Private Practice – Recap & Review – A Death in the Family

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Private Practice
A Death in the Family

Original Air Date: Oct 1, 2009

Farrah – TwoCents Reviewer
Farrah@thetwocentscorp.com

When Private Practice first came on scene a few years ago, I was miserable. I loved Addison Montgomery at Seattle Grace and hated her leaving. Sam was the guy who was usually on my screen belting out RENT, Violet was doing law things and Pete was on The Nine (which sadly never lasted long). The guy working the front desk was oogled at and he left to go surfing on his lunch break. I was bored and wanted Addison to move back to Seattle quickly.

But last night proved how far the show has come as I bawled throughout nearly the entire episode. I had been on pins and needles all summer long waiting to see what happened to Violet and her baby at the hands of crazy Katie.

The episode opens with a funeral, as Pete flashbacks to coming upon Violent after being attacked by Katie. Naomi stumbles upon the sight and asks the obvious question. Where’s the baby? Cooper comes to the hospital and hey – another flashback. Cooper is remembering when Oceanside Wellness first opened. We see Pete, only he’s coming in to see Violet because his wife just died. LIGHT BULB! That’s what the funeral was for. FHEW. Pete doesn’t believe in therapy, says he’s fine and Violet doesn’t believe him. When Sam and Naomi want to hire him, Violet says no.

Back in the present, a police officer is questioning Pete. Sheldon arrives and Pete realizes he forgot to call him. Remember, we still don’t know who the father of the baby is, but Violet chose to be with Pete. Amongst all of the horribleness, Sheldon, the awkward person he is, makes for a light-hearted moment. When the cop asks who Sheldon is, he says “I’m the baby’s father.” Pete comes back with “well, kind of the baby’s father.” Sheldon: “Well, maybe, so is he.” Pete: “We’re both the baby’s father.” Sheldon, oh how I love thee, says, “It’s a long story. Wear a condom. Tell your friends.” And for a brief moment, they chuckle and breathe. It was a nice moment of relief. Just a moment though.

In the corridor, Coop is alone and thinking about how he is Violet’s only family. Her own parents won’t come to be with her (Charlotte joins him and he tells her this). His phone rings and he ignores it, saying no one wants him practicing on their children right now. He starts going through the motions of the evening. He was standing at the door to Violet’s house when Charlotte called and he left without going in. He feels guilt but does not blame Charlotte. I love where they’ve taken Charlotte. Remember when we all hated her?

In the operating room, Addison is in full doctor mode while Naomi is in friend mode. She was going to Violet’s house to tell her she was leaving the practice. More guilt. Pete starts in on his guilt as well when he starts talking about how Violet wanted to have Katie committed and he talked her out of it. Sheldon goes on a rant about how everything should be a “we” and gets upset. Then they hug. Ah, the random sweetness. Dell randomly leaves. My, how he has grown since season 1. He goes to the operating room to get answers for the guys because they are going nuts. As he sees what is going on, he talks to Violet which makes Addison upset but Naomi thinks it will help, so Dell sits next to Violet and quietly speaks to her. More talk about them all being family (oh yah, I forgot to mention – Dell got his daughter back! YAY!).

FB (Flashback): Brand new Oceanside Wellness needs another doctor. Violet doesn’t want Pete to join the practice because he’s a patient and she also doesn’t think he’s okay about his wife’s death yet.

Pete feels useless. Sheldon tells a random story. It really was pointless but what came out of it was the quote of the evening: “Have a little faith.” Violet is losing a lot of blood and Naomi suggest a hysterectomy. Addison argues with her over this and suggests a riskier procedure but one that could allow her to have children in the future. She goes to Pete and Sheldon and they both say save Violet. Coop is in the room and back to the “Coop is Violet’s family” theme, he says save her uterus. Coop’s phone rings again and again and he reaches a point where he has had enough and heads to the nurses station to rip into someone.

FB: Pete is talking to Violet in another therapy session. Because Violet hasn’t been married or in a relationship close to marriage, he feels she’s not qualified to help her. He also feels she’s judging his grief. Intense Pete. LOVE IT.

Coop is ripping into the nurse about being paged so many times. Is he the only pediatrician in town? The nurse points to a patient and says she is specifically waiting for him. Holy moly, it’s Katie with Violet’s baby!! Did anyone see that one coming? I have to say I really didn’t. Coop says call security and Katie asks if Violet is okay. Man, this chick is crazy! Coop plays mind tricks on her … is he healthy? What did the doctor that delivered him say? Pete comes upon the sight and wants to grab him, but Coop brings him into the mind tricks. They tell Katie the baby looks pale and should be checked out by Coop. Pete tells her to “have a little faith,” Coop gets the baby and security arrests her. Coop runs to tell Addison to stop her from doing the risky procedure but she’s already halfway done. Pete stares longingly at his son.

All is well, right? NOPE. Charlotte runs in. Something really IS wrong with the baby and Addison feels the need to operate on both of them. Coop feels more guilt over not answering the calls. So we have our themes of the evening: family, faith and guilt. It’s like Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Awesomeness.

FB: After leaving the unsuccessful therapy session with Violet, Pete and Sam talk about luck and love and how he’s fine.

Violet begins to code and Naomi is alone after Addison left to save the baby. She goes through her medical school steps in order to figure out what’s wrong. Naomi brings her back – for the time being. Violet isn’t clotting and they need Addison but she’s busy saving the baby. She comes up with a way to save her but it’s a 50/50 chance.

FB: Pete goes back to Violet and explains the night before his wife died they had a huge fight and how he was so mad the next morning. His wife was ignoring him and he was getting more mad and he called her a mean word (trying to keep this family-friendly). He ripped the covers off and realized she was dead. He hated his wife and it makes him feel … guilty? … because he can finally breathe again. Violet tells Sam and Naomi to hire Pete.

Violet’s bleeding stopped and she’s barely hanging on. The baby is in the same condition. Pete is sitting with Violet and Addison and Naomi start to fight in the hallway. Addison’s anger over Naomi quitting comes out about her being alone. They’re her “people” (a nice little Grey’s reference) and all she can give them is surgery which is why she operated on both the baby and Violet. I seriously think this was one of Kate Walsh’s best scenes ever. And some of the best Private Practice writing ever!

FB: At the funeral, Pete’s wife is lowered into the ground as Violet comes to hold his hand. Were they destined to be together all along? Who knows. But it made my heart flutter a bit. Naomi tells Sam she’s never going anywhere. Foreshadowing? Will they get back together for good?? One can only hope.

In the waiting room, Dell has worries about raising Betsie alone. Coop reassures him the “family” is there to help him through whatever he needs. Pete is with the baby (who is doing fine) and Sheldon asks if he can sit – Pete agrees. Nice guy. Wonder when we’ll get to find out who the baby daddy is?

FB: Pete’s first day in the office. No more suit, changing things up. Going to start practicing alternative medicine. Violet thinks he married the wrong person and that in time he’ll find the right person and love again….

VIOLET WAKES UP! She asks “where is he?” Pete is right there with the baby, as is the whole “family.”

WOW. That was a LOT to take in (so I apologize for the length!). Those flashbacks explained a lot and foreshadowed some things as well. I think. I hope? The previews for next week are pretty intense. Violet is still on edge and can’t leave the house and we’re led to believe she leaves. As well, she tells Charlotte she looks at “him” and feels nothing. Is it the baby? Is it Pete? Leave your TwoCents below about everything!!