Royal Pains

Royal Pains

Royal Pains

 

In USA’s new series Royal Pains they set out once again to do what they do best: great star, fantastic supporting cast, fun location that is as much a character as the physical people on the show.  In this case, the great star is the charming Marc Feuerstein.  His supporting cast is phenomenal, featuring Paulo Costanzo, Jill Flint (she will be your favorite person this time Friday morning), Reshma Shetty, Christine Ebersol, and Campbell Scott.  And the location this time around is The Hamptons during the summer season.

Feuerstein is Hank Lawson, a promising young doctor, who, through a series of mishaps, gets dismissed from his current hospital, blacklisted from any other local places, and dumped by his girlfriend.  All of this happens in the slow-moving first 15 minutes of the episode.  The story really picks up (and this is where it gets good) when Hank’s brother Evan (Costanzo) joins the party, and insists that Hank join him for a weekend in The Hamptons.  Through another series of misadventures, Hank somehow winds up on call as the Concierge Doctor for “Boris” (Campbell Scott, affecting a slight German or Russian accent…), and he’s soon the talk of the town.  Before he knows it, he’s got a Physician’s Assistant in Reshma Shetty’s Divya, and an ally at the hospital in Flint’s character, Jill.

Like I said, the first 15 minutes are slow – it takes a while to tell the story, and explain why Hank is where he is.  But once it picks up, it quickly falls into the rhythm you’ve come to expect from USA.  I think it fits in quite well with my summer viewing!  Definitely a must watch!