What I’m Watching: Royal Pains (Season Premiere)

Royal Pains: Season 3, Episode 16 “This One’s For Jack” (B+)

It seems somewhat sudden for this show to close out its season, but it’s been a busy year in terms of friendships and relationships. Jack’s death was an unfortunate surprise last week, but it’s nice that everyone chooses to remember his positivity and energy as a fitting tribute to him. I’ll miss Tom Cavanagh since he’s so bright and excited all the time, and I do hope he lands on another show soon. Bonding with Nina was fun, and I’m glad that she confessed to being the child actress he had thought she was. Paige’s departure means that Evan is ready to focus on other things, namely the business of HankMed, which turns out to be headed in interesting directions as Boris’ cousin presents the new self-diagnosing shirt, which ends up winning over even Divya. After his comedic banter with Divya throughout the episode, worrying about why she was being nice to him, it took a serious turn with Evan going too far without consulting Hank while he was preoccupied getting over Jack’s death and taking out his frustration on a few dumb filmmaker kids looking to make the next “Jackass.” Hank and Evan have always had a minor difference of opinion on how the business should be conducted, and it seems that things have reached a boiling point, with Evan taking control of HankMed and Hank branching out on his own. I’m sure this split won’t last long, but I’m somewhat interested to see how it plays out when this show returns for its next round of episodes.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Paolo Costanzo as Evan