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Too Much

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Too Much is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season and the 90th overall episode of Private Practice.

Short Summary[]

Sam finds his estranged sister, Corinne, in jail, heavily medicated and near-catatonic, and brings her to Sheldon for help. Erica begins secret treatments for her cancer and refuses to let Cooper and Charlotte tell Mason. Cooper, Pete, and Addison treat the baby of a drug addict and things between Violet and Scott continue to heat up in the bedroom.

Full Summary[]

Addison tells her therapist the long list of classes she took in one semester. She really wanted to graduate in three and a half years. He says it sounds overwhelming. She says it was.

Sam tries to talk to Corinne, but she doesn't respond. The officer tells him the shrink loaded her up on meds.

Scott and Violet are next to the bed on the floor, talking about some kind of book she had to look up guys from her school. She says none of the guys were as cute as him. He says he's tough and they kiss.

Sam apologizes to Addison for calling, but she says it's no problem. She says he looks sad. He says it's been 20 years, just gone. He thought Corinne was dead. Addison says it's good news then to find out she's alive. Corinne walks in. She's thirsty. Addison introduces herself, but she doesn't react to her words. Sam gives her water and her meds. She walks off and he says he's not so sure that his is good news.

Pete and Cooper are working on a baby. Cooper says he's small for 10 days and asks if he was premature. Denise says yes, but she doesn't appear to know exactly how early, but she claims she can't think straight because the screaming kept her up. She then says 2 weeks early. Pete asks if the baby's been eating, because he looks malnourished and dehydrated. Denise says she gives him the bottle. Cooper wonders why she didn't try breastfeeding first. Denise wonders why it matters and tells them to just help the baby. Cooper then says she looks too good for someone who gave birth 10 days ago, and Pete concludes this isn't her baby.

Pete asks her to explain before they go to security. She says his mother, her own mother, is a druggie. Eli is her brother and their mother left them at home, but she's been gone or a week. She doesn't know if her mother's okay. Denise herself did get left, too, when she was 8, so she took care for herself. Her mother then acted normal when she came back, and so did Denise, because she didn't want to be left again. When it got really bad, one of her teachers figured it out and she put in foster care for the first time. Eli doesn't deserve that. He should have someone who takes care of him, always. That can be her.

Charlotte visits Erica as she's getting chemo for the first time. Erica doesn't want Mason to see her, thinking it'd be too much for him. She's been the only constant in his life, so it's even scarier for him than it is for her. 

In the waiting room, Cooper is trying play a game with Mason, but he's too distracted. He wants to go see his mother. Jake comes over for coffee. Cooper and Jake distance themselves and Cooper tells Jake that Erica doesn't want Mason to know. Cooper's gone along with it because even he doesn't know how to process this. Charlotte texts Cooper that Erica doesn't want to see Mason. Mason asks why his mother is resting so much. Cooper says she's still tired from the accident, but Mason says she didn't look tired when he last saw her. Mason knows she wants to see him and he wants to see her. Cooper says they need to give it some more time.

Amelia asks Charlotte to take her off the surgical rotation, because she has been researching gliosarcomas and she may have some leads, but she needs more time. Charlotte says Erica doesn't want to go past chemo. Amelia says she needs this. She needs to try.

Addison says Eli indeed has neonatal abstinence syndrome, but he's also got a cystic adenomatoid malformation that she needs to remove. He's too weak for surgery, but waiting could also result in oxygen deprivation. Cooper informs her that only Denise is in the picture. She's tried to do right by Eli, but Addison wonders if she's qualified to make that decision. Pete appears and says she doesn't have to. He then shows them Melissa, Eli's mother.

Melissa says was getting clean. She locked herself in a hotel room for 8 days. She's trying for Eli. She is a going to be a good mother. She left Eli with Denise, but Denise never answered her calls. She has issues with her, but this is not the same thing. It was miserable, but she got through it for Eli, her second chance.

Addison asks Pete how he found her. He thinks it means something that she's detoxed cold turkey. Addison wonders if that means she can take care of Eli, because she doesn't think Denise can. Cooper disagrees. Addison decides to call social services. 

Amelia walks into Erica's room and asks how she feels about New Zealand, because there's a doctor doing experimental procedures there. Erica passes. Amelia says it might be something, but Erica says she only agreed to chemo. She's not doing anything that may reduce her time with Mason.

At the practice, Addison doesn't know how to behave around Jake, so she just avoids him.

Violet tells Addison she and Scott did it three times. She's found her groove back, in a hot paramedic. Addison is a little jealous. Addison says she always winds up in a pit of despair when she sleeps with someone. Addison misses Sam and sex. The harder she tried to have a baby, the less sex she had. That's probably why she threw herself at Jake, who turned her down. She respects and hates that.

Corinne's in Sheldon's office. Sheldon says she's stoned and not even properly diagnosed. Outside the office, Sheldon says he may find his sister somewhere under all the meds when they take her off them, but Sam doubts because she was deranged when she was brought in. Sheldon says deranged is not a diagnosis. He only wants to take her off the meds long enough to see what's going on. Sam agrees to that.

Sam told Addison about Sheldon's plans with Corinne. Sheldon's going to spend the day with her to find a real diagnosis. Sam doesn't know what will happen afterwards. Sam's taking this thing a minute at a time, so he hasn't thought about the next steps yet. After Sam walks off, Jake says it's not her job anymore to worry about him. He's more her ex than her friend now. She still wants a baby and he has other friends to lean on. Jake would hate to see her get hurt worse. Addison leaves to go to the hospital.

Scott and Violet are whispering about their next time together. Pete walks by and asks if they have a hall pass. Violet and Scott ignore that and kiss.

Denise wonders if she should've brought Eli in earlier. Melissa comes in and she tells Eli she's never leaving again, but Denise says she's lying and Eli will end up just like her. Melissa says she got clean. Denise says that'll stick until she has a bad day. She won't let her hurt Eli. Melissa says she has a problem and she finally has a reason to fix it. Denise deducts she wasn't worth it. Eli is crashing and Cooper asks for Addison. She comes in as Pete wants to intubate, but she orders him to stop as it'll make things worse. They need to get to an OR right away. Denise and Melissa keep on arguing as the doctors take Eli away.

Mason is playing with his dinosaurs as Charlotte serves him dinner. Mac and cheese is his favorite, but he's not hungry. He only wants to see his mother, and he asks her to take him as she's in charge at the hospital. Mason won't believe she's still this tired. Charlotte asks him to try the mac and cheese, but he throws the plate onto the ground and yells he wants to see his mother. Charlotte goes to the kitchen to get a towel to clean things up, only to find Mason gone when she returns.

Pete's candy bar gets stuck in the vending machine, but Cooper helps him out. Cooper updates him on Eli's surgery. Pete tells him about Violet and her boyfriend. Cooper says they're separated, but Pete says he doesn't want to see her fool around with a colleague. Pete asks if he'd be okay with Charlotte dating a hot male nurse if they separated. Cooper gets a call from Charlotte, who tells him about Mason's disappearance.

Charlotte is driving down the street. She'll look for 5 minutes and then she'll call the police.

Sheldon asks Corinne how she's feeling. She's a little better. He asks if she's ever been formally diagnosed. She replies schizophrenic, manic depressive, and paranoid delusions. Every nuthouse, prison, or shrink had another idea. Sam comes in and Sheldon informs him that Corinne's giving him permission to be included in the session. Corinne leaves for the bathroom with help from a nurse. When she's gone, Sheldon asks Sam what he remembers about Corinne. He remembers she was wild, funny, and loud, until she would fall off the tables she was dancing on or almost burned the house down. Sam could never tell if she was drunk or high. Then she'd think the entire world was against her and turned on Sam, thinking he hated her or wanted her death. She wasn't easy to live with. He loves his sister, but Sam doesn't know how he feels when Sheldon says his sister is somewhere in there. Sam wants to take Corinne home and continue this tomorrow. Sheldon agrees to that.

Charlotte spots Mason sitting on a bench and she lets Cooper know she found him. She parks her car and sits down with Mason. She tells him that when she was a little older than he is, her cousin used to sneak out the river, but she wasn't allowed to go yet. So, one day, she snuck out. Her dad was right. There was a lot of big kids stuff that she wasn't ready for. Mason wonders if his mother is dead, because when his nana went to the hospital, she never came home. He starts crying and Charlotte comforts him. 

Sam is reading as Addison comes in. She saved a baby today and she couldn't sleep, so she wanted to make sure he was okay. They start kissing and he informs her Corinne is asleep before picking her up.

Cooper tells Erica that Mason ran away. She wants to see him. Mason then comes bursting in and hugs his mother. She assures him she's not dead and says she's going to be just fine.

Addison is getting dressed again. Sam says she doesn't have to leave, but she says nothing's changed, so she does have to go. He doesn't have to be sorry, because neither is she. He wishes she didn't have to worry about him, but she's worried about himself, too. Addison kisses him one last time and leaves.

Melissa is watching over Eli outside the NICU. She knows Cooper doesn't like her very much. He says he only knows she left her baby to get high. Melissa says he was screaming and drugs are the only way she knows to calm down. She wants to assure him it's going to be different in the future, but he'll tell her that addicts slip and that's true. This time, she's going to do everything she can to do things differently. Cooper tells her she's lucky that the drugs she took during the pregnancy didn't kill him. Melissa knows she screwed up, but she's making a choice and this time she's choosing Eli. Cooper says being a parent is an all-day, every day job. Melissa knows it's going to be a fight, but she's gonna fight. Cooper asks about Denise. Melissa thinks it may be too late for them. She learned on Denise, so she can do it right with Eli. This time, she did the wrong thing, but for the right reasons.

Cooper tells Violet he doesn't know if he can trust Melissa. Violet suggests Denise can help out, but Cooper says they don't go together. Violet says there's this thing about kids, like she and Pete also only agreed on Lucas. Violet says Pete refuses to let her be happy. Cooper says seeing her with Scott must have been terrible for him. Violet says that idea came from him and she hated it. She thought about it and she realized they both want to be happy. Violet says the thing with Scott is just sex, the only difference is that Pete sort of knows her person. It's not going anywhere. Cooper says she should tell Pete that.

Charlotte walks into Erica's room and asks her how long she's going to keep Mason in the dark. Erica says she can't tell him. Charlotte tells Erica what happened last night. Mason is smart and he needs answers. If Erica doesn't tell him, Mason won't ever forgive her and he will hate her and Cooper, the only people he'll have left. Charlotte knows why she's lying to Mason, but she is lying. Erica starts crying and says it's too much. She can't tell him yet. Charlotte takes her hand.

Cooper asks Pete what's up with this connection between him and Melissa. Pete says that when Violet walked out on Lucas, it was just him and Lucas. His eyes said that he was wondering where his mother was, and he gave Violet another chance when she came back. Violet is an incredible mother, and Lucas would be worse off without her. Addison comes over with a social worker, who's spoken to both Melissa and Denise. Pete says there's no situation. Gladys tells Cooper they like to keep a child with its mother if it's possible, but if Cooper's instincts say that it's against Eli's detriment, they can explore other options.

Amelia needs to talk to Charlotte. She has a lead to treat Erica's gliosarcoma. She thinks her brother Derek can help them.

Cooper tells Denise that people can change, even if they've done awful things. He knows it's easy to make a mistake as a parent. He thinks it's been hard for Denise as well as her mother. Hopefully, it can be a reminder for the both of them that Eli needs to be treated better. Denise will have to help take care of Eli and make sure her mother stays off the drugs. Cooper knows it seems unfair for her, but they're a family and they have to look out for one another.

Violet enters Pete's office and she tells him Lucas wanted to know if his truck could fly, so she had to get him a new one. She thinks it's better to leave it at his house since there are no stairs there. She tells Pete it's just sex with Scott. Pete says he's not evolved enough to hear about her sex life, but she wasn't going to give him details. Pete says he still doesn't like it. He knows he shouldn't care, but he does. He doesn't want her to interpret his feelings. He just cares.

Addison tells Melissa that Eli is going to be okay. Pete tells her she can do this. Melissa says it's all about Eli now, but Cooper says maybe not all as Denise comes in. Melissa doesn't know what to say, but Denise knows. Melissa says she's sorry. Denise says they'll do better with Eli. Melissa hugs her daughter.

Jake asks Sam how it's going with his sister. Sam says pretty much the same. Sheldon says it'll take a while before she's off all the drugs, so for now, they don't know anything yet. He asks Sam to keep him updated and leaves. Jake asks Sam if he keeps Corinne at his house. Sam says she's in his office, staring at the walls. It's hard. Addison walks in and greets them. Jake notices the tension between her and Sam as he leaves and he says he should have seen that coming, but he didn't. Jake asks her to let him know when she's ready to meet more surrogates.

Charlotte knows it's complicated and scary, but Amelia says it gives them hope. Chemo bought them time, but this surgery has the potential to cure her. Charlotte knows she doesn't want to tell Mason the tumor will kill her at some point. If she's open this, she may not have to.

Corinne is on Sam's deck, staring over the ocean. Sam joins her and asks her if she's hungry, but she doesn't reply. Corinne recalls a house they went to during summers, out on the beach in North Carolina. Sam remembers, too. Corinne smiles at him and takes his hand. His eyes tear up, seemingly having found his sister.

Addison tells her therapist she pushed herself to her limit that semester. Maybe even past it. She was stressed and she didn't sleep. In retrospect, she loved every minute of it.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Addison Forbes Montgomery[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Doctors:
    • Therapist
  • Treatment:
    • Talk therapy

Addison talked to her therapist about a semester she took at least six classes. She says it was overwhelming with a laugh. She said she pushed herself to the limit that semester and even had to retake the tennis class because she got an incomplete, but she loved every minute of it.

Corinne Bennett[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Antipsychotics
    • Sedatives

Corinne was handed over to Sam. He asked what she was on and the officer said she came in deranged and the psychiatrist loaded her up. Sheldon reviewed her file and said it was lazy of the prison shrinks and they hadn't even properly diagnosed her. He wanted to take her off the meds in order to evaluate her and properly diagnose her. Once the meds were cleared, she went through all the formal diagnoses she'd been given.

Eli[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Neonatal abstinence syndrome
    • Cystic adenomatoid malformation
  • Treatment:
    • Methadone taper
    • Surgery

Eli, 10 days, was brought into the ER after crying for 14 hours straight. Denise said he couldn't eat or sleep. Cooper said he was small for ten days old and asked if he was premature. Denise said he was, two weeks. Cooper asked if he was eating. Denise became defensive and just asked them to help him. Pete then deduced that Eli wasn't her baby. She said Eli's her brother. Her mother gave birth and then left immediately. She had been taking care of him and wanted to continue taking care of him. Addison diagnosed Eli with neonatal abstinence syndrome and a cystic adenomatoid malformation, which she needed to remove. Pete found his mother, Melissa, to make the decision if she should operate immediately or wait until he was stronger. While Melissa and Denise were fighting, Eli became unstable and had to be rushed into surgery. The surgery was successful and Melissa was told that Eli would be okay.

Erica Warner[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Gliosarcoma
  • Treatment:
    • Chemotherapy

Erica had started her chemotherapy. Amelia did additional research to find other possible solutions. She found a way to operate that meant taking Erica to Seattle so Derek could operate with her.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"New York" Blind Pilot
  • Addison talks to her therapist about her busiest semester.
  • Sam learns that Corinne is heavily drugged.
  • Violet and Scott talk about yearbooks.
"Up From the Ground" Fort Atlantic
  • Sam talks about Corinne's past.
  • Charlotte finds Mason at the side of the road.
  • Charlotte tells Mason a story from her childhood.
  • Mason asks if his mom is dead because no one will let him see her.
"Hope You Know" Megafaun
  • Pete tells Violet he cares.
  • Addison gives an update on Eli. Denise comes back and Melissa apologizes to her.
  • Denise tells her to do better with Eli.
  • Sheldon, Jake, and Sam talk about Corinne.
  • Jake thinks Addison's rejecting him.
  • Charlotte and Amelia talk to Erica about their plan.
  • Sam brings Corinne some food and they share a childhood memory.
  • Addison tells her therapist she pushed herself past the limit that semester, but she loved every minute of it.

Notes and Trivia[]

Private_Practice_5x14_-_PROMO_-_Too_Much
  • This episode scored 6.52 million viewers.[1]

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

References[]

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