Nothing to Fear
Updated 2009-01-24 09:55:01
We open with Addison sleeping across Cop Kevin's stomach as music that is supposed to make us sad is playing. Why are we sad? Oh, right, because Addison kissed Wyatt, and we're supposed to care about Kevin. I guess I forgot to. She wakes up and notices he's wide-awake, and asks what's wrong. He asks her if it's really just work, and she says, "You've got to be kidding," when what she means is, "No. I'm a big cheater. Did I forget to mention that?" He points out she was out late, didn't call, and didn't answer her phone. She's exasperated about how many times they've had this conversation. While she is lying, I'd be annoyed at the constant grilling too. She tells him she went back to the office for work, and she should have called. But while she says this, it shows us her going into Wyatt's office to kiss him. Kevin tells her he reads people for a living and knows she's leaving something out. She says she's telling him everything, but in her memory, Wyatt tells her to take her clothes off. Oh, and they have a blue tint in the flashbacks, but it's not like the flashback blue in Veronica Mars , but more like the way the vampires looked in Twilight , so Addison looks like the living dead. But she starts kissing Kevin to make him forget about it, which he seems to.
Addison and Naomi are in the hall at Oceanside, and Addison wonders if the reason Naomi looks so great (read: cleavage showing) is that she might have a date tonight. Naomi tells her mysteriously that it's not exactly a date, but she won't elaborate. She met a handsome male colleague the previous night. Naomi wants Addison to spill on whether she slept with Wyatt, and then Naomi will tell hers. Addison changes the subject to patients, specifically the mom they have in labor who is waiting while they talk about nothing. How selfish of Addison to change the subject like that.
In labor is Dell's Drama , Judy, whom I will always think of as Hannah, basically because I will take any excuse to think about Everwood . Dell's in there with her, coaching her through contractions, so at least she has someone since none of the Oceanside doctors seem to do anything, ever. Hannah wonders why the adoptive parents aren't here, since it's their baby. She wants the baby taken away quickly before she sees it, so she doesn't change her mind and want to keep it. It's time to start pushing, so Dell gets to let her push once. But then a monitor starts beeping, and Addison tells her the baby's stuck on her pelvic bone and that she'll have to push it back in and then get her to the hospital for a C-section. Hannah screams as Addison apparently puts the baby back in. Which, yeah, ouch.
We get our sunny opening title card followed by weird random skateboarding feet on the sidewalk, the Hollywood sign, and then Charlotte and Cooper collapsing on white satin sheets after sex. Charlotte feels like it's all different this time -- like they're different. Does he feel it? Yeah, of course, he's a man. She asks him to get married, and he starts to role-play along, but she says she means it and to prove her seriousness, she starts kissing her way down his hairy chest to ... I cannot say where since they didn't show us, but I have a guess. Cooper looks scared, though, so my guess is possibly wrong.
Sheldon's talking through the bathroom door to Violet at her place as he gets dressed. She's inside the bathroom, sitting on the floor, half laughing and half crying, with the occasional snort thrown in. He rambles and wonders if she's okay. She's never been better.
In the hospital, Addison cuts the baby out of Hannah, and then takes the baby away and says it's having trouble breathing. She muffles through her surgery mask (this is why it's good they don't do surgery more often; she's not great at speaking clearly through that thing) that it's most likely a diaphragmatic hernia, which she helpfully explains is a "birth defect of the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen." Hannah would like the Sinclairs to make the decision, since she's not the mother anymore. Even though the adoption isn't final yet, it has to be the Sinclairs.
Violet and Cooper sit on the couch of narcissism (which is any couch they sit on, I say), and she says, "Don't you want to know what's wrong with me?" He replies, "Don't you want to know what's wrong with me ?" I'll save them some time: The answer to both questions is no; you each want to talk about yourself. Have fun with that. Pete walks in to ask Cooper a question, but didn't know Violet was in there. She says that's okay, because this is all about her and she'd like to talk to Pete. So Cooper leaves his own office. I guess she's the bigger narcissist, then. She tells Pete it's been weird for them for the past two weeks, and he says that's because she chose Sheldon. He shrugs like he doesn't care and says he's an adult. She just doesn't want it to be weird. Not now, specifically. Which she doesn't explain, and he doesn't ask about.
Pete goes into his office where Joel Grey is receiving acupuncture. They make small talks about how much better Joel feels because of Pete's Eastern medicine. Then Joel talks about how boring his life's been, because he was a radiologist looking at films all day. Pete poo-poos that, saying that he knows Joel's work, and he was great. Joel says it was a great doctorial profession for a man who liked to sleep in and party. I am guessing some sort of radiology profession will be offended, but I can't bother mustering up any offense on their behalf. Sam walks in, and Joel points out that he's even more handsome than Pete, which he wouldn't have thought possible. Pete rolls his eyes, either because he doesn't like when his old male patients come on to him, or because he is offended that he's not the hottest man at Oceanside. If it's the latter, he probably should work somewhere else, because I think he's running neck and neck for third, with Cooper, behind Sam and Dell. Joel asks Sam how much time he has, and Sam says the chemo hasn't helped. Joel's a radiologist so he knows what happens next: The cancer attacks his liver and he'll live a few more weeks, give or take. Sam and Pete both say they'll do whatever it takes to help him, which comes in handy for Joel, who'd like them to help him die.
Naomi and Addison are explaining to the Sinclairs that the baby they are adopting is a lemon. Return it! It's not too late! They say they'll do whatever they can to correct the situation, but they are sort of taking turns overwhelming the Sinclairs with information. And they're also standing in the hall talking instead of, you know, making the baby better. The Sinclairs have two choices: A simple surgery now, and more surgeries later; or a more risky procedure now that would completely correct it. Addison recommends the second one, because she's the best surgeon ever. They want to know what Hannah wants, but all she wants is for them to decide. Charlotte and Dell are here, too, to throw in a line or two. Mr. Sinclair says he can't do this, and walks off. Mrs. Sinclair apologizes and follows him. Just a few minutes in, and they're already terrible parents.
Violet greets a patient named Nora in the waiting room. She's there with her daughter and future son-in-law. Turns out she's an agoraphobic, and it took the daughter and future son-in-law to get her out the front door. Violet explains agoraphobia's tough. The daughter has heard that as her mother's missed everything in her life, but she's getting married tomorrow and needs her mother to not back out. Violet gets a note, telling her there's an emergency at the hospital. She wants Nora to stay in her office until she's back in about an hour. This will be good for Nora to be out in the world for an hour, so it's an exercise. How convenient.
Pete and Sam argue about whether to help Joel die. Sam doesn't want to break the law, but Pete says there's no family to come after them for breaking the law, so why not do it? He's the only person in his life, and he wants it. Cooper walks up and asks who wants to die? They explain that it's Joel, who has "Stage 4B" pancreatic cancer. Even though I watched the Barbara Walters interview with Patrick Swayze, that means nothing to me. Cooper says if Joel's a doctor, he can find a way on his own. Pete thinks they should give him the morphine, but Sam doesn't think so. Sam says there's no rationalizing this, since there's no difference between morphine and a gun. He won't allow it.
Dell's telling Hannah that the Sinclairs want out of the adoption. Hannah's so upset that they'd do that because he's sick. Violet is there to tell her that she needs to choose about the surgery, and not think about the Sinclairs. Hannah doesn't think she can choose and then give up the baby. Violet thinks she's been choosing what's best all along. Dell says the baby needs her one last time.
Naomi walks in as Addison's prepping for surgery and says that Hannah came through, and chose. And Naomi's still hoping the Sinclairs come through, but Addison thinks if they walked in a crisis, they might not be the best parents. Naomi wants to talk about something else, so Addison asks who the mystery guy is. Naomi wants to know what happened with Wyatt. Addison explains she didn't tell Kevin, because she didn't have sex or go on a date. She just walked in to his office and kissed him, but she's not telling Kevin. She even admits to diverting Kevin with sex when he asked. She says it was nothing, and Naomi asks her why she waited a week to tell her if it's nothing. Um, maybe because it's nothing? She might tell you if it mattered. Or maybe that's just the way actual, functioning friendships work. The baby's stats are falling, so Addison has to end her conversation and actually go to her surgery.
Violet's back at Oceanside, but can't find Nora. Her daughter and future son-in-law haven't seen her either. Violet looks more closely and sees her purse is still in her office, and her scarf is hanging out of the closet, so she must be hiding in there. Nora says she's sorry, but she doesn't want to come out.
Pete shows up at Joel's to tell him they can't prescribe drugs to help him kill himself. He wasn't really counting on it, so that's no problem. Joel explains he has no family, friends, or anything else. And now he'll either be in pain or totally high on drugs, which isn't living. And then he explains that the pudding he's eating is full of a crazy drug cocktail that includes everything from his medicine cabinet, plus some LSD he has left over from 1973. Um, is that even possible? I don't know about the preservation capabilities of LSD, but it seems unlikely.
Dell's telling Hannah how well the surgery went, because Addison was amazing. Hannah says she can't stop thinking about him, and wants to know if it's scary in the NICU, because she has images of him all alone, and she can't stand it. Dell asks her if she wants to see him, and you know she does, but for drama, they can't let us know that yet.
Pete's still with Joel, asking if he's in pain. He's pouring him some wine. Joel knows Pete's uncomfortable, though, so he gives him an out to leave, but Pete can't leave and think about Joel dying alone. Joel says he lived alone, and you reap what you sow. Then he tells Pete to sow carefully in order to avoid ending up tragic, like him.
Violet's talking through the door to Nora. They talk about their fears: Nora's of being out in public with people looking at her and Violet's of having a baby. That's right, Violet's pregnant, which explains the crazy laughing/crying in the bathroom, and the not wanting things awkward with Pete. She tells Nora that she's awesome because she's paralyzed with fear, but made herself get up and come to work. The best way to help people: tell them how much better you are than them. Nora holds Violet's hand under the door, and tells Violet not to be afraid of motherhood, because that's the best part of Nora's life. Violet points out if she loves her daughter so much, she should probably go to her wedding. Nora opens the door.
The Sinclairs are back, and Mr. Sinclair says he freaked out and didn't know what to do. They made a mistake, but they want him and have always wanted him. Hannah, on her way to see him, says they only want him now that he's fixed. She's mad at them for making her like them enough to want to give him up, and then when he needed them, they took off. She looks at him and says she's keeping her baby. The Sinclairs look sad.
Addison's walking through the hospital when she detours to the nurse's station to ask if Wyatt's working tonight. Before she gets an answer, Cop Kevin interrupts her. He makes a joke about her guilty conscience, but since she has one, she doesn't think it's funny at all. She's high-and-mighty about it, which is annoying to me, because she's the liar. I don't even like Cop Kevin, but this is making me like him somewhat because of how terrible she's being.
Sam shows up at Joel's house, and is surprised to find Pete there, since he hasn't been answering his phone. Joel explains that Pete's helping him be comfortable while he dies, but Pete didn't give him the prescription; he used alternative methods. Sam wants to call the hospital so someone will keep Joel alive so he can die in a few weeks. Pete asks Sam to leave, please, and not to call anyone. Sam sees Pete holding Joel's hand, though, and decides to stay. Though he looks troubled and thoughtful, so we know he's torn up about it.
Cooper walks in on Charlotte in a naughty bride outfit. He wants to get married, too, and he has big plans. How about a Nashville wedding? She wants to do it tomorrow, in Vegas, because families make things messy. She proposes. But I think she already did that.
Joel's screaming in pain the next morning, and Sam wants to know what he can get him. Joel explains it's just the pain, which comes and goes. Sam hates seeing him like this, but not enough to help him die. Joel doesn't like it either. He'd rather live, but since he can't live, he'd really like to die. Joel explains that he did live: Though he never fell in love, he had lots of sex. Sam talks about his girlfriend, saying they haven't had sex yet. Joel thinks taking it slow might be the way to find love, and asks him not to end up like him, because dying alone is not good. Pete comes in as Joel writhes in pain, and Pete says he's going for a walk.
The Sinclairs bring some stuff to Oceanside for the baby, but Dell snots that Hannah's not changing her mind. Naomi tries to shush him, but Mr. Sinclair says Dell has every right to be angry, but these aren't things to change her mind. They're things they bought for the baby that they still want him to have. Mrs. Sinclair says that after the miscarriages and the adoptions that fell apart, they were afraid of losing another baby, and that's why they freaked. But now they know they've lost him, and it's their fault. Naomi hugs them both.
Pete breaks in to Oceanside's drug storage area and steals some morphine.
Violet shows up at Nora's daughter's wedding, and Tina explains that her mom won't get out of the car and she can't get married without her. Violet says not to worry, because her mom will be there. Violet gets in the car with Nora and says getting here is a huge step, but Nora says it's not enough and Tina would be better off without her.
Naomi walks in on Dell talking to Hannah, and asks Hannah if Dell explained that the Sinclairs brought the stuff for the baby. Dell's all, "Yeah, but then they bailed, so..." Naomi pulls him aside and tells him that he needs to stop pushing Hannah to do what he thinks is right. She told him he needs to listen. He didn't listen to the Sinclairs, and he's not listening to Hannah. Naomi tells Hannah that if she thinks it's right to keep the baby, she should do it. But ONLY if she wants to, not because other people want her to.
Nora and Violet are still talking in the car. Nora explains that her husband walked out and she kept thinking he'd come home, which is why she started not leaving the house. She says he did this to her, but Violet says he didn't do this to her; she's doing it to herself -- depriving herself. She knows it's hard that her daughter is getting her own life, but she needs to be a part of it, or let it go. She can change starting today. Nora asks why Violet's scared of being pregnant. She's afraid she'll fail, but she won't let it paralyze her. Nora asks Violet to help her do this.
Pete's back at Joel's, and Sam freaks out when he sees the morphine. Sam can't believe Pete would steal morphine. Pete says he's a doctor, and should keep people healthy and help people, but since he can't keep him healthy, he can help him. And so can Sam. Sam takes the morphine. And it's a big sign of faith that Pete hands it to him, as he could very easily destroy it. Sam gives the morphine to Joel and says he and Pete will sit and talk, and possibly won't pay attention. Joel asks if it's enough. Pete says it is. Sam and Pete sit at the foot of the bed and talk, and Joel says this is better than that stupid wine they've been giving him, as he gives himself the shot.
Violet and Nora walk down the aisle together, because apparently Violet's giving her away. Tina 's almost-husband looks thrilled. Nora's uncomfortable with the staring, but Violet says the stares are at her, because everyone wonders who's walking the mother of the bride down the aisle. Hey, at least Violet's dressed nicer than she ever has been in the history of the show. Tina walks in alone. Why couldn't Nora have walked her down the aisle? I think that would have been meaningful. But then we couldn't have had the moment where Nora tells Violet she did this (meaning Tina), and that Violet will be a very good mother. Then she hugs Tina, and they cry and say they love each other. And almost-husband cries, too, as Beth Rowley sings Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground , which is actually beautiful for a wedding.
Or for a narcissistic friendship, apparently, because it continues to play as Cooper finds Violet in her office closet. So, what did she learn from Nora? To hide in the closet. I think the best therapists would definitely take their patients' problems on as their own. Cooper sits there with her, and they both like the closet. He says he's getting married tonight, which he knows is impulsive, but Violet knows how he feels about Charlotte. Violet just laughs, and then tells him she's pregnant. She laughs even harder as she tells him she doesn't know who the father is. She tells him they're the two most emotionally stunted people, and yet here he is getting married and she's having a baby. And I really thought he would kiss her here. Because just look how cute Violet and Cooper are. I mean, would Charlotte sit in a closet with him and laugh this sincerely? Why did that have to end? This show sure does like to change around its pairings, though, so maybe Charlotte and Coop won't last. I can't imagine they won't even try the Violet and Cooper thing at some point, since these two have awesome, adorable chemistry. Anyway, he talks her out of her crazed laughter, then says he loves Charlotte. Violet becomes a therapist and explains that Charlotte's hurting and she thinks that getting married will make it all go away. They stay in the closet and hold hands, and laugh, as Beth stops singing.
Pete and Sam are still with Joel, whose respiration is slowing, so it shouldn't be long. Pete tells Sam they're doing the right thing, because Sam looks all troubled. Sam says it's not that, but what if things don't work out with Sonya? Well, it seems like you'll fall back together with Naomi, probably. Sam doesn't mean Sonya, though; he means any woman. He tells Pete to look at Joel, who's all alone. He says, "He's me in like 40 or 50 years." Pete points out he's more Pete than Sam. At least Sam has Maya and Naomi. Pete has nothing. He looks really sad and thoughtful.
Joel wakes up and calls for Peter (is this supposed to mean he's known him for a long time, since before he was Pete? I'm thinking so). He tells Pete that something's wrong because his body feels heavy, and something must be wrong. Joel doesn't like this feeling of dying. He asks to please make it stop. Sam, always the savior, says he has something in his bag to reverse the effects of morphine, and that it's not too late. Pete makes Joel wake up and asks if this is what he wants. Joel says it is, but he's scared because there's no one, and he doesn't want to die alone. The world will keep going on, and no one will remember he was here. He says it's like he was never here, which really moves Pete (and me). Pete climbs on the bed with him, and holds him, and keeps repeating, "You were here," as Joel dies in his arms. By the end of it, Pete's really crying. Sam tells Pete that Joel's gone, but Pete doesn't stop chanting, "You were here." I want to make fun of it, but then I'd have to make fun of myself for crying. And I don't want to (you all feel free, though; I deserve it). Pete finally stops and backs away and looks at him, and cries. Sam looks at Pete and says, "He was here. He was." And Pete really cries, and it's awesome because I just finally realized how good of an actor Tim Daly can be. Did we know that before?
In the NICU, Hannah's crying as she motions for the Sinclairs to come over. She tells them to make sure he studies, because schoolwork probably won't be his first priority. She believes this because he has her nose, and so did her dad and her brother, and none of them were very good studiers. I think your nose has very little to do with studying, but since she's sad, it's okay for her to make no sense. Plus, she's awesome and makes me cry (or, rather, continue crying, since Pete got me started), so I can't be mad at her. She cries and lets go of the baby's hand, and Mrs. Sinclair takes it. Naomi and Addison are watching, and Naomi says Hannah's brave. Addison agrees that it's hard to do the right thing. I think you have got to be kidding me that this show is trying to compare what Hannah just went through to poor Addison's realization that she needs to tell Cop Kevin that she kissed Wyatt. Like that's as hard as giving up your freaking baby, you selfish twit. Dell puts his arm around Hannah and leads her out of the room, as the Sinclairs look at their new baby and cry happy tears.
Addison finds Cop Kevin sitting on her lawn (or, beach) furniture. He tells her he let it go, and is over it, and won't bring up what happened or didn't happen again. He believes her and trusts her and is moving on. Oh, the irony, because just then she comes clean: "I kissed another man." He says he knew it. She says she wanted this to work, but it's not. He says that's because she kissed someone else, and she says that's not actually why. She says the other kiss is the only hour this past month when she hasn't had a knot in her stomach. Ah, so the kiss is Cop Kevin's fault. Nice way to dump him, by blaming your indiscretion on him. He tells her this is a nice place, and he hopes she finds someone who fits in. I'm not sure why he complimented her place on the way out, but I guess it is the nicest thing he could muster because her place is awesome.
Charlotte wants Cooper to choose her Vegas underwear, and he won't. She thinks he doesn't want to marry her, but he says he does: "Under a chuppah, with you in a big white dress in front of everyone I know." She can't do that, because Big Daddy isn't there to walk her down the aisle, and she can't go down an aisle without her father. It's sad, except that it makes no sense, because she'd go down an aisle in Vegas, too, but with Elvis, which is worse, I think, than going down alone. She gives him an ultimatum: Does he want to marry her or not? He says she's grieving, and that their wedding should be the happiest day of their lives, and he wants her beaming when it happens. She's pissed that he would not marry her to help her get over Big Daddy, and she walks off. See? I don't like this. Run to Violet, Cooper! Run! Be the father or something. Did you guys secretly have sex, maybe?
On a really, totally, completely different note than the rest of the episode, Addison goes to the blue-lit office of Wyatt. Only it's just blue lights this time, not past, flashback blue lights of death. She walks in and finds Archer and Naomi having very graphic sex. Naomi looks freaked, but is this really a surprise? Archer just says, "Hi, sis. How do you like my new office?" Okay, then. So, Archer's replacing Wyatt? I can only assume kissing Addison drove Wyatt away or something? Can't say that I blame him really. And, anyway, he has his own show coming up, whereas Grant Show's show was canceled, so he's free to move in.
Next week: Someone wants her daughter's embryos implanted in her. And, in two weeks, Addison calls Derek in our big old crossover. OMG! Are you excited?!
DeAnn is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com .
Don't even think about entrusting your health to Dr. Addison and her crew of quacks. Find out why with our Private Practice: Reasons To Avoid Oceanside Wellness Center gallery .