TVSquad

(S01E04) "If I were a patient, what would I tell myself?" - Violet

I have to agree with the majority of people who voted in our last Private Practice poll: I, too, watch it mostly because it's the Grey's Anatomy spin-off. I also watch the show for Kate Walsh and Tim Daly. Last week, I asked you to tell me if I was too harsh when critiquing the show. Not surprisingly, most commenters seemed to be in the same boat I find myself in: we are disappointed with the show and don't really know if we should stick with it or not.

In order to see the show differently, which may help me like it a little more, I decided to tackle my review duties differently this week. I usually take notes about the events and my thoughts throughout the show. Not tonight. Let's see if me not analyzing everything as I watched helped me enjoy the ride!

I don't know if my little experiment helped or if it was just better writing and acting, but I actually enjoyed the episode. Could it be because we got cool Cooper scenes? Or maybe it was the fact that Naomi was not angry (but she still needs to smile more and tone down the attitude)? Or was it because most of the doctors worked as a team? It's probably a mixture of everything.

Cooper is definitely my favorite character. I'll even admit that right now I'm enjoying more than Addison. The latter is not the person she used to be. We lost the Addison we learned to love when she moved to L.A. I can't wait for her to come back, which may be in a few weeks when she is properly settled in her new life and workplace.

Throughout a not-badly-written case, we got to learn more about Cooper. We saw a sensitive and vulnerable man who bonded with a young teen in a way that had him (Cooper) evaluate his love life. Yes, he is an Internet sex addict but he loves Violet. Paul Adelstein keeps showing us how versatile he can be. On Prison Break he was a badass secret agent who was ready to do anything to remove the obstacles in his path (and by "remove," I mean kill and torture). On Private Practice, he must tap into a more gentle and happy place. He may not be the greatest actor out there, but he is totally believable as Cooper. Watching him practice his love speech while sitting on the toilet was entertaining. Sadly, he didn't get the nerve to actually say it to the woman of his dreams, Violet. My guess is that he'll tell Violet when she and Alan are about to reconcile.

Speaking of Violet, the woman truly needs to practice what she preaches! Good thing she has Cooper to bring her down to her a bit. She is obsessed with her ex and Cammie admitting that Violet is still competition will so not help Violet move on. Only bad things can come from this. But bad things can turn out to be entertaining things for us to watch!

While Violet was being pathetic, Pete was admitting he was screwed up. Stan's problems where just a means to an end since what Pete needed was someone to wake him up; Sylvia did just that... I hope. Even if Pete has been flirting with Addison from the moment he laid eyes on her, I don't think he really saw a future before tonight. He seems to trust Sylvia's judgment so when the woman, who saw Pete interact with Addison for a minute, tells him that she may be the one, Pete must listen. Sylvia also showed Pete that a second chance at love can happen. Do you think he'll take it? Plus, now that we know Addison has two eggs left, maybe the couple can have an offspring (or at least try).

Again this week, Addison freaked out and let out this huge rant aimed at her co-workers. I don't think the Seattle Grace Addison would ever have done that. I can't recall her ranting like that before Private Practice. Yes, people didn't RSVP (except Dell who is trying desperately to have Addison accept him) but do you have to be angry at them before asking them why or reminding them about the invite? However, we did see a glimpse of the old Addison when she decided to not give up on her case. Thanks to Sam, she was able to see the case through. What was really enjoyable about this case is that most of the doctors had to work together to find the solution. The Oceanside doctors are at their best when brainstorming together. Since they all have different backgrounds, they compliment one another very well in that way. If one of the writers is reading this (a girl can dream, no?), please have more of these cases where the doctors have to work hand in hand. It not only helps us bond more with the characters but it's less distracting and confusing to have some of them work on the same case because it means fewer storylines to keep track of.