‘Royal Pains’ season 8, episode 7 review: Revelations in song
Musical episodes are one of the hardest things out there to produce on TV, mostly because they require such a different energy and style than almost anything else that you are going to see a show do. They’re super-ambitious, technically-challenging, and immediately polarizing. There are some out there who are going to think of them as corny just because of either preconceived notions and thoughts on musicals in general.
Wednesday night’s “Royal Pains” episode entitled “The Good News Is…” will probably not change the mind of anyone out there debating whether or not they are going to suddenly enjoy musicals. For those who do and understand the spirit of the show, this is a fun representation of everything that you’ve come to know and love from the series. This includes a few really great songs; our personal favorite is the title track, a refrain representing the entire series in a way that includes cameos from many of Hank’s former patients.
For those who are sticklers to story and the specifics of this world, rest assured that these songs weren’t actually happening. They were hallucinations from one of Hank’s newest patients, a stage legend played effectively by Cloris Leachman who wanted to be sure she could be there for Henry’s wedding. This was a similar convention to how the “Scrubs” musical (also great) made their episode work.
In terms of character revelations, Evan and Paige are finally expecting a child, Hank realized that he should really try further to control his own destiny, and Jeremiah seems well on his way towards a happy future. Also, Hank caught the bouquet at the end of the wedding!
While there were some cheesy moments during the musical (did we really need to hear Paige singing about reproduction or Divya trying to get into school?), for the most part we really enjoyed this just as a love letter to the show and an opportunity for the cast to have a little bit of fun. Things will get a little more serious next week when we close the door on this story, presumably for good. Grade: A-.