S08.E01: Stranger Danger

[radishcake]

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Hank treats a stubborn politician; Divya's future is impeded; Jeremiah returns; Eddie has a surprise for Hank and Evan.

[Primetimer]

Summer's here, guys.

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[twoods]

Divya is pregnant again? At least she won't be a crazy ass mom this time.

Eddie is still a douchebag. I can't believe he didn't show up to the wedding. Now there is some mystery around it, but I don't seem to care. I'm more interested in Jeremiah's parents.

Poor Paige and Evan. I want them to have a kid and get their happy ending. One can hope.

Is Terri Polo's character a regular on the show? I liked her. I want her to beat Paige's obnoxious dad.

What is the mystery around the kids and older sister? Twice she asked for a card for a fictitious guardian. I hope they didn't drop the story.

Edited May 19, 2016 by twoods

[zxy556575]

Wouldn't be a RP episode without a patient coughing. It's deadly, y'all!

[BungalowSummer]

Yep, Eddie's still a douchebag. And finally Evan understands that Hank was right all along.

Speaking of Evan, it's only minutes into the episode and he does something that makes me want to strangle him. He committed a gross breach of ethics telling Paige that the politician was a patient and then Paige compounds it by shouting out the pol's name. Yep, Evan's still an idiot man child, one step forward, two steps back. The world should consider itself lucky that Evan has sluggish sperm.

I'm thinking the kids are "home alone" and they're faking the guardian because they think they'll be separated by  protective services. Maybe Paige and Evan can adopt them.

All in all, though, it was a great episode for me: lots of long sandy beaches stretching into the hazy distance, country roads winding through the scrub pine and dune grasses, gorgeous beach houses, bright summer clothes and blue skies. I'm looking forward to more of Jeremiah and his parents next week. It will help get me through the  scenes of Evan having hysterics over getting hacked.

[withanaich]

I assumed the kids are home alone, too, but I have to wonder who's paying the HankMed bill. Why am I worrying about financial and insurance logistics on a show as delightfully shallow as this one? I don't know.

I thought it was refreshing that Teri Polo's character was like "Yeah, can we get this hysterectomy done so I can get back to getting elected?" I just hope that if she sticks around, we don't see her "coming around" and realizing she totes wants kids after all and was just fooling herself that her real dream was a silly career. I could have smacked Hank for the sad, pitying look on his face when she was telling him that she knew what she wanted out of her life.

Don't care about Eddie and the mystery person he was talking to and his mystery reasons for not going through with the wedding. I'm assuming he was talking to Boris, whom I had (HAPPILY) forgotten all about until that scene.

[honeydo7]

A few questions:

Is it possible Eddie backed out on the wedding after receiving legal papers proving he's married to a woman he hooked up while on his book tour?

Are those boys & their teenage sister, on the run from authorities, abusive foster parents?

Think Divya & Jeremiah end up together? 

Happy Thursday, Everybody.

[twoods]

I hope Divya doesn't break Raj's heart again. That's too ridiculous even for her selfish ass. 

I wonder how those kids can afford to live in such a nice house if there are no parents. Oh wait, it's Royal Pains world so it won't matter. I would never want to stick those bratty boys on Evan and Paige.

[ganesh]

I don't care about Eddie at all. The whole show was Jeremiah's parents for me.

I never cared about Hank's love life. Why does he have to have one. It's clear he likes working and there's nothing wrong with that.

The whole conversation with his new flame was so awkward: Hey my dad walked out on his wedding and everyone says I have commitment problems so let's go out. 

[Callietwo]

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I'm assuming he was talking to Boris, whom I had (HAPPILY) forgotten all about until that scene.

I kind of thought maybe a shrink?  He sure needs one.  (I liked Boris and his mysteries early on and I really like the actor but damn.. they've gone so far left field with his storyline that it's a total snoozefest now.  

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I'm thinking the kids are "home alone" and they're faking the guardian because they think they'll be separated by  protective services. Maybe Paige and Evan can adopt them.

I didn't see any ambiguity on whether they're 'home alone'.. I think it's certain.  And I'd guess, yes, the long game most likely will be Paige & Evan still can't have babies of their own and ends up taking them in though I don't know if they'll adopt or not.  

 

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Think Divya & Jeremiah end up together? 

It seemed to me that Divya & Raj got married offscreen... so I hope not... dumping Raj twice, even if the first time was mutual is just not a storyline that I'd want to see anyway.  

[CoderLady]

The "previouslies" showed Raj proposing and I think, Divya accepting. Jeremiah has proven to be a rare TV character in that he truly doesn't like small children, so even if Raj disappears again I seriously doubt he and Divya could be together.

[ganesh]

Jeremiah could do way way way way way better than Divya. 

[KaveDweller]

On 5/19/2016 at 9:54 AM, honeydo7 said:

A few questions:

Is it possible Eddie backed out on the wedding after receiving legal papers proving he's married to a woman he hooked up while on his book tour?

Are those boys & their teenage sister, on the run from authorities, abusive foster parents?

Think Divya & Jeremiah end up together? 

Happy Thursday, Everybody.

I was thinking Eddie cheated on Mrs. Newburg while on tour and proposed out of guilt, but then felt to bad to go through with a wedding under those circumstances.

I think the boys and the sister just don't have any parents or an aunt acting as guardian. They are just living on their own and don't want the authorities to find out and split them up in foster care.

[lh25]

Kind of a side note, but I had a hysterectomy in March, mostly laproscopic, and there is NO WAY I would have been back at work in a few days.  I was out 5 weeks.  Granted, mine was a bit complicated but still they told me 2 weeks as a bare minimum.  Yeah, I know.  It's Royal Pains, and I still love the show.

[candall]

Ooph, I'd forgotten this thing has all the depth of the morning dew.

Interesting that I don't think I've ever seen tv people fret over a young rich handsome doctor-type because he hasn't yet made a marriage commitment.  Usually it's high fives all 'round for the lucky swordsman. 

Oh wait, "unfulfilled childbearing vessel" alert, so we're coming out eveners.

I'm in favor of child services stepping in since the sister is "too scared" to try lifting the bike up off her kid brother.  The Lifetime Movie kid units generally display more grit.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

So, we're supposed to think that it's a good thing that Paige's father (the general, the hunter) is not anti-gun? Or, since Paige says that Teri Polo's character accused him of being anti-gun, that means she is pro-gun, so, both candidates are pro-gun?  It just made an impression on me since Evan mentioned it again at the end.

And why would Raj even consider moving to Baltimore?  Don't his twins live somewhere in the NY area?  We've seen him spend a lot of time with them, as if he shares custody. I don't understand how a parent who is remarrying would be so willing to move away from his or her first children in order to start a second family.  He should be insisting on remaining locally, which means that Divya, if she were to get into Hopkins, should go to Baltimore herself, (which means her new baby will live apart from its father), or choose to remain nearby and go to Stony Brook.  If she loves Raj, she shouldn't want him to move away from his kids if it isn't absolutely necessary.

[ganesh]

I think Paige was more incredulous that the *General* was being accused as anti-gun. Like, "how stupid is this woman?"

Divya typically is all about Divya. Yes, apply to Hopkins by all means. It's a great college. But apply to Stonybrook too. Which is also a very good/great place. I interviewed there. Because? You get to go to a high quality medical school and still be near your family.

People make decisions like that all the time. Not Divya though. She's on the waiting list, but it's a devastating tragedy.

Far be it from me to demand a shred of reality in this show, but what qualifies Divya to get into medical school in the first place. She's in a very nontraditional field. What exams did she have to take? Typically medical students have BS degrees. Does she have one? 

It's completely unfair to expect Raj to up and leave his kids. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

56 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I think Paige was more incredulous that the *General* was being accused as anti-gun. Like, "how stupid is this woman?"

But if you are "accusing" someone of being anti-gun, than you are likely pro-gun.  So they are both pro-gun.  Just seemed like an odd detail.

56 minutes ago, ganesh said:

It's completely unfair to expect Raj to up and leave his kids.

What gets me is that it didn't seem like Divya was pushing him, but that Raj was all too willing to do that if Divya gets into the more selective medical school.  Before this episode, he certainly didn't seem like that sort of dad. In reality, there are plenty of medical schools in the NY area that would probably be easier for Divya to get into than Hopkins.

 

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

Far be it from me to demand a shred of reality in this show, but what qualifies Divya to get into medical school in the first place. She's in a very nontraditional field. What exams did she have to take? Typically medical students have BS degrees. Does she have one? 

She likely has a science background, and her recommendations are probably great.  And she has a lot more experience in the medical field than someone who graduated from college a year of two ago and has been working in a research lab before applying, which seems to be what med schools expect these days.  It's also fine to have a BA instead of a BS - it might even make a candidate more interesting - it's just with all the required premed courses, it's common to major in a subject (such as bio, biochem,chem or physics) where many of the premed required 2 terms of biology, 2 of physics, 4 of chemistry and 2 of calculus will also satisfy departmental requirements.  Otherwise, it's like having a second major without official recognition.

I get why she wants to be accepted at Hopkins.  I just don't see how she could go without majorly disrupting Raj's family.

[ganesh]

Yes, the whole gun issue was stupid. I think they were saying that Teri Polo isn't nearly as good a politician as she thinks she is.

I've never seen much of Divya's qualifications discussed before. So, likely, yes, and there's nothing wrong with all that information, but not discussed on screen, so no, for the time being. I can't recall any mention of her degree. She could have taken community college classes for all we know and then got the PA job. A brief discussion from Hank about what it takes to get into medical school would suffice. 

Let's face it, Hank was a well respected NYC doctor who got bounced out on his ass. Now he makes house calls to rich people. He's not known in the medical community. Is his recommendation carrying much weight? Jeremiah, definitely because they've always talked about his research activities. 

But it's been like Divya magically took her exams and applied to all these medical schools. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

8 hours ago, ganesh said:

Let's face it, Hank was a well respected NYC doctor who got bounced out on his ass. Now he makes house calls to rich people. He's not known in the medical community. Is his recommendation carrying much weight? Jeremiah, definitely because they've always talked about his research activities.

I was thinking the hospital administrator might give a glowing review, but what if Boris got involved....?

[ganesh]

I just wanted to see more process to the plot. Or see her dealing with a real life decision. She's a great PA no doubt, but there's a whole lot more to do to get an MD. 

[MiseryIndex]

i wish they would just let the dad be redeemed at this point & stay that way. with a shortened final season just let things end without needless drama. let hank's relationships & work be the drama.

[withanaich]

I was under the impression you had to have (at least) a bachelor's degree to be a PA? And most PA programs actually lead to a master's degree. So I'm sure that, along with her years of experience in the field, mean Divya is fairly qualified to apply to medical school. They just didn't show her studying for the MCAT or applying or making up whatever credits she needed to because that doesn't make for compelling TV. Also, we don't really have time for that since the show is ending soon and moving at breakneck speed. (I didn't even realize Divya and Raj had already gotten married until Episode 2 of this season!)

[ganesh]

I don't know if they do or not. She's never said. 

49 minutes ago, withanaich said:

They just didn't show her studying for the MCAT or applying or making up whatever credits she needed to because that doesn't make for compelling TV.

No it doesn't, but three lines of dialogues to make it actually appear that she was working really hard would have been nice. "With these MCATs, you could get into Hopkins." 

"We did have time" isn't really a reason to handwave. Should it be a multi-episode plot? No. Should we at least have an idea about Divya's backround qualifying her for medical school? Yes. She had a conversation about it with Hank. They could have addressed it there easily. 

[Lovecat]

On 5/25/2016 at 11:02 AM, ganesh said:

I think Paige was more incredulous that the *General* was being accused as anti-gun. Like, "how stupid is this woman?"

Divya typically is all about Divya. Yes, apply to Hopkins by all means. It's a great college. But apply to Stonybrook too. Which is also a very good/great place. I interviewed there. Because? You get to go to a high quality medical school and still be near your family.

People make decisions like that all the time. Not Divya though. She's on the waiting list, but it's a devastating tragedy.

Far be it from me to demand a shred of reality in this show, but what qualifies Divya to get into medical school in the first place. She's in a very nontraditional field. What exams did she have to take? Typically medical students have BS degrees. Does she have one? 

It's completely unfair to expect Raj to up and leave his kids. 

 

8 hours ago, withanaich said:

I was under the impression you had to have (at least) a bachelor's degree to be a PA? And most PA programs actually lead to a master's degree. So I'm sure that, along with her years of experience in the field, mean Divya is fairly qualified to apply to medical school. They just didn't show her studying for the MCAT or applying or making up whatever credits she needed to because that doesn't make for compelling TV. Also, we don't really have time for that since the show is ending soon and moving at breakneck speed. (I didn't even realize Divya and Raj had already gotten married until Episode 2 of this season!)

Yes, the majority of PA programs culminate in a Master's Degree, and require a Bachelor's Degree to even get in.  Divya is more than qualified to go to medical school, assuming she took (and did well on) the MCAT when we weren't looking ;)