Jeanie Boulet - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

Introduced in season 1, episode 14 "Long Day's Journey", Jeanie Boulet was initially a recurring character involved in the story arc of the regular character, Dr Peter Benton (played by Eriq La Salle). During the first season, Jeanie's storyline centred on her adulterous affair with Benton, which developed after he employed her to care for his senile mother — Jeanie was unhappy in marriage to a philandering husband named Al (played by Wolfgang Bodison and Michael Beach). Benton was depicted as a talented, "self-assured" but "brooding", defensive and serious doctor. Contrastingly, Jeanie was portrayed as emotional, caring and sensitive. Reuben has described Jeanie as "strong-willed, sharp and intelligent, but, has a dry sense of humor. She knows exactly what she's doing professionally, but she has a nurturing side, too." The personality differences between the characters lead to several clashes on-screen initially, as both have different ideas about what's best for Benton's ailing and progressively senile mother. In episode 20 "Full Moon, Saturday Night", Jeanie orders for Benton's mother to be held in restraints to prevent injury; Furious, Benton removes the restraints, leading her to fall from her bed, and Benton and Jeanie grow closer as he subsequently accepts her guidance on how to care for his mother. In his book, Bedside Manners: George Clooney and ER, author Sam Keenleyside comments on the scenes, saying that the storyline was poignant, but that "it gets lost in all the mechinations of the rest of the show." The beginning of a blossoming romance saw a change in Benton's disposition over the following episodes, Keenleyside notes that he "seems to be thawing It's well-worth asking what's brought all this on, and the answer seems to be — if his dinner with Jeanie is any indication — that he's a young doctor in love. Whether he continues his nice-guy routine while he plays second fiddle to Jeanie's husband remains to be seen, but giving Benton a love-interest, no matter how ill-fated, will offer his character some much needed life outside the hospital." As the first season drew to a close in episode 25 "Everything Old is New Again", Benton is shown to be keen for their relationship to progress, asking Jeanie to leave her husband; by contrast Jeanie is reticent and pulls away, leaving the future of their relationship unclear. According to Keenleyside, this was a deliberate "loose thread left dangling to pull back on to sofas next season." He predicts, "expect to see them together next September; that way the writers can gloss over all the messy in-between stuff and get right to the romance for the new season."

Jeanie progressed to regular character status by season 2. As the season came under way, it was revealed that her affair with Benton still continued, unbeknown to her husband, leaving Benton's authoritarian personality "uncomfortably weakened" as the third member of a love triangle. When Jeanie refused to leave her husband, the relationship ended on bad terms, setting up the next chapter in Jeanie's story as she finds employment as a Physician Assistant (PA) at the serial's focal setting of County Hospital's ER. This leads to hostilities from a dishevelled Benton, who proceeds to make her working life a "living hell", until she confronts him. In summary of the plot, Keenleyside noted that "it's nice to see Jeanie being allowed to move beyond the quiet forcefulness that has thus far marked her relationshsip with Peter, and it's even better to see Benton with his tail between his legs for a change." As season 2 progressed, Jeanie was given storylines independent of Benton, allowing further character development as she interacts between other characters, staff and patients. This move was praised by Keenleyside, who commented, "this brief look at Jeanie, free from Benton's brooding presence, indicates that ER is definitely the place for her character. If she's allowed to continue to develop her own character, instead of being forced into Benton's background, she could become a complement to Carter. Like Carter, she cares about her work, but she's not afraid to stand up for herself — especially when Benton is in her way." However, he does note the Jeanie is perhaps "thrust to the forefront too mechanically. She is forced to carry a heavier story load than her character is capable at this point." Episode 21 of season 2, "Take These Broken Wings", marked the beginning of one of Jeanie's notable storylines when her husband Al was admitted to the ER and subsequently diagnosed as HIV positive. As the second season drew to a close, Jeanie's HIV status was left in question, as was Dr Benton's.

In the opening episode of season 3, "Dr. Carter, I Presume?", ER writers dropped the "requisite bombshell" that Jeanie had tested positive for HIV, while Benton had tested negative. Jeanie decides to manage her illness in secrecy, refusing to divulge her status to her employees, a decision Benton disapproves of and he attempts to have her banned from treating patients with open wounds, although he falls short of revealing her secret. Jeanie's decision not to reveal her serostatus to her employees was the result of an encounter with a seropositive patient in the AIDS outpatient ward at County Hospital. The man, realising Jeanie worked at the hospital, urged her to seek treatment for her HIV elsewhere, due to negative repercussions that may occur in the workplace. As a result of this, Jeanie is forced to pay for her HIV cocktail medication herself.

In addition to the professional and medical implications of Jeanie's health status, the romantic implications were also explored later on in season 3. Keenleyside comments, " quietly reluctant decision not to go out with the friend of a patient hits just the right tone, registering not only her disappointment at having to pass up this opportunity, but also her realization that she may never be able to accept another. The counterpart to this scene, provided by Benton's tantalizing encounter with his former girlfriend, Carla, drives home the pain of situation very powerfully, although a deeper look at the romantic challenges facing people with HIV would still be very much welcome."