DVD Reviews

Royal Pains: Season Two – DVD Review

By Dana Rae Jun 10, 2011, 17:34 GMT

Return with Dr. Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein) to the Hamptons: where the tides are high, bank account balances are higher and the patients are just high maintenance. Because of his strong convictions and straight-shooting style, the "concierge doctor\'s" practice is growing... and with the return of his estranged father (special guest star Henry Winkler), so is his family. With puzzling cases involving a faithful cop with an STD, a winemaker ...more

The hit TV series Royal Pains returns to television for a second season and comes to DVD for fans of the show or if you missed it and want to see it. The season has the same premise as the first: Hank the good doctor is in the Hamptons to administer his special brand of doctoring to the rich.

This season sees the return of a familiar cast. Mark Feuerstein plays Dr. Mark Lawson, who we saw in the first season hit rock bottom and then come out on top of the world. He continues his on-the-go doctor business with the beautiful Divya Katdare (Reshma Shetty) and his brother Evan (Paulo Constanzo).

He continues to live in his rich host’s house, Boris Kuerster Von Jurgens-Ratenicz (Campbell Scott), though the season’s cliffhanger might leave you wondering where season three will take them.

The reason to watch this season is the addition of Henry Winkler, who plays the Lawson brothers’ father, Eddie. Eddie is a con artist who makes for some funny moments. The casting was brilliant for Winkler to join the show and just what season two needed in order not to go stale.

The show is formulaic but fun - cheesy but a good dose of entertainment if you don’t delve to deeply; actual medical professionals might protest, but for the common folk, it’s nice to turn the brain off and enjoy.

This season sees a variety of situations for the good doctor to take care of, from Hank going to another country on Boris’ dime to study research lifesaving gene remedies to hosting a bachelor party Hangover-style to helping a new-rich couple realize their luxurious lifestyle is potentially hazardous.

In a season sub-plot, Evan, the comedic brother of the two, has to pretend to date a rich beauty so that her parents won’t find out she is really dating an older man. In other sub-plots, love takes the show to other levels, as Hank works out his feelings/relationship with Dr. Emily and Divya finds herself attracted to a documentary filmmaker that she meets while on call in home of a kidney transplant patient.

The show is, at best, mindless entertainment, but in my opinion, its humor and tongue and cheek mode set it apart. It is enjoyable to watch, just pop some popcorn and don’t think too hard as you munch.

The show should come with a warning: don’t ask yourself ‘Could that really be done?’ or if you do, chalk it up to the lifestyle of the rich and famous in television situations and let it go.