Hi, character development! Welcome to Private Practice. I hope you're settling in for a long stay at Oceanside Wellness, because when you're around, this show is so much better. Downright enjoyable, even! I'm finally starting to feel like this thing is going somewhere. To read my thoughts and add your own, just read more

In addition to character development, we got something new this week: a coherent theme! The episode began with Sam demonstrating his amazing mind-body connection theory before a live studio audience, and all of the cases from there on out had some relation to mental issues expressing themselves as physical problems: the woman with Crohn's Disease whom the hospital folks and even her own mother thought was faking; the kid who was, literally, lovesick; the older woman who thought her husband was randomly falling asleep because he didn't really love her.

All of this was set against the background of Addison's party, a gathering that nobody (save for Dell) wanted to attend. I wish we would have learned a little more about why they didn't RSVP — Violet, at least, admitted that she was done with new people — but maybe it boils down to the fact that Addison's still an outsider. I'm finding her personality inconsistent — one minute, she's tough Addison, the next she's weak and needy (despite Pete's insistence that Addison "doesn't need"). But for the moment, I'm willing to chalk that up to her being in a new place.

I thought the whole Addison-wants-a-baby storyline had been dropped too abruptly, so I'm glad that it resurfaced. Now she knows Naomi lied to her, and she still craves the hope that goes along with knowing there's a chance, however slim, that she could have a baby. Does this renew Addison's quest to get pregnant? (And is that where all this sexual tension with Pete is going? Their hookup seems pretty inevitable.)

A few other thoughts:

  • Violet still bugs. I know it's a bylaw of television that every shrink must have personal problems, but this is just annoying. And now Cami's given her a little shred of hope that Allan might still be interested. Greeeeeat.
  • I'm really glad we're seeing more of the interactions between the doctors at Oceanside as they collaborate on cases. This episode was the first time I really got a feel for how the clinic works.
  • Shonda Rhimes has a thing with Jane Does who turn out to be named Rebecca, huh?

  • My love for Cooper continues to grow, even though he's still this gross guy who has sex with women he meets online. This is two weeks in a row that we've seen him being a good doctor and a good friend. I'm even rooting for him to be honest with Violet, even though it's such a cliche.
  • Am I evil for laughing when the sleeping man fell over the first time? Yeah, probably.
  • Yay for seeing the doctors hang out beyond the confines of Oceanside for once! Might they actually evolve into characters with full lives and logical feelings? A girl can dream.

Your thoughts? Anyone else kind of feeling the Private Practice magic (or, at least, non-mediocrity)? And can someone defend Violet?

Photos copyright 2007 ABC, Inc.

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