Season 4, Episode 8 - Distant Past

‘ll start with something a little off-topic. Because of the way the Thanksgiving holiday fell, I wasn’t able to watch Private Practice until the weekend. Did anyone else find it a bit off-putting that they used Joy Lauren, who plays Danielle on DH, in the part of the girl who has just had a baby and is wanting to give it up? I mean, of all the potential girls to play that part on Private Practice, they pick the one girl who plays almost the exact same role on another ABC series. I’m sure that confused more than a few viewers…it sure threw me for a minute.

Anyway, on to the review. The show seems to have been in a bit of a slump over the past few installments, but this week was a definite improvement.

Bree and Orson are still trying to become accustomed to life with a new baby. I guess I can really relate to this story…we have a child that just turned two, and I remember the “family bed”. Orson was a bit more uptight than I was, though. The stress seems to manifest itself the most in Andrew, who decides to move out so that Bree doesn’t have to be reminded of her “flawed” first attempt at motherhood with him. All this led up to a very heart-warming scene between him and her dealing with their mutual forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Mike’s drug addiction is coming to a head. When his young and attractive dealer comes to his house to collect, Susan decides to try to hook him up with Julie. I was actually pretty excited about this storyline, especially after Mike confronted him. The concept of the dealer (whose name escapes me) moving in on Mike’s family while Mike watches powerlessly is really intriguing, but, like all of my favorite stories, it was over too soon. While Mike’s confrontation and confession was exactly what I would have expected, I would have liked it to continue a bit.

Katherine was absent tonight, but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any story progression on that front. Adam had a stalker. That’s it. It’s starting to feel like they know that we don’t care about this plot and are just tacking bits on out of obligation.

The Carlos/Gabrielle/Victor plot remains my favorite. While I do get tired of the “We can’t go to the cops” mindset (come on, they always find out), the drama is getting thicker and thicker. And Victor’s chilling threat at the end was enough to get me really pumped about where the show is heading.

Alas, there is only one more episode before Desperate Housewives falls victim to that pesky strike, so the momentum that is being built could quickly come to a stop. Tonight, though, was good.

B+