Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: Jan 20, 2009
MSRP: $39.98

Stars: Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Robert Fuller, Julie London, Bobby Troup,

Action! Adventure! Whumping!

Whumping? Fan fiction devotees know what I’m talking about. The word “whumping” was first used in connection with Stargate SG1 fan fiction to refer to the frequent tendency of authors to write stories that involve serious injury to the character of Daniel Jackson. This sadistic practice became known as “Danny whumping”. Google the word and here’s what you get:

“Whumping is a term describing a genre of fan fiction where a character is
physically, emotionally and/or mentally abused. Whumping belongs to the subset
of fan fiction known as hurt/comfort (which also includes the sub-genres angst
(mental hurt/anguish) and smarm.”

There are plenty of anxious moments for our heroes in Emergency! Season Five. In the fourth episode, Chet Kelly is nearly blown up at a warehouse fire and Roy Desoto is almost Roman-candled to death in fireworks factory fire. In a later episode, Captain Stanley is electrocuted by a downed power line. Even Dr Kelly Brackett at Rampart
General Hospital gets into the act when he suffers a toxic reaction to being bitten by a catfish in his newly installed aquarium. But these little diversions don’t really qualify as whumping since none of them leads to any real angst. There are no tense moments in the hospital waiting room, no beside vigils, accompanied by the “beep, beep” of the heart monitor.

Ah, but the final episode of the season will bring smiles to the faces of Emergency! fan fiction aficionados. Station 51 is called out in the middle of the night to minister to a catatonic bar patron. A bit of smelling salts wakes up the drunken woman but, as the paramedics are exiting the building, Johnny Gage is spectacularly hit by a car. Ah! Johnny whumping!

Season Five is a great watch for all fans of the show, not just those who love to see Johnny in distress. We get a little more variety in the action as Johnny and Roy spend some time out of their squad. In one episode, they are called to aid the coast guard in a sea rescue of a man who falls off a cliff on Catalina Island. In another, while on a flight from Sacramento, they must attend to a fellow passenger who is suffering from a heart attack. We also see more of the staff at Rampart than we have in previous seasons.

The collection includes one extra: An Adam-12 episode titled Lost and Found in which Johnny and Roy appear briefly.

Read Naomi’s review of season four.

Order season five of Emergency! from Amazon.

Naomi J. Krueger
For more reviews from Naomi, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.