TV Show Review: Royal Pains - Season 3 Volume 2

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Good mix of fun with serious medical mysteries and great characters

Cons: Only six episodes

The Bottom Line:

Only half season

But still filled with what fans love

So entertaining

"Was the Whole Stabbing Me in the Chest Thing Absolutely Necessary?  I Thought We Were Friends."

While as a USA Network fan, I’ve gotten quite used to their split seasons (and actually, I quite like their counter programming schedule), for some reason they decided to split the release of season 3 of Royal Pains on DVD.  While the first half of the season was released at the beginning of the year, we can now finish off the season with the season three volume two set.

The set contains the final six episodes of season 3 and picks up pretty much right where we left the HankMed gang.  One of Dr. Hank Lawson’s (Mark Feuerstein) patients has collapsed because he was mistreated.  Unfortunately, the person responsible for his bad treatment is Hank’s assistant Divya Katdare (Reshma Shetty).  Meanwhile, HankMed CFO Evan Lawson (Paulo Costanzo) is still trying to get the blessing to marry his fiancée Paige Collins (recurring guest star Brooke D’Orsay), and Jill Casey (Jill Flint) has decided it is time to get serious about wrapping up life in the Hamptons to move to the clinic is South America that needs her help.

Of course, with all this going on there are still the cases of the week involving a band with mysterious leg weakness, a party planner with panic attacks, and an actor with stomach pains.  In a first for the series, they bring back Tom Cavanagh’s (sp?) pro-golfer Jack O'Malley for a multiple episode arc as his health, which he thought was under control, begins to go downhill.  Will Hank be able to get through to him in time to treat his new disease?

Despite the fact that the show is dealing with medical mysteries, it has always had a light tone.  Part of that is because of the setting.  It’s hard to feel like it is too serious in a resort community when you’re looking at life among the rich.  Part of that is because the show spends plenty of time looking at the lives of our main characters.  That aspect of the show can take on a soap opera quality, but it’s often light hearted.

That changes some in these episodes.  They’re still fun, and there are still some great laughs, but the consequences of the earlier half of the season are definitely here and they definitely take a gray hue.  The last couple of episodes are definitely darker than normal, but it doesn’t feel like such a departure considering what has come before.

When they first introduced Evan’s love interest, Paige, in season two, I figured she was a two or three episode guest star at best.  I’ve been dreading the thought of them writing her out of the show because I really love her and I love how her character has matured Evan, arguably nothing but a goofball in season one.  The two of them are so sweet together, and they get the best scenes in these episodes as well.

As always, the acting from the main cast and the guest stars is perfect at keeping that blend of light heartedness while still taking the medical mystery seriously.  And when the story calls for them to be more serious, everyone takes it up a notch.

I still don’t understand the reasoning behind creating a split season DVD release of this season of the show.  It’s not like the cheaper price is going to attract new viewers to pick up the set casually.  I certainly wouldn’t jump in and buy season 3 of a show I’d never seen before no matter what the price. That’s especially true for something like this that requires a certain knowledge of the characters because of the ongoing stories before jumping in here.  And the odds of finding it on sale cheap enough to make me want to get it are slim.  Still, the set includes all six episodes on two discs in their native widescreen and full surround.  The only extra here is a gag reel.

I hope this is the last time that the USA Network tries the split season approach for their shows.  Still, the characters and stories are so fun that I can’t help recommending Royal Pains season three volume two.

Season 3-2 Episodes:

1. A Farewell to Barnes

2. Some Pig

3. My Back to the Future

4. Bottoms Up

5. Hank and the Deep Blue Sea

6. This One's for Jack