Are y’all acquainted with that fun party affect known as the grab bag? It’s just what it sounds like – a big bad in which you reach in and pull out *something*, usually and hopefully a fabulous prize.
That’s what this second episode of Necessary Roughness struck me as: a big old grab bag of plot potpourri. Stick your hand in and pull out a Dr. Dani patient of the week – a former war correspondent turned news anchor who literally cracked up on national television. Another pull garners a Dr. Dani parenting issue with her daughter who is being very teenager-y and lying about a boy she wants to date. One more grab gets a Dr. Dani personal moment involving her cougariffic best pals and a speed dating event masquerading as a dinner party. That personal stuff also extends to Dani’s subconscious as we’re treated to a couple of her steamy fantasies involving the hunky football trainer. And speaking of him, the grab bag also has a T.K. story about a knee injury and Twitter and the internal politics of football. Said story featured Nico (Scott Cohen) who is fast becoming my favorite dude in this whole thing. Hunky football trainer who?
At first I wasn’t sure about all the activity in this episode, as I got that “hot mess” feeling about a quarter through. But given that Dr. Dani’s life in general is pretty much a hot mess, it all seemed to work as the program progressed. As with the pilot episode, Callie Thorne continued to charm, giving Dr. Dani a savvy edge while she wrestles with issues one would expect a newly separated mom of teenagers to have. Her fantasies about her professionally-off-limits amour, Matt (Marc Blucas) might have been well, tacky (C’mon. We’ve all seen really cheesy versions of this in myriad shows, haven’t we…) but they worked somehow. I think this show is fueled by charm.
It seems the show has settled in to its framework for Dani’s therapy work – an ongoing client – our guy T.K. (Mehcad Brooks) – and a client du jour, this week played with admirable nuance by Nicholas Bishop. The diagnosis of male postpartum depression was interesting in that it had never occurred to me that such a thing might happen. But I’ve never really understood the opposite sex all that well to begin with. However, I digress.
Ah! T.K! Showing his inner T.O./Ochocinco again, taking to social media (hello, Twitter!) to plead his case and showcase his displeasure when told his knee injury would keep him on the sidelines for an upcoming game. The dark and slightly mysterious Nico, aka the team enforcer, took matters into his own hands, giving us a glimpse into the inner workings of a professional sports team. More of this, please – it’s fun.
Dani’s kids were, well, typical scheming teens and her friends were, well, typical divorcees. Her gambling, wacky mom and ex-husband weren’t really missed – not so much because of their characters, but because this episode was pretty darn full as it was.
Color me pleased with how this second episode played out – finally. There are worse things that could be pulled out of a television grab bag than what was offered. Trust me.
Clacked by Jane Graves 
on Jul 07, 2011 @ 16:30 EST5EDT
