This episode is hard to watch - from the start which is a quick reprise of Mark's departure from the hospital two episodes previously (with the words 'you set the tone' to Carter - the self-same words Morgenstern said to him in the pilot) to the end where Rachel releases a balloon.
It is hard watching a friend die, and this is exactly what dedicated fans go through. His determination to 'fix Rachel' despite his deteriorating health is gut-wrenching. This episode also hit me particularly hard as it was broadcast only a few months after watching my own father die of cancer.
The only thing to spoil it was the absence of Doug and Carol, Mark's two best friends, at his funeral. Nearly everyone else was there from the show's history, why not them?
It is hard watching a friend die, and this is exactly what dedicated fans go through. His determination to 'fix Rachel' despite his deteriorating health is gut-wrenching. This episode also hit me particularly hard as it was broadcast only a few months after watching my own father die of cancer.
The only thing to spoil it was the absence of Doug and Carol, Mark's two best friends, at his funeral. Nearly everyone else was there from the show's history, why not them?