Ex-Life

Ex-Life is the sixteenth episode of the second season and the 25th overall episode of Private Practice.

Short Summary
Derek and Addison work on one of Derek's patients, as Derek feels guilty over what happened in surgery. Sam has an 'asthma' attack, but nobody believes him. At Oceanside Wellness, Cooper, Violet and Pete work on a mother with post-partum psychosis and Pete confronts Violet about her baby and Charlotte confronts Cooper over Violet's baby.

Full Summary
Back at Oceanside Wellness, the remaining team worry about Archer, Addison, Naomi and Sam. However, the four of them are enjoying themselves over a successful surgery with Mark and Derek.

Derek returns to the hospital after Jen develops breathing problems, and the rest, believing it to be about Archer, run back to Archer's bedside, only to find Bailey. Instead of Archer having a problem, Sam does instead, having an asthma attack and collapsing. Addison wants Sam to be on the surgical floor so at least Naomi and herself can monitor him, but Bailey tells her to find the Chief, as asthma is not surgical. Addison implies to Naomi that Sam isn't actually over her, while Bailey spends the day finding out what caused the attack. Sam doesn't respond to the meds as well as Naomi would like, but eventually discovers Sam's allergic to the generic asthma pumps, so it was an allergic reaction, not a panic attack over Naomi.



The Chief wants to publish Archer's case and use Archer's name. However, Archer feels Derek screwed up, and Addison requests Derek to order another CT scan, but he refuses, saying her brother's an ass and his post-op neuro exam was fine - no CT needed. Addison shouts at Derek, claiming this is unlike him, when he admits about clipping an aneurysm during Jen's surgery, he's ordered tests and they've all come back fine. Addison tells him to check the baby, and she does, indicating Mirror Syndrome: the baby's anemic, and so is the mother due to the blood transfusion during surgery and its incompatibility with the child's own blood type, causing congestive heart failure in both of them.

Since Derek refuses to do a repeat CT on Archer, Addison goes over his head to the Chief, and considering he wants the paper published, agrees to order the CT and asks Bailey to do it.

When the results come back, Alex asks Addison if she was happy running away, to which she replies she walked away and then ignores the rest of the question, asking to repeat the tests. Derek, still feeling guilty, shouts at Addison for not telling him the first set of test results. The test results come back, and Addison tells Derek she has to deliver the baby or they both will die. Jen refuses this, demanding to wait two more weeks. Derek undermines Addison by suggesting in-utero blood transfusion, and Jen immediately chooses that, but Addison is against it as the risks are far too high for her. Jen chooses the in-utero procedure, tying Addison's hands.

During surgery, Jen begins to crash, and Addison scolds Derek, just like the "Hot Dog Thanksgiving" where Carolyn breaks her wrist, Addison's never cooked a turkey in her life and Derek invites 34 people to their house for thanksgiving, giving her Nancy salmonella and Derek then cooks hot dogs and saves the day - same principle here, Derek gives false hope, Addison has to do the work and then Derek looks like the hero afterwards, until Addison successfully completes the procedure.

After the procedure, as Derek and Addison scrub out, Derek admits his mother did hate Addison, until Richard interrupts with the CT. Archer's seen the scan and see two persistent cysts. Derek didn't get them all, and he's going to die, so Archer breaks down, admitting to things he should have admitted to, such as sleeping with Mark's girlfriend, wrecking Sam's car, until Derek barges in, telling Archer he's wrong and that it is common for post-op neurosurgery patients to have a fluid build up.

Cooper tells Charlotte about Archer and Sam, while Cooper tries to explain about the arrangement with Violet, but Charlotte doesn't want to hear it.

Cooper sees Rachel, who accidentally let her daughter, Cindy, fall into the tub while she answered the phone. Cooper notices she may have post-partum depression, and asks Violet to consult. To buy some time, Violet asks Pete to do some acupuncture to get her to sleep for a while. Pete goes to Violet, suggesting to her that this is more than some sleep deprivation, when Violet tells him that she believes it post-partum psychosis, annoying Pete as he now sees that he's been used while Violet rings her husband and pre-admits Rachel into the hospital. Rachel wakes up, running to Cindy who's crying as she wants a bottle. Violet refuses to let Cooper or Dell give Cindy back to Rachel, when Rachel then admits she tried to drown Cindy. Violet begins to panic about her child: What if her baby doesn't sleep?

At St. Ambrose, Violet talks to Rachel's husband, until Rachel wakes up and wants to see her baby. Violet, again, refuses to let her see Cindy. Pete disagrees, and Cooper tries to get Violet see Pete's perspective. Violet comes round, letting Rachel see Cindy with her husband.

Pete confronts Violet about her baby and cutting Pete out of the baby's life, Pete telling Violet she is selfish for cutting Pete out of the baby's life.

Sam confides in Miranda that he thought he'd still be with Naomi, spurring Miranda to try and save her marriage, unlike Sam and Naomi.

Addison apologises to Derek for second guessing Derek, and tells Jen and Rob the good news, the procedure worked and that both mother and son are OK, until Jen's speech becomes jumbled.

Main Cast

 * Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery
 * Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder
 * Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett
 * Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman
 * KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King
 * Chris Lowell as Dell Parker
 * Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett
 * Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner

Special Guest Stars

 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Stars

 * Jennifer Westfeldt as Jen Harmon
 * Ben Shenkman as Rob Harmon
 * Abigail Spencer as Rachel
 * Steven W. Bailey as Joe
 * Grant Show as Dr. Archer Montgomery

Co-Starring

 * Jeffrey Nicholas Brown as Andrew

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode scored 14.10 million viewers.
 * This is the second part of the Grey's Anatomy-Private Practice crossover.
 * This episode continues directly from the Grey's Anatomy episode Before and After

Quotes

 * Sam: HA!
 * Naomi: Excuse me?
 * Sam: I said ha! Ha because I was right. Ha because it was an allergic reaction, so HA to Mark and Addison and you if you believed them. It wasn't a panic attack, it was an asthma attack. I am not pathetic, I am a man. I am a man with asthma, so HA! Gimme some Dr. Bailey!


 * Addison: This is the hot dog thanksgiving all over again...
 * Derek: What?
 * Addison: Oh you know what, your mother breaks her wrist so the day before thanksgiving you invite 34 people over to our house, without even asking me, knowing I've never cooked a turkey in my life. Your sister gets salmonella, and your mother who never liked me, accuses me of trying to kill everyone, and you, ha ha, make hot dogs and your the hero.
 * Derek: Addison.
 * Addison: No, it's the exact same thing Derek, you make a cavalier statement and then I gotta do all the work and no matter how it turns out you're the hero and I'm incompetent.
 * Alex: Her respirations are stabilizing.
 * Addison: How's her pulse ox?
 * Derek: 92, her lungs are clearing. You did it.
 * Addison: I did it, I did it.
 * Derek: Who's the hero now?
 * Addison: Shut up.