TVSquad

(S01E05) "You guys are so not friends. You are like a corporation." - Violet to Sam

In case you didn't know, Private Practice was picked up for a full 22-episode season. That means more Pete and Addison flirting, Cooper and Violet circling around one another, and, sadly, more of angry Naomi! Even if reviews of the first episodes were not stellar, the show has been improving. Most importantly, Private Practice has been strong in ratings, which led to its pick up.

This week's episode may not have been as good as last week's episode, which a lot of the TV Squad readers enjoyed, but it was solid enough.

In my review of the premiere, I commented on the format of Private's titles, mentioning that "In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead" sounded a bit boring at first glance. Commenter Lauren said back then: "I find "In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead" a very interesting title. Are you familiar with this masturbation euphemism? The title says to me, and hopefully I'm right, that it's an episode about finding empowerment (and a little fun)." Brownie points for Lauren because she was right!

This week's episode mostly focused on Addison constantly dreaming of Pete (is dreaming about Tim Daly that bad?). Eventually, Naomi and Violet were in on it. Their solution: self-gratification. Addison claimed she never did that (I guess that with men like McDreamy and McSteamy, you don't need a showerhead). Since she's been on McWithdrawals for a while, Addison needed something to keep her libido in check, especially since it was affecting her at work. After some more convincing from her friends and an almost intimate encounter with Pete, Addison rushed to the closest Home Depot and bought a new showerhead. Okay, we didn't see that in the episode but that's what I decided happened since that showerhead looked spiffy new! It's pretty much a given that until she finds her next McMan, Addison will be a member of the showerhead club. I can already imagine her coming to work the next morning and everyone noticing that something is different. Then, one of the girls says "showerhead."

Even if the show centers on Addison, this week's most important storyline was surely that of Violet and Allan (played by Brett Cullen, who you probably remember as Goodwin on Lost). After four episodes of hearing Violet constantly talk about him, we finally meet the man she's been sort of stalking. I truly feared that she would rush back to him and try everything to patch things up. At first, that's what she did but Violet eventually woke up and ended this game once and for all. Being the Cooper fan that I now am, it was heart breaking to watch him sulk after he saw Allan at Violet's place. He is truly a good friend to Violet and deeply loves her. Now that she dumped Allan (let's hope we don't hear from him ever again), we may see Cooper and Violet become a couple.

Violet told Sam that he and Naomi are not friends but a corporation. In a way, she is right. Before the end of this week's episode, Sam and Naomi were not friendly to one another. The only times they were civil to each other since the series premiered was when they were talking shop, and sometimes, they weren't that civil. After learning that their daughter was having sex at the young age of 13, Sam and Naomi surprisingly had a respectful chat. They actually acted friendly. Yes, they argued a bit about who should have talked to Maya about sex but compared to the fights they've had in the previous episodes, this week's was quite peaceful. That type of relationship between the two I could handle. Plus, Naomi was actually bearable. Could it be that the writers listened to the test audience and decided to finally lighten up Naomi a bit?

Notable mentions:

• Violet was quite efficient when talking with Beth and her husband. She definitely sounded like a therapist this time around.
  
• Dell gave his 110% while trying to do pelvic exams. He may have been clumsy at first but he did try his best for a "boy nurse" and a "child". Kudos to him for finally getting into Addison's good graces!
• Cooper showing up with the "breakup" kit (food + chick movies) was a really nice gesture.
• Gladiator and cowboy Pete told Addison that he had fantasies about her.

Oh, and I actually cared about the fate of all patients, especially Beth and Ruby, so I guess Private Practice is improving in that area too. I'll leave you this week with one of the nice lines said in the episode: "Pain is what forces us to grow" - Sam