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Home > Media Village > TV Shows > Private Practice > Private Practice: Giving Us Something to Talk About

Private Practice: Giving Us Something to Talk About

Published: November 16, 2007 at 02:24 AM GMT
Last Updated: November 16, 2007 at 02:24 AM GMT

By Sally Cohen-Cutler

There was clapping, there was hollering, and there was cheering in my suite last night. Granted, there were also a few glasses of wine, too. But most importantly, on last night’s Private Practice on ABC, there was half-naked Taye Diggs. Combined with all the other doctor-cest that was going on, I strongly vote that this was the best Private Practice of the season. But that just may be the wine talking.

Everyone was giving birth this week, which made for some great compare/contrast fast shots and moving music, which Grey’s Anatomy has already established as the easiest way to make me sob. Susan, prone to panic attacks since her husband’s death, planned to give birth in a birthing pool, against Addison’s objections, and suffered an extreme bout of self-doubt mid-labor.

Kelly was holding up a convenience store, despite the fact that she was also going into labor. Ashley was popping out the fourth male in her family, much to her chagrin. But the final male was the impetus she needed to tell her husband to grow up and take care of business, and that’s what made the difference to her. Plus, Dell got to deliver his first baby!

But what made this episode better than usual was that instead of just focusing on the patients, we had significant plot lines for each character, and they interacted with each other. Violet, desperate for some action (and weren’t we all, at this point?), requests a friends-with-benefits situation with Cooper. While there’s no doubt that every viewer rolled his or her eyes with the same foreknowledge that it wouldn’t work, I really enjoyed how well done the scene was at Violet’s when Cooper realizes he just can’t. And I’m glad it led him to seek solace with a friend—even if he added to the mixed-up love square of Pete and Addison.

That’s right, Pete and Addison, because they finally, finally got it on—sort of. Starting the episode with a racy, pent-up office romp, Pete convinces Addison that they should just preempt the inevitable and sleep together. Though Dell may have interrupted that moment, the promise lingered for more, and Addison and Pete made plans for that night.

Of course, after an emotional birthing by Susan, Pete gets all twisted up inside. As Susan hyperventilates in the birthing tub, and Addison climbs in behind her to a) make me cry and b) remind me of George and Bailey, Pete’s memory is triggered. He and his wife were trying for a baby when she died, and all we’ve heard from Addison is how she wants a child. So that night, even though Cooper gets in the way by running to Addison, it’s all reciprocated, as Pete turns to Violet to help him deal with his lingering issues.

All of that great plot development and touching birthing aside, let’s get to the best part. Sam answers a house-call only to realize that he’s in the middle of an armed hold-up, and the real problem is a man with a hole in his leg. He repairs the gunshot wound, just in time for the shooter, Kelly, to go into labor. Then, Taye Diggs takes off his shirt to deliver the baby. It was at just about that moment that the hallelujah choir began singing in my dorm.

Through some high stress (Sam says try to imagine calming down! She pistol whips him!), Sam manages to deliver the baby perfectly. It’s all a little unbelievable, and the set-up was a little ludicrous—she shoots the baby’s father, the entire hold-up is because she wants money for the baby, Sam manages to turn the baby without anesthetics or forceps—but have I mentioned that Taye Diggs was shirtless?

When Sam returns that evening to the practice, exhausted and clearly drained, he runs into Naomi. The conversation is so different from their normal fare, especially the flirtatiousness. Then Naomi and Sam start going at it and undressing and having sex on the table.

And that, Private Practice, is what I’m talking about. Or maybe what the wine was talking about. Or what my whole suite was talking about. But let me tell you, we were talking and only good things were being said. Give me some more to talk about.

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