Royal Pains Season 8 Episode 7 Review: The Good News Is...
Christine Orlando
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Generally, I cringe when I hear that one of my favorite shows is going to attempt a musical episode. Why? Because it’s rare to find one well done.
One of the only exceptions to that rule has been Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More with Feeling.” I’m still in awe of how much I enjoyed that installment.
Needless to say, I didn’t have high hopes for Royal Pains Season 8 Episode 7.
Surprisingly, not only did I really enjoy this hour, it even, at times, had me singing along!
Both the song Divya sang to her child, and the actress’ voice were beautiful in that opening scene and set the bar high.
I also have to say that the women far outdid the men with their singing abilities. When Hank and Evan were singing about being done, I found myself wishing they were actually done a few verses sooner.
Cloris Leachman was wonderful as Annette, and I thought that having the musical numbers stem from hallucinations due to her brain bleed made them a much more plausible fit for the show.
In keeping with the tone of the series, the songs ranged from humorous to heartfelt…
My eggs don't seem to care that Evan's hot for me. Screw you, low motility. F. U., infertility. I'm making a baby.
Paige
Despite the setting of Eddie and Ms. Newburgh’s wedding (and I’m a sucker for a wedding episode), it was Paige and Evan’s infertility trials that stole the show for me.
As much as I could understand Evan wanting to do the pregnancy test early, I was appalled that he jumped ahead and read the end of books. That’s just so wrong!
But back to the story at hand. Paige’s quiet devastation at her negative pregnancy test was heartbreaking in this Royal Pains quote…
I just don't understand why something that's so simple has to be so hard.
Paige
Especially when it was obvious to everyone around them what wonderful parents Evan and Paige will make. That was also evident in Paige’s advice to Evan concerning his father.
Evan had every right to be furious with Eddie for what he’d done, but the feeling was consuming him. Whether or not Eddie deserved to be forgiven was irrelevant; it was Evan who deserved to live without the anger towards his father.
Evan’s toast to his Dad was perfect in its honesty…
To my Dad, Eddie R. Lawson, the man who made me who I am, good and bad. The same hustle, the attraction to short cuts, the eye for a way in and up, but also the luck of finding people who love us for who we are and make us better men.
Evan
Jeremiah brought Cindy as his date to the wedding, and it’s wonderful to see him making such progress in both his career and personal life. I really hope we get to see him and Cindy together a bit more before the series ends next week.
The musical number at the rehearsal dinner actually had me singing along which shocked me as much as anyone. For goodness sake, they were singing about diseases such leprosy and crooning about how we’re all going to die someday…and yet the whole number made me smile.
I even liked that Annette passed out because, let’s face it, it’s not a HankMed party unless someone ends up unconscious and in need of medical assistance.
I’m thrilled that Paige and Evan found out they were pregnant. At it’s core, Royal Pains is an optimistic, happy show and this couple deserves to be happy.
Has Divya made it into Johns Hopkins? That’s my guess, but we’ll have to wait and see.
And will Hank choose to close up HankMed and move on? Is there truly no love on the horizon for Dr. Hank Lawson? Do you need there to be for the series to have a satisfying conclusion?
Tune in next week for my review of the series finale, Royal Pains Season 8 Episode 8, and if you can’t wait until then, you can watch Royal Pains online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
