'Private Practice' meets the yin to their yang

Oceanside Wellness is now competing with Charlotte's Pacific Wellcare and everyone seems to have a new counterpart to tango with. How will we deal with not one Private Practice, but two? We'll start with some free food and end with a didn't-see-it-coming-out-of-left-field hook-up, that's how.

The women are all complaining about their lack of sex - Violet has no one, Addison (with a new fairly severe haircut) has Kevin, but he's out of order for a few more weeks, and Naomi is wishing Addison's brother would swing back through town. They find Charlotte giving away free breakfast to lure in patients to the newly opened Pacific Wellcare, and they snidely remark that no one will fall for that. We cut to Sam and Pete, eagerly eating her free breakfast. They meet Sheldon, who asks if Violet is single.

Later, they see Ray Daniels, a champion cyclist, who is walking with a limp. They poach him from Pacific to Oceanside, and tell him they can have him race-ready in two days. After a quick shot, he hops up on an exercise bike. At that moment, his wife, Monica, (played by, wowzers, Ione Skye!) comes in, clearly unhappy that he's training. It turns out it's not just his knee; he has a heart problem. He wants to ride for the prize money because they're broke. He points out that Sam and Pete said they could fix his knee, and that's what he wants, regardless of his heart issue. After some treatments, Ray is pain-free, but Pete is having second thoughts. He asks Ray not to race, but Ray says he's going to, and he's going to win, and get the money he needs.

The next morning, Pete and Sam are obsessed with watching Ray's stats, including his heart rate (handy) online. In the last mile, Ray takes the lead, and wins, and then immediately the heart rate monitor disappears. When Sam and Pete arrive at the hospital to find Ray, they're told he died. Over his body, Pete and Sam discuss their own faults in this case, and wonder if their own egos got involved too much, if they perhaps didn't do all they could to keep Ray alive. You think?

Cooper has packed up a bunch of Charlotte's stuff, and brings it up to her new office. Charlotte, who at first seems emotional, says she's not going to return his stuff, spoils of war, she says, and then pukes into the trash can. Cooper insists she's pregnant, which she denies while throwing him out of her office. The next morning, she brings pregnancy tests to Cooper, and while they're waiting for The Results, they discuss names for this imaginary child. The test comes back negative, and both of them seem saddened by it. Their little magical moment dries up.

It turns out Charlotte was sick from the free breakfast. Not pregnant. When she tells Cooper this, and says that it was nice being with him, and she tries again to apologize. He closes her down yet again.

Addison meets with a patient, Leah, a workaholic who finds out that she has ovarian cancer. Addison wants to remove her ovaries and uterus immediately, but Leah absolutely refuses to go ahead with surgery because she wants a child - a child she's planned and waited for until her career would allow it. She leaves demanding a second opinion. Later, Pacific's "Dell" comes down asking for Leah's records for a Dr. Lockhart. Addison marches up to Wellcare, and lays into Charlotte for allowing Leah to have false hope. Dr. Wyatt Lockhart appears, all suavey, calling Addison "Monty", and explaining about a trial he's going to run on Leah using different medications instead of surgery. As she's storming out, Lockhart tells Addison that Charlotte said she was brilliant, but didn't mention her hotness level. Addison only pauses for a second before continuing the storming-out.

The next morning, Leah comes into Addison's office demanding her records, upset that Addison didn't turn them over as she'd wished. She says that the most important thing to her is getting rid of the cancer AND having a baby - something Addison can't give her with surgery. Addison reluctantly hands over her records, wishing her the best. Later, in the elevator, Addison and Lockhart meet up again. Lockhart invites Addison out to dinner, and then says they could just skip dinner and go to his place. Hello.

Unfortunately, complications arise, and Leah ends up needing immediate surgery. Lockhart isn't a surgeon, so Charlotte calls on Addison to save Leah's life. While scrubbing in, Lockhart walks in, and Addison tells him that his careless handling of Leah could cost her her life. Lockhart says that he will save her. On the operating table, Addison promises a crying Leah "we", as in she and Lockhart, will help her. Even though he isn't a surgeon, Lockhart proves himself to be handy, and also proves that the tumor is shrinking, through his treatment. When Leah wakes up, Leah tells Addison that she wants to go ahead with the surgery, to save her life.

As she's leaving, Charlotte asks Addison how Leah is doing, and Addison takes the opportunity to tell her that Lockhart is a reckless SOB. Charlotte says that Lockhart is good for business, out for glory, and arrogant, and that she doesn't have to like him. Addison says that he sounds like someone who would use insider information from her boyfriend to start her own practice, and that she and Lockhart must be made for each other. Charlotte, the Queen of Mean, breaks down crying. Addison, not getting her big walk out, offers to talk it over, but Charlotte dismisses her. BFFs in the making, I tell you.

That night, again in the elevator, Lockhart tries to turn on the charm again, but Addison says that if he calls her Monty one more time, she'll plunge a scalpel through his hand. Oh, they're so going to end up in bed.

Dell is seeing a young patient, Judy, who isn't sure she wants to keep her baby - she's been thinking about putting her unborn son up for adoption. Dell gets a brainstorm and calls all the doctors together to discuss starting an impromptu adoption service - they have clients who are always considering adoption, and couples who are having problems conceiving. In fact, Violet already has a couple who are interested in adopting. The next morning, Judy meets with Violet but before she heads in, Dell coaches her on what to say - and he goes a little too far, feeding her the "right" lines. Later, Naomi and Violet meet with the couple to discuss the situation. They're a little gun-shy since they've been through this process unsuccessfully before. Dell then brings Judy in to meet them. That night, a very happy Judy tells Dell that she's feeling positive - not about the adoption, but about her life in general. She's excited that they've offered to pick up her expenses while she's pregnant, but she also mentions that Violet said she could change her mind. So, she's not 100% sure about the adoption. The next morning, Dell talks to Violet about his concerns, and Violet parrots back the same lines Dell fed Judy. Dell asks Cooper about the situation, and Cooper admits that he was adopted. He says that his birth mom wavered, but ultimately made the best decision for her, and for him as well. But Dell is still too worried... and I guess we'll find out in a later episode what decision Judy makes.

Thoughts and Musings...

• I'm totally Team Sheldon. No matter what. Their date may have ended up on a fizzle, but I have hope for them. No matter what hookup Pete and Violet may have done. No, you read that right. Pete, saddened by Ray's death, and Violet, saddened that Sheldon couldn't seem to work up enough self-esteem to date her, hooked up. I can't see them together though. Can you? Long-term? But, oh, man, wait until the rest of the docs find out next week. Wait until Cooper finds out! Whoo! Hooray for a really good storyline for Violet!
• And I'm totally over Officer Kevin. He's jonesing to leave. Let him.
• There's something really funny about Taye Diggs pretending to not know how to ride a bike.

Pacific Wellcare and its band of merry medicals may just be what the doctor ordered for this show. There's tension not just between Charlotte and Cooper, but also Sheldon and Violet, and Lockhart and Addison, that we've been missing. I hope it continues.

What are your thoughts? Team Pete or Team Sheldon?

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