Private Practice: Season 3
Episode 18

Title: Pulling the Plug
Episode: 49
Episode #: 3.18
First Air Date: March 25, 2010 (10pm)
Writer: Kathy McCormick
Director: Ann Kindberg
DVD: Private Practice: The Complete Third Season
Guest Stars:
Brian Benben as Sheldon
Michael Patrick Thornton as Gabriel Fife
Christina Chang as Vanessa
Monica Keena as Kayla
Derek Phillips as Eddie
Judith Hoag as Angie
Michael Reilly Burke as Simon
Ryan Michelle Bathe as Robin
Freda Foh Shen as Judge

Music:

Mayer Hawthorne, "Green Eyed Love"
Vanessa checks on the babies. Vanessa and Sam argue. Addison tries to calm Lucas.

Angus and Julia Stone, "Santa Monica Dream"
Sam checks in on Addison and brings her something to eat.

Gin Wigmore, "Dying Day"
Charlotte relieves the attending nurse. Eddie enters the room. Addison climbs into bed with Pete. Vanessa apologizes to Sam. Eddie has pulled out Kayla's vent tube. Sam uses a chair to break a window. Sam and Vanessa hurry to help Kayla.


Fan Rating: ??/10 (Average of all fan submitted ratings)


Synopsis:

The hospital must keep a surrogate mother on life support until her fetuses are able to survive; Naomi discovers that Addison and Sam have feelings for each other.

(Preview From ABC)
A husband's decision to pull the plug on his pregnant wife is overruled by a judge, forcing the hospital to keep her on life support until the fetuses she is carrying as a surrogate are able to survive. Meanwhile, Naomi feels betrayed after learning of Sam and Addison's feelings for one another, and she turns to Dr. Fife for support while William is away on business. And unable to cope with the tension, Addison takes the day off with Pete and Lucas.


(Recap From ABC)
Picking up where the episode Triangles left off, we see Kayla, the surrogate carrying triplets, in a coma. Her husband, Eddie, keeps vigil at her bedside. Rather than see the woman he loves remain in this sad state, Eddie tells Addison that he wants to pull the plug on the machines keeping her alive. Kayla will be at peace, but the babies will not survive. This leads the prospective parents to take legal action.

Until a judge makes a decision, everyone must stay away from Kayla. Charlotte sees how devastating this is to Eddie, who just wants to be near his wife. The judge rules that Kayla must stay on the machine until the babies come to term. Eddie is ordered to stay away from Kayla for all those months.

Cooper gives Charlotte a check for all the money he owes her. She wonders about the hidden meaning behind the gesture. There isn’t one. This confuses Charlotte, so she makes a beeline over to Sheldon to have sex in his office chair. Now, this is a little confusing to us. Don’t most psychiatrist offices have a sofa?

Dell is whining about his life. In typical no holds barred fashion, Charlotte says that if he doesn’t like what’s happening, he needs to do something about it. During a house call for one of Addison’s patients, Dell discovers that the woman’s daughter has a bad cough. He asks Cooper to accompany him on his next visit. When they arrive, they find the woman on the floor in pain. Her water broke. The baby is coming. Now!

The baby is stuck and Addison isn’t answering her phone. She’s crashed out from exhaustion after caring for a sick Lucas and an equally sick Pete. It’s up to Dell, who realizes that he must break the baby’s clavicle to dislodge him. It’s an agonizing delivery but Dell comes through in the clutch. It’s a boy!

When Cooper and Dell return to the office, they share the good news of the moment with Charlotte and Sheldon. Charlotte is impressed with Dell. He saved two lives in the field with no equipment and no whining. But even though this is Dell’s moment, Sheldon can’t help but notice that Charlotte is staring affectionately at Cooper. He realizes that she’s still in love with him. We knew that all along.

Naomi wonders how long Addison and Sam have had feelings for each other. She’s second-guessing everything that’s ever happened between them. Dr. Fife catches her binge-eating chocolate. He thinks it’s because William left the country without telling her. We know that’s just part of the problem. The chocolate isn’t helping, but a passionate kiss from Fife seems to do the trick.

Naomi wonders how things will progress with Fife on an intimate level. Sheldon suggests that she talk to Charlotte, as she knows a lot about sex. A lot! Charlotte gives her a manual about being intimate with a disabled person. When Fife sees the manual, he assures her that he can have sex, if she’s interested. Judging by the smile on Naomi’s face, we’re guessing she is.

While basking in the afterglow, Fife tells Naomi that William is sick. He wants her to know the reason he’s out of the country. This way she’ll have all the facts if she does, indeed, break up with him. A short time later, we see Naomi buying a plane ticket to Switzerland, and we doubt it’s to go skiing in the Alps.

Remember how we said Addison was caring for Lucas and Pete? Well, she ended up getting sick, too. But Addy weathered the storm to get this makeshift family through the day. She crawls into bed to get some well-deserved rest. After placing her hand on a feverish Pete’s head, he says, “I love you, Violet.” That’s probably going to keep Addison awake just a little bit longer now.

Back at the hospital, Charlotte unlocks the door to Kayla’s room to let Eddie have some time with his wife. When Sam and Vanessa hear an alarm sounding, they realize Eddie has unhooked the ventilator. Sam heaves a chair through the door window. He rushes inside to reconnect the machine. That won’t be necessary. See, Kayla is breathing on her own. Anyone else have chills right about now?