TVSquad

(S01E01) You think I moved here because you kissed me? - Addison

Technically, Private Practice aired its first episode within the Grey's Anatomy 2-hour long "The Other Side of This Life," which aired last May. After the episode aired, most of the fans were quite vocal about their hate (or disappointment) towards the Addison spin-off. ABC, probably knowing that part of the pilot's failure was due to the fact it aired within a Grey's episode and that the spin-off could do better on its own, decided to pick up the series and ordered 13 episodes.

Now that the first official episode of the series aired, we can properly review, analyze, and critique Private Practice and decide if we hate it or not.

Before I get into the episode, I feel the need to comment on the title of the episode (and those to come). I had to shorten it for this review's title; the complete version is "In Which We Meet Addison, A Nice Girl From Somewhere Else." Quite long, eh? All PP titles will begin with "In Which" and include the name of a character. It's not a bad thing, a lot of series try to have original titles or at least have something common in all of them: Friends had "The One With" at the beginning of about 95% of their titles, Grey's Anatomy uses song titles, the Two and a Half Men ones are lines said in the episodes, etc. Personally, I would prefer shorter titles that are tad more interesting. One upcoming Private episode is "In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead." It's not really interesting. It actually makes me wonder if Addison will shop for a showerhead most of the episode!

I watched a previous version of the Private Practice premiere about two weeks ago. After watching it, only one word came to mind: disappointment. It was better than the pilot-within-the-GA-episode installment but still wasn't what I expected it would be especially since Shona Rhimes is overseeing it. I was relieved when I was told that they were making tweaks to the premiere and reshooting a few scenes based on a test audience comments. So did the updated version live up to my expectations? Let's get to it.

Maybe it's because she is starting anew and has to find herself again, but it felt like Addison was almost a different character in the premiere. She went from being the top in her field and working with a huge staff and top-of-the-line medical gadgets to a small clinic where she has practically no staff and none of the cool gizmos. Why make such a drastic change? She tells Dr. Webber (in a scene that was reshot recently as you can see from the picture on the left taken from the original premiere) that she needs change, especially after not getting the Chief spot at Seattle Grace. Still, I don't totally buy that reason. Yes, Addison was impulsive in the past but except her "I want a baby now" phase shown during the spin-off episode, she was pretty much grounded lately. I'm willing to let her have her midlife crisis but I hope that we get the old Addison back, the one with the sharp tongue and confidence (she showed it a bit at the very end of the episode though). That's the character I grew to love and make my favorite character on Grey's. I'm happy that Webber agrees with me on this!

While Addison tends her resignation, she reintroduces all the characters by complimenting them... while we see them be the total opposite of what she says! It was a nice way to present the main cast to new viewers and remind people who watched the pilot who was who. Those who missed the announcements over the summer, yes, it is a different actress playing Naomi. Audra McDonald took over the role previously played by Alias' Merrin Dungey. Personally, I think the casting change was a good move. Having watched Dungey on Alias and Summerland, I don't think she could have pulled off the angry soon-to-be-divorced woman as well as McDonald does.

Speaking of Naomi, why didn't she tell the others that she hired Naomi? Yes, after Addison gives her speech at the end of the episode and storms out, she says that "that's why I didn't tell you" but that's not a legitimate reason. Did she not tell the others out of spite towards Sam? Yes, Naomi wants someone to be on her side, and that's one reason why she wants Addison at the clinic, but it isn't a very good reason. How about: because you are the best neonatal surgeon? Naomi is acting way too much on impulse right now and I don't think I'll be able to endure weeks and weeks of her being angry and pissed at life and Sam. She did let go of Sam at the end, thanks to the "wacky" case of the episode, but somehow I don't think she will let him be so easily (and Sam will probably not help her either).

Besides Addison, Cooper has to be my favorite character so far. He'll be a nice comic relief amongst the serious cases each doctor has to tackle. His charm and almost teenage-like attitude almost makes me want to ship for Addison & Cooper instead of Addison & Pete. Since the show seems to want us shipping for the latter, it wouldn't surprise me that they match up Addison and Cooper just to make us long for Addison and Pete more. A bit like Friends did by matching Joey and Rachel up for a while, thus putting Ross on the side. On a side note, if we ever need to give a McTitle to Pete, I vote for something like McCharmer because he seems to be all about charming the ladies and the mothers-to-be love him!

Violet is probably the weakest of the main characters right now (I'm not counting Dell as a "main" until he gets more screen time but I'll come back to him in a minute). Her case started promising (a woman who is in a sort of trance and counts floor tiles in a store) but it turned boring because it took way too long for Violet to find what her patient's problem was. When she left Jenny (the patient) and went shopping for a while, that's where I stopped taking Violet seriously. Your patient is counting tiles, you know she can panic (you have the bump on the head to prove it), yet you leave her to people who don't know what they are doing so you can do some shopping? Okay, maybe Violet needed to clear her head but still. Good thing Cooper came to the rescue and not only helped save the case but give it a proper, and touching, ending. I do hope writers give Violet better storylines. They could do wonders with the fact she is stalking her ex!

One of the complaints fans made after watching the pilot last May was that the character of Dell was silly and that Chris Lowell was not as hunky as the type of guy the role seemed to require. I must agree that the scenes in the pilot made him sound like a piece of meat (Naomi was drooling all over him if you recall). But the premiere focused more on his midwifery skills more than his "hunky-ness," which made him fit the role more. The actor gave a fair enough performance this time around.

The touching case of the episode was definitely Addison's. She had to help a teenager deliver her baby while trying to reunite her with a father that does not accept the fact his daughter got knocked up so young. Things, as expected, became complicated and Addison needed to perform surgery. How can you perform surgery in a birthing suite and no anesthetic? Fear not, hunky Pete and his medicine to the rescue! Thanks to his help and Dell, Addison was able to focus, perform the surgery and save both mother and baby. The tragic events also reunited father and daughter. Aww...

In retrospect, the episode was less disappointing than when I watched it two weeks ago. I cannot pinpoint why the change of heart since the episode was practically the same as the one I watched... maybe it was because I saw it on TV instead of a computer or because I had too weeks to think about it, I don't know. It wasn't a stellar episode but it paves way to better ones (and people who saw the second episode told me it gets better).

Did you notice that the writers clearly inserted a loophole to have Addison return to Seattle Grace (aka Grey's Anatomy) if things in L.A. don't go as planned (read here if Private Practice gets canceled)? Webber told Addison that he'll keep her job opened as long as he can.

As the saying says "practice makes perfect." So let's hope that with more episodes, Private gets better and better!

Will Private Practice be part of your weekly watch list?

Yep, I'm so hooked!I'll watch a few more episodes before deciding.No, the premiere was too bad.Vote