Season 5 (Private Practice)

The fifth season of Private Practice premiered on September 29, 2011 and ended May 15, 2012. It was broadcast Thursday nights at 10 PM on ABC, but as of the eighteenth episode, it was moved to Tuesday nights, keeping the same timeslot. The season consists of 22 episodes.

Summary
Relive all the excitement, tragedies, and triumphs of ABC's "Private Practice". Addison and her family at the practice face a whole new set of challenges as Addison decides she wants to have a baby, with or without Sam. Pete's health scare puts a strain on his marriage to Violet, Charlotte's past comes back to haunt her, and Amelia succumbs to her destructive habits. Plus, with the arrival of an attractive new doctor and the discovery of Cooper's illegitimate son, the doctors' relationships are pushed to the limit. It's primetime drama at its very best.

Plots

 * Pete suffers a heart attack and is saved by Cooper and Sam. This opens his eyes and he and Violet realize their marriage has become an empty darkness. Since Violet knows Pete wouldn't ever leave her, she offers to leave him. He accepts her offer and they figure out a way to make it work with Lucas. After Violet has a short-lived relationship with paramedic Scott, the two try to reconcile in marriage counseling. Pete eventually crosses a line when treating a patient and ends up in jail, which makes them realize what they feel for each other.
 * Addison and Sam give their relationship another shot, but with Naomi gone, Addison asks for the help of the practice's new fertility specialist Dr. Jake Reilly, whom she happened to have flirted with earlier, to get her a baby. Sam and Addison agree that they'll stay a couple while she does everything for the baby on her own, but after failed IVF treatments, Addison decides to take a break from the baby drama. However, unexpectedly, a patient from Addison's decides to give her newborn baby up for adoption, choosing Addison as the mother of her child. Meanwhile, the baby experience has brought Addison closer to Jake, leaving her to choose between two men who've declared their love for her, all the while Sam deals with the mental problems of his sister, who resurfaces after been missing for years.
 * Amelia continues her downward spiral, starting to drink again and having to deal with the suicide of her best friend Michelle, which leads her back to drugs. Eventually, Amelia ends up with Ryan, a drug addict she met at a party and consequently sleeps with. The two grow closer and bond over drugs. Amelia crosses the line when she writes drug prescriptions for personal use, alarming her colleagues. Addison throws her out of her house, so Amelia and Ryan go to stay in a hotel room. Amelia disappears for 12 days, worrying her colleagues, who stage an intervention when she resurfaces to announce her engagement to Ryan. During the intervention, Amelia personally attacks everyone, hurting her friends and burning bridges. Ryan comes to rescue her and they decide to get clean, but not until one last time. Ryan dies of an overdose, making Amelia hit rock bottom. She agrees to go to a rehab facility, where she gets clean. After returning to work, she slowly starts to repair her relationship with her  friends. She eventually discovers she's pregnant with Ryan's baby, but the baby turns out to have no brain. Amelia shuts out Addison, whose baby is completely healthy, but the two reconcile as Amelia's in labor. Amelia decides to donate her baby's organs.
 * Cooper and Charlotte are shocked when they discover Cooper has a son, Mason, with Erica, who he had a one night stand with. Cooper is excited to have a son, and after some initial struggles, even Charlotte welcomes the boy into their life. Things take a turn for the worst when Erica reveals she has an inoperable tumor. Amelia and Derek try to remove the tumor, but it later turns out it had spread further than they knew. She ultimately dies, leaving Mason in the care of Cooper and Charlotte. They struggle to raise the boy and find an appropriate way to address his grief, but Charlotte's proves her worth, eventually becoming Mason's "mama".
 * Sheldon struggles to stay supportive of Amelia as he sees she's on a downward spiral. Their friendship is threatened when she embarrasses him by telling him she'll never love him back during the intervention, but Sheldon quickly forgives her and helps her through her recovery. Sheldon later starts treating Sam's sister and remains Amelia's confidant throughout her pregnancy.
 * Jake Reilly joins the practice as the new fertility specialist. He helps Addison to get a baby, all the while growing closer with her and eventually declaring his love for her. Amelia's drug problems bring back painful memories of his first wife, who died of an overdose. He becomes Amelia's doctor during her pregnancy, as Amelia has a fallout with Addison.

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 (as of Andromeda)
 * Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett
 * Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner

Special Guest Stars

 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey

Recurring Guest Stars

 * A.J. Langer as Erica Warner (13/22)
 * Stephen Amell as Scott Becker (7/22)
 * Anika Noni Rose as Corinne Bennett (5/22)
 * Aloma Wright as Mildred Clemons (2/22)
 * Emily Rios as Angela Reilly (1/22)
 * Betsy Brandt as Joanna Gibson (2/22)
 * Michael B. Silver as David Gibson (2/22)
 * Wes Brown as Ryan Kerrigan (3/22)
 * Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Michelle (1/22)
 * Blue Deckert as Joe Price (1/22)
 * Myk Watford as Billy Douglas (1/22)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Patrick Fabian as Robert Weston
 * Debby Ryan as Hailey

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Scott Alan Smith as Therapist (21/22)
 * Jack Bobo and Joey Bobo as Lucas Wilder (12/22)
 * Emily Moss Wilson as Judi (1/22)
 * Billy John Malone as Hendricks (2/22)
 * Alison White as Roberta Colby (1/22)
 * J. René Peña as Gladys (1/22)
 * Evan Olman as Paramedic Rodriguez (4/22)
 * Heidi Strickler as Nurse Janet
 * Jeff Skier as Paramedic (1/22)
 * Christina Cannarella as Nurse (1/22)
 * Erin Harrington as Nurse (1/22)
 * Micah May as Officer (1/22)
 * Cory Tucker as Paramedic (1/22)
 * Scott People as Officer Clark (1/22)
 * Charli Lindqvist as Woman (1/22)
 * Bill Miller as Paramedic (1/22)

Notes and Trivia

 * The two-hour event that consists of Who We Are and The Breaking Point is also known as The Intervention.
 * This is the only season of Private Practice not to feature Audra McDonald as Naomi Bennett.

DVD Release
The "Private Practice: The Complete Fifth Season" boxset was released in region 1 on September 11, 2012 by ABC Studios. On February 3, 2013 and November 14, 2012, the DVD was released in regions 2 and 4 respectively. The run time of the DVD is 946 minutes.

Set Details
The boxset contains the 22 episodes of the season. The DVD box contains 5 discs. Other set details are:
 * English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
 * 1.78:1 aspect ratio
 * Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish

Special Features
Additional to the episodes, the season 5 DVD set also contains a couple of special features:
 * The Practice of Parenthood – Filmmakers and cast discuss the addition of children to the series this season, the different kinds of family the show explores, and how being a parent affects the cast, both as actors and in their person lives.
 * Deleted Scenes
 * Bloopers
 * Audio Commentaries