Goodbye Private Practice

Spoiler Alert: For non US residents, this blog post is most likely just one big spoiler about the end of Private Practice, as the show has not gone to air in Australia yet. For those who do not want to know, do not read any further.

Private Practice has been around for six years. Hard to believe; I'll miss my weekly dose of Addison, Jake, Sam, Naomi, Amelia, Sheldon, Charlotte, Cooper and Violet. The show suffered last year, especially when it move moved to Tuesdays and no longer followed Grey's Anatomy.

About a month ago, Grey's Anatomy spin off, Private Practice has wrapped up the series that has been on the ABC network for six years now. Creator Shonda Rhimes made the announcement not long after the series returned to screens last year. After Kate Walsh announced that she would be leaving Private Practice at season's end; many fans assumed the show could not go on and obviously the network agreed. The actor Tim Daly who played Pete Wilder, was written out in the first episode. Apparently he went for a run and dropped dead of a heart attack.

A Surprise Visitor - Publiseek.com

Shonda Rhimes recently wrote on her website that all the characters stories were neatly wrapped up. There was no big disaster that Grey's Anatomy is famous for, and the characters remain at "Seaside Wellness", getting on with life in our imaginations of course. The actors however, have moved on and we hope are doing wonderful things elsewhere.

Season 6 DVD - Seat42f.com

While we did not see an explosive finish to the series, it was satisfying. Shonda Rhimes had her first experience with ending a TV Series when she wrote the Private Practice finale and it felt nice seeing all the character's stories' wrapped up. When the series returned to TV in September 2012; Charlotte found out she was pregnant with triplets; Cooper is totally stunned and overwhelmed. Sheldon finds out he has prostate cancer, and his ex wife bails. Amelia reaches her second year of sobriety; and become involved with James. Violet continues to grieve for Pete and the loss of their marriage, and Sam finds out who his father really is; the man his mother has been having an affair with who won't leave his wife. Sam is shocked and angry. Sheldon meets a lovely woman at radiation therapy who has terminal cancer, and they fall in love. Everyone at "Seaside Wellness" thinks Miranda; Sheldon new love, is pretty special too.

Pete and Violet in Season 5 - Deadline.com

While I've never been a fan of Violet Turner; I did identify with her story line. Dead husband, feels like her life is over; and you would in her shoes. But I loved her book title; Private Practice. Having recently been forced to start over myself, her arc was quite touching and it helped me to understand the character a little more. Violet seems to not be able to switch off the psychiatrist inside of her, she seems to want to "shrink" everyone and perhaps that is one reason Pete, (her dead husband) got so angry last season, the second reason was that he had a heart attack. So Violet spends the next ten or so episodes dealing with her lot in life, and Cooper and Charlotte get ready to welcome their three baby girls into the world. Cooper is deliriously happy and Violet is miserable.

Jake and Addison tied the knot in the finale but, it happened right at the start; Naomi was a guest and bridesmaid at the wedding and slept with Sam at the reception. Three months later she returns to Seaside and tells Addison that she's pregnant to Sam. Addison interferes and Sam and Naomi eventually re-unite and they get married again. I always thought they were endgame; but when Addison and Sam started fooling around in Season 3 I had my doubts. But it was clear in Season 4 when Sam and Naomi kissed while Addison was at her parent's house near New York somewhere after the funeral of her mother. So Stephanie and Sam break up and Sam runs off to New York to get the love of his life. Nice touch Shonda.

Addison got her man - TVGuide.com

Charlotte goes into labour early; twenty-seven weeks if I recall correctly. They cannot stop one baby from coming and their daughter is born very premature; after a battle for a few weeks to get her breathing properly, she goes for surgery and makes it out of the woods. The other two babies are born naturally at thirty-two weeks. In the mean-time Charlotte was confined to hospital bed rest, with her legs raised for two days, and then she has to stay put for another five weeks almost. So she is really happy when labour starts, however as it progressed; Charlotte becomes more like Charlotte. The labour is taking hours and Cooper runs off to buy them a house; or win them a house. He gets back just as it's time to push. Mason is still struggling with his mother's death, but he is so proud of his baby sisters. The actor that plays Mason is one talented, young man

Cast Photo - TV.com

Amelia and James get together in the end; but we all figured that he was Amelia's new love interest. Will she dump him and come to "Seattle Grace" to get it on with Alex? Some Grey's fans are hoping the Shonda has this in mind. And I would welcome it; as they would make a great pair. Amelia ended the series deciding that she would take the risk and have kids when the time came. It seems that she is scared of having another 'brainless' baby. In Season 5 Amelia gave birth to a baby with no brain. She had his organs donated to save other babies, and the other docs performed the surgery.

Jake is still at a cross-roads with his daughter about her choice of lover; and Addison's social worker for the adoption does not like him either. It seems there was an incident when he was married to his first wife where he beat up her dealer. He did not end up with a criminal record, however the report was kept on file. Also whilst in conversation with his daughter's boyfriend he makes a comment that is taken as a threat by the boyfriend. The social worker walked in on an argument between Jake and his daughter. Close to the adoption decision being final, the social worker talks to the judge on the case. Jake goes to the judge and pleads his case. He and the judge come to an agreement and Jake returns home with confirmation the Henry is now officially Addison's son.

While a lot of questions remain; such as, will Sheldon beat the cancer, or will Amelia marry James (or turn up at "Seattle Grace?") and will Violet get her groove back, it was a great ending to a pretty great series. Even though Private Practice remained in Grey's shadow, as the spin off; it was a very good series, and emotional. Tear flowed easily during these episodes. Private Practice had it's own little group of fans, who really were not into Grey's Anatomy. A show that probably would have stayed on the air, if the main star did not leave; but the ratings and no Addison Montgomery meant it had to be cut. I'm not sure how the numbers were; but they can't have been great.

 

 Kate Walsh - Commons.WikiMedia



So there is now another DVD I must buy because I definitely would like to watch this season again one day. Private Practice Season 6 will most likely screen on the Seven Network in Australia at some stage this year. There are only thirteen episodes to show, so it may follow Grey's Anatomy when it returns, but this is anyone's guess. 


To read more of Janelle Coulton's articles you can visit: Suite 101 or to read more about TV or Grey's Anatomy; visit Grey's Anatomy Addicts 




Photo Credits: Seat42F, CommonsWikimedia, TV.com, Deadline.com, Publiseek.com and TVGuide.com




Copyright © 2012 Janelle Coulton