By J.E.
Last night’s episode of Private Practice was called “In Which Charlotte Goes Down the Rabbit Hole” — a title that I didn’t understand at all. I mean, of course I know it’s an Alice in Wonderland reference, but I have no idea how it connects to what happened to Charlotte (or anyone else in the ep, for that matter). At any rate, here’s a quick recap of the action.
Naomi/Addison: Naomi and Addison work together to treat a husband and wife who are having fertility problems. Naomi is puzzled because there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with either of them. Then Angie (the wife) comes in to speak to Naomi and Addie privately. She is deliberately trying not to get pregnant because she thinks she has Huntington’s disease (which is fatal). What’s more, there would be a 50-50 chance of passing the gene on to her children, and she certainly doesn’t want to do that.
Addie and Naomi convince Angie to get tested for Huntington’s so she’ll know if she really has something to worry about or not. The test comes back positive, and of course Angie is devastated. Her first reaction is to run away from Ray (her husband) in the hopes that he’ll end up hating her and will thus be able to move on with his life. But Naomi and Addison convince her to return. She tells Ray the truth, and they decide to go ahead and have a baby. They’ll worry about the effects of the disease when the time comes. For now, they’re just going to live their lives.
Cooper/Sam: Cooper sees a young patient named Tess Sullivan who comes in with a broken arm, while Sam treats Tess’s mother, a longtime patient suffering from MS. Tess has come in with numerous injuries in the past year, and while reviewing her file, Cooper can’t help but conclude that the injuries are consistent with child abuse.
When Cooper brings his findings to Sam, Sam flips out. He has known Mrs. Sullivan for years, and there’s no way she’s abusing her own daughter. Sam asks Cooper to hold off on calling Child Protective Services until Sam can talk to Mrs. Sullivan about everything. However, Cooper can’t bring himself to ignore the problem, so he calls CPS.
After visiting the Sullivan house, CPS determines that there should be a hearing so a judge can decide whether or not Tess can stay with her mother. Cooper testifies at the meeting, and the judge agrees with his findings. Tess is removed from the home, and Mrs. Sullivan admits that she hit her girl from time to time.
Later, Sam apologizes to Cooper and said he should have known.
Pete/Charlotte: Charlotte had been suffering from insomnia for three days and finally broke down to see Sam at OWC. Since Charlotte doesn’t want to take any drugs to help her sleep, Sam passes her on to Pete. He tries various things like magnets, massages, mud masks, and meditation music, but nothing seems to work. Pete then sends Charlotte to Violet, who learns that Charlotte has trouble connecting with people. After hearing that, Pete makes a concerted effort to remain positive and patient with Charlotte, and he finally gets her to fall asleep.
My Reaction: Once again, I found that I was only interested in one of the three storylines shown on Private Practice. I thought the abused girl plot with Cooper was well done, and even though I could predict where the whole thing was going as soon as Tess stepped into Cooper’s office for the first time, Paul Adelstein made it worth watching. I admit that I didn’t like him when he was on Prison Break, but I can’t get enough of him as Cooper now. He’s definitely my favorite character (besides Addison) on this show!
Where are the writers trying to go with the Dell storyline? He has had a crush on Naomi since the non-pilot/Grey’s Anatomy overlap that aired earlier this year, but it doesn’t look like the powers that be are actually going to give this flirtation any kind of real payoff. I mean, they keep referring to Dell as a “boy” and saying how young he is, so if Naomi did get with him, it would be kinda gross at this point. So what are they going to do? Just leave the crush out there and not deal with it?
I’m back to being off the Addison/Pete bandwagon this week. I thought they were flat in their scenes together, and their kiss wasn’t as hot as it should have been, given the location, timing, and preceding banter. Oh, and I wonder how their budding relationship will change now that they’ve both gone on record as stating they want opposite things?
Overall, this was kind of a boring episode for me. I know that this show is here to stay, but at the same time, I think the writers are still feeling their way around the characters and the different dynamics. Once everything falls into place, I’m sure Private Practice will turn out to be a great series!
Since I had a tremendous response to the Veronica Mars Season 3 DVD giveaway that I promoted last week, I’ve agreed to go ahead and hold another contest. This time, the prize up for grabs is the Complete Seasons 1 & 2 box set from the MTV reality hit Run’s House!