It's all getting a bit serious on 'Private Practice'
What's it about?
A comatose, pregnant patient puts a strain on Addison and Sam's relationship when they disagree over treatment. Pete and Charlotte are in an ethical dilemma about whether to reveal an auto accident victim's HIV status. Violet gets caught up in Lucas's first Halloween which puts her at odds with Pete's family.
Review
Wow! Wow wow wow! This was a tough one to watch and not just for the ending. There was a lot going on in this episode and sadly as I was aware of how it ended I was preparing myself for it throughout most of the rest of what was going on.
This was a hiding behind a pillow kind of episode and not in the halloween sense. Between the sexual assault (or not) of a comatose patient, the sexual assault on Charlotte, and the continued break down and build up of the Pete/Violet marriage there was a definite push to take this show in a direction to match it's new darker appearance.
I've commented before that early episodes of this show featured a much brighter tone as well as a much wider colour pallet, not anymore, this season the colours have gotten much darker and the lighting has changed to match the tone and in episodes such as this one it perfectly compliments the story which is on show here.
We've talked before about how Shonda Rhimes is not afraid to shy away from tough subject matter and this episode is chocked full of them. Thankfully I don't feel that I can accuse any of the stories in this episode as being included purely for shock value, each story makes sense in its own way and adds to the moral of the story about keeping things in the family.
There are big bumps in the road ahead for all concerned in this episode but lets not dwell on the ending just yet.
The story surrounding the comatose yet somehow pregnant wife is the earliest shocker in the episode and as much as I saw it coming there was still a gasp of 'urgh!' when it was revealed what was going on. But once you have time to think clearly about the relationship between the husband and wife it's a tough call to make and a very good social commentary of what happens when you don't fully lose a partner. Was he wrong? Or was he justified to continue having relations with his still breathing wife?
We're not here to discuss the semantics of the show, we're here to discuss how good it was. Plain and simple. And it was good.
This story also gave a bit more screen time to Amelia who, despite being new to the show, is proving to be a big contender in the ensemble and definitely worthy of much more meat to her scenes. She provides a good balance to Addison's emotional imbalance much in the way that the character of Naomi would in earlier seasons. Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure she's being setup as a replacement for the eventual full departure of Naomi at some point in the future.
The halloween story for Pete and Violet is both touching and a little tiresome. I understand that they are finding their footing as a couple and doing it in a post wedding environment but if each week there is going to be a stumbling block for them then they are going to become hard to separate from Charlotte and Cooper. This week the story does at least serve a serious purpose: to explain to us much more about the family background of Pete and help us understand a little more of why he is the way he is.
After four seasons it's nice to have his background filled out some more, not that it has ever been seriously lacking but now that it's been mentioned its suddenly obvious that in the past this has almost completely been glossed over.
Violet's need to emulate her mother and provide the perfect halloween for Lucas is sweet to say the least, having the little guy onscreen always lights up the scene and this week is no different. Particularly when he is seen in his little halloween costume.
After a season of wanting so much for her to connect with her child it is brilliant to see Violet being given the chance to spend some on screen time being a proper Mommy to him. Violet has spent so much screen time being maternal towards other characters on the show it was about time we got to see her being maternal towards her own child.
Now for that ending. It was very well constructed, particularly the way in the which the guest character played by 'Buffy' alum Nicholas Brendan is introduced. Instead of building a character from teaser to cliffhanger he is not even seen on screen until very near the climax of the episode and even then at no point is his face seen on the screen.
Firstly this doesn't take away from the episode by having the viewer screaming 'look! It's Xander!!!' but also it reflects the way that when such a violent crime is committed in real life the attacker is so often faceless. I don't want to make too much of a comment on real life crimes such as this as I have no experience and wouldn't wish to offend but as a viewer I felt this reflected very much how I would expect such an act to feel.
The character of Charlotte has changed so much from season one and in that time she has become possibly my favourite character on the show. To see her growing up and settling down with Cooper is quite heartwarming in a show where relationships aren't often given the chance to succeed so to witness such a horrific act being carried out on her was quite distressing and I hope that over the course of the rest of the season she can move on without being irrevocably damaged.
Those scenes were very moving and judging by the sneak peak of next weeks episode there is much more to come...
Next week...
Pete discovers Charlotte at the hospital after she's brutally attacked but she only tells Addison that she was also sexually assaulted.
Overall
Story 4.5
Character 4.5
Medical content 4.0
Overall 4.5
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