TV Show Review: Royal Pains - Season 4

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters and fun stories you'll love

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Comedy, drama

Characters moving forward

Medicine mixed in

"They Do It All the Time on Grey's Anatomy."  "But Those People Have Serious Fictional Medical Problems."

I never really considered medical shows.  I’m a bit squeamish and they all seemed so life and death serious.  But that was before I met the delightful Royal Pains.  Okay, yes, the occasional episode can make me squeamish, but I love the characters and the comedy of the show really helps the medicine go down.  That still rings true with season four of the show.

It might help that the show is as much about the main characters as it is medical mystery show.  In fact, they seem to alternate.  One week the medical aspect will be foremost, and the next the character’s lives will take center stage.

The show centers around Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), a doctor who has started a concierge medical practice in the Hamptons in New York State.  As this season opens, he’s just split from his brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo) who is the CFO of HankMed, the business that they used to run together.  Now Evan is hiring some other doctors to compete, including Dr. van Dyke (recurring guest star Kyle Howard) and socially awkward but brilliant Dr. Sacani (recurring guest star Ben Shenkman).  Meanwhile, HankMed’s physician assistant Divya Katdare (Reshma Shetty) is doing her best to bring the brothers back together while dealing with family issues of her own.  And Jill (Jill Flint), Hank’s on again off again girlfriend, is still looking to leave the Hamptons for a medical clinic in need in South America.

Part way through the season, two new cast members were added from the ranks of the recurring guest star list.  The first of these is Boris (Campbell Scott) who owns the mansion where the Lawson brothers live.  Boris is a man of mystery, and he begins recruiting Hank for a secret project involving a friend who doesn’t want to listen to Hank’s advice and secret trips away from the Hamptons.

Meanwhile, they also added Paige Collins (Brooke D'Orsay).  Paige is Evan’s fiancée, and this move absolutely thrilled me.  I can not think of a couple better suited for one another.  They bring out the absolute best when they are together, and their chemistry is wonderful.  As a regular cast member, Paige gets a couple of juicy story lines this season that really play up the strengths of their relationship.

Wait, this is a medical show?  Yes it is, although you can see why I say it is as much about the characters as the medical mystery of the week.  Over the course of the season, their clients include a matchmaker, a competitive polo player, a pop star, and a DEA agent who thinks she’s been poisoned.

The show always takes itself and the medical mystery seriously.  In fact, there are some episodes where I actually do get concerned for the characters, be they main or guest star.  Since I’m not remotely familiar with the medical field, I don’t know how accurate the medicine is, but it works for me.

But the show balances that out with some comedy, mostly growing out of the characters.  These characters are fully developed, and I love them all.  But they can all have their goofy sides, and I will often laugh at their antics or the situation they’ve found themselves in along the way.  And the funniest episode?  It involves Dr. van Dyke, Paige, and Evan and is worthy of any sitcom out there today.

The acting?  The cast manages to make the medical jargon sound believable, pulls off the dramatic scenes perfectly, and yet makes me laugh in the lighter scenes – sometimes all within the same episode.  Yes, it’s pretty much perfect.

Season four consisted of 14 episodes that aired during the summer of 2012.  Then, in December, they aired a two hour movie set right before Christmas.  While it took place several months removed from the rest of the series, it did manage to advance quite a few of the storylines that were left hanging when the summer run ended.

And all sixteen hours are included in this set in their native widescreen and full surround on four discs.

Ultimately, I just find Royal Pains fun with characters I absolutely love.  If you haven’t seen this show, hurry up and catch up to season four so you’ll be ready to start watching season five.

Season 4 Episodes:

1. After the Fireworks

2. Imperfect Storm

3. A Guesthouse Divided

4. Dawn of the Med

5. You Give Love a Bad Name

6. About Face

7. Fools Russian

8. Manimal

9. Business & Pleasure

10. Who's Your Daddy

11. Dancing with the Devil

12. Hurts Like a Mother

13. Something Fishy This Way Comes

14. Sand Legs

15. & 16. Off-Season Greetings