Private Practice – The badgering of Charlotte King

I had mixed feelings about the repeated scenes of Violet, Addison and Sheldon going into Charlotte’s office and trying to persuade her to ID her assailant at the Police Department and to inform others about her rape as a way to prevent another woman from being attacked by the same guy.

While the most pragmatic, noble decision was to do whatever it takes to make sure the animal who brutally raped Charlotte was put behind bars forever, I felt badly for Charlotte, whom Violet was pressing to “do the right thing” by pulling hard on the heartstrings.

That moment when Violet told Charlotte that her attacker had raped another woman before her and that his previous victim thanked Violet for having the courage to press charges, was an ugly one to witness. Throughout the episode, Charlotte pushed back against the barrage of verbiage from those who were essentially telling her that she would shoulder some of the blame if her rapist attacked another woman because Charlotte kept her mouth shut.

I found it intriguing, though, that while Charlotte strenuously told her colleagues to back off, it was Cooper’s statements about guns and freedom — after Violet told him about Charlotte’s rape — that compelled her to finally single out her attacker for police.

“I understand why you can’t ID that man, I get it,” Cooper said calmly, quietly. “… He cannot go free. You have to be able to breathe … I will get a gun, make it look like a mugging. That man is not going free. It doesn’t matter what happens to me.” For once during this episode,  someone was telling Charlotte it was okay for her not to have to subject herself to the invasive criminal process and re-live her attack over and over again. He was offering to take the heat on her behalf, to make it right for her. Charlotte being Charlotte, however, couldn’t allow Cooper to venture into that territory, so she summoned the courage to identify her rapist for authorities.

Not so poetically drawn was Pete’s story about his killer mother who was dying in prison but wasn’t quite ill enough to warrant a humanitarian release, unless Pete fudged her medical condition on her records. Pete’s estranged brother Adam committed emotional blackmail in trying to coerce Pete to lie in order to secure their mother an early release from prison even though she killed a man, who served as Pete’s father figure, right in front of her children.

Pete vacillated between wanting to help his mother in order to provide his brother with some comfort and happiness, maybe repair their damaged relationship, and not lying, refusing to spare his mom from enduring the full penalty for her crime of murdering someone who was important to Pete. By the end of this Private Practice episode, his brother once again severed their relationship because Pete decided he wouldn’t help their mother after all, leaving Pete unsure whether he’d done the “right” thing. After telling him he had indeed done the right thing, Violet attempted to comfort him, saying, “Sometimes lies are not lies. They’re love.”

Clacked by Meredith O'Brien
on Nov 19, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT