An: I always wondered why Sam and Naomi broke up (due to their INSANE chemistry) until season three hit when we FINALLY saw why Sam filed for divorce. When things are good, Naomi is awesome; but, when things aren’t happy (i.e., her daughter’s pregnancy and wedding), Naomi shuts down, refuses to listen or does what she thinks is best.
Although Addison’s love foibles never bothered me, it seemed odd that the pilot proclaimed Addison would start anew in her relationships, but she never did. I don’t blame the character so much as the production staff. In reality, someone as together as Addison in work, would appear equally together at home. But, that isn’t interesting for TV. Considering Addison doesn’t have any personality quirks (like the rest of the cast), they had to give her something.
On a side note, I think Rhimes secretly wanted Audra as the lead, but probably thought TV wasn’t ready for a minority heroine, so set up Addison and Naomi as co-leads; but, it didn’t work. So, in Season two, they put Addison closer to center stage by setting her up as the center’s head. But, that didn’t work for Naomi’s character. So, they set Naomi up as head for another firm, which still didn’t make sense. I always viewed the season two premiere as a bit of a plothole concerning Naomi’s character. If Naomi were that terrible a manager, another firm wouldn’t hire her.
While they needed to remove Dell, because he didn’t fit, Naomi blaming the man (who practically followed her through Hell) for her daughter’s accident (and overlooking his medical care) made no sense. I loved Dell’s crush on Naomi. However, I thought he had chemistry with the original Naomi. I felt more of a maternal\mentor feel with Audra. I’m both surprised Rhimes tried to maintain the crush in season one’s finale, but then dropped it come season two.
Jaylen: I agree with you about Sam and Naomi. They did have insane chemistry. I can’t quite remember the reason they broke up. I’m sure it was some bogus explanation. Quite frankly, I feel that the two of them could have worked through their issues. Lord knows they loved each other. That much is evident. In regards to Naomi, she can lose control when things go wrong. I’ll give you that. Still, I found her to be a better character than Addison. Naomi had a heart and always tried to do the right thing. When she left the show, I felt as though something was just a bit off.
I didn’t mind Naomi being the co-lead with Addison. I like Addison as a doctor. I liked seeing Addison lend Naomi a helping hand in the first season. All of that was good stuff. If I remember correctly, she was only flirting with Pete back then. Addison was trying to begin anew — just like you mentioned. The writers’ strike cut season one short and the writers gave the series a bit of a reboot. So, when the second season began, Addison was back to her slut ways, Naomi was booted from being in charge, and Dell’s crush seemed to vanish … speaking of which … I thought Dell was cool.
I don’t know if I got the maternal vibe from Dell liking Audra McDonald’s Naomi. I do think the crush was stronger in the backdoor pilot with Merrin Dungey, yes. However, I feel as though McDonald’s Naomi was more so flattered by the crush, but simply wouldn’t entertain it. She should have. That would have made a damn good storyline. Let’s shift gears and talk about some of the other characters. I didn’t care for Amelia at first, but she grew on me. I like the fact that she’s related to Derek. That’s a nice touch. I also love Sheldon. If you ask me, he should have ended up with Violet instead of Pete. I’m just sayin’.
Clacked by An Nicholson 
on Jun 19, 2012 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Addison was never as good on PP as she was on GA. didn’t mind her with Sam but when she was going after that married guy whose wife was a patient of hers… ugh. Hadn’t she learned her lesson about cheating already?
I agree that Audra is awesome, and pretty much stopped watching after she was gone. I am a huge fan of hers, and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen her on stage, but I actually think she didn’t fit in well on the show anyway. I think it was the way her character was written to be so judgmental. Audra McDonald has a real warmth that should be allowed to come across more than it did on this show, I think.
I won’t miss Pete at all and I wish he would take Violet with him. The biggest problem I have with PP is that most of the fortysomethings act like they are fourteen and that gets really old after a while. Pete and Violet are the worst but Cooper, Sam and Addison are also too immature for their ages.
No was ever celibate for long enough. Addison especially should have been celibate for six months so she could learn to live as an adult without a man around but she always had the choice of a number of men and always gave in to her urges too easily.
I gave up on the characters when Dell (whom I liked a lot) died and no one would take in Betsy. Addison wanted to adopt but she only wanted a baby, not a young girl who desperately needed a home, which made her unredeemable to me. Violet and Pete were the parents of a toddler and it wouldn’t have taken a lot to extend their home to Betsy, who was demonstrating that she would have been a help with their son. And Sam and Coop just turned their backs on her, a hurt child who had lost both her parents and now had to be in the heartless state system. I give Sheldon, Amelia and Charlotte a pass since they didn’t know Dell that well but I wonder if Charlotte had already had Madison whether she would have taken Betsy too.