Andromeda is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season and the 92nd overall episode of Private Practice.
Short Summary
Sam tries to take care of his sister, Corinne, but her mental condition makes that nearly impossible. Sheldon learns that Amelia has life-changing news. The flirtation between Addison and Jake continues, and Cooper rejects Charlotte's suggestion to seek outside help with Erica's care.
Full Summary
Addison tells her therapist that Sam just watches his sister all night long. She's not jealous. She sees great love in her work, extraordinary sacrifice. People choose for each other and go through it together. She thought Sam was her greatest love and she worries about him now. She loves him and she gets mad at him. She guesses that makes him her family.
Scott and Violet pant after sex. Scott says he's gotta go. He'll talk to her soon.
Charlotte is awake in bed by herself.
Cooper and Mason are talking about Star Wars at Erica's. Cooper decides to watch the movies tonight. Erica drops her coffee and as Cooper cleans up, he explains to Mason that Erica will experience some weakness on her left side for a while, but it'll go over. Erica tells Mason to get ready for school. Cooper reminds her she's alive, so no reason for self pity.
Sam is making breakfast waffles and eggs for him and Corinne. Corinne wants to go the planetarium. They used to stare to the stars on their roof as kids. She thought about that a lot when she was out on the street. She named the constellations, like they did. Sam says they can go to the planetarium together in the afternoon, when she's visited Sheldon and he's done at work. He's decided he needs some time off.
Sheldon notices Amelia doesn't look well. She admits she's feeling a little run down. Corinne arrives for her appointment.
Addison asks Sam how much time he's gonna take. He replies as long as Corinne needs. He says she's coming back a little more every day. Addison sees Jake and says they didn't get a chance to finish talking about them. Jake says he was finished, but he's all ears if she wasn't. She guesses she was finished, then, too.
Addison is giving Laurel an ultrasound. She's expecting twins with Dani. As they argue over names, Addison sees their boy has a severe diaphragmatic hernia. It keeps his lungs from forming properly. If he's born, his quality of life will be greatly diminished. Addison has success treating it with in utero surgery, but if she does surgery on the boy, it creates a very serious risk for the girl. They lose their boy by doing nothing, but risk losing them both if they go for the surgery.
Pete suggests to Violet they take Lucas to the new reptile house at the zoo. He can cut out early. Violet wants to go with him. Jake, Addison, Amelia, and Violet discuss the twin pregnancy case. Jake thinks it's too dangerous. Amelia doesn't seem to crave coffee as usual and walks off, saying she trusts Addison if she thinks she can do it. Addison asks Violet to talk to the parents to help them decide. Jake thinks she's making it messy, but Addison's only giving them options.
Cooper falls asleep at his desk. Charlotte comes in and asks about Erica. He says she's frustrated and that's taking its toll on Mason. Charlotte says it's also taking its toll on him. She's worried.
Sheldon asks Corinne if she's tracked her moods in a journal. She has, and per Sam's advise, she's also writing down more then just her feelings. She's feeling focused. It's like a fog has lifted in her mind. Sheldon says that's great and brings up her expectations. She says Sam advised her to get a part-time job or volunteer in order not to occupy herself with her thoughts too much. Sheldon asks if she wants that too. Corinne says Sam is taking time off, but he can't always be with her and she wonders what happens if she's going to slide back. She doesn't want to let him down.
Sheldon goes to Sam's office and says Corinne seems to be responding well to the meds and her routines. Sam tells Sheldon about his plans for the afternoon. He's finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Sheldon says it could be an oncoming train. People with bipolar disorder go in cycles. Sam says he's here for her now, so he feels like he can handle whatever's coming.
Jake tells Violet she looks nice, but she has trouble taking the compliment. Violet asks him about his position on casual sex. She's not prepositioning. Jake says he was all for it in his 20s and sometimes 30s, but now in his 40s, he prefers something more substantial. Violet thought he was more adventurous. Jake says he's old-fashioned and that she's got the wrong idea. Violet doubts that and brings up Fiji. Keeping secrets is not what they do best at the office.
Amelia hides something as Sheldon brings her a burrito. She tells him to wait for a reply next time he knocks. He apologizes and walks off.
Jake gives Addison a running commentary as he gets coffee. He wants her to have all the details for when she tells Violet. Addison says she needed someone to process things with. Addison says he started this with asking about an emotional connection. She thought about it, too, but she's come clean and he's never even said why he wanted to know. Jake doesn't give her that answer and walks off.
Dani and Laurel have already decided they don't want the surgery. They're having a baby girl. Dani is upset. Violet says losing a child is hard at any age. Dani thinks they don't have to lose both. She thinks they have a chance to save both babies. Laurel lists all they went through to get a baby, and now they can have one for sure. Laurel says it's her body, so her decision. Dani can't believe she pulled that card, and mentions the eggs they used were hers. Laurel says this is killing her to. She can't lose them both. Dani says she's too scared for everything, but if Laurel lets one of the babies die, she won't accept it, or ever forgive her.
Addison tells Violet she's dangerous. Violet tells her she needed an opinion about casual sex and he was acting like he was above it all, so she couldn't help but bring up Fiji. Addison thinks Jake enjoys torturing her and asks about Laurel. Violet says the coulpes is in a tough spot.
Cooper is trying to find his Star Wars DVDs for Mason. Charlotte proposes to drop them off so he can get into bed, but he says he's fine. She disagrees. He isn't fine and neither is she. She'll drive him over and pick him up tomorrow, but after that, he's gotta take a couple of nights off. Cooper says he can't. Charlotte wasn't asking. She hired a night nurse for Erica. He has to get some rest. Cooper doesn't think a night nurse is the solution and asks Charlotte to be understanding. She says she has been more than that. Cooper says he hasn't asked for help and he doesn't need it. Now, he's going to stay with his son and his mother.
Pete drops Lucas off at Violet's. She's going to order some pizza and offers Pete to stay. He agrees to.
Addison wakes up at 2 AM when she hears noise outside. She goes out on her balcony and sees Corinne on Sam's deck, looking at the stars and writing down names. Addison goes outside and joins her. She asks if Corinne's okay. Corinne starts talking about trivia about the constellations. Addison suggests they go inside to stay warm, but she wants to finish her start chart. Sam comes outside, too. Corinne says it's just like they were kids. As Corinne wanders off, Addison tells Sam she wanted to make sure Corinne was okay. Sam takes Corinne back inside.
In the morning, Addison walks into Sam's. He says Corinne is still in bed. She was too excited after their trip yesterday. Addison says it was clearly erratic behavior. Sam says she just had a bad night. Addison starts leaving, but Sam says he's sorry. Addison hugs him and he thanks her.
Sheldon walks into Amelia's office. He realizes he might be sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. He thinks she's taking drugs again, but she blurts out she's pregnant. She was hiding a pregnancy test. She's probably pretty far along. 20 weeks. Amelia says she didn't notice the symptoms before because her body was still getting off the drugs. Sheldon doesn't know how to react. He asks about the father. Amelia says it's Ryan. She starts crying. Sheldon hands her a box of tissues. Amelia misses Ryan and she doesn't even know if she wants a baby. Maybe her baby will be a crack baby. This makes her miss him so much. She can't even control the crying. She doesn't know what to do. Sheldon tells her to talk to Addison about this. Amelia is unsure, because Addison moved mountains to get pregnant and it didn't happen. Sheldon is sorry, but she can't talk to him about this.
Laurel walks into Addison's office and tells her Dani left. She tells her about the fight. She wants to hear about the surgery. Addison says she already told her everything, but she can't have the surgery just because Dani left. Laurel says she can't live without Dani.
Scott is at Violet's. He's got half an hour before his shift starts. She says it's not a good time. She's rushing to get ready for work. He says he'll rush, but then realizes that was not good. He apologizes and goes.
Corinne arrives at the practice. She brought Addison lunch because she felt about this morning, and she also has lunch for Violet and Cooper. Sam arrives and asks her what she's doing here. Sam was worried about her because she was gone when he got out of the shower. Corinne says he's embarrassing her. Sam says she is all by herself. Sheldon asks if she's all right, but Corinne yells nothing is wrong. Everything was just fine. Sam takes her home.
Dani finds Addison at the hospital. Addison called her, but Laurel is already in the OR. Dani realizes she was an ass. She gets mad when she gets scared. Laurel can't be in there by herself. She needs to know that Dani loves her. Addison says she knows, because that's why Laurel is in there.
Addison enters the OR, where Laurel is starting panick. Addison points her to the window, where Dani is watching her. Laurel calms down and the anesthesiologist puts her under.
Violet asks Cooper about Mason. Cooper says Erica fell down yesterday and Mason was terrified. Cooper explained to him it's going to take some time for his mother to recuperate. Cooper doesn't want to him be scared of what's coming next. He wants Mason to be a kid. Violet suggests to give him some time. Cooper says Charlotte was great, but now she's getting manipulative. Violet knows Cooper is just taking it out on Charlotte. Violet says Charlotte is just a woman who doesn't even know if she's married anymore, and that feels like crap. It's empty. Violet loves her son, but she misses being part of family. Violet tells him Charlotte's important, too.
In the OR, monitors are beeping. Addison needs Jake's help as there's an amniotic band that didn't appear on the scans.
Corinne rushes downstairs and enthusiastically tells Sam that she's got it. She discovered a new galaxy. No one's seen it before, but she's discovered it. Sam asks if she's taken her meds. She can only say she needs to write it down. She wants to go back to the planetarium to share her discovery with an expert. She frantically starts looking for her notebook. Sam says he's going to call Dr. Wallace for help, but Corinne says she doesn't need help. Sam wants her to calm down. Corinne says he's never believed in her. She could have been an astronomer and it's his fault that she's waisted all these years. A struggle ensues between them. Corinne breaks free from his hold and crashes through the glass doors.
In the ER, Corinne is yelling to get off her. Sam tells Pete she snapped and he tried to stop her. Sheldon arrives and tries to get her to focus as she keeps on talking about constellations. Pete starts pulling glass shards out of her hand. Pete and Sheldon tell Sam someone needs to sew up his head, which can happen now that they have sedated Corinne. Sam leaves Corinne's side, but promises to be right back.
Laurel wakes up and asks about the babies. Violet says it's going to be fine and she beckons Addison while Dani apologizes to Laurel. Addison comes in and she says the surgery was a success. She says they discovered an amniotic band, but she fixed it. Both babies are going to be fine. Violet says that if Addison hadn't gone in, they could have lost both babies. Laurel says she's glad Dani is a stubborn bitch.
Violet finds Pete in a lounge and sits down with him. She says they can't go back to the ways things were, as they clearly have issues of forgiving and trust, but she thinks they can work through them with therapy. Another therapist could help them. Violet doesn't want to quit their marriage without knowing. She has doubts, and so does he. He's not saying he wants to go to therapy, but she just wanted him to know that if he wants to put their family back together and is willing to do therapy, so is she.
Charlotte comes home, surprised to find Cooper home. He admits he feels guilty. He says she's been amazing. She's been a rock through the whole thing. She's the only reason he's been getting through this and he's been taking that for grant, because he believes in them so much that he hasn't stopped to think about what it was doing to their marriage. That was a mistake. She is everything to him. He's been thinking all day about how he can make it up to her. She rips open her blouse and pushes him onto the bed.
Amelia is lying on her couch as Sheldon comes in. He owes her an apology. When she started talking about Ryan, it brought back feelings for him, but those are his to work through. He can't hold that against her. He's sorry. Amelia still doesn't know what to do. Sheldon says he'll be there for her if she decides to have the baby, for whatever she needs. She won't have to do it alone. If she decides not to have the baby, she won't have to do that alone, either. She starts crying again and he proposes they order food.
Addison and Jake are ready to get home. She asks him for coming when she called. He says it's a habit he can't seem to break. He says she was incredible in the OR. They get on the elevator and he says he asked how she felt about him because he could fall in love with her and build a life with her, but when he goes in, he goes all in. He can't do that while she's pining after another man. He whispers into her ear that she's not ready for what he has to offer. She says she can get ready. He says that would be nice.
Sheldon and Sam are outside Corinne's room. Corinne is sedated and resting. Sam says it's a setback, for which Sheldon warned him. Sheldon says it's more. He knows how devoted Sam is, but this more than he can handle. Corinne needs care. Sam refuses to let her out of his life again after the 20 lost years. Sam can give her the care she needs. Sheldon asks at what cost. This was not the last time it'll happen. Next time, she could really hurt him or herself. He'll be around.
Sam enters Corinne's room and he informs her what happened. She notices he's hurt. He says he's okay. Corinne sees stars everywhere. Sam sighs and asks her to tell him about the starts. So she does. She says Andromeda means chained lady. She was a princess in the Greek myth of Perseus. She was chained to a rock and fought to be free.
Addison says she wants love like she sees in her work. She wants to be the center of someone's world, and have a center in her own world. She wants them to sacrifice for her and with her. She sounds like some hippy freak and she asks if it's too early for scotch.
Cast
Main Cast
- Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery
- Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder
- Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jake Reilly
- Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman
- KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King
- Brian Benben as Dr. Sheldon Wallace
- Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
- Griffin Gluck as Mason Warner
- Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett
- Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner
Guest Stars
- A.J. Langer as Erica Warner
- Stephen Amell as Scott Becker
- Tina Holmes as Laurel
- Ashley Jones as Dani
- Anika Noni Rose as Corinne Bennett
Co-Starring
- Scott Alan Smith as Therapist
- Jack Bobo and Joey Bobo as Lucas
Medical Notes
Addison Forbes Montgomery
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Therapist
- Treatment:
- Talk therapy
Addison talked to her therapist about Sam helping his sister and how she loves her work and sees people making great sacrifices. She said she wanted to be the center of someone's world.
Erica Warner
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
- In-home care
Erica was still recovering from her surgery and the stroke. She had weakness on her left side. Charlotte hired a night nurse to help out with her care.
Corinne Bennett
- Diagnosis:
- Bipolar disorder
- Facial lacerations
- Doctors:
- Sheldon Wallace (psychiatrist)
- Pete Wilder (critical care medicine)
- Treatment:
- Talk therapy
- Medication
- Haloperidol
- Stitches
Corinne had a session with Sheldon. Sheldon asked if she'd been writing down her moods in a journal. She said she had and that Sam had suggested that she write down more than her moods. She said she felt it was working. She felt like a cloud had lifted. She said Sam suggested she try to get a part-time job, but she was worried about what would happen if she lost the job. She doesn't want to let Sam down. Addison later found Corinne outside at 2 AM, looking at the stars in a manic state. Corinne later came into the practice still in a manic state, having made food for everyone. Sheldon suggested they go talk, but Corinne said everything was fine. Sam took her home. At home, Corinne's mania continued. Sam asked if she'd gone off her meds and she attacked him. In the struggle, she went through a glass door and cut her face. In the ER, they sedated her and Pete pulled the class out of her wounds and stitched her up.
Laurel
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Fetal diaphragmatic hernia
- Doctors:
- Addison Forbes Montgomery (fetal surgeon)
- Violet Turner (psychiatrist)
- Jake Reilly (general surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Prenatal care
- Talk therapy
- Fetal surgery
Laurel was pregnant with twins. She came to Addison for an ultrasound. Addison diagnosed a very severe diaphragmatic hernia in one of the fetuses. She said she could operate, but because she was carrying twins, there was a risk to the other fetus. Addison asked Violet to talk to the parents and help them make the decision. They talked to Violet, but said they had already decided not to have the surgery. However, Dani wanted to have the surgery. Laurel said it was her body, so it was her choice, but Dani said that if she didn't do everything she could to save their baby, she'd never forget it. Laurel came to Addison and asked for more information about the surgery. Addison said she believed she could be successful. Laurel decided to have the surgery. In surgery, Addison found an amniotic band on the other fetus that wasn't on the original scans. With Jake's help, she removed the band and placed the balloon and both fetuses were stable.
Amelia Shepherd
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
Amelia told Sheldon she was pregnant. She suspected she was about 20 weeks, but she hadn't realized because of the drug withdrawal.
Sam Bennett
- Diagnosis:
- Scalp laceration
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
- Bandage
Sam was cut on his head when he was struggling with Corinne. He had it bandaged in the ER.
Music
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Sister Song" | Perfume Genius |
|
| "252" | Gem Club |
|
| "Don't Blame Love" | Trent Dabbs |
|
| "Change Your Life" | Jennifer O'Connor |
|
Notes and Trivia
- This episode scored 6.32 million viewers.
- Amelia finds out she's pregnant with Ryan's baby.
- As of this episode, Griffin Gluck joins the main cast as Mason Warner.
Gallery
Episode Stills
Behind the Scenes
Quotes
- Jake: You're not ready for what I have to offer.
- Addison: I could get ready.
- Jake: That would be nice.
See Also
|
A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Private Practice Season 5 | |||||
| #01 | "God Laughs" | #09 | "The Breaking Point" | #17 | "The Letting Go" |
| #02 | "Breaking the Rules" | #10 | "Are You My Mother?" | #18 | "It Was Inevitable" |
| #03 | "Deal With It" | #11 | "The Standing Eight Count" | #19 | "And Then There Was One" |
| #04 | "Remember Me" | #12 | "Losing Battles" | #20 | "True Colors" |
| #05 | "Step One" | #13 | "The Time Has Come" | #21 | "Drifting Back" |
| #06 | "If I Hadn't Forgotten..." | #14 | "Too Much" | #22 | "Gone, Baby, Gone" |
| #07 | "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" | #15 | "You Break My Heart" | ||
| #08 | "Who We Are" | #16 | "Andromeda" | ||
| << Season 4 | Season 6 >> | ||||