet their pregnant daughter-in-law, Yvonne; the Valeres continue to explore ways of having a child; Westphall's new policies irritate the residents and Auschlander; and
Haunted
Oct 23, 1985
The Craigs face a tremendous loss as their first grandchild is born; a newly inspired Dr. Westphall returns to work full of ideas; and Fiscus invites himself up to Dr. Caldwell's C
The Naked and the Dead
Oct 30, 1985
Dr. Westphall tries to deal with his critical sister-in-law and a reluctant hospital board; Luther becomes Axelrod's personal trainer; Roxanne asks Chandler to her recital; Rosenth
Slice O'Life
Nov 6, 1985
Dr. Westphall drives himself too hard and is hospitalized; Yvonne's parents arrive to see their daughter and to claim their grandchild; Terri has in-vitro fertilization; Fiscus mak
Lost and Found in Space
Nov 13, 1985
An astronaut lecturing in Boston collapses and is brought to St. Eligius; Papandrao and Rosenthal continue to clash; Axelrod loses both Marcy and his battle with the bulge; Dr. Cra
Close Encounters
Nov 20, 1985
Dr. Craig arranges to take Yvonne home to her parents; Ehrlich advises a plastic surgery patient behind Dr.Caldwell's back; Capt. Neal arrives to evaluate the astronaut's condition
Watch the Skies
Nov 27, 1985
Mr. Galecki brings Barbara back to the Craigs; Dr. Turner leaves unexpectedly for her sleepy hometown down South; Rosenthal slaps Lucy; Jack takes his remedial exam and Colonel Coc
Sanctuary
Dec 4, 1985
Dr. Westphall learns that his new housekeeper is an illegal immigrant who was tortured by the death squads in El Salvador; a nervous Ehrlich tries to get out of his OB-GYN rotation
Loss of Power
Dec 11, 1985
Life goes on as the generator fails during a city-wide blackout; Caldwell takes leave to visit a dying friend; Westphall shares a stuck elevator with an Irishman; Dr. Craig and Wad
Santa Claus is Dead
Dec 18, 1985
Axelrod tries to keep Santa Claus alive after he collapses at a children's party; Ehrlich tries to brighten the holiday for his only obstetrical patient; Lizzie's boy friend finds
The Boom Boom Womb
Jan 8, 1986
An anti-abortionist targets the hospital for bomb threats and Chandler is involved in trouble at the Boston Women's Clinic; Rosenthal decides what she must do with her youngest son
To Tell the Truth
Jan 15, 1986
Fiscus reluctantly does his outreach work with a couple of feisty old people; Chandler is near yet another explosion; John Doe #6 is claimed by a couple who seem as wacky as he is;
Family Ties
Jan 22, 1986
Dr. Auschlander resents the wealth and influence of the matriarch of an old Massachusetts family admitted for tests; Morrison feels his impending knee surgery; Axelrod tries to get
Family Feud
Jan 29, 1986
The Endicotts learn that their family's medical problems are hereditary; Dr. Caldwell prepares for surgery to eliminate his facial scar, but learns that he carries a more permanent
Family Affair
Feb 12, 1986
The Endicotts try to adjust to losing a family member but gain good news about another; Dr. Caldwell's diagnosis of AIDS causes concern for his friends and a cooling in Fiscus and
Time Heals (1)
Feb 19, 1986
St. Eligius' 50th anniversary spurs memories, including: it's opening in 1935 under the leadership of Father Joseph McCabe, the arrival of recently emigrated Helen Rosenthal and Ma
Time Heals (2)
Feb 20, 1986
St. Eligius' 50th anniversary spurs memories, including: the growing up of Donald Westphall, the arrival of young Daniel Auschlander and his first meeting with Katharine, a drunken
Out on a Limb
Feb 26, 1986
A former nurse returns to St. Eligius as a medical student; a jock desperate to prolong his mediocre career learns the steroids he's using are killing him; Morrison has difficulty
Come Home, Oh Sapien
Mar 5, 1986
Chandler does his outreach work at a crisis hotline, where he draws a suicide on his first night; Ehrlich earns Dr. Craig's approval after he performs well during an emergency; and
Cheek to Cheek
Mar 12, 1986
Novino treats a famous cartoonist whose hands are being crippled by arthritis; Ehrlich ends his OB-GYN stint by examining Mrs. Craig; and Morrison's outreach work at a state prison
Black's Magic
Mar 19, 1986
Dr. Turner returns to St. Eligius in time to deliver the baby of an old patient; Chandler has very bad luck as he searches for her all day; and Dr. Auschlander is trapped in a crac
The Equalizer
Apr 30, 1986
Rosenthal's first husband and youngest son both return to her life; Chandler comes under fire for his activism against apartheid; Dr. Turner finds it hard to let go of the Ettings'
E.R.
May 7, 1986
The residents worry over who will be asked to return next year; the Craigs worry over the ""Doctor of the Year"" award dinner; Fiscus grows obsessed with opening a locked door; Mar