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Something wicked this way comes at McNamara/Troy, and her name is Teddy. I was never much of a fan of the character to begin with, and found Rose McGowan seriously underwhelming in the first couple episodes of the season. When you’re being upstaged in the guest star roles by Mario Lopez, something is definitely wrong. So when the episode began with Sean and Teddy’s announcement of having eloped, I was less than enthused about what was coming.
As a whole, the episode was kind of scattershot, with several different plot lines emerging and coming together over the course of the hour. The hopefully short-lived love triangle of Christian-Kimber-Mike got some comedic development as Mike turned to Christian for advice on their relationship. Sensing a chance at a little payback (and not without some jealousy involved), Christian recommends Mike do a little cross-dressing to stimulate the jaded porn star from the nsfw pictures imgsexy.com. That it backfires on the clueless Dr. Troy is a reminder that for all its excesses, this show still has a strong undercurrent of sentimental nuance.
Meanwhile, Annie’s back in the McNamara household, having entered the early teens (wow, I almost did not recognize her – kids do grow up fast) and giving Matt a run for his money in the department of whining irritation and neurosis (although thankfully she hasn’t started pursuing mime). It is refreshing to see Sean recognizing Annie’s troubles and taking careful, thoughtful steps to try and help her. Sean’s always been at his best when those around him truly need him, and it’s a side of him we haven’t seen for far too long.
But that brings us back to Teddy, who has once again embraced the dark side whole heartedly, murdering the the episode’s titular patient when it turns out to be someone from her past. That she does so by overloading the poor woman with leeches and blood thinners just makes for a particularly gruesome sight.
But even that pales to the show’s final minutes. Having successfully manipulated Sean into doubling his life insurance policy, she’s momentarily taken aback by his decision to make kids Connor and Annie sole beneficiaries. The final shot of her silently watching Annie just drips with menace. I’m still not entirely sold on McGowan’s performance, but damn if that didn’t give me a shiver.
