(S02E20) “Do the Right Thing”

I was thrilled to see Taye Digg’s wife, Broadway star Idina Menzel on Private Practice tonight (in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the last we see of her), but I must admit, that’s about the only thrilling thing that came to Oceanside Wellness.

Mostly the show was full of love-sick drama. Who’s the primary guilty party? Addison of course. Could her and Dr. Noah’s on-again off-again romance get any more pathetic and over exaggerated? How could any one fall in love with a man like that? I mean he all but blamed Addison for his mistakes in missing his pregnant wife’s symptoms and causing her to almost die. How romantic. Worst off, you can tell she was super proud of herself after making out with him in the rain then pushing passion aside to shut the door in his face. Yea, way to go Addison, you sure put your own feelings aside for the greater good.

As for Cooper and his high opinions on how to parent children, well there’s our controversial subject for the day. A twelve year old child’s having sex so her mom puts her on the pill and in steps an authority figure with a different point of view. I’m not saying he was wrong in his opinions, and I’m also not saying he was right. What I am saying is that once again Private Practice manages to take a controversial subject and present it in a very opinion-skewed view. There’s nothing that bothers me more than when a show does that to an audience. When they make the decision on how they should feel for them.

(S05E17) “Elevator Love Letter”

Izzie’s alive with a brain that’s tumor free. MerDer have officially become an engaged couple and after nearly being choked in her sleep by Hunt, Cristina, against all desires, decides to call it quits. What an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

So what did we learn from tonight? Well, first off, Karev and George care very deeply for Izzie, but they sure are awful at showing it. Meredith, on the other hand, is completely selfish in my opinion as she turned everything that happened tonight practically into something concerning her. Will you marry me Grey? Ooh no, it’s not a good time. She might be right, but with all the guy’s been through and has coming up you wouldn’t think she’d make him jump through hoops. Also, worst of all, she wasn’t there for Cristina like she should have been. Yang didn’t need a bodyguard, she needed a friend.

Regardless of their faults though, it was still “a beautiful night to save lives” at Seattle Grace. We have a lot to look forward to people.

Scrubs is in an interesting place as a series. Its been kicked back and forth between NBC and ABC and while NBC was ready to bury it, ABC seems ready to give it a fair shake. ABC though has seen fit to try to push a new cast onto old fans of the series. The new interns have been a mixed bag. Some have fit right in, others seem to be stage props.

JD has now assumed the mantle of agitator that Dr Cox left behind when he became the new chief of medicine. Flush with his new sense of respect, JD proceeds to annoy and frustrate everyone around him. Elliot is tied up once again with Katie the intern who has no feelings. After Katie makes a wrong call on a biopsy test, she learns the reason why interns aren’t allowed to make those kinds of calls on their own. Sunny the overly positive intern comes into conflict with the Janitor. As usual, interactions with the Janitor are the comedic high point of the show.

Basically, other than JD getting his jollies being the new head man in the hospital, there was very little interaction with the traditional cast. ABC’s concerted effort to push the interns as possible replacements for Carla, Turk, JD and Elliot is pretty clear. I’m not sure if its a good idea. Though I think it makes a certain amount of sense, its really difficult to get an established audience to accept this many new cast members at once. If Scrubs isn’t careful, it could lose its built in audience without finding a new one to replace it.

(S02E18) “What Women Want”

Okay, so I was a little harsh when it came to last week’s episode of Private Practice. And before I began singing tonight’s episode’s praises, don’t think I’d take last week’s comments back for an instant. I stand by my critiques.

Turning towards a more positive light though, tonight’s episode really made us care about the characters on Private Practice. Not just one or two of them, a patient here or there, but everyone. That’s something they’ve been desperately missing.

Charlotte and Violet become fr-enemies, finally moving onto the next stage past “Mean Girl” and you could tell they were really trying to be bigger people. Sam showed some vulnerability when he had obvious jealousy towards Naomi’s new spree of dates. ( I hate to say though, I think that’s a lot more about what’s he’s missing than what she’s got.) Both Cooper and Violet struggle with very emotionally gripping medical cases and you feel for both patients with sympathy and regret. Then there’s Addison.

You know what? Here’s my get out of jail free card. We’ll pass on my complete disgust for Addison’s last comments. Moving onto Dell…

The boy cried. His ex packed up her bags and took their daughter with her leaving him distraught, angry and yet still putting other people before him as he uses his loss to encourage a patient to face hers. I’ve always liked that character. Hope his character continues to develop and we learn more about his child. I see a major custody battle in Private Practice’s future.

(S05E16) “Stand By Me”

Will the Grey’s Anatomy team be able to pull together and save Izzie’s life? That’s the question we were all left hanging onto after tonight’s intense episode.

A faceless man experienced the miracle of a second chance at life, with friends to help him through it. The interns turn on each other with such high-paced gossip and drama you would think the original cast was still in their infancy stages. Then of course there’s the chief who not only wins his way back into Derek’s confidence, but our hearts. And still, this was all nothing compared to the moment that spread like wildfire when Cristina holds  her scalpel mid-air and tells Karev and Bailey that Izzie may very well be dying.

The moment is passed on again when she admits to Izzie what she’s done and isn’t pushed away but instead thanks. Don’t we all sometimes find that we just need to lean on our friends to make the worst things seem bearable? Our final seen was that of Izzie being helped into a hospital gown then bed like a pale scared little child finally giving in to the inner strength of her elders while George, Meredith and the rest of the tight knit group lean in with sympathetic but determined glances.

I simply cannot wait till the next episode. If anyone has any good spoilers, go ahead, throw them my way .

(S02E17) “Finishing”

The title of tonight’s Private Practice should have been One Month Later. Not just once did that boring subtitle flash across the screen post-commercial, but twice. It’s as if the shows writers and producers were just as anxious to get to the end of the hour as I was.

So what did we learn after such a long break from Oceanside Wellness Practice? Not a whole heck of a lot. Addison was tempted into having an affair with one of her patients surgeon husband. She turned him down, showing once again that she’s trying to turn a new leaf. Though, judging from next week’s trailer, this leaf could fall from the tree fast. Sam and Sonja break up after the “you called out your ex-wife’s name during sex” scandal which we saw last week. Not exactly a surprise ending there. Violet is still pushing away both Peter and Sheldon turning towards Cooper as her only source of closeness. And finally, Charlotte is still pushing Cooper away and constantly changing her mind about the status of their relationship. If you were to ask me, it’d be more interesting if they just broke up, her character could leave the show and he could move on to someone a little less crazy. Problem solved.

Whereas Private Practice’s origin show Grey’s Anatomy finds it’s interest factor in the character’s story lines, Private Practice once again proves that it’s characters are generally to melodramatic to invest too much time in, however, their patients are still able to spark our interest. Now whether or not that’s enough to hinge an audience’s interest on, well, you can probably figure out my opinion on that now can’t you.

(S05E15) “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”

After tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy it might appear that not only do we have Izzie potentially on her way out the door, but Dreamy could possibly follow. Though his claim that he is no longer operating warrants suspicion towards his future, I’m not going to hold my breath. And honestly, if he left, as well as the other actors rumored to be heading out, who would be left? Meredith and Cristine I guess, but I don’t know how much girl-to-girl bickering and gabbing an audience could take from those two.

When it comes to the rumors about Katherine Heigl’s exit, however, I have to admit, I think we’re witnessing the writing on the wall. With all the drama surrounding that actress and that character, we could practically write a novel. In tonight’s episode Izzie unknowingly was diagnosed by the interns with a melanoma cancer and a diagnosis of only just a few more months of life. Lexi says screw the odds, but Lil Grey still has a lot to learn.

Chief truly dissappointed me tonight. Not only did he freak out unncessarily at Bailey, ignore every staff member besides Shephard, but he also blew the engagement secret with Meredith. Uncool, dude, uncool. Guess when all the actors of your show are rumored to be heading out the door, any Chief would be disgruntled and panicked. But still…

(S02E16) “Wait and See”

have tried very hard in my past fifteen Private Practice reviews to keep my personal opinions out of it. Primarily, I’ve shied away from taking a stance because the show often hits key controversial issues in which there’s no winning battle at the moment. Everyone is at odds with each other over abortion, the cause of autism and even tonight’s outstanding issue, deciding how to raise inter-sex babies, but tonight the writers of Private Practice pushed me too far.

On two seperate occassions in tonight’s episode the audience is left to believe that in some cases, cheating in a relationships can not only be forgiven, but can strenghten a relationship. I’m sure they’re not the only ones that feel this way. Ceratinly, there may be those of you reading this right now that have reason to believe the truth in this. And who am I to argue? I’ve never been in those shoes. However, as the vast majority of people out there typically consider cheating a ridiculously cruel and selfish thing to do to an individual you were said to love, I’d say I’d have to disagree with their overall message. I’ve said it once and i’ll say it again, but the writers of Private Practice should really consider their audience more and understand that they are intelligent invididuals who would much prefer coming up with their own conclusions about subjects instead of having them force fed. That’s all I’m going to say about that from now on. Please excuse me this one indulgent rant.

(S05E14) An Honest Mistake

Tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy featured a moment that will surely be highlighted on some future DVD of all amazing Grey’s moments years from now: “The Shepherd and Sloan Smack Down”.

After a whirlwind of emotional surgery Derek is left with self-anger, disbelief and grief, having lost his pregnant patient due to his own medical mistake. With possibly the worst timing known to man Sloan picks just that moment when Derek is taking the quiet time he needs to get his head on straight in order to burst out the truth about his and Lexi’s relationship. Big mistake Steamy. Without even pausing to think about it Derek threw two punches directly at Steamy’s face surely making the man glad he’s in plastics. The fight went on with no mercy shown until Dr. Hunt, the Chief and of course, both Grey sisters split the men apart. Not before, I might add, I had a slight fear Sloan and/or Shepherd would take a head dive off the bridge where the ruckus occurred.

So yes, a lot of other things happened in tonight’s episode. Izzie discovers she was misdiagnosed with anemia and may have cancer, putting her life in the interns hands for the moment. Bailey fights for both respect and an esteemed spot in pediatrics. Dr. Hunt admits to Cristina that he accepts all her faults and wants to spend his life with her anyway. Ooh and shall we not forget Torres’ shameful rejection from Arizona that happened not once, but twice in one day. But really, doesn’t that all just pale in comparison to a crazy wicked fist fight between two very hot men? I thought so.

(S02E15) Ex-Life

Though according to my TV guide 10 to 11 p.m. was supposed to be Private Practice hour I’d say that the episode had my attention more strongly pulled towards the drama at Grey’s Anatomy’s Seattle Grace hospital. With a seamless transition from one hour long episode to the next, I the crowd was already drawn into the drama surrounding the Grey’s cast and their guests from California; Addison, Naomi, Sam and Archer.

While we saw our fair share of Violet and Cooper’s developing baby drama during the hour, my attention was more tuned into Derek and Addison’s mother and baby trouble. With the tables turned it was time for Derek to turn to Addison and ask her to play God in order to save his patient and her baby’s lives. When mother and baby awoke both alive but seemingly mentally unhealthy one has to question, who exactly failed at their heavenly duties?

Back in Cali Dell was practically absent from the show and Pete only showed up for an angry word or two thrown in Violet’s direction. I have to admit though, it’s endearing to see him care so much about whether or not he’s her baby’s father, and also what role he should be allowed to play in both of their lives. For now though, it’s obvious that the only father figure in this baby’s life is being held by Cooper who acts as much a father as a husband to Violet and her unborn child. Obviously Charlotte’s still in a rage, stating that a man should only have one best friend and as his girlfriend, she should be it. She may not be right about a lot of things but I have to give her this, she’s right that Cooper and Violet are meant for each other. The romance may not shine, but he heart is definitely there.