This is the first season in a series that is a spin-off of one of my favorite series of all time “Grey’s Anatomy”. It takes Addison Montgomery Shepard, Dr. Derek Shepard’s ex-wife, and moves her to Los Angeles after her divorce, to make a change in her life and work in a private practice as one of a group of doctors, one of which is her best friend from medical school. The aforementioned friend, Naomi, a fertility specialist, co- owns the practice with her recently divorced ex-husband, Sam, an internist, and an incredible group of physicians, which include Pete, a specialist in holistic medicine, and Addison’s new romantic interest, Violet, the psychiatrist, and Cooper, the pediatrician. There is also the receptionist and midwifery student, Dell, the office male eye candy and resident surfer, as well as the practice’s affiliated hospital’s chief of staff Charlotte who is as intelligent and in control, as she is downright bitchy. This is an incredibly faceted and colorful all star cast of characters, that promise to keep you laughing, crying, and mesmerized, but above all, entertained.
If you were expecting another version of Grey’s Anatomy, I am very sorry to disappoint, but nothing could be further from the truth. This series is extremely dramatic and emotional, and while there is a lot of inappropriate inter-office romance and chemistry, similar to Grey’s MO, this series is a lot darker, with a lot more dysfunction and real heartbreak. It deals with very real issues, and with its subjects and drama that feel way too human, you get the sensation that the situations are a little too real and hit really close to home. This is a series most of us can relate to on a very personal level, and the characters do a magnificent job of showing all the emotion that these situations deserve. The subject matter and characters will really draw you in, but as intense as the series can get, it also has just enough comic relief to give it the perfect balance. The story lines of the main characters, as well as the secondary stories of the “patients” that are treated at the “Oceanside Wellness Group” are very believable, some are comical but most are heartbreaking medical as well as personal situations, real tragedies that can happen to anyone, and have happened to people, a quality that makes this series very relatable. Aside from the medical drama that is the nature of the series, there are some real emotional personal dramas that the main characters experience, such as grief over the death of a spouse, divorce, unspoken love, dealing with the growing and changing of your children, and so much more. The very real problems these characters face on a daily basis are too many to list, but what I love about this show is that they don’t handle things in a cookie-cutter, sitcom-y way. The protagonists make mistakes, like real people do, and they do the wrong thing, make bad decisions sometimes, and even go crazy and make bad choices, but that is what real life is like. Its very messy, chaotic, and painful, and I love that this series makes a point of portraying just that . Also, these are not kids, or young adults, at the beginning of their lives, like Grey’s Anatomy , just starting out and in a learning process. These are mature adults, already past the learning curve, and realizing that it doesn’t get any easier, and that the mistakes just get more painful, and affect a lot more people, because now you have spouses and kids in the mix, and if you don’t have those thing, then of course, there is the loss of them or the regret of knowing that you’ve wasted so much time and now are alone, and wondering if its too late to do anything about it. This is stark and cold reality at its finest, and that is what sets it apart from Grey’s Anatomy and make it an extension of the series, not just another spin-off.
Review by Helen
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