Review - Royal Pains Season 2 Episode 1 - Spasticity

Let me tell you something, I really hate medical dramas. They’re a dime a dozen and their cheapness is reflected in how often they are canceled. When I started watching Royal Pains my devotion of time was entirely dependent on the female eye candy. I grew to like the series over the course of the first season, but I didn’t really know if I would continue watching it.

A lot happened in the season one finale. Divya developed the rather unique notion that love comes after marriage and went through with the engagement, Evan lost the service’s money to, of all people their father, Jill finally kicked out her ex-husband, and Hank more or less gave up on Jill.

The season two premiere starts where it left off. Hank pursues his brother after he discovers that their absentee father was responsible for their diminished bank account. Evan is hopeful that their father will return the money but Hank isn’t buying it so he returns home to a rather annoyed Boris, who was expecting him to devote some time to studying his illness, and Divya, who is treating an accident prone infomercial creator who keeps getting himself hurt.

What I really dislike about medical dramas is that they drag things out. While having problems with a bad tempered doctor, Jill openly admits to Hank, she finally kicked out her ex-husband for good. The entire conversation after that can be summed up as “Alright, cool.” and then it is never mentioned again throughout the episode.

Considering that she pretty much tossed Hank aside for her ex-husband in the previous season, I expected there to be a little more friction, but there wasn’t any to be seen. They smiled and they talked about everything except their ruined relationship. I could understand if we had a time jump a few months ahead, but this is the next day. Trust me, in the real world, it would come up.

The relationship between the Lawson brothers starts off rocky right from the beginning, and Hank is understandably angry with his brother. However, in this instance I thought Hank was laying on the guilt way too thick. His brother made a mistake, but the blame lied with their father, a difference he just couldn’t grasp throughout the entire episode. The first season made it perfectly clear that Hank was the responsible one, and Evan was the one who screws up. If that’s not a well used family stereotype then I don’t know what is. It seems the writers expect you to side with Hank on this one, but I found my loyalties leaning toward Evan.

The patient of the week was interesting enough, but not really all that exciting. Hank Med kept getting recalled to the patient’s house as he got into more accidents trying to tear down his dead father’s panic room. By about the second or third accident even I started to say “Why doesn’t someone take him in for a checkup?” Because it becomes blatantly obvious that there is more to it then the medication he was taking.

The season premiere was okay, but the writers are trying to drag things out. They had so many opportunities to resolve the Hank and Jill issue but either chose complete silence or a scene cut to avoid it. Hank was an ass to his brother, Jill was annoyingly diplomatic with a doctor who kept insulting her, and Divya was…like herself.

Fortunately, I’m happy to let all of that slide because it’s only the first episode of the season, but I won’t be so inclined to keep watching if the “avoidance” card gets played again.

Score: 7/10