Season 4 (Private Practice)

The fourth season of Private Practice premiered on September 23, 2010 and concluded on May 19, 2011. It was broadcast on Thursday nights at 10 PM on ABC. The season consists of 22 episodes.

Summary
Experience every complex romance, medical crisis and moral dilemma of ABC's "Private Practice". Join the Oceanside Wellness Group family as they try to balance work, friendship and love while they lean on each other for the help and support they need. As Pete and Violet prepare for their wedding day, disagreements at the clinic put a strain on Addison and Sam's relationship. Meanwhile, Charlotte and Cooper struggle in the aftermath of a traumatic personal event, and Derek's sister, Amelia, returns from Seattle with a destructive secret. It's a season of change and new hope for Dr. Addison Montgomery and her colleagues.

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
 * Brian Benben as Dr. Sheldon Wallace
 * Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
 * Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett
 * Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner

Special Guest Stars

 * French Stewart as Kevin Mason
 * Currie Graham as Ryan Mason
 * Grant Show as Dr. Archer Montgomery
 * Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jake Reilly
 * Tess Harper as Augusta King

Recurring Guest Stars

 * David Grant Wright as Troy Hagen
 * Nicholas Brendon as Lee McHenry
 * Cristián de la Fuente as Dr. Eric Rodriguez
 * JoBeth Williams as Bizzy Forbes
 * Ann Cusack as Susan Grant
 * Alex Kingston as Marla Thomkins
 * Stephen Collins as "The Captain" Montgomery
 * Louise Fletcher as Frances Wilder
 * Kyle Secor as Adam Wilder
 * Amanda Foreman as Katie Kent
 * Hailey Sole as Betsey Parker
 * Michael Patrick Thornton as Dr. Gabriel Fife
 * Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Michelle
 * Blue Deckert as Joe Price

Prominent Guest Stars

 * James Remar as Dr. Gibson
 * Katie Lowes as Kendra Walker
 * Eileen Ryan as Marion

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Conni Marie Brazelton as R.L. Hansen
 * J. René Peña as Gladys

Addison
Addison and Sam continue their relationship and all seems to be well until Addison's mother, Bizzy, commits suicide forcing Addison to re-evaluate her life. She loves Sam but is currently broken up by the fact that she wants children but he doesn't. Normally Addison would talk to her best friend Naomi but their friendship is not the same anymore so she feels all alone. With no one to turn to her biggest challenge is to find someone she can be completely open with.

Naomi
Naomi inherits millions from her boyfriend William White following his death. On top of having to deal with his death, Naomi also has to deal with the fact that her best friend and ex-husband are in a real relationship now. She is easing well into her new role as a grandmother, even though she was less than thrilled to find out her 16-year-old daughter Maya was pregnant. Naomi eventually admits that she isn't happy with where her life is at the moment and makes a decision to find her purpose elsewhere.

Sam
Sam and Addison are still dating but are at different points in their lives. Addison wants a child, but Sam has a child and a grandchild so he would rather just enjoy their time together and put off having kids indefinitely. Sam's biggest challenge is that he is in a relationship with Addison but she is pulling away, so he ends up kissing Naomi which leads him to believe that maybe there is still a chance for a romantic relationship between them. Naomi's head is elsewhere so neither women (Addison or Naomi) is actually on the same page as him

Charlotte & Cooper
Charlotte and Cooper deal with the aftermath of Charlotte's rape and actually go to couples therapy in order to work on the lost intimacy in their relationship. Eventually, they decide to just be honest with each other and both lay out their secrets on the table. Once these are all revealed, tension arises between the couple, but they have been through so much already that these secrets only make them stronger.

Pete & Violet
Following Pete's proposal these two finally get married and start to raise their child together. Violet gets a book deal, the details of which offend her friends and colleagues. Pete's past catches up with her when his brother comes to him telling him that their mother (who is in prison) needs his help. Violet pushes Pete to help his mother and through Pete's interaction with his mother details of his childhood are revealed.

Sheldon
Sheldon continues to be the resident "therapist" to all his friends and colleagues. Everyone comes to him for advice so he is like their guardian angel who calmly pushes them all in the right direction. He starts an affair with a writer who gave Violet's new book a bad review despite the warning from Cooper that the affair is going to jeopardize his friendship with Violet.

Amelia
It is revealed that Amelia is a recovering substance abuser and that the reason she started in the first place was due to her father getting shot, which left her feeling empty and so she turned to drugs. She finally mends her relationship with her brother Derek Shepherd following his survival of a gunshot wound. She is currently helping her friend deal with a fatal disease.

DVD Release
The "Private Practice: The Complete Fourth Season" boxset was released in region 1 on September 13, 2011 by ABC Studios. On April 2, 2012 and October 12, 2011, the DVD was released in regions 2 and 4 respectively. The run time of the DVD is 986 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, Chinese, and Spanish

Special Features
Additional to the episodes, the season 4 DVD set also contains a couple of special features:
 * An Inside Look: The Violation of Charlotte King – KaDee Strickland discusses how she researched and prepared for shooting this episode plus her work with RAINN.
 * Deleted Scenes
 * Bloopers
 * Audio Commentaries