TV Verdict

Review written by Denise Landry

Royal Pains centers around Hank Lawson, a New York doctor who gets fired when a “friend” of the hospital dies while Hank is focused on another critical patient.  It’s down hill from there as Hank is blacklisted in every hospital in the city and then his fiancée calls off the engagement since he no longer fits into her life plan of marrying a doctor.

Hank ends up in a funk, sitting in his living room, drinking and watching endless TV. So his brother, Evan, talks him into going to the Hamptons for the weekend to party.  But Hank can’t seem to leave his work behind and he steps in to save the life of a guest at a party. Soon, everyone in town is calling him the new Concierge Doctor and he’s swamped with people asking him to make a house call.  Throughout the rest of the episode, Hank tries to convince everyone that he’s simply a weekend guest but as the show winds up we see Hank and Evan moving into a guest cottage on Boris’ estate so it looks like they’re here to stay.

The theme of USA Network is “Characters Welcome,” and that’s one thing there’s no shortage of on Royal Pains.  The show is full of characters, each with their own story, which I’m sure they’ll be exploring further as the series goes on.

The first character is Evan, Hank’s brother and accountant. But Evan isn’t your stereotypical accountant.  This guy acts like he’s still a frat boy wanting to party all night, always looking for his next scheme to play with the big boys, or his next windfall.  I got the impression that Hank may be Evan’s only client.

Boris is some sort of German royalty who has lavish parties and keeps all his distant relatives on the guest list in case one of them happens to show up.  After Hank saves his party guest but declines payment, Boris leaves a gold brick Hank’s car with a note of gratitude.

Divya — what can be said about her? She shows up at Hank’s door announcing her position as his new PA.  She has an SUV equipped with diagnostic equipment and medical supplies.  You can tell she comes from money and then there was that hush hush phone call with her mother who wanted her to spend the day at a polo match.  Sounds like they wouldn’t approve of their daughter’s chosen career path.

Jill, the administrator at the local Hamptons’  hospital, seems normal enough and you can tell Hank’s smitten with her but I’m sure she has a few secrets, too.  She just doesn’t seem to fit in with the local Hampton residents, preferring fast food from the local crab shack on the beach over a fancy upscale restaurant.

And I imagine we haven’t seen the last of Hank’s predecessor, the ex Concierge Doctor, since he did sort of threaten Hank as he was being escorted from the guest cottage as Hank was moving in.   I’m sure there will be some sabotage and attacks coming Hank’s way from the old doc.

All in all, I think Royal Pains is going to be a fun show to watch and I’m excited to have a new summer series to follow.

Watch Royal Pains Thursdays at 10:00 on USA.

Network Photo: Barbara Nitke