Pushing the Limits
Updated 2009-10-23 09:14:47
At this point, I shouldn't have to tell you there are no previouslies. Instead, we open on a weird split screen of ocean and trees, as Sam says, "I forgot about the adrenaline rush." We zoom in on the left (trees) to see Sam and Addison hiking. She tells him she knows; he needs to hike more often. But he's like, "No. Surgery." She agrees it's amazing, and nothing beats it -- "Not sex..." But he interrupts: "Sex beats it." Addison says she wouldn't know, since it's been so long. She says it's like an old Western town down there, and Sam plugs his ears. She rambles on about tumbleweeds and a sheriff as he says, "Please stop talking. Please stop talking. Please stop talking." Okay, it's official: I adore this friendship. He changes the subject, since they have business to talk about. They have to decide whether to replace Naomi or what to do with her shares. Addison agrees and already came up with a figure for buying out her shares. She was going to make the suggestion to the others today. He thinks that's perfect. She tells him that, even without adding someone, they could have another surgeon at the practice: Sam.
At the practice, Violet's in the elevator when Pete runs up to catch it. He has Lucas with him when he gets into the elevator. She doesn't look at Lucas and gives Pete a cold "Good morning." He tells her the nanny had a cold and he didn't want Lucas to get it, and he'll try to keep him out of the way. She says, "Well, have a good day" when she gets out of the elevator. Dell's already at work and already mopey again, with his head laying on the desk when Addison comes in wearing an adorable red dress with white floral print on it. She's happy to see him back (that makes two of us), as he tells her how hard it was to let Betsey go to her first day at a new school, since she grabbed onto his leg and didn't want to let him go. Addison looks at a picture of Betsey on his desk and reassures him, then tells him he can take off early to check on her if he needs to. A young pregnant girl comes in and tells Dell her contractions are here, and he gets up to get her settled. Addison welcomes him back.
In Violet's office, Tracie Thoms (how cool that the show keeps getting Taye's Rent castmates to guest?) and a handsome man who's presumably her husband are sitting on the couch. She tells Violet that he won't even look at her. He protests, but she says that's what it feels like. He stammers that, "It's just... Ever since..." Violet finishes: "The rape? It's okay to say it. Sometimes it helps." But he doesn't want to bring it up, because of Collette (that would be Tracie). She asks if he thinks she might forget it happened if he doesn't bring it up. And Violet agrees that that's the thing: It happened. And if he can't deal with it for his wife, they won't be able to move forward together. Ty gets up to leave, and Collette asks him to wait by the elevators because she has to use the restroom. But what she does instead is stay behind in Violet's office and confess that she's pregnant, which should be great news because they've wanted it for so long, but she's eight weeks along so she doesn't know if it's Ty's or the rapist's. Jarringly sunny title card.
All the other Oceanside doctors are in the break room, where Pete's telling everyone how Violet looks right through Lucas. Addison says she's having a hard time and Cooper says she'll come around. Violet walks in then and says she has a patient who doesn't know if she's pregnant by her husband or her rapist. She's all smiley about it, and then she asks Cooper why he's wearing a tie today. He says, "No occasion. I wear ties," but Addison spills the beans that she recruited Coop and Sam to help her out on Volunteer Clinic Day at "the shelter." Because nothing makes people who need to live in a shelter feel better than doctors in fancy clothes. Violet wonders why she wasn't needed at the shelter, and Addison stutters about it. Violet assures her she's fine. Then Addison changes the subject that in order to buy out Naomi's shares, they will each need to put $50,000 into the practice. Cooper asks, "Fifty grand?" But then everyone else is like, "Is a check okay?" Pete finally tells her he'll do whatever she needs, and Cooper says it's fine, too. Addison would like checks by the end of the day. Violet picks up a pastry right by Lucas, ignores him, and walks out.
Later, at the shelter, Addison's telling Lucy Hale (who has a little boy in her arms) that they have tampons, condoms, and sample birth control pills. Uh, what good would sample birth control do, exactly? Isn't the point of birth control that you have to be on it regularly and without breaks? Lucy's not listening. She's telling Addison that they hitched here about a month ago from Portland, after trying Seattle and Tacoma first, but she realized if you're going to be homeless, you might as well be warm. Addison tells Lucy that she and Elliot need more regular check-ups and she could help track down their documents so she can get on some sort of government program. Lucy just bucks up and says they'll make it. She says she's fifteen, but her mom's out of the picture because she didn't want her to keep her baby. Lucy says they're good; that it's been hard, but she's lucky because they have each other. Addison says that's sometimes all that matters. Elliot sneezes and Lucy says he's had a runny nose for weeks that won't go away. Addison feels him and he has a fever, so she calls Coop in. He lifts up Elliot's shirt, and there's a huge red rash. She says he's had it for a few days, and wonders if it's something serious. Cooper says they should probably get him to the practice and do an EKG . Now.
Oceanside. Dell's sending the pregnant woman away, as she tells him she was so sure it was time. He goes to the front desk as his patient leaves, and makes small talk with Pete: His first patient back was a false alarm. Congratulations, Pete, on finding out your baby is yours. Violet comes out then, and asks Dell if he has a minute to help her with a CVS test . He heads toward Violet as she and Pete look at each other meaningfully. I guess.
Sam's showing Addison and Cooper the results of Elliot's EKG. He has tiny aneurysms on his arteries, which means he has Kawasaki Syndrome , and they should treat it with immunoglobulins. Addison agrees that's the first line of treatment, but Sam says it's not definitive repair, and that they should operate and fix the problem now. Sam would like to fix it himself, actually, with a bypass procedure. He recalls his amazing surgery from last week , but Addison says he can't just jump back into surgery overnight. Sam says that no one else will touch this heart problem because there's no money in it. He says it's wrong that Lucy's not in school, that she's alone. Addison wonders if they should run her Social and call her mother, but Cooper says they don't know the situation and "Not everyone's rich with a perfect life." Addison dumbly asks what that means, and he says he doesn't know. Sam agrees they should find the mom. I have a better idea: ADDISON DOES THE SURGERY. Why not? Is there a rule that she can't operate on a baby that's over 1?
Violet's office. Collette's brought Ty back, and he's wondering why they're here. I always think it's funny in scenes like this where we know she had to get him there somehow, so wouldn't he have asked these questions 100 times already? She tells him she's pregnant, and he gets super happy and excited about being a father. He says this is what they wanted, and he knows he's been awful, but this is like a new start. Violet tells him they ran a paternity test and it turns out he's not the... Ty says, "No! It's his? How soon can we abort?" Collette looks away, and Violet asks what she's thinking. She tells Ty she knows it's awful, but they've been trying for so long to have a baby, and this could be their chance. Ty cries and says he can't believe she's thinking about keeping it after what that pig did to her. "He raped you! There I said it: He raped you! And you want him inside you for another five months? No." Wow. This show has gotten so sad and dark for something that used to be all light, airy, happy, sunny California.
Violet's in her office later, writing, when Pete brings Lucas in. He says Naomi called him downstairs for a consult, and could Violet watch Lucas. She says she's sorry, but she's in the middle of a situation since Ty just found out Collette's pregnant by her rapist. She says she's way behind in patient notes. Pete tells her she has time, then sets Lucas's carrier on her desk and says that Lucas won't be insulted if she does a little work while he's visiting. Downstairs, Pete finds Naomi and tells her to cover his story about consulting, explaining he needed an excuse to leave Lucas with her. He explains he brought Lucas to work to force Violet to see him, but Naomi doesn't think forcing her to bond with the baby is the best idea. He says he just wants to do anything to get her to remember she has a baby with him. Naomi sits him down in her fancy office and hands him some chocolate, saying it cures all things. Pete thinks this place is nice, and she's done well. She agrees, but says it's a little quiet and professional. She says everyone's always in their offices working, and they treat her like a boss. Sheldon storms in and tells Pete he's on his turf. He says she got Violet and Lucas, and he's dealing with it, but him being here is not part of the program. Naomi tries to interject, but Pete says it's fine and he leaves. Sheldon stays and tells Naomi he's fine, just working his way through the grieving process. She offers him chocolate, and he sits down and has some. He asks if she always stuffs her feelings with food, and she says yes. Sheldon: "Interesting."
Coop's working in his office when Addison comes in and says she found Lucy's mother. He says, "Great," and she moves on the money. She says she has Sam's and Violet's checks and needs his by the end of the day. She acts snotty and asks if he needs until a little later in the week. Cooper impersonates her: "A little later in the WEEK?!" He laughs and she asks what. He tells her that not everyone has a $30 million trust fund. She says "oh," and he tells her to forget it and leaves her standing there, stunned that there are people in the world without the ability to front $50,000.
In the hospital, Lucy's stressed about all the tubes in Elliot. She says she needs to get back to the shelter by 8, but Elliot's never spent a night away from her. Sam says she can stay in there with Elliot tonight, then. She's glad and goes to be with him. Addison joins Sam then, and she tells him she called the mom, who's on her way. Then she asks if she's a callous, oblivious ass. He asks what this is about, and she says, "Cooper," who yelled at her about money. Sam: "Oh. That. " Which, by the way, is the same as answering, "Yes, you're an ass." But Addison just asks what, and he explains that she's a rich kid, who's never had to worry about money, and it's not as easy for the rest of them. She reminds him they're all doctors, though, and he backed her on this. He says that's what was needed for the practice and it happens he has the money right now. She gets it: "So I am an ass." Sam says she could be more sensitive, kind of how just because she's this world-class surgeon, she doesn't see how telling Sam he can't operate is cutting his legs from underneath him. He leaves and she sighs. I actually love that Addison's learning her flaws here, because she's a pretty awesome lady and if she could just see these few glaring problems and fix them (and, knowing her, you just know she will), I will go back to loving her like I did when she was on Grey's .
Cooper's. When he gets home, Charlotte's swinging a sledgehammer, tearing his bathroom apart. She says the faucet drip was driving her bonkers, and -- as any rational human being would -- he asks, "So you decided to tear up my bathroom?" She drools about hardwood floors, marble countertops, and recessed lighting. She says he swept her off her feet and forced her to live here, but she's not living in a man hole. He tells her that staying home and avoiding dealing with her work problems (getting fired) is not okay, so she asks what he's doing home so early with a hang-dog look. He says nothing, so she tells him they're two peas in a pod, the receipts are on the table, and he can write her a check. He asks for what, and she says, "To pay for all of this." He gets mad and tells her she really should not have done this. He takes the sledgehammer and leaves.
Dell's with the same pregnant patient again, telling her she's still not ready to have her baby yet, just like this morning. She says the baby's due, though, so he tells her that Betsey was a week overdue, and it happens all the time. He tells her to go home, but she's in full panic mode about what if the baby's breech or ends up born in the tub or something. He tells her the baby will be fine, but she wonders how he can be sure, what with her husband not around and all of her unanswered questions. Dell checks his watch, and she hits him with her What to Expect When You're Expecting book. She says she paid for the whole midwife experience and he hasn't been around. He sighs and says he'll answer her questions. So she sits back and opens her book. Hey, I thought it was supposed to have answers in there, not questions.
Violet's office. Pete comes back in and sees Lucas still in his carrier. He asks if she just left him sitting there. She says he never cried, but Pete points out he's awake and didn't she want to pick him up and play with him. She says, "No. I'm at work. Working." Pete picks him up, tells her she's his mother, and leaves her with her patient notes. Hopefully they'll keep her warm at night and take care of her when she's old, since it's clearly not going to be this kid. Commercials.
Violet's home now, and staring at the blood spot on her floor when Cooper shows up with Charlotte's sledgehammer. He says he has to hide it here in order to stop Charlotte from taking out her problems on his bathroom. He puts it in a bucket with her umbrellas. He asks why she's staring at the floor, and she says she's been trying for weeks to get the blood out of the floor but nothing works. This is her fifth bottle. She pours it on and starts cleaning as she asks Cooper if Charlotte were to get raped and get pregnant, would it be a deal breaker if she wanted to keep the baby? Let's ask Liz Lemon ! Cooper tells Violet not to hypothetically rape his girlfriend, please. She explains that her client who was raped wants to keep her baby, and she thinks she's going to tell her she's crazy. She says she knows she's not supposed to tell people what to do, but that's not fair because pediatricians get to tell people what to do, and she's just supposed to sit back and let them figure it out. Cooper offers that she's actually supposed to help them figure it out, but that's just semantics. She says the point is that keeping the baby's wrong, right? And he says he thinks that's right. He asks if she actually wrote Addison a check, but now she's leaning over, engrossed in the floor and asks him whether it's working. He thinks maybe a little. If that's a metaphor for Violet's healing, the answer is "No. Not working."
Pete's back at Pacific Wellcare with Naomi again. She's holding Lucas, wondering how Violet doesn't melt when she looks at this face. Pete says she's not looking, which is the problem. He's out of ideas. Sheldon storms in there and asks Pete if he's not clear. He says he realizes Pete's not a trained therapist, but he'd think a doctor such as Pete would understand boundaries. Naomi tries to jump in again, but Sheldon tells her this battle is between him and Pete. He calls Naomi, who's like, "What?!" Sheldon says that Pete gets the girl and the baby, so he gets Naomi. He tells Pete to get off their floor. Naomi gives Lucas to Pete and tells him to go and they'll talk later. He leaves, and Sheldon acknowledges he might not be totally over the anger part of that previously discussed grieving process.
Hospital. Kristin Bauer enters Lucy's room and it's immediately clear she's her mom. Lucy wonders what she's doing here, and who called her. Addison admits it was her, and Lucy glares at her. Kristin says she looked and looked for Lucy, but she was just gone. She tells her that Elliot's beautiful and looks just like her when she was a baby. She says they can come home now. But Lucy says she doesn't want her here. Cooper says her mom's trying to help, but Lucy says that she dragged her to an abortion clinic, and when she wouldn't do it, she made her leave. She says if her mom's not leaving, she is, and she grabs Elliot and takes off. Next thing we know, Addison and Coop are out combing the streets of L.A. for her. Which shouldn't take long. People are so easy to find in big cities. Addison says Cooper was right about calling the mom, and then apologizes about the money. She says if he's not liquid, she can front him the money. He says he doesn't want her money and really doesn't want to talk about it. Luckily, Elliot screams right then, alerting Addison and Cooper to their presence. She tells them Elliot's been like that for about an hour, but just because he's hungry. She tries to get pudding out, but Addison says if there's something wrong, that's not going to help. Cooper checks him out and then tells Addison to call 911.
Violet's office. Collette's there again, because Violet really has no other patients. She says she hasn't seen Ty, and Violet says he's just working through this because he doesn't understand why she'd consider this. Collette says she loves Ty, but she's having a baby. Violet asks if she really thinks she's up to putting herself through this. When she says yeah and then wonders if Violet thinks she is, Violet says she knows she wants a baby, but does she really know what it's going to be like seeing that baby every day. She cries as she says it's going to be like a recording, playing over and over in her mind, every time she sees the baby. She'll remember lying there helpless, with him standing over her. She'll remember screaming until she's hoarse, hoping and praying someone will come and find her, but no one is coming. "And then comes the unbearable pain, and you feel yourself passing out. But before you do, you wonder if you'll ever wake up again, and part of you hopes that you never will." Violet says that all of that will be staring at her every day, and does she really think she can look at that. Oh, poor Violet. I sort of hate how mean she's being this season, but when she puts it like that, it's so sad. Collette leaves, and then Violet realizes what she's just done, and tries to go after her. Too late.
Hospital. Sam says that one of Elliot's aneurysms must have ruptured. They say they wanted the medicine to work, but apparently it didn't. Sam tells her one of her options now is bypass surgery, and another is inserting a stent, which is experimental in kids his age. She says they both sound good, but she doesn't know what to do. Sam tells her the best option is bypass surgery, and he'll do it. She says that's good, and she trusts Sam to do it. Cooper takes Lucy to see Elliot, leaving Sam with Addison. He says he knows what she'll say, but he couldn't stand there and watch Lucy be so confused. He says he can do the surgery, and Addison throws him a bone, saying it's his call.
Oceanside. Ty's in the lobby, and when Violet comes out, he thanks her "for talking sense into Collette," who scheduled an abortion for tomorrow. Violet wonders if she's sure, and he says he doesn't know what Violet said to her, but she is now. He thanks her again and leaves. She heads back toward her office and bumps into Sheldon. She asks if he's looking for her, but he says Pete, actually. He wanted to finish their earlier conversation with some final choice words. Dell comes up then, on the phone, trying to hand off Lucas to Violet so he can help his patient, who's in labor. Again. She won't look at Lucas, let alone take him, so Sheldon offers to take him. Dell tells his patient on the phone she can't go into labor from burping and runs off. Violet tells Sheldon it was good to see him and leaves.
Addison comes to the waiting room, where Lucy's mom is, and tells her Elliot's getting prepped for surgery now. Mom says that Lucy could barely take care of herself, and has a knack for making mistakes. Addison says, "We all do," but she says dragging Elliot around is a little different than most people's mistakes. She says she wants better and can afford better for her grandson, so is going to petition for custody after the surgery. Her attorney doesn't think there will be a problem. Addison wonders if she sees a problem taking Elliot away from his mother. Kristin protests that Lucy's a child, and she's the mother. Addison warns her she's about to say something to her she's never said to anyone, and she apologizes for how it sounds, but: "You're an ass." She says she's a good person, and she is a mother, but so is Lucy now. She says sometimes, even when we mean well, we end up hurting people. She tells her to think about Lucy, and what Lucy thinks about her. Kristin says that right now she has to think for Lucy, not about her.
Dell's pregnant patient is sure she's having contractions; she thought she lost her mucus plug. Dell tells her she's not in labor, and she just needs to go home and be patient. She says she can't, because it's going to happen and she's going to be alone and she won't know what to do. She says she's not leaving, because she knows she's having her baby today. He stops and tells her she can't force her to come before she's ready and she can't read a book and know what's happening. He says he knows what to do, but he can't be her babysitter until the baby comes. If she can't be patient now, he wonders how he's going to manage once the baby's here, when she's crying and she has 1,000 other things to do. He tells her to pull it together and be patient, and get her book, and go home until it's really time. She cries and leaves. That was sort of mean, but she's very annoying, so I can't really blame him.
Scrub room. Sam asks Addison if she thinks he's crazy for thinking he can do this. She tells him it doesn't matter what she thinks, because he made the decision. She says surgeons step up, without questioning or letting other people decide what's right for them. She tells him to be a surgeon or not, but not to waver, because he said he can do it. Then she adds, "Now go." Meaning: "Be a surgeon." So her little speech meant nothing. He heads into surgery, and she watches him through the glass. Even though she should be the one doing the surgery.
Pete comes back from wherever he was and thanks Sheldon for watching Lucas, adding, "By the way, you're on my turf now." Sheldon and Pete have a heart to heart about how hard it is to watch Violet not looking at Lucas. Naomi rubs Pete's back reassuringly, and they gaze at Lucas. Sheldon says he'll regret this, most likely, but Pete needs to come downstairs and Naomi needs to hire him. He says that Violet can't see Lucas every day or even see Pete every day, because it's like looking at her failure and will just push her away. Both Pete and Naomi protest, but Sheldon tells Naomi she hired a great group of physicians who have no personality (or, actually, "the sum total personality of a hermit crab") "Present company excluded." Well, of course he's excluded, because Naomi didn't hire him. He was there long before she was wooed. He says Naomi and Pete like each other, and he can learn to like him. Then he asks her how much chocolate she can eat, anyway.
Violet's gazing out a window in her office when Dell comes in. She asks if he'd like a drink. What is this? Sterling Cooper ? Then she admits it's water, but she's imagining. He would like a pretend drink, actually. He sits down and tells Violet he yelled at a scared pregnant woman because he was busy and didn't want to deal with her. Violet says she scared a pregnant woman into killing her fetus, because Violet was raped. Twice. "Once, actually, and then the baby thing." Dell apologizes, and Violet says this is the one place she's supposed to be doing something well. He says that at least she wants to be here, but it's hard for him because Betsey needs him, and ... Violet finishes that he told his patient what he wants to tell Betsey. Which is not what I got from that, so Violet really must be good. She goes on: "Be patient. Wait. I'll be there when you need me." She says it's good advice. He says whatever she told her patient aside, she is a good therapist.
Hospital supply room. Lucy's pocketing a bunch of stuff and then leaves, bumping into Cooper. She asks him not to tell, since she only got enough stuff for a week and then she'll collect cans or wash windows. He wonders about the month and year after that. She says she's doing the best she can, and he says she's actually not. He says it's not about her or her mom anymore; it's about Elliot. He says deciding to have him meant putting everything else aside. "Doing your best for Elliot means doing some hard stuff. It means growing up. It means asking for help. It means admitting to the people who love you, you're drowning." Lucy wipes away a tear and tells a story about how Elliot wanted cheese puffs at the grocery store but she couldn't get them. She wonders who can't buy their kid cheese puffs, and I think the answer is probably a lot of people, actually. Maybe they could have used more of an essential product here rather than something so devoid of anything good for him. If she couldn't buy him, say, protein or fruit, that would probably be worse.
Surgery. Sam does surgical things as Addison watches. Because she can only work on babies. She tells Sam she's 0 for 2, since Lucy's mom now wants to try to get custody and she's made matters worse with Cooper. Elliot's blood pressure drops and the beeping gets loud and scary, as Sam talks to himself because he can't get the lumen open. Addison asks him if she'd like him to call someone to help, and then she says she's going to. He yells at her that she's a guest in his OR and is not calling anyone, and adds, "Now shut up!" for good measure.
Elliot's sleeping soundly after a commercial break. Lucy touches his hair and then hugs Sam and thanks him for saving his life. Sam says Elliot's a tough little guy and will be fine. Addison finds Elliot's mom, who's watching from outside a window, and tells her Elliot's going to be fine. She's relieved. Lucy sees Addison and her mom talking and comes out to ask her mom if she'd like to come with her to see him. Her mom cries, which I think means yes.
Violet's office. Ty and Collette are back, and she thanks them for coming since it's not their regular time. She says that a therapist should be a facilitator, someone who helps people decide what they want. She says she crossed a line with Collette, but Collette says, no, Violet made her think. Violet says she imposed her views on Collette because some things happened to her, but those things shouldn't impact her patients. Ty says he doesn't know what Violet said, but this is all good because they're moving forward. Violet thinks that's good if it's what Collette wants but she's afraid she hasn't given her the chance to think and feel for herself. So she's asking them both to wait a moment, to step back, and talk about this. Ty says no, but Violet says just to be sure because this is one of those things you can't take back. Collette cries and says she's scared. She says everything Violet said is how she feels, but Violet reminds her that she was feeling joy and hope, too, when she first came in, and she needs to put those things into words to move forward together. Ty looks at Collette and takes her hand. He says he hates this, that he couldn't protect her. She says she knows, but... He asks what she wants to do, and then we pan outside the office, so we don't get her answer. I think that was way too quick of a turn for Ty, but I do get that the episode's almost over so it couldn't take much longer.
Dell's in his office, busy doing nothing when the pregnant mom storms in and yells that she's nine months pregnant. She throws the book down and tells him her hormone's are out of whack and he, who is supposed to be her support, questions whether she's ready. She says she's ready, and the only one she's worried about is him. He says she's right and he's sorry for being out of line and unprofessional. Then she says she just peed herself and she hates being pregnant. He smiles and says it's not pee; that would be her water breaking. As if someone who's this crazy obsessed with the books and the going into labor wouldn't know that, but whatever.
Cooper's. He stands outside the construction zone of his bathroom and yells for Charlotte to get her butt out of there now. She comes out and says, "You did not just say that to me." He tells her he's broke, and she's like, "Broke?" He says he needs 50 grand to buy out Naomi's shares but he doesn't have it, and he's humiliated about that. He says she's his girlfriend, so he guesses she needs to know this. She wonders how a doctor can be broke, and he says pediatricians make less money (which seems weird at a place like Oceanside; I assumed they'd all sort of split the profits), and he's spoiled. He's paid way too much for porn in his life, likes fast cards, and shiny electronic toys. He says he's a 12-year-old boy and he never plans and now he has to deal with that. She kisses him, and he asks if she can find something else to do other than tear up his bathroom and make him broker.
Oceanside. Sam and Addison are toasting to surgery. He says he forgot what it felt like to be a god-like, arrogant ass, to which she replies, "Ha ha. Funny. Funny, funny man." He says that sometimes an ass is good. She says she shouldn't have doubted him, and he says he shouldn't have either, so they're even. Except for the part where no one's doubting Addison and they're both doubting Sam, I guess. Charlotte interrupts, all smiling and happy. She tells them not to worry, she'll be quick. She's here to discuss the buy-in. She gives them a $50,000 check for Cooper and a blank check for herself. She says to write in whatever number they need; she wants in. She tells Sam to stop looking at her like she's lost her scruples. "I believe in whole wellness, too. Whatever." Ha. Addison asks if Cooper knows she's doing this. She says to let her take care of Cooper. Sam and Addison look at each other, considering it.
Pete storms in to Violet's office and tells her it's not fair of him to throw Lucas in her face, but if he stays here he's going to want to. So. He's taking a job at Pacific Wellcare with Naomi. He shakes his head and gets choked up as he tells her he's sorry it's so hard for her. Then he leaves. Violet's scrubbing her floor with Cooper again later, telling him that Pete was supposed to wait for her to get better, not walk out. She says she just needed time, so she gave Pete Lucas to get herself better and give herself time. Cooper says he says this with love, but she did push Pete away. She says of course she did, because she needed space, but not this much. She says what pisses her off the most is this stain remover, which is 40 bucks and crap. She throws it against the wall, and it's pretty heartbreaking to watch her go through this. As much as I hate many things about this storyline, I think Amy Brenneman is giving it her all and totally selling it. Cooper just looks at her, nodding, giving her the space she needs. Because he's Cooper. She grabs the sledgehammer he brought over before and he just says, "Violet," then gets out of the way as she starts hitting the blood spot on her floor. He tells her it's going to get better, and she asks, "When, Cooper? When?" As she keeps hammering us into the closing credits.
Next week: Katie's trial. Pete tells Violet that Katie needs to pay, and then Naomi coaches her on what to do on the stand. But then it appears Violet visits Katie in jail, and tells her she made her life hell and made her crazy. Katie says she's not a monster. Probably the wrong person to try to sell that particular lie to, though. Announcer guy promises it will be one of the most emotional hours we'll see on television. We hear Naomi tell Violet she doesn't have to do this if she doesn't want to, but then we see her getting sworn in, so thanks for leaving us any suspense about that, preview people.
Discuss this episode in our forums , then add "doctors letting their personal lives interfere with their jobs" to the list of Reasons Not to Visit Oceanside Wellness !
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, could use some construction therapy. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com .