“Private Practice” – Series Review

📸: ABC / Netflix

🟢 The Stars 🟢

Kate Walsh – Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery

Paul Adelstein – Dr. Cooper Freedman

KaDee Strickland – Dr. Charlotte King

Taye Diggs – Dr. Sam Bennett

Amy Brenneman – Dr. Violet Turner

Tim Daly – Dr. Pete Wilder

Brian Benden – Dr. Sheldon Wallace

Audra McDonald – Dr. Naomi Bennett

Caterina Scorsone – Dr. Amelia Shepherd

Chris Lowell – William ‘Dell’ Parker

Benjamin Bratt – Dr. Jake Reilly

🟢 Plot 🟢

A spin-off of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy centering on the life of the neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery

🟢 Non Spoiler Review 🟢

If you want a show that is FULL of drama then this is the PERFECT show for you. If you have seen Grey’s Anatomy and you have not seen this show then you need to. It is pretty much the exact same thing, but on a smaller scale.

I have not seen Grey’s Anatomy past the second season so it was nice that I did not need to know anything of Grey’s before watching this. There are some crossovers which is cool. I am a HUGE fan of crossovers no matter what show it is. Now, because they do crossovers there is a spoiler on one of the characters in Grey’s Anatomy. What happens to this certain character I am not sure what season that is. I just wanted to warn you there is a spoiler if you have not finished Grey’s.

This is a good show with great acting, believable characters, sometimes believable problems, and heart/gut wrenching stories. I caught myself almost crying a few times. It is also a wonderful balance between comedy and drama.

If you want to catch the first glimpse of the people in Private Practice you can watch Grey’s Anatomy season 3 episode 22 and 23. You will notice an actress change for the character Naomi. Honestly I think they made the right choice in changing actresses.

One thing that I never understood was HOW DOES NO ONE LOCK THEIR DOOR WHEN THEY ARE DOING THE NASTY? This is legit the main theme of the whole series 🤣

Dislikes

The thing I dislike the most about this show is all the lying they do and secret keeping. I have never been one who likes to keep secrets or lie. It makes life so much harder. It is way better to just tell the truth. Also, all the characters did awful things and no one seemed to learn from them or get in trouble. And pretty much everyone was a hypocrite at one time or another. So that TRULY bothered me. It made watching some episodes unbearable. I was literally yelling at my TV, “You just did that same thing!! Why are you getting mad?!” 😅

There were some episodes that dealt with transgender, marijuana, and autism that did not sit well with me. These episodes were a bit harder to watch because of the times we are in today. When this show was being written I am sure they did not have the same information about these things as we do now. Don’t take my work for it though. I could be wrong and they had the correct information, but chose not to use it because it would not have the same dramatic effect. So Like I said, there are some episodes where the information may be outdated.

Another thing that I was not too fond of was the last season. Even though they had a heads up that this was going to be their last season it still felt rushed. It truly felt like a mess. Even each episode was shot in a different way. It was almost as if they were told the day before shooting that this is the last season. So then they had to go in and scramble a script together. This season was a flat liner of a season. It bummed me out because I was enjoying all 5 seasons. So it just stinks to spend so much time watching and getting to know these characters and then the writers do me like that? Sad. Even though I did not like the last season, I enjoyed the last episode. I love the endings they gave everyone.

Likes

What I truly liked about this show is how everyone worked extremely well with each other. When I say this I am talking about the characters themselves. Everyone talks to each other about their patients to get other inputs and opinions. This I thought was wonderful writing because other Doctor shows they tend to keep to themselves and think they know what is best instead of asking around. So the concept of this show had me very interested in it.

Halfway through the series Addison starts to narrate what is happening throughout the episodes and I loved that. They should have done that from the very beginning. It was a different take on shooting a show and I was all in for that. I know it sounds weird when I say she is narrating, but it is not in an annoying way. I don’t want to say more about it because I don’t want to give away a spoiler.

Chemistry

This cast all have WONDERFUL chemistry together. As the episodes progress you can see them really being more comfortable with each other and with the character they are playing. It always makes a show more enjoyable when you can see that the actors are enjoying themselves. I can see them getting together off screen. Maybe not fully hanging out and being best buds, but you can tell they all do have respect for one another. Every actor in this show was perfectly casted.

Overall

I enjoy this a lot more than I ever did Grey’s Anatomy. . . Please don’t hurt me because I said that. . . The reason why I feel this way is because Private Practice offers more than just Doctors doing their jobs. In Grey’s everyone has a huge ego and it is their way or the highway. Where here in Private everyone works together and each person has a different field of expertise. Therapy, alternative medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. Since it is just a small team of Doctors they listen and respect each other.

Crossovers with Grey’s Anatomy

Episodes Crossovers Happens

Season 3 Ep. 22/23 – Addison visits LA – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 4 Ep. 13 – Addison returns to consult on a case – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 5 Ep. 14/15/16 -Addison comes to Seattle for Derek’s help regarding her brother – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 3 Ep. 3 – Bailey goes to LA for a kidney transplant – Private Practice

Season 6 Ep. 11 – Addison goes to Seattle to help Mark’s daughter – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 3 Ep. 11 – Mark goes to LA with his daughter – Private Practice

Season 7 Ep. 3 – Amelia goes to Seattle to see Derek – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 7 Ep. 18 – Addison goes to Seattle to help Callie – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 8 Ep. 15 – Amelia goes to Seattle to find a cure for Mason’s mom – Grey’s Anatomy

Season 5 Ep. 15 – Amelia, Charlotte, and Cooper go to Seattle to find a cure for Mason’s mom – Private Practice

🟢 Watch or Don’t Watch 🟢

Like I said earlier. If you are a fan of Grey’s Anatomy then you should watch this and if you are a fan of drama shows then watch this as well. You will enjoy it. So definitely give this show a chance. Like I say, watch 3 episodes first before you make any judgement.

🔴 Spoiler Review 🔴

I will do this review the same way I did Gilmore Girls, I will do it by character.

Addison – I am SO happy that she FINALLY got her baby. It does break my heart that she is not able to have children and that is her field of study. I knew this Kindergarten teacher who could not have kids 😭 Even though Addison has had a crazy life, I still like her at the end of the day. At first I did not understand why Addison is the way she is, but then when we met her mom it all made sense. Addison is my second favorite character. Her story was definitely a roller coaster of a ride, but I am glad I went on that ride with her. I do appreciate that even though she is a strong character, she has her faults. It just goes to show that truly no one is perfect. I know this is a show, but it also a good life lesson. Do not compare yourself to others because you have no idea what their life is truly like.

Cooper – Cooper, Cooper, Cooper. I did not like him in the beginning, but as the episodes went on he started to grow on me. Especially when he and Charlotte become a couple. Coop is such a great Doctor and man that he become my favorite guy on this show. He cares for his friends, patients, and Charlotte. Even though some things where he got mad at Charlotte did not make sense, but Charlotte was a bit crazy too. So I LOVED their relationship.

In the last season there is an episode where Cooper is doing an inner monologue the whole time and looking at the camera. This to me was dumb. Just like Charlotte dancing and Sam having a reality TV series. It was unnecessary and it took me out of the show.

Charlotte – Charlotte is MY FAVORITE character in this whole series. I love that she does not BS anyone and she is always straight forward. She does start to change her ways a little bit when her and Cooper get together. He really does soften her edges. This was a beautiful character development for Charlotte. I know she does crazy things too just like everyone else, but she is the most straight forward person out of all of them. Actually Jake is pretty straight forward too. I love that they took their time with Charlotte’s character and to me she felt more like the lead than Addison did.

One thing that I HATED was during the last season when she was pregnant they had her dreaming about dancing with Cooper. I understand that she was on bed rest this whole time, but it was pretty annoying to have these dance scenes. Instead of doing all that, they should have made Charlotte’s pregnancy go a but quicker.

Sam – It is hard not to like Sam. He does questionable things too when it comes to patients, but like everyone else, it comes from a place of love. What Sam’s problem is, is that he has no idea how to talk about his emotions. Just like most men. Some men do not really know how to talk about their emotions. If Sam were just honest with himself from the beginning, he and Naomi would have brought back together a lot sooner. Now, I get that does not make for good drama TV 😅 But overall, I liked Sam.

There was one episode with Sam in the last season that was a COMPLETE bust. They filmed it as they were filming a reality show. To me this was dumb and unnecessary. It was also a pretty monumental episode for Sam because he learned who is Dad was. So you have this HUGE reveal and it is done as a reality show. Ugh. I did not care for it. I would not have mind if this was the look they were going for. But they threw it in there so randomly and it did not make sense.

Violet – Overall I really did like Violet. She was a great therapist and she really cared for her patients. She was a pretty solid and believable character. Now I do not agree with her giving up her baby and running away after she suffered her traumatic experience, but when you step back you can see why she did that. Everyone reacts differently to a traumatic event. And what happened to her was unthinkable. So I can see why she just wanted to get away and be free for a little bit.

Pete – Pete I have super mixed emotions about. At first I really liked him, but then when he got with Violet my liking for him went downhill and it went downhill fast. I just don’t understand where all the anger comes from. Like I get he had a bad childhood and he did not like his wife. Now this would make anyone mad, but he worked through it all. So when he and Violet finally ended up together he had so much hate for her. I legit HATED her and for him to go back and forth with her just made me mad. He wanted to be with her but he did not want them to talk to each other. So I just don’t understand Pete’s character.

Sheldon – I thoroughly enjoyed Sheldon. He was a solid character overall. He knew who he was and he knew how to do is job. What I liked too is that even though he was dedicated to his patients, he never got too involved. Unlike every other character where they got too close to their patients. Sheldon really knew how to walk that line. Yeah he stumbled with women, but overall he was still a legit therapist. Always trying to keep everyone in check so they do not do something terrible. He is a low key favorite.

Naomi – You know, I did not like Naomi as much as I would have loved to. She was way too wishy washy for me. And then her whole thing with Sam was annoying. She was with two other people, but she hated the idea of Addison and Sam. I get it that it would be freaking weird for your best friend and ex husband to be together, but it is not weird if you are totally over it. If you are not over your ex husband then tell the truth. If she would have just been honest with herself and Sam, she would have avoided MANY problems. But you know, I do appreciate her leaving and doing her own thing. Well attempting to do her own thing. So at least she was trying to better herself.

Amelia – Ok. I may get some hater. But Amelia is my LEAST favorite character. She has many friends that love her, but she continuously treats them like crap. She treated them all badly even WAY before she became a drug addict. Then when she has her brainless baby she treated Addison terribly. I just could not wrap my head around it all. To me she was an all around dislikeable character who constantly had a terrible attitude.

Dell – He was such the nicest guy and he got walked all over. Everyone treated him awfully! I really have no idea why they did that. If the writers did not want to write Dell a story anymore they should have just left him as a super minor character. It was like they gave up on his story. All the other characters were too busy focusing on their own drama they all forgot about Dell. What was sad with this is that Dell did SO MUCH for all the Doctors. He even cared for Maya when she was pregnant. Then when he died no one gave a crap about what happened to his daughter.

Jake – I LOVE Benjamin Bratt! I have been a huge fan of his ever since I saw Miss Congeniality. So when he popped up on the second to last season I was super happy. You know, I will say that I am happy with how his story ended. He got over his late wife and now he is married to Addison. I TOTALLY believed he changed her for the better. With Jake I do like that he is kind of like Charlotte. He is a very straight forward person and does not like to beat around the bush. He says what is on his mind and he does not play any games.

Crossovers

Episodes Crossovers Happens