When this Private Practice episode began, I was convinced that by the time the credits rolled, Addison would have applied to become the adoptive mother for the baby born to the odious woman who was willing to do anything for cash, including sell her own baby. I was happy to be wrong about that. Having Addison just get a baby that way would’ve seemed too convenient, too much like what happened with Lisa Cuddy on House.
But watching Addison’s maternal desire continue to burn in her chest while Sam has informed her that he doesn’t want any more children, is getting depressing. There’s no middle of the road position here. Either Sam agrees to raise a child with her or Addison drops it or they break up and Addison adopts on her own. It’s Grey’s Anatomy’s Callie and Arizona all over again.
Having a baby has been a frequently referenced topic for Addison since the series began. It was most poignantly addressed last season when she was bonding with Pete’s baby Lucas and she started envisioning herself raising Lucas with Pete … until Violet returned. Then there was that opportunity this season to adopt Dell’s daughter, which Addison passed up because Sam didn’t want to adopt Betsey. After listening to Sam, who has a child and a grandchild, tell the fortysomething Addison to wait on the baby thing, I just don’t think that answer’s gonna fly. Not for long anyway.
Another thing that’s not flying right now, Cooper and Charlotte. In the wake of the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute Charlotte’s rapist — citing Charlotte’s lie of omission to the police about the rape, her refusal to ID her attacker in the first line-up, the delay in processing her rape kit and the fact that Charlotte helps patients with sex problems as reasons for not prosecuting — Cooper, who seems like a closet rage-a-holic, was left feeling impotent.
Charlotte’s response to Cooper’s obvious frustration was to start spouting cliches and forcing herself to smile, all to try to make Cooper feel better. This reminded me of something that really bothered me right after Charlotte was attacked a few episodes ago, that the battered, bruised, broken and dispirited Charlotte felt compelled to take care of Cooper, to stroke his hair and tell him everything was okay while she was in her hospital bed.
Cooper’s behavior in this episode was flat-out obnoxious. He came home drunk — he was drunk on the night Charlotte was attacked — and proceeded to shout at and berate Charlotte when she invoked the same cliche she’d used earlier in the day in an attempt to camouflage her pain. The always sanctimonious Cooper, whose favorite pastime is chastising parents, also in this episode beat up the father of a patient whose only crime was being a jerk. Then Cooper slobbered over Amelia because Charlotte won’t allow Cooper to touch her. The clincher was when Cooper described his current situation to Sheldon thusly: “The Charlotte I fell in love with is gone … It’s like she’s dead … My job is to hold up the corpse that was once Charlotte and smile.”
Charlotte still has a scab on her face. Her literal wounds aren’t yet fully healed. Her emotional and spiritual wounds will likely take substantially longer to heal, if indeed they ever do. And Cooper is ALREADY impatient with the pace of her recovery? He is already trying to kiss another woman and complaining that HE has to deal with HER, who’s now this totally different person?
The completely narcissistic behavior of this character was upsetting, the realization of the worst fears of victims of any crime: That their significant others will grow to resent them and how the trauma has changed them. It’s re-victimizing the victim. Needless to say, I responded very poorly to these scenes.
Between all the doings with Addison, Cooper and Charlotte, to throw in the teen who became morbidly obese to try to ward off his mother’s sexual abuse and that woman — who had two children she gave up for adoption who were born with disabilities due to her substance abusing, one who died because of her substance abuse and one who’s lingering in foster care who was been born addicted to crack — who was willing to sell her fifth baby for $1,000 and this episode contained virtually no light whatsoever. To contribute to this darkness, Amelia referred to Charlotte as “rapey and weird.”
Did I like this episode? No, I did not.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Dec 03, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
Haven’t seen the episode yet, but Cooper has always been a man-child. Remember him in season 1? Sleeping with his Internet dates, who then proceed to rob him. I honestly would not want a guy like that as a pediatrician for my kids (if I had kids). What I liked about the Cooper-Charlotte pairing is that Charlotte is his opposite – she’s the one who has to be responsible and in-charge and grown-up because she’s the big boss at the hospital. I thought the two of them would make each other better people in theory, but they keep regressing after seemingly making some progress.
I thought Charlotte’s “rapist” was Cooper – a case of domestic violence where later episodes might reveal Cooper/Charlotte’s deeper problems and codependency. Spousal rape has taken place before in this relationship (unbeknown to the audience), but never had it gone this far triggered by Charlotte’s emasculating provocations toward Coop. I was convinced this is how the plot would unfold and watched several following episodes with much anticipation for this to be revealed.