Well I’ll say this for the writers of Private Practice, they seem to at least acknowledge that they’ve created some big, complicated messes with all the scatter-shot romantic pairings they’ve created this season.
While various characters — all intelligent medical professionals — have plunged, without thinking into ill-advised relationships, the last two episodes have labored to dramatize that difficulties will inevitably follow when a man and woman, who openly love two different people, get together and the woman falls for the man’s baby. You just know that the man’s baby mama is going to return. And then some serious stuff will hit the fan.
It seemed as though this episode was mainly filler, killing some time until Violet and Naomi both got back. It didn’t move the story lines forward all that much except to further deepen the bond between Addison and Lucas, and even have Pete declare his love for Addison … wait a second, Pete loves Addison? Love? They got together, not that long ago, under the premise that it would be a fling, acknowledging that Pete loved Violet and Addison loved Sam and that they were using one another for comfort. And suddenly Pete loves Addison, after saying, in his feverish state last week that he loves Violet? Don’t buy it. Seems contrived. Now if you said Addison loved Lucas, that I would buy.
On top of the love thing, this episode was cruel in the way it depicted Addison growing so close to Lucas (particularly after last week when she nursed the baby back to health), making Addison, Pete and Lucas look like a happy, little family. It’s only going to make Violet’s return — which occurred in the closing seconds of Private Practice’s “Eyes Wide Open” — all the more painful, especially when Addison had cited as a reason to be with Pete the fact that he has a baby when she can’t bear one. Addison will be in a whole lot of hurt by the time this all plays out, something that she knows, and that Amelia Shepherd noted, is written all over Addison’s face.
After Amelia made that observation about Addison being unhappy, I realized that all the doctors and psychiatrists who star in this show are unhappy with their romantic lives. Name me one person who is happy or in a stable relationship? Couldn’t come up with anyone, could you? The poster child for this perpetual state of unhappiness is Addison who, at the moment, is contributing to her own melancholy by knowingly allowing herself to bond with Lucas when she’s aware that Pete love Violet and that Violet will come back at some point. Addison’s just a placeholder, as is Sheldon for Charlotte who wants Cooper, as was Vanessa for Sam who wants Addison. At least Sheldon, and to some extent Vanessa, knew that to be true.
Next week’s episode, that’s one for which I’m anxious to see. You?
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Apr 02, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
