‘Royal Pains’ season 6, episode 8 review: Is Hank’s new relationship a winner?
We’re a little later with this “Royal Pains” review, but it’s still worth the discussion since “I Did Not See That Coming” is probably the first time all season that we really got a sense where some of these long-term stories are going. We’ve enjoyed many of the standalone cases and character moments, but it’s always nice when you start to see the next move on the chessboard.
For Hank, this meant finally getting to meet the much-discussed new love interest this season in Charlotte, a go-getter who just so happens to be blind. The fun thing about this character is that she’s probably more proactive than almost anyone else on the show, and she exposes yet again Hank’s bigger character flaws: As a doctor, he tries too hard to take care of others (even when they don’t want to be cared for).
At least for now, Hank can relax knowing that Charlotte forgave him for trying to force an operation on her that could allow her to see again; but now that she is going through the process of getting the surgery done herself, there is much potential for drama down the road for the two of them. Hank’s always had good bedside manner, but has sometimes still struggled with doing and saying the right thing at the right time.
We also finally understand why Divya is so concerned about Jeremiah’s secretive ways, given that the way in which he saw him handing off money to Viviana, she probably thinks that he is using his fancy car and oodles of many to pay for any woman he wants. It helps this story that Viviana does seem to be a pretty nice person, and is not just trying to use Jeremiah to get proper immigration papers. (Given his resources / his single status, that could be an easy thing for her to do.)
Even this episode elaborated further on what we are meant to think of Emma, and what she represents on the show: The youthful Hamptons. We haven’t received a proper window into this world since some of the earlier seasons, and having her mingle and work for a Hamptons gossip site gets her in to all the proper parties. It’s too bad for her right now that she is about to have a quick fall down the social ladder if she continues to anger her boss Oz, while at the same time getting legitimately closer to rich kid Roscoe. It’s good for her that she may be able to look past someone slipping him bath salts. He like the Emma character more now that we start to understand her value to the show in bringing in this perspective.
The only part of the show that does get a little camp right now is Evan and Paige in therapy, but sometimes camp isn’t a bad thing. Their adventures in therapy are mostly just silly fun, and we at least appreciate that they are doing something like this to work on their marriage rather than just the typical “all babies, all the time” story that most shows force new couples into.
Overall, “I Did Not See That Coming” was a strong episode for “Royal Pains,” and one that has us excited to where the rest of the summer could take us. Grade: B+.