Kat with a K

Royal Pains 2.1 "Spasticity"

Spoilers ahead! Here's my take on the season opener of Royal Pains . . .

Patient of the Week: Enh. I figured out it was mercury poisoning before Hank did, which was frustrating. It was fine, I guess, but the faux-parallelism to the situation with Hank's father was a little too Grey's Anatomy for this show. On the other hand, I liked the actual parallelism of Jill risking her job for a patient, mirroring the way Hank lost his job in the city. One other thought about the patients of the week: Have they saved them every time? Is the show ever going to let someone die?

The Lawson Family: I'm not entirely convinced we need this whole father storyline, but if it prompts more good brother interaction, I guess I can get behind it. I hope the father doesn't end up disrupting the dynamic too much. I did love the moment of Hank taking the check and then punching his father, but I'm about ready to be done with the father now. I doubt I'll get my wish. Oh, and Evan selling his car is a good illustration of what we already know - that Hank is what he cares about most - but also shows some nice personal growth and maturity.

Divya's Engagement: Her refusing to talk about her situation with Hank is frustrating, but if we're never going to get to Labor Day anyway, does it matter? I think it's really interesting that she'll talk to Evan but not Hank about this. I love the sort of grudging friendship between Evan and Divya. I can't tell whether the show is thinking about making it romantic at some point, but I think I like them just as friends.

Jill's Job: Meh. I know Jill's nemesis is Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden and we're supposed to be excited about that, but I'm not. Harden's character so far seems to just be inexplicably and needlessly evil, so I hope we find out more of her background or some excuse to make her more sympathetic, if she's really sticking around as a regular. What is this fancy surgeon doing at this hospital everyone keeps saying is so awful, anyway?

Hank and Jill: I liked that Jill told Hank about the divorce right up front, rather than dragging it out, but I also like that Hank didn't just immediately try to jump in a relationship. But I do like the two of them together, so I hope that storyline isn't back-burnered too much because of all these new characters and conflicts they're throwing in this year.

Boris: Continuing to be Boris. His decision to trust Hank was probably supposed to be a big sign of personal growth, though, and the football thing was adorable. I wonder if they actually have some plan for his mysterious illness?

Overall: As a season opener, it was fine. They're clearly trying to make the show more complicated with these two new storylines (and characters), but I'm not convinced that's a good idea. This is supposed to be summer fluff. I think between patients of the week, the Evan/Hank sibling dynamic, Divya's family drama, Boris's mystery illness, and Jill and Hank's relationship, they had enough going on already, and I like all those elements more than any of the new stuff, so far. So I really hope they don't move too far away from what I liked about the show last season.

Grade: B