‘Royal Pains’ season 8, episode 3 review: Hank’s Hong Kong romance and more

To think, we are now three episodes into the eighth season of “Royal Pains,” but at the same exact time, we’re not entirely sure that we are that much closer than we were previously to resolving the love life of one Hank Lawson.

For example, on tonight’s episode everything was starting to look up for Hank as he found himself in a whirlwind romance with a woman he met in Hong Kong, one who happened at the same time to be heading back to America soon to work at NYU. He thought it could be a little too good to be true given that they met halfway around the world, and he was right when he discovered that really, she wasn’t too interested in being tied down.

Ultimately, the primary problem that we had with this storyline was simply the matter of perspective. Why in the world didn’t she make it clear to him precisely what her intentions were in advance, especially when it was clear that he may be looking for more? Maybe it would have destroyed the moment, but we cannot help feeling as though she led him on. This storyline also minimized the screen time for the ever-mysterious Boris as he worked to cure the family disease, which he now has more hope for than he did previously.

Elsewhere, this was a quiet episode, and probably the weakest so far this season given that there was no Jeremiah presence, and most of Divya and Paige’s story was meant to set up Evan so that he would be okay with IVF … only for him to say that he was fine with it the whole time, but wanted Paige to come to this realization herself. In the end, there were a few things to like about the hour in that there was romance, and Hank and Paige are closer to the next phase in their lives if all goes well. Yet, there are only five episodes left, and we almost want a little more from the show at this stage. Grade: C+.