I’ll start by saying it’s been a busy week that has included my mother-in-law coming to visit. She usually makes the trip once a year and we love to see her. Her visit felt too short, though, and we’ll be sorry to see her leave this afternoon. While she was here, she taught my daughter how to knit and got her started knitting a cell phone case. LOL! If I can get a good picture of it, I’ll post it here. While my MIL was here, I was also able to give her a copy of my first book. She told me that she sat down to read for a few minutes, lost track of time and ended up reading for an hour and a half. Having a reader get lost in a story is just about the best compliment an author could hope for and when it comes from someone you love, it's gold!
This week I’ve watched the second episode of Gossip Girl and the premiere of The Practice. Before seeing either show I had expected to like The Practice and feel so-so about Gossip Girl. Turns out, it’s the exact opposite. Gossip Girl characters had me hooked within fifteen minutes.
After I watched The Practice last night, it didn’t take me long to figure out why I wasn’t drawn in. I liked the scenes with the psychiatrist and her patient-they were emotional and felt believable to me-but Addison still seems like a secondary character from Grey’s Anatomy. On Monday I blogged about secondary characters. I hadn't thought about it until now, but I think Addison needed to be a better-developed secondary character before becoming a heroine.
She is a self-described world-class neonatal surgeon, and yet she gives up that career and moves to a different city and a very different job. Why? Well, no matter what she says, it seems she did it because Alex said he wasn’t her boyfriend (or she wasn’t his girlfriend), and because Pete kissed her in the elevator. She’d already accepted that her relationship with McDreamy was over, she had to know there was no future with McSteamy, and she couldn’t possibly have believed she’d make head surgeon. So Alex’s brush-off just didn’t seem pivotal enough to have precipitated this, and I think the writers could have found a way to way to give Addison a stronger and more believable motivation for such drastic life changes.
So I think the writers rushed Addison’s transition from a secondary character to being the hero of her own story. In The Practice, they’ve given her a cast of quirky secondary characters—with the exception of the surfer boy/midwife, I had a hard time buying that—but Addison is still a secondary character too. She didn't seem strong enough to outshine everyone else. Can the writers redeem her in the next few episodes? Can Addison become the hero of her own story? I’m curious enough to watch a few more episodes and to see if they can.
Note to self: The Office and Grey’s premiere tonight! Also set VCR to record Ugly Betty and Big Shots.
I’ll be back tomorrow.
Lee
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4 comments:
I'm not watching Private Practice because I wasn't pulled in during the pilot last year. I'm a little less than pleased with Grey's, too.
I taped the Grey's premiere but haven't had time to watch it yet.
Private Practice will have to improve for me to become a regular viewer. Every fall a handful of shows are pulled after a few episodes. I can't help wondering if Private Practice might be one of them.
I've watched 2 episodes of Private Practice and I won't be back for another. The 2nd episode was better, but I...just don't care about the characters. I usually love Taye Diggs in any role, but this doctor guy doesn't do it for me. I also love Tim Daly, and I actually like his character on the show, but not enough to keep tuning in. I don't seem to care much for Addison not that she's not on Grey's.
I can relate, Cindy. I'll give Private Practice another week or so, but I'm not loving it so there's every chance I'll give up on it. My time is too precious.
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