Show: ER
TV: Broadcast
Character Status: Regular
Endgame: Female
Orientation: Lesbian
Show Status: Over
Tropes: All Lesbians have Kids, But not too gay, Dead Love Interest, Sweeps
Introduced in: 1995-1996 / Final season: 2008-2009
Appeared in seasons: 1995-1996, 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009
Dr. Kerry Weaver was one of the main characters for over 12 years on long-running medical drama ER. She was introduced in Season 2 as a very ambitious doctor who aspired to climb the professional ladder. Very little was known about Kerry’s personal life during the first few seasons as she was a very guarded person. It wasn’t until the later seasons that more of Kerry’s background and personal life was shown, and things as her sexual orientation, political beliefs and even the precis nature of her disability (a limp due to a deformation of the hip joint) were given more room to be explored.
Besides a brief romance with a man called Ellis West, Kerry did not have any prominent love interests until Season 7 when she met Dr. Kim Legaspi. Kerry started working closely with Kim, who was an out lesbian, and the two became friends. Kim was shown to be flirting with Kerry and when the two are out to dinner together in “Rescue me” (7×07) she mistakes the dinner for a date. When Kerry realizes she tells Kim that she straight, and Kim apologizes for reading the signs wrong. Kerry then tries to distance herself from Kim, but soon come to the realization that she likes Kim as more than a friend and the two eventually spend the night together. However, their relationship was rocky from start to finish due to Kerry not being totally comfortable being involved with a woman yet, and doesn’t want to come out to the public. Due to her fears of losing her job and reputation, Kerry fails to support Kim after she was accused of sexual harassment, leading to their breakup. In the season finale, Dr. Romano, who had shown animosity towards Kim throughout the season (implied to be because of her sexuality) fired Kim. Kerry tries to get Kim to fight it, but Kim says she doesn’t want to work at a place where she isn’t wanted and questions Kerry why she should stay and fight when Kerry is still hiding, leading Kerry to come out to Dr. Romano at the end of the episode. In the season 8 premier it was revealed that Kim had moved to San Francisco to start a new job.
In Season 8, Kerry met firefighter Sandy Lopez while stuck in a storm trying to save a pregnant woman out of a crashed ambulance. Kerry asked Sandy out and they spend the night together and start to grow close. However, as they grow close Sandy told Kerry that she refused to date a woman who was in the closet. Sandy then forcibly outed Kerry when she kissed her in front of all of Kerry’s co-workers at the hospital. Kerry was visibly upset at this and started yelling at Sandy, who yell back that she “did [her] a favor”. The two of them reconciled in episode 17 and start a relationship. Three episodes later Kerry had fully accepted her sexuality and they make their first public appearance as a couple at an ER-event. Kerry and Sandy’s relationship was the first time a gay couple received the same treatment as the straight couples on ER, as Sandy and Kerry were allowed to show more affection and kiss, which previous characters hadn’t done.
Kerry and Sandy continued their relationship throughout all of Season 9, however, their relationship take a step back again as Sandy only made three appearances during the season, and only for a few minutes each. Kerry got pregnant with their baby, but later miscarried. She then asked Sandy to carry their baby, but Sandy refused as she felt it would impact her career as a firefighter.
In Season 10, Sandy had changed her mind and the two have a son named Henry, who was born prematurely and had to spend some time in the hospital. Soon after their son is born, Sandy was killed in the line of duty, leaving a devastated Kerry a single mother. She then has to go thru a brutal custody battle over Henry with Sandy’s parents, who had never accepted Sandy’s sexuality. Kerry were eventually able to settle with the Lopez’s and took primary custody of Henry, while Sandy’s parents would take care of him while she was at work.
In Season 11 Kerry, who had been adopted as an infant, met her birth-mother. Her biological mother turned out to be a conservative Christian and the two clashed over faith and sexuality after Kerry showed her a picture of herself, Sandy, and Henry explaining: “This is my family, Helen. This woman’s name is Sandy Lopez and she’s not my nanny, she was my partner…my lover, my wife, the mother of my child. She was a firefighter and she died last year.” Her mother then instantly insists they pray together. Aside from that brief storyline, Kerry almost exclusively played a supporting role during the season and was frequently absent from episodes. This continues throughout season 12.
This trend continues in Season 13 as well, however, Kerry did get a love interest in TV producer Courtney. The two meet when Courtney is doing a segment on the hospital, Courtney recruited Kerry to film more segments together and the two eventually start dating. At the end of the season Courtney and Kerry move to Miami together with Kerry’s son Henry, after both are offered a job at a TV channel there.
Kerry then returned for a brief appearance in the series final, although she didn’t mentioned Courtney she said she was in a hurry to get back to Miami, so presumably they were still in a relationship when the series ended. Something actress Laura Innes said she believed to be true in an extensive interview with AfterEllen.com where she talked about her character’s storylines and developments throughout all of ER’s seasons.
Although Kerry Weaver herself was not an instantly sympathetic character, and the show did receive some criticism for making the least liked character the lesbian, the character grew and she was well loved by the time the show ended. Even though the show did suffer from some serious tropes in its treatment of Kerry’s storylines at times, it received praise for the way it, on prime time television, portrayed the homophobia she and her partners faced with sensitivity and an eye for the realistic struggles then faced by LGBT couples.
Read more: Interview with Laura Innes
Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes
Relationship story arc with a man: Yes
Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No
Storyline during sweeps? Yes, most impotant relationship milestones happend during a sweeps period
[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.
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