‘Private Practice’ season 6, episode 8 review: Cooper’s heart

Just as we had with Sam and Jake before, Tuesday night’s new “Private Practice” season 6 episode was geared almost entirely around one character; and on this particular occasion, this character was Cooper and his story made for something rather grand. Out of all of the individual “focus episodes” that Shonda Rhimes has brought us during this final season, this one was clearly the strongest.

First and foremost, there was the narrative structure here that brought us a greater sense of the show’s history. Rather than just sequentially taking place after some of the other installments we have seen thus far this fall, it bounced around as Cooper chronicled the entire pregnancy of his wife Charlotte, starting from when she first found out the news that she was going to be a mom three times over to the difficult birth of the children. There was some humor mixed in here, some anger, and of course a trademark Cooper / Charlotte moment that included them getting thrown out of a class for joking around with it too much.

So did the triplets all end up surviving? This was touch-and-go really for the final fifteen minutes of the episode. One of the triplets came out early, and surgery was immediately required in order to see if this daughter would even survive. She did, and this made for some really touching moments that showed us just how far Cooper has come over the years … loving a daughter that may or may not end up surviving. As for the other two children, they are still in her womb for the time being; she will be able to give birth to them at some point, but there are all sorts of complications until that time. (In other news, this is a story that is still going to play out over the final few episodes.)

What did you think about this episode? If you want to check out some more scoop from the upcoming “Private Practice” finale, all you have to do is head on over to the link here.

Photo: ABC