A private medical practice can be rather risky. You have to make sure you bring in enough patients each week to make sure the books are in the black. You’re always fighting off the newest practice that wants to set up just down the road in a “better” location. You always have to fear a partner splitting without much notice. Private Practice had just celebrated being picked up for a sixth season when it was announced that Tim Daly (Wings) wouldn’t be returning as Pete Wilder. This was followed by star Kate Walsh announcing she was splitting after the 13th episode of the upcoming season. Ted McGinley or Anthony Anderson could have taken over Seaside Wellness. But the show’s producers let it be known that the practice would shut down after half a season. Private Practice: The Complete Sixth and Final Season closes this portion of the career of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Walsh), but doesn’t wrap up the character.
“Aftershock” kills Peter Wilder by giving him an off-camera heart attack. Addison decides to focus her love on Jake (Benjamin Bratt). In a shocker, Charlotte (KaDee Strickland) gets the news that she’s pregnant even though she’s using an IUD. This means she’ll be having to figure out how to get the device removed else it will cause a miscarriage. And to really up the jeopardy factor, she’s expecting triplets. Dr. Sheldon Wallace (Dream On‘s Brian Benben) gets really bad news besides he’s only got 13 episodes to exist. “Mourning Sickness” is Pete’s memorial service. It’s not a conventional funeral. “Good Grief” has way too many secrets volunteered. “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone” hires Dr. Patterson (Matt Long) to replace Peter. Among his other issues, Dr. Wallace must worry that one of his patients just abducted a child.
“The Next Episode” puts a reality video crew around the characters. “Apron Strings” reunited Addison with her mentor. She also get united with court documents over her child. “The World According to Jake” lets Jake jump the gun in asking Addison to marry him. She doesn’t want to hear it. But there’s only a few more episodes left. He’s got to ask soon. “Life Support” goes extreme with Charlotte and her triplets. They have to come up with a method to keep her from delivering early. “I’m Fine” puts Dr. Wallace in the middle of chemo and the police. He swears his patient is the child abductor and he can’t hold back. “Georgia on My Mind” is more of Charlotte’s struggle to keep the triplets inside her. “Good Fries Are Hard to Come By” is a lighter episode about Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) having dating issues. “Full Release” deals with the naming of Charlotte’s kids. “In Which We Say Goodbye” wraps up the show with a wedding. They also reveal which of the characters wrote the book about the way things happened at the private practice.
Normally when a show stops with only 13 episodes in the final season, it’s an unexpected ax. There’s no real tying up the most teasing of storylines. It’s like the network is slamming the door on the series before it’s done singing. Private Practice was able to use these 13 episodes to give a few actors the stand out stories they deserved. The show was able to wrap up without truly coming to an end. Possibly it was afforded this courtesy since it’s rumored that Addison might pop up on Grey’s Anatomy in the future. The character hasn’t ended.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The transfer look fine since it is a fresh show. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. You can get the medical pings heard all around the room. The episodes are subtitled in English, French and Spanish.
Deleted Scenes are taken from five of the episodes including the big finale.
Bloopers (3:06) reminds us that medical terms aren’t the only thing that can flub an actor.
Private Practice: The Complete Sixth and Final Season brings to an end the saga of Seaside Wellness. The final 13 episodes do their best to push characters to extremes. It’s good that they didn’t try to bring in a new star to take over the business.
ABC Studios presents Private Practice: The Complete Sixth and Final Season. Starring: Kate Walsh, Brian Benben and Benjamin Bratt. Boxset Contents: 13 episodes on 3 DVDs. Released: May 7, 2013. Available at Amazon.com.
