Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sophie's Husband's Choice
By DeAnn Welker | Season 3 | Episode 13 | Aired on 02.04.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Somehow, when I was trying not to pay attention, this show went and got ... well, let's say it was decent. First off, they limited Violet and Charlotte to about one total minute of screen time -- they drank martinis, is all -- sparing us the screeching and whining we usually have to endure from the Witches of Eastwick. And, I may die of shock over this, but I sort of love Sam and Addison, who come together in a bigger way this week, and then don't. So, Sam's dealing with the Maya pregnancy all by himself since Naomi's gone and become the most abhorrent character on the show (Violet is ever-so-thankful). Thing is, Dink wants to marry Maya, and his mom (Rosanna Arquette, looking light-years better than she did on What About Brian? ) is totally okay with this. Sam isn't, so he gets himself good and drunk, then heads to Addison's and kisses her. She makes him stop, but the next day they talk about it and decide it was hot and they want to try again. But they're interrupted by Sheldon, calling Sam into therapy with Violet and Naomi. Then Addison sort of vaguely asks Naomi what about her and Sam, and Naomi cracks up, saying what we've all been thinking: "If you slept with your husband's best friend, and your best friend's husband? You'd be, like, the worst person ever." Addison corners Sheldon and asks him, and he's wishy-washy, but in the end, when Sam boldly suggests they have sex, she says no. She wants "cheater" to be something that described her in the past, and sleeping with her best friend's ex is some kind of cheating. She's a stronger woman than I am, though, because ... have you seen Taye Diggs? Together, this time, they finally have some chemistry, too. It has to happen now, y'all. They're just too pretty for it not to.
The episode also contains the saddest story anyone could ever imagine: Parents have a baby to save their eight-year-old twins, who have leukemia. But the baby's cord blood cell count is low, so it can only save one. It's like Sophie's Choice, and the mom can't make it. The dad, though? He actually can, which pisses the mom off (and, frankly, makes him seem like a bit of a douche, even though it does make more sense to let one live than to let them both die). The one he likes less (phew!) gets too sick for the blood, so Cooper and Addison talk them into saving the other one, and finally realizing they also have a son now. When Cooper tells the twins, they cry and it's just about the most painful thing ever (if you don't count having to listen to Violet whine about herself). Thankfully, they don't make us watch the girl die. I don't think I could have handled that.
In stories that don't matter: Sheldon and Pete are both dating again, Cooper's sleeping around; and Charlotte and Violet are staying home drinking together.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!I never thought I'd give an episode of this show an A+, but, hey, I grade on a curve and this is as good as Private Practice gets. It's also the first week I can remember liking this show more than Grey's (not that that's saying a whole lot, but since I typically prefer Grey's, it's saying something). What I don't like, though, is how the episode opens with Addison delivering a baby while this song starts all tinkly and fitting, then starts blaring, jarringly, over the scene. When I first watched this episode, I thought something was wrong with my TV, and it was playing music from another channel over this channel, but then I realized I could see lyrics and music notes in the captions. As Addison's delivering the baby, the father rushes in. He's been dealing with "the girls," who he says are getting settled and doing okay, but the nurse took some blood, which didn't go over too well with Niki (that little brat! No, really, that's what he's thinking. Just wait.) Mom, whose name is Renee, makes a major push and then Addison's holding a baby. She tells Renee he looks perfect, "Trevor, right?" And Renee just asks how his cord looks. Addison asks if they want to hold him, but Renee says, "Just do the cord." Parents watch, Dad even rubbing his hands together like an evil scientists, as someone syringes blood from the umbilical cord. Addison looks concerned.
Music gets quieter, but still plays inappropriately into the next scene, which starts on Sam, who says, "What are we doing here... ?" Then, we see scared Dink sitting at Sam's desk as Sam finishes: "... Dink." Dink: "Could I get some, uh, water?" Sam withholds it until Dink gets to the point, so Dink tries, but first he tells Sam he's a little scary. But Dink wants to be a good father, so he needs to learn to stand up to him and say what's on his mind. That's why he's here, he stammers. And stammers. Sam: "Dink!" Dink says he and Maya have talked, and they want to do the right thing. Sam nods until Dink says, "We want to get married, sir," at which point he just stops and stares at Dink, who says he's here to ask for Maya's hand. Silence (finally!) over the opening title.
Pacific Wellcare. Pete, Naomi, and Sheldon all chat in their less-fancy break room over coffee. [But isn't their coffee amazing? Like weren't there entire episodes devoted to this amazing coffee? So you'd think they'd have a nice swanky break room to go with it. -- Angel] If Naomi weren't such a stick in the mud these days, I'd say this place somehow became much cooler than Oceanside. Naomi is actually mostly silent as Sheldon and Pete talk about women. Sheldon had a date, Pete's been seeing lots of women because Lucas is quite the chick magnet. Sheldon makes fun of the spit-up on Pete's shirt. Sam comes in and tells Naomi he needs to talk to her, since Dink came to see him. Naomi gets the best line of the episode: "I don't want to talk about anything named Dink." Sam doesn't stop, though, and tells Naomi that Dink wants to marry Maya. Naomi says she has a patient, so Sam harshly tells her they need to figure out what's going on with their daughter, who's pregnant, in love, and wants to get married. She can't right now, and leaves. Pete and Sheldon just look at Sam, who's probably not even as annoyed as he should be.