Episode #109 "It's Like Jamais Vu All Over Again"

Hank and Divya attend a lavish equestrian show where they treat a girl who's fallen off a horse and developed some bizarre symptoms... and whose father Hank believes is hiding something.

What did everyone think of tonight's episode? Only 3 more left this season!

Despite Evan I gave this episode a 4 star rating. I think there's only 3 episodes left and I'll stick it out, but, if Evan's character doesn't change for the better next season, I'm gone.

Evan! If I had a brother, he would be him - only taller, smarter, more muscular, with a smaller nose and bright blue eyes - tonight's episode only proves why I killed him before he could learn to speak. (metaphorically speaking, of course!) As to the rest of the show, the cast, and the writing to me deserves a solid 4 stars! I know a "comedy" makes sense in this kind of ensemble show; but does Evan's character have to be so transparent in a show so rife with density? That's supposed to be for shows like Raymond, isn't it? Love to see what's next - perhaps an episode where Even gets lost on a raft and swept out to sea and realizes his own mortality ... and grows up?
Just saying.
Greggoreo

Hey everyone, new to the Royal Pains board. Great episode, though the Hank/Jill/Charlie angst is making me squirmy and craving more which is a props to the show. The beginning episodes started out kind of slow, but the last couple of weeks I've finally felt that yearning for more once the episode ended. They've got some great storylines going with Diviya and her parents as well as Hank and Jill, and even the questionable sexual tension between Div and Evan, so things are looking up. Sad there's only 3 episodes left, though.

I enjoyed this show a great deal. I was especially impressed with the young actress who played Beth. The credits (those teensy-tiny little things that zip by at a high rate of speed on the side next to another commercial, were too quick for me to catch her name, though I did try). I was trying to place her through the entire show, then it suddenly dawned on me, she resembles, sounds like and was seemingly every bit as good an actor as Ellen Page. I wonder if they are sisters. That kid was excellent and completely stole every scene she was in. I don't think too many folks would notice she didn't seem to know what she was doing on a horse, but not many people have ridden as much as I did growing up, which is another reason I particularly enjoyed this episode. Anything with a horse trotting by happys me up.

Please, PLEASE,,, do something about Evan's character. He's too grating, too much of everything. Perhaps an episode involving the sperm donor father of Hank and Evan that makes him realize the error of his ways and makes him at least attempt to grow up a bit and stop trying to be the boywhore to the Hamptons establishment quite so aggressively. He's just aggravating. Nothing against Paulo certainly, he is playing the character I'm sure as written, nor to I get the impression that it's typecasting, but that character just needs toning down, he kind of screws things up by being so impossibly obnoxious.

[quote name='USA_Admin' date='Aug 6 2009, 09:43 PM' post='1170921']
Episode #109 "It's Like Jamais Vu All Over Again"

REALLY liked this episode tonight! Jill did better setting limits with Hank and his neediness; she did much better with Charlie who is sleazy like we imagined. Liked the HankMed services and his MacGyver moves,as well. Wasn't it great to see Evan less goofy and more human as he succeeded in getting along with the unapproachable Divya? Too bad we only have 3 more episodes. Way to go, RP!

Funny, I didn't see Divya "man-up" to her parents. She was forced to tell them about her lifelong interest in medicine and still lied to them about wanting to be married and move to England.

Only big plot shocker tonight was the Jill is still married to Charley. Knowing this show Evan will kill Charley; Evan will then be taking off the show. (One can only hope.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The awkward tension between Hank and Jill intensifies with Charlies presence. His undeniable menacing mannerisms makes me question what plans he has formulating in his mind. Hmm. Divya's long string of lies to her parents are finally unveiled and they now fully understand each other. Not. Divya still lacks the courage to be completely truthful to her parents about her plans in the Hamptons and her career. Will Divya's shaky family relations disturb her from her work? Will she give in and follow her parents dreams? I crave for more of this show! As for Evan...I love the guy. Without his audacity and beautifully executed sarcasm there would be no spice in the show. It would be a bland drama. Evan is the only -considerably- single character and brings a balance to the show with his distinct humor and fun.

I thought tonights eposide was great, with great story lines, and I liked the fact when they showed the previews of next week that Tucker and Libby will be back, and that Tucker's dad is going to need Hank, after the way he acted in eposide 2, I just hope Tucker is strong and get through this and come back to season 2..... You know there weill be a season 2.....

Well said, Jaknight89-- you really nailed the drama in this one! Evan is finally written with some smarts and humanity. LOVED it when he agreed with Divya, then said,"and I don't even like you"...! And, the wretched actually listened to him--almost fell out of the chair! I liked it when Jill finally "manned up' and set more limits with Hank and his neediness , then told Charlie off in spades. This from the queen of mixed messages. For someone with an alleged dark past, Evan really does bring a lot with his "distinct humor and fun". Of the brothers, he is more courageous and ready to take risks. Hank may use vodka and an exacto knife on Tucker; Evan can carry off that hat and the pinstriped suit! I see that this is your first post--come back soon with more smooth critiques. crpf

Who is thr actor playing Dan, the stable manager and the girls daughter?

This is probably one of the more balanced comments posted yet. Apparently there will be "Evan" haters/lovers who will never switch sides. Getting so riled up over TV show? There are more important things going on the world than this...
I do agree with crpf, this is probably the best scripted episode to date. And the "Evan" character may have been developing just to this point - still a little wacky and immature, but now with a broader perspective, "some" balance and a few actual gifts and insights. However, the writers did a poor job of getting him here. The broad cartoon strokes used in the beginning put me off slightly then, and may have positioned the character irrevocably disabled for some. USA champions "characters welcome." From the USAToday article:
...have a lighter, often comic touch and are twists on old genres that have been mostly absent from TV.
"A lot of this stuff is more approachable and mainstream than some of their cable competitors," and has made USA a "destination brand,"...
Psyche is even broader comedy than "Evan." RP has a slightly different tone. Perhaps the disappointment was an unbalanced RP character expectation. In hearkening back to the old genres, it was the "light" touch which was missing.
I was impressed with whoever directed the episode. While there were a few too many fill shots of horses (don't get me wrong, I love to ride) which may have slowed the tempo a bit, somebody was using the light and camera positions nicely and a few shots looked more like they were out of a movie than TV. Nicely done.
I hope future episodes are at this level.

This was the first episode of Royal Pains I had watched, and made an effort to pull it up on the internet and watch because it looked so interesting. I hadn't watched previously despite the fact I was intrigued simply because there have been many other attempts at medical shows that frankly just sucked, but this one actually didn't do too bad.

My first impression:
Hank's brother INCREDIBLY obnoxious - get rid of him. He detracts from the entire show and frankly I really don't even see a point in having him involved. I kept wanting to go, just go away and get to the point !

From the medical side:
Not too focused on actual medicine which was kind of nice - I'm a paramedic by occupation so I have medical stuff shoved at me all day and frankly I find shows such as ER to be nothing more than obnoxious - at least what was done seemed to be respectably researched and somewhat reasonable (though the cric by the PA was a bit over the top). The epilepsy issue was handled beautifully and it was so refreshing to see someone approach it in a manner where it was respectful to the person that had it and not show them as a useless restricted person. It was very, very nice. You showed her as a competitive rider and overcoming her obstacles and the explanation (and the fact that you used a less common form of seizure until the end) and pretty much walked people through it explaining was perfect. Much kudos is coming from both the medical community for this as well as the epilepsy community.

Personal impression:
I am a paramedic with epilepsy and a competitive jumper (I have competed internationally). I was really tired of people going you have epilepsy, how can you do what you do? It was great to have a show feature a rider ! I was thrilled ! Ironically a fall from a horse is why I ended up with epilepsy due to a head injury (you never did clarify if the previous fall she had may have been what caused it - I was left wondering about that).

Thank you again, for such a compassionate well thought out episode - you did well with this one ! Makes me want to see more if you just get rid of the annoying brother !

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Loved the Episode and I Love the show, but, if they don't change Evans irritating demeanor, I'm afraid the show won't make it. He needs to be toned down and not so annoying! I tolerate him because I enjoy all the characters.

I liked this episode overall. At first, I was sure that the dad was pushing his daughter to do what he wanted her to do and was even giving her drugs. Then I found out that the whole 'performance enhancing drug' scandal was over the capsaicin he put on the horses legs for the stiffness, and thought that was lame, no pun intended. All the jumping, the impacts of running and landing after the jumps would make any horse's legs a little stiff and sore, and capsaicin is a pretty common ingredient in the over the counter topical treatments people use on their own sore muscles and joints. Is it preferable to keep pushing these horses to jump and compete but not do anything to treat their sore legs? The capsaicin might help them jump higher, only because it relieves the pain in their legs, not because they are hopped up on something dangerous. I don't know why it wouldn't be perfectly legal for any trainer to use within moderation. But in a highly competative field, especially with a lot of money at stake, scandals can be made of less and careers ruined without a second thought.

The thing that made me feel certain that I was completely wrong about the dad was when he refused to let her compete the next day after learning that she had taken her friend's ADD medication. Good for him. It meant that she couldn't win, and the competition meant a lot to her, and him, but that just means that the lesson would stick better. She said she took them because she didn't want to let her dad down, and it was good that he showed her how much she let him down by taking medications that were not prescribed to her by a doctor and trying to cheat by taking drugs. What kind of message would he have been sending her if he had let her compete? It would have to be a very hard choice to make, but it was the right one.

As for the Hank/Jill/Charley thing, I'm just not one of the people who really cares about romances on the show. In my opinion, it's just too easy to overdo the romance and tension part till it distracts from the rest of the show. I really don't care about Hank's and Jill's love lives, and really, the writers seem to be overdoing it a bit and making it more complicated that is really believable. To me, it seems simple. Jill is a little freaked about Hank's neediness and desire to move faster and the fact that she sometimes is the same way, when he's around, and she has so little will powerwhen it comes to him. I think she is a person who wants to be strong and independant and not need anyone, because she is the young, female adminiatrator of a hospital and that is a position one has to be ambitious and strong to achieve, especially at her age, and there just aren't as many female admins out there as there are male, young or not. She sees her tendencies with romantic relationship as being at odds with the personality she wants to be, and it bothers her. So she is kind of using Charley as a way of holding Hank at bay rather than just coming out and saying, "I need to slow this down, I'm a little freaked out, and I can't seem to stick by my own guns." I think bringing Charley back was the writers' way of drawing it all out and creating suspense. This may work out well in the end, but then I may lose interest in it altogether before it does. I'm just not a fan of soap opera tactics.

Divya- I guess it's because she was raised in a completely different culture, and arranged marriages still happen frequently enough within Indian society, so I guess that is why she hasn't actually been honest with her parents. It works that having Divya raised in America, where she is exposed to another kind of mindset about planning your kids futures that she had enough backbone to defy what they wanted in the first place, even if it was behind their backs. And really, if she doesn't want to marry Raj, or wants to do things differently after they are married, she owes it to Raj to tell him and discuss it with him first, before she discusses it with her parents. But for goodness sakes! She's been strong enough to do so much without their consent and to persue something she knows they wouldm't support, and it's her life, not to mention that the anger and resentment she feels toward them but doesn't express and the continued lying to them, saying she is happy with what they want, it's only damaging her relationship in a longterm, less obvious way. She needs to stand up to them and stick by it to the end. If your parents can disown you and never speak to you again just because you wanted to exercise your right to be happy, then they are probably people you are better off not having in your life. If they really love her, they might be angry for a while, but they will deal with it. They will want her to be happy.

Having said that, Evan should totally have left it all alone. What made him think it was his place to tell her parents anything? It was none of his business, it should have been left to Divya to handle as she saw fit. She may not have ever handled it, but that should be her decision. As her friend, he should have just given her advice, and then left it up to her to do with it as she wanted to. He was doing exactly what her parents were doing all along, making her decisions for her. Hopefully she will see that, and get ticked off that everyone in the world seems to be set on making her every choice for her and trying to micro-manage her life and blow her stack at both Evan and her mom and dad. That is an episode I do not want to miss.