‘Private Practice’ review: Sam’s reality

Whether it be “Supernatural” or “Castle,” there have been a number of shows as of late that have tried to pull off the whole documentary style in order to shake up their episodes. While the latter was interesting, the found-footage episode was a dud, and neither of them really felt that necessary in the grand scheme of things. Rather, these episodes were more gimmicks designed to stretch out the story.

However, “Private Practice” luckily did not do this at all, and instead opted to show us a pretty moving hour of television that used reality TV as a means to tell a story, and not just something that was tacked-on for effect. Sam had signed himself up for a reality show about his work life, but little did he know that this was going to end up being one of the most difficult days of his life. Not only were the cameras intrusive on his personal life, but then there was a medical emergency involving a married man that his mother was having a longtime affair with.

Then, things got interesting courtesy of one revelation: this man was actually Sam’s father, and he was the one person really capable of saving his life via a transplant. There was some stellar acting in here by Taye Diggs as he decided to offer himself up for a transplant, even though he barely knew the man and felt as though he became successful almost in spite of him. This story opened Sam up to all of the life that he had not lived, and gave him some beautiful insight into just what he wants to do moving forward.

Do you think the documentary style really helped to create a greater sense of pain in this episode than we would have otherwise seen? Be sure to share some of your thoughts with a comment below!