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Private Practice: A New Crossover and Violet's Future

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:50:49 -0700

The last thing I was expecting from Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes when a bunch of reporters descended on the Private Practice set on Tuesday was a spoiler. But she must have been feeling generous toward the TCA crowd, because we didn't even have to work for our news: Dr. Miranda Bailey of Seattle Grace (the Emmy-nominated Chandra Wilson) will be guest-starring on the third episode of Private Practice's third season.

I suppose it would be too much to ask, though, for Rhimes to reveal exactly why the crossover takes place. The most we could get was that she'll be "performing a very interesting medical procedure" and "will have her own comments about what's going on" over at Oceanside Wellness. I like the sound of that second idea: I think the Southern California doctors could use a patented Bailey smackdown every now and then.

The Bailey visit wasn't the only thing I learned on the set. What follows is spoilery, but if you want to hear details of Violet's fate after that freaky season finale and what's up next for Addison's romantic life, just read more.

Amy Brenneman was on set, so it was clear pretty quickly that Violet survives the attack by her unstable patient. But that doesn't mean she's unharmed. "She gets hurt. Big time," Brenneman said. "She is saved - I mean, she survives. But she gets hurt. It's ugly." We won't have to wait long to find out the details: The first episode of the new season picks up just 20 minutes after the last scene we saw.

After that, though, the episodes will jump a bit forward in time, and things in Violet's relationship with Cooper won't be the same. "There is an emotional fallout for him," Brenneman said, explaining that not only are Violet and Cooper no longer roommates in the first part of this season, they haven't even really spoken for a while. Added Paul Adelstein: "Cooper is kind of avoiding her. He's avoiding going back to the house. . . . He's trying to pay a lot of attention to her, but he feels this guilt that he can't even quite identify, I think." Adelstein said Cooper thinks he's just giving Violet space to bond with her baby - which means, yes, there is a baby!

Some other hints about the new season:

Cooper and Charlotte are still together and just as dysfunctional as ever - and the stress of dealing with their own reactions to Violet's trauma isn't doing them any favors.
Naomi really has moved downstairs to the other practice (her on-set office was practically empty).
"There's a lot of Pete" and Violet, Brenneman said - though Sheldon will also continue to appear. The first episode of the season involves a lot of flashbacks with Violet and Pete, including Pete's early days at Oceanside.
Addison is going to start the season single. "And maybe to a comedic extent," Kate Walsh said. "There might be a pet cat involved."

Will you follow Bailey to Private Practice? Do you have thoughts on what's next for Violet? And are you glad Addison will try to be happily single for a change?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 22, "Yours, Mine, and Ours"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:30:56 -0700

So, I wouldn't say a whole lot gets resolved on the season finale of Private Practice. The episode is basically one big custody battle, with characters fighting for control of their children, their lovers, and their entire lives. And then, in the second half, it becomes a bit of a horror movie. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

Guys, this twist with Violet and Katie and the baby is messed up! As Amy Brenneman hinted, Violet's baby's in trouble - as is Violet herself. Katie turns up at Oceanside and appears immediately to be off her meds, almost manic. But Violet and Pete can't come up with any reason to have her hospitalized - a decision Violet pays for dearly when Katie shows up at her house and drugs her, paralyzing her from the neck down. Soon, Katie's whipping out surgical equipment, preparing to take back the baby she believes Violet stole. Logic doesn't stop her (Katie seems oddly aware of what a crazy thing she's doing), and Violet can't fight back. And of course Cooper chooses this one time to pick Charlotte over Violet, meaning he doesn't discover the gruesome scene. As the show fades to black, Katie's getting ready to cut, with Violet seemingly resigned to the fact that she'll die. All she can do is beg Katie to be good to her boy. On the Shonda Rhimes scale (remember, the woman killed Meredith Grey, put a bomb in a body, and brought back Denny), how crazy is this?

What bad timing, too, because Violet had finally just resolved to be happy. And what makes her happy? Being with Pete. Sheldon all but tells him to man up and fight for Violet if he wants her, and Pete - despite a rambling speech about how fighting hurts his knuckles - finally does. I'm relieved that she and Pete at least get to kiss before the Katie stuff goes down. Poor Sheldon, though, doesn't get his answer from Violet before the episode is up. Because she's not answering her phone. Because she's currently paralyzed from the neck down. So it goes.

Meanwhile, I'm so angry at Addison that I could spit. It's not like we never knew on Grey's Anatomy that Addison could do bad things - I mean, she cheated on Derek with his best friend. But I am just not OK with any of this Noah stuff. Hooking up with her pregnant patient's husband while the patient is practically giving birth oversteps so many boundaries, I can't even count them. I don't care if they haven't done anything wrong in the Biblical sense, as Addison claims. Noah's a creep, Addison's playing right into it, and I don't want to watch the two of them anymore, period.

In other news:

Naomi's patient mixup, whether the fault of her or Dell or some combination, is so horrible to imagine. Its resolution is awfully tidy as far as the two pregnant women go, but it has to put doubts in Naomi's head about her own abilities as a doctor.
Which doesn't stop her from taking the job at the rival practice, presumably ousting Charlotte. Naomi feels stuck in neutral, working at a practice she doesn't control anymore with a man she doesn't love anymore - even though, apparently, he still loves her, as he blurted out in this episode.
I can't decide if I pity Charlotte or think it's about time someone tells her nobody likes working for her.
Dell gets his daughter back, thanks to Sam, who kind of apologizes for giving Dell a hard time by giving him the money Heather wants (for drugs, I assume). I hope this means fewer tortured moments for Dell next season.

Did this cliffhanger make you want to come back next season - or want to turn off the show for good because of its sheer ridiculousness? Will Naomi really leave? Will Cooper conveniently realize he left something in the house and return to save the day?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 21, "What You Do For Love"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:30:23 -0700

Private Practice is back and more intense than ever. The patients in this week's episode are actually more compelling to me than the doctors' lives - save for maybe Pete's little romance with Idina Menzel, and that's just because I like Idina so much.

Violet is now super-pregnant and nobody knows who the dad is, Addison is completely unable to avoid Noah and is once again paired with him on a medical case, and Naomi grapples with an offer that might be too good to refuse. Oh and there's a marriage proposal. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

Seriously, these patients! Where to begin? How about with Addison's pregnant lady: I was a little stunned when the husband wheels in dead, but then my mind went straight to, "The brother killed him." The show delivers actual suspense when Charlotte breaks up the heart surgery party with her common sense. I love how she's all, "Guys? A husband with the same blood type shows up dead - just when his wife desperately needs a heart transplant? Maybe we should think about foul play?" And then the brother basically gives Addison a nonanswer when she confronts him about potentially committing the murder: "So I wanted something I couldn't have . . . don't tell me you haven't felt that way." Um, OK, but yes or no, buddy?

And then there's Sam's Mary Kay Letourneau. I knew something was up just because they picked an actress who looked sort of creepy to play the part. The double-standard on Sam's part was killing me, and Naomi is right: what if it had been their daughter having sex with a male teacher twice her age? He would freak out! But since the teacher's a woman, he and Cooper entertain her declarations of love (although Coop isn't too happy about it). Give me a break. I think the biggest case for reporting her - that they don't even mention! - is the repeat-offender issue. What if the next time this teacher strikes, it's a 14-year-old?

Some more thoughts:

I'm telling you, Charlotte is a better woman than I am. I just don't know if I could wake up in the morning to my boyfriend sitting with another woman in his lap (even if they're practicing lamaze). I loved this line though: "I get my itches scratched in the morning." Ha!
Ugh. Dell being moody is getting old. I'm glad Pete finally stood up to him.
I'm officially doing an about-face and am warming to Noah. He's sexy when he's being a doctor, and he and Addison work well together. Maybe the absence of, you know, a wife made me less annoyed.
Boo to Pete breaking up with Idina's character. I like the cute nod to her real-life marriage when Sam says, "Nice . . she's a . . . I like her."
Are you guys at all charmed by Sheldon's nerdiness yet? I feel bad being so grossed out by him, but I'm just not into this love triangle.

The big twist at the end is that the guy trying to recruit Naomi to head up his state-of-the-art, non-HMO special hospital thing is also Charlotte's boss. So is this new clinic really just Oceanside's competitor? Is this guy looking to fire Charlotte and replace her with Naomi? Also, Sheldon's proposal? How do we feel about that?! What did you guys think of this episode?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 20, "Do The Right Thing"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:30:30 -0700

You know what? I really enjoyed myself while watching this week's episode of Private Practice. There's good stuff going on, including Dell's self-destructive downward spiral into the world of ladies who wear ripped-up stretch pants, Violet and Charlotte's BFF relationship morphing into more of a frenemies situation, Idina Menzel, and a pregnant tween. Oh, and Addison and Noah are still working hard ~~not to boink each other~~ to save a baby. Ready to chat? Just read more.

So it's kind of hard to hope for Violet and Pete to get together for reals (which has been my secret wish, because Sheldon? Blech!) when someone as beautiful and awesome as Idina shows up. She is the mother of a cute little moppet with allergies who's a patient of Pete's. He wrestles with the ethics around dating a patient's mother and then basically decides to go for it. By the way, I love all the well-intentioned debates that go on in this office, but, like, why bother? Everyone usually ends up just self-indulgently doing exactly what they want to do anyway. Violet, meanwhile, admits to Charlotte that Pete's dating makes her jealous, and Charlotte takes that as a sign to share intimate details about herself, including the fact that she had sex with Archer. This, of course, sends Violet on a self-righteous rant about what a terrible person Charlotte is, which I found to be unfair.

While the ladies in his life bicker, Cooper is extremely distressed by his 12-year-old pregnant patient and angry at the mother who allowed the child to have sex in her home under supervision. Cooper wants to call social services (especially after he spots the "sexting"-ripped from the headlines!) but pretty much everyone else tells him that's a little extreme. What do you think? Then Dell weighs in on the topic by projecting his own issues: "Motherhood is not the trump card! What's wrong is wrong." Dell is angry! And acting out! And showing up late and having sex in the office! Naomi tries to talk some sense into him, but it's Sam who lays down the law in the end (how cute is Sam when he's laying down the law? Sigh). I keep thinking someone should call the cops on Dell's ex - isn't that what people do when a child has been kidnapped? But maybe it's not kidnapping without legal custody papers . . .

More thoughts:

Oh boy. It's one thing to have eyes for your patient's husband and baby-daddy but another to feel obligated to save their marriage. I feel like Addison is too intimately involved in the details of this dysfunctional couple's life to be at all attracted to this guy, but clearly, that's just me, because she makes out with Noah in the end ("I'm not a cheater!").
Hey, Duncan is cute! This is the first guy I've liked for Naomi in awhile. Do you think that Sam should have told him what was going on before taking the stand?
Sometimes Violet sounds like a walking, talking educational pamphlet: "Adolescent sexuality isn't something you can say no to."
The scene where Charlotte shows up in her sex outfit and chats with Violet really is great. I love when she pulls out the whipped cream!
I also really enjoyed Charlotte's description of Violet: "Violet's crazy and hostile and needy and she drives me up the wall . . . but she needs you, Coop." It's really hard to hate Charlotte these days.

Did you enjoy this one as well?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 19, "What Women Want"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:00:41 -0700

I feel really lukewarm about this week's episode of Private Practice. On the one hand, there are surprisingly cute moments, including the budding friendship between Charlotte and Violet. On the other hand, there's a lame, super-crazy patient who I stopped caring about halfway through the episode.

And then, somewhere in the middle, there is this flirtation between Addison and Noah, the doctor married to Addison's pregnant patient. Last week I was annoyed that Addison would enter into a cheating type of relationship again, given her history, but now I'm mostly weirded out by Noah. I'll tell you why if you read more.

Addison does her best to control herself, and even tries (unsuccessfully) to pass the pregnant wife onto another doctor. Noah spends the whole episode making a case for why he can't control his emotions and - get this - he loves her! Hold up! Noah spent like, two days, making eyes at Addison and now he's in love with her? He says something about how he thought he loved his wife and is trying to be a good man by sticking with her but, you know, turns out he doesn't love her. So why on earth would Addison trust a man who said he thought he loved the woman he married but that turned out to be a mistake? The same guy who says he's in love with Addison after, what, three encounters? Um, sure you are, dude.

I'm also confused by the Dell story line. Do you think he blames Naomi for his wife disappearing with his daughter? She advised him not to call the mother of his child while he was angry, so I'm wondering if he resents that advice. Also, I thought it strange that he mopes around the office and talks to the crazy lady after discovering his wife is gone instead of say, calling the cops. That's kidnapping, I believe, and he might be wasting valuable time tracking the mom down. I don't know, maybe I'm being too pragmatic.

Finally, I'm loving Violet and Charlotte as friends. Somehow, compared to Violet's neediness and selfishness these days, Charlotte's starting to look cool and fun. Cooper wanted them to get along but then is weirded out when he finds Charlotte painting Violet's toenails. Be careful what you wish for, my friends! Also, Pete finally took interest in Violet's ultrasound, therefore he's taking a risk with his feeling that the child is his, which probably means the writers will make it Sheldon's. Can we all just pray Violet and Sheldon didn't make a baby? *Shudder*

Some more thought from this episode:

Sam broke it off with Sonya and now he's having a hard time setting Naomi up with other men. Poor guy is not finding it easy to move on.
Speaking of, I love when Naomi asks Sam if she looks slutty and he says she does, a little, and she goes, "Well it's not like I'm looking for a husband!" Ha!
How sad is that HPV couple? That is scary! And do you think that girlfriend is a horrible person for running out on her boyfriend? Or is it kind of understandable?
The best ever is Naomi showing up to work hungover after a big night at the bar with everyone ("Picking up people in bars is a bad idea.").
Violet's having a boy!

What did you think of this episode?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 18, "Finishing"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:30:51 -0700

This week, Private Practice is back with a new love interest for Addison that I find really frustrating, but we'll get into more of that later.

On the other side of the spectrum is Naomi who is still coping with the fact that Archer broke her heart, and she dives headlong into meddling in Sam's relationship with Sonya (but kind of in a good way). Other than that, it's same old same old: Violet doesn't know who the father of her kid is, Cooper and Charlotte have a hard time loving each other, etc. To chat about it, read more.

OK, let's cut to the chase: Really?! They're giving Addison a flirtation/relationship with a married man? Ugh! Honestly, hasn't this woman been involved in enough infidelity for one lifetime? I was just so shocked to learn that this new mysterious doctor flirting up a storm with Addison is married . . . to her sweet pregnant patient. When Addison walks out of that bar with Naomi she's at least making some kind of effort not to fall into this crap-trap with a guy she barely knows, but the previews from next week make things look bad. I guess I'm just curious what we're supposed to do with a character like Addison. She cheated in her marriage and she couldn't really end things with SWAT guy until she messed around with Wyatt. How are we supposed to root for this person? OK, deep breaths. Maybe I'm too judgey right now. She is human, after all . . . no, but seriously, how long are we supposed to sympathize with Addison when it comes to her search for love?

And stepping down from my soap box. Another jaw-dropping moment for me? When we learn Sam accidentally called out Naomi's name while having sex with Sonya! Poor Sam is in the dog house and it's pretty cute, but holy cow that is such a horrible (and hilarious) mistake to make. I'm impressed Sonya seems to move on from that. Naomi gets super weird and starts planning their vacations and dinners for Sam to help make it better between them until Dell points out that she's putting all her energy into Sam's relationship to avoid facing her own heartache. Oh, Dell. Such an oracle of wisdom, that guy. Oh, and I love that Dell refers to obsessively searching the web for vacation spots as "resort porn."

Finally, Pete and Sheldon gang up on Violet to demand paternity testing. After lecturing her with some tough talk, Pete exits the room and poor, sad Sheldon is left standing there to admit, "I have no defining exit line . . . so . . " Also, I know Cooper and Violet are super best friends and stuff but he's always grabbing her belly and talking to it. I would really hate to have a boyfriend who did that to another woman, to be honest. Charlotte tells Cooper to stop loving her and to stop being so good ("I screwed Archer's brains out . . . stop loving me!") but I kept thinking, Charlotte isn't all bad. She definitely has a case to make against Cooper's total and utter devotion to Violet.

Some other thoughts:

Another intense line from Charlotte's meltdown I can't get out of my head: "It makes me sick, you loving me. It makes me literally sick to my stomach!" Jeez.
Sad! In the end Sam dumps poor Sonya, saying it probably isn't a good sign that he's still thinking of his ex-wife during sex. Probably a good call.
Neither of the patient stories does much for me, but that little girl Cooper helps kind of killed me with cuteness. I mean, her sad hospital eye makeup is pretty bad but I kept thinking, "Aw, what a cute little girl."
And I think Addison's flirtation with Noah is pretty darn adorable, actually, so it's too bad it ends in an icky place. I just love when he passes Addison in the hallway and she's all, "Hey!" and he just walks by and then realizes he didn't recognize her without the surgical cap. It's a funny moment.

Do you think I have a point with my Addison rant? Or should I chillax? Are you as frustrated with this new guy as I am? What did you think of this episode?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 17, "Wait and See"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:30:37 -0800

After a couple weeks of serious cross-over drama, Private Practice pretty much gets back to normal on this week's episode. Of course, there are issues with a patient's baby, plus a small cancer patient side story for Pete. The real drama, though, centers around Archer apparently feeling well enough to get up to no good with the ladies, just as Naomi assumes they're boyfriend and girlfriend. Oh - and a serious Charlotte/Cooper twist goes down that will likely alter their already tenuous relationship. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

So after a super-intense showdown in the Seattle Grace OR, Addison is back to the warm glow of her beachy lifestyle, sipping wine in the moonlight with Naomi. The ladies hardly dwell on the fact that their brother/lover nearly lost his life presumably just days before and jump right in to giggly boy talk. Naomi's convinced Archer's now her boyfriend even though, to be sorta fair to Archer, we didn't see them have the old define-the-relationship chat. But as soon as Addison heads downstairs - OMG! - Archer is making out with some lady (Addison calls her old, too!). Right away, Addison covers for him - which, I don't know, she lets Archer guilt her a lot.

I think Addison should have told Naomi straight away. It's one thing if you bump into your brother at say, the zoo, and he's with someone else on a date. Then he could say something like, "Naomi and I never agreed to be exclusive, and I'm dating, and you should stay out of this." But when your brother, whose life you just saved, is being slutty and bringing back randoms to your hallway to grope when the odds are pretty stellar that you will be home (given it's your house), I say no mercy! Side with the friend. But you tell me.

Meanwhile, Sheldon somehow convinces Violet to cohost a couples therapy group. They look terribly awkward from the start, and then things get crazy awkward when people in the group have affairs with each other. Violet says a bunch of coded stuff in the group that's supposedly directed at the couples but is probably really something about what she's feeling inside. Sometimes PP gets frustratingly cryptic, and the subtext of what the doctors are saying isn't clever - it's just annoying.

Oh! And Charlotte's still super frustrated that Cooper moved in with his needy friend instead of with her, and she makes a little effort, but he still turns her down. So then, holy cow, she has sex with Archer. Or at least they do some heavy petting and Addison catches them. Archer is such a d-bag!

Some other thoughts:

Not to be a stickler, but babies born with ambiguous sexualities are kind of big deal. I'm pretty sure most parents would consult a bunch of doctors who are experts on the topics and probably do a little research before they made any big decisions. Instead, these parents rely solely on Naomi and Addison? Hrmm.
Do you guys like Sam's girlfriend? She's almost too good to be true. That's a little boring. I kind of want her to make Sam draw some lines when it comes to Naomi.
Archer and Addison's fight was intense and full of daddy issues. Were you buying Archer's excuse that he can't help but be like their father?
Do guys care much for Sheldon and Violet? Did his little chat with her move you at all?.

I'm glad Naomi isn't mad at Addison in the end, I couldn't take another fight between those two. Are you cool with Cooper forgiving Charlotte? These two have so many issues sometimes I wonder if their relationship is more effort than it's worth. What did you think of last night?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 16, "An Honest Mistake"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:30:44 -0800

On this week's Grey's Anatomy, fallout continues from Derek's surgical mistake a couple of weeks back. It was, as the episode title says, an honest mistake, but when surgeons make mistakes, they hold people's lives in their hands. This episode got pretty intense at times; are you ready to talk about it? Just read more.

Here's one thing we know for sure about Derek: He likes to fix things. And here's another thing we know: He hates making mistakes. He probably does believe, deep down, that he's a surgical god. And, like Meredith tells Addison, losing all those patients during the clinical trial has made him care even more. But in this case, that caring backfires. It was one little mistake that caused all of Jen's complications, and Derek is determined to fix it, even when the fixes would leave her with a life not worth living. And so I'm on Addison's side for this one: Jen was already gone; the least they could do is save the baby. (Which they do? I think?) But that's little comfort to Jen's husband, who blames Derek for Jen's death. To him, Derek's not a god; he's not even a guy who tried hard. He's just a murderer.

So, um, Mark picked the worst possible time to tell Derek about dating Lexie, huh? You'd think maybe he could have been a little more aware of what was going on, but regardless, Derek ends up punching him. And punching him again. Had Owen not run in, I think the two of them could have pummeled each other for an hour. Talk about some misplaced anger. But it's a little sweet - if, OK, totally messed up - to see Lexie and Meredith taking care of their guys at the end.

The episode's other big story about the fallibility of surgeons comes from Cristina vs. "The Dinosaur" (Faye Dunaway), Seattle Grace's first female surgeon who's now slipping behind on her medicine. The two of them square off - not surprisingly, The Dinosaur doesn't like being told she's past her prime - but in the end, Cristina's right. After Owen tells her he was fired from the Army because they knew it was time for him to go before he did, she decides this is her last surgery.

Meanwhile, Bailey - who's rocking some new curly locks! - is trying to get her packet together for the pedes surgery fellowship, and the chief won't write her a letter. Or rather, he writes her a form letter, and she's mad: "I am Dr. Bailey. I am better than fine!" But he tells her no way is he going to write her a letter so he can abandon him; she was supposed to be the next chief. (Isn't pedes surgery still surgery, though?)

In other news:

The Dinosaur's statement about interns not learning anything gets echoed in Izzie's story. Izzie's blood sample - shock! - got messed up, and she's now playing Dr. House with the interns, giving them all her test results (anonymously, of course) and having them figure out what's wrong with her.
I seriously love Arizona Robbins. And I think I'd love her with Callie, because they're equally sharp-tongued: "I spend my entire day around newborns, so I try not to in my personal life." I got a chuckle out of Callie's big "I was in the Peace Corps! I cook!" speech getting stopped by Arizona introducing Callie to her date. Yeesh.
Izzie whining to Bailey about how the interns screw everything up is pretty classic considering how Bailey almost certainly said the same thing about Izzie.
I call overuse of dramatic drumbeats during the fight between Cristina and the Dinosaur. Come on, it wasn't that big a moment.
Owen wants to be around 40 years from now!

Were you on Derek's side or Addison's? Why didn't we ever meet the Dinosaur before? And on a scale of one to "soooooo dead," where's Izzie?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 15, "Before and After," and Private Practice Rundown: Episode 16, "Ex-Life"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:30:54 -0800

With a special crossover event comes a special crossover recap! On this week's two-hour Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice combo, Addison and Naomi (and eventually Sam) take Archer to Seattle Grace in the hopes that Derek can treat the parasites in Archer's brain. The old med school friends reminisce about the lives they used to have, before divorces and children and those other complicated things.

Meanwhile, Cristina learns about Owen's mystery woman, Alex starts to suspect something is really wrong with Izzie, and - back in Santa Monica - Violet faces one of her biggest fears about motherhood. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

When Grey's was just starting out, it was about two very distinct groups of people: the interns, who mostly acted like children, and the attendings, who were occasionally sloppy messes but were ultimately still adults. Private Practice, I always thought, was meant to put the spotlight on people in the "adult" phase, and the jury's still out on whether that experiment will be successful, but for these two episodes, the focus on the older crowd worked for me. I actually felt somehow cheated that we'd never gotten to see Addison, Derek, Naomi, Sam, and Mark interact before. Hearing the song Derek wrote for Addison and performed at their wedding, watching Addison test Derek's medical skills and having Derek rise to the challenge, hearing Archer list off all the sins he'd perpetrated on Addie's friends over the years - I guess it felt like what might have happened if Shonda Rhimes had decided to move all of Addison's favorite people to Seattle for the spinoff rather than take Addison away.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Addison and Naomi arrive at the hospital (followed in short order by Sam, who says he has no idea what he's doing there; that makes all of us) with Archer in tow, and Addison essentially asks Derek for a miracle. He doesn't think he can pull it off - and, for what it's worth, Archer hates Derek and so doesn't think he can do it, either - but for Addison, he'll try. Addison says she made Derek very small in her mind after the divorce so she could move on, but now she needs him to be the great and powerful surgeon she always pumped him up to be. And he is; he gets all the worms out (despite one dicey moment) and Archer's back to being an ass in no time.

But Derek's brilliance doesn't last: Performing Jen's aneurysm surgery right after Archer's procedure, he nicks part of her brain, and things go terribly wrong. Addison ends up involved, trying to treat Jen's sick son, and this time, she's the one who needs to be the surgical goddess. It's an interesting flip of the tables to see Addison up against the wall with Derek relying on her to save a life. And again, all seems to have gone right - until the final few minutes, in which Jen starts babbling nonsensically.

The medical stories are fine, but honestly, once Archer seemed to be stable, I stopped focusing on the medicine and started paying better attention to the relationships between these old friends. I loved Sam reconnecting with Derek, Sam saying he got a midlife crisis earring and Derek assuring Sam that Meredith isn't a midlife crisis girlfriend. I chuckled at Addison talking to Mark, having Mark respond in a professional manner, and Callie immediately stepping in to explain that Mark's met someone and thus wouldn't be responding as his typical lothario self. And I loved them dancing and drinking at the bar, like it really was the afterparty of some school reunion.

But beyond their stories, a ton of other things happened, too; here's a quick scoop:

Owen's mystery woman turns out to be his ex-fiancee, whom he dumped in a two-line email and then hadn't told he was back from war. In fact, Owen hasn't told anyone he's back from war, even his mother, because he doesn't want them to see the hardened person he's become.
Izzie's game for the interns is cute and clever - and makes no logical sense, but I'll ignore that - but it's mostly useful because it gives Alex another indication that something might be really wrong with Izzie. In addition to that whole dead-boyfriend thing, she now doesn't seem to be seeing very well. Alex loves her, but he really wants to run.

George helps get Sadie kicked out of the program! Or she quits - whatever - because she's exposed during the game for knowing nothing. She tells Meredith she'd hoped Mere would pull her through, and Mere tells her to grow up.
Sam has an asthma attack, and his friends theorize it's because he's freaking out over Naomi being with another man. But it's actually just because Bailey gave him an inhaler he was allergic to. Um, whoops?
The moment with Addison and Callie in the chapel is sweet: Callie offers up a prayer that serves to tell Addison she's kissing women now, then switches gears and assures Addison that "you're an amazing doctor who saves babies. God knows who you are."
I'm relieved that Charlotte finally gets why Cooper's moved in with Violet, even if she still doesn't completely agree with it. When Violet starts worrying that she, too, could develop postpartum depression, Cooper sweetly lists off the things he'll do to keep her rested and sane.
Addison: "We called Meredith the 12-year-old. What do we call Lexie, the preschooler?" Mark: "She's a woman."

Overall, I think the smaller moments in these episodes worked best for me, the ones where we got to see the friendships that brought Addison and Derek together and led Sam and Naomi to marry and form their practice in the first place. I'm relieved that Meredith didn't freak out over the rose petal and that Archer didn't die, big things that could have potentially thrown the whole story off course. I'm a little worried about the promos for next week, with all the "Surgeon . . . or God?" stuff, but we'll cross that bridge in a bit. For now, tell me: How did the first real installment of this crossover work out for you?

Private Practice Rundown: Episode 15, "Acceptance"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:31:01 -0800

After this week's Grey's Anatomy ends with Addison making an urgent phone call to Derek, we slide right into Private Practice, which repeats that phone call from Addison's perspective. The rest of the episode then shifts into flashback, as we relive the 14 hours before Addison's panicked call. To talk about it, just read more.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Addison was wondering what would make Archer move to Santa Monica unannounced, and now she knows: He'd been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and he wanted to be close to her while there was still time. I'm glad Naomi tells Addison that something's wrong; I couldn't see her being more loyal to a guy she slept with a few times than to her supposed best friend. Addison almost immediately switches into alpha mode: She's a fixer, and she's going to fix her big brother whether he likes it or not. But Archer might not have a choice: His suspected tumor is actually fast-growing parasites, and by the end of the episode, they've had to force him into a coma. That's when Addison calls Derek, and then a helicopter, and sets off for Seattle. This show has been about major ethical dilemmas all season, but has there been one bigger than when to give your comatose brother a difficult treatment against his previously expressed desires? Addison might be acting rashly, but I also feel for her; she doesn't want to let him go without a fight.

Meanwhile - presumably oblivious to all of this - Violet finally realizes she has to do something about this baby. She confides in Dell, who gives her an ultrasound and then talks her down from a panic attack, and she gets Pete and Sheldon in the room and confesses everything. Problem is, she's spent these past few days arranging everything for herself - deciding to keep the baby, allowing Cooper to move in - and that's not news Pete and Sheldon take well. They feel like they deserve more of a say, which . . . I don't know, Violet definitely could have handled things better, but right now she's the only one who knows she has a connection to the baby, so shouldn't they be her decisions? Anyway, I did get a kick out of their meeting later in Pete's office, where Sheldon launches into a spiel about the stages of grief and Pete just says, "I'm pissed off."

Cooper's off in his own storyline for most of the episode, taking care of a little girl whose parents ditched her at his office on the day of major surgery. OK, I don't care what kind of financial hardship you're under; a kid is not a piece of furniture. Ugh. Anyway, Cooper convinces Charlotte to break hospital protocol so the girl can still have her surgery (side note: Charlotte really has her own practice and her job at St. Ambrose?), but then the two of them wind up in a huge confrontation. Cooper admits that he moved in with Violet because she's pregnant, and Charlotte reacts icily - like, "all those first-kid moments should have been ours." Which is a bit of a leap, because until the wedding talk came up, they mostly just bickered and then had kinky sex, but at any rate, I guess we won't be getting a reconciliation anytime soon.

In other news:

This might be mean, but somehow I'm not surprised that kids never liked Sheldon.
I still have such a sense of doom about that baby Dell delivered.
Dell's response to either Pete or Sheldon being the father of Violet's baby: "Keepin' it local! That's cool."

So, next week Addison and co. head to Seattle to see if Derek can help Archer (aka, the real "crossover" part). What did you think of the setup?

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