What I’m Watching: Royal Pains (Mid-Season Finale)

Royal Pains: Season 4, Episode 14 “Sand Legs” (B+)

There was always going to be something to undermine Hank’s seemingly perfect relationship with Harper, but I didn’t expect it to be him. His need to rush back to check on his patient, who ended up being fine, sealed the deal of doctoral unreliability for Harper, just as he was about to meet and impress her family. It’s strange since Evan is the Lawson brother who seems like he’d be more of a workaholic, but Hank’s passion for his patients is what gets him. It was interesting to see Evan recoil at the notion of taking someone on as a client due to his financial history, but he deserves a dramatic moment of his own every once in a while too. The news that Lou isn’t Paige’s mother was especially devastating both because it came from her and because it came just s Paige was finally connecting to her, but Evan managed to salvage her happiness by declaring their wedding imminent. I’m glad that it wasn’t a shotgun wedding since that would have been unrealistic, and instead we’ll be treated to a two-hour TV movie that chronicles a December wedding to close out the season in a few months. Divya hearing about Rafa’s home life was an unfortunate way for her relationship to take a nosedive, but it was Rafa’s poor choice of words in handling the confrontation that sealed the deal. Luckily, Dr. Sacani was able to provide appropriate comfort for her when she needed it most. With just one happy relationship continuing, it’s best that the show focuses on that, and maybe those whose romances have just ended can find their own happiness come December, a time that will likely not focus on the big explosion at the end of the episode but instead on those characters whose lives and livelihoods are still intact.

Season grade so far: B+
Season MVP: Ben Shenkman as Dr. Sacani