Royal Pains S01EP02 "There Will Be Food"

Royal Pains second episode was a bit of a disappointment after the terrific pilot last week. I don't know if the writers were different for this episode but the dialogue was borderline childish some of the time. The plot of this episode was a little lack luster as well which I hope is not a sign of things to come.

Show synopsis -
Hank doctors a retiring ballerina that Evan has taken an interest in, is fired by Tucker's father for giving him parenting advice and becomes the "Robin Hood" of medicine helping out patients from Jill's failed free clinic. There was a lack of something the first episode had. I can't place my finger on it exactly but I can name a few things.

1. Hank's attitude was different in this episode. He didn't seem like the same person who was a little jaded which is understandable with the way the plot is going; however, it's part of what made the chemistry of the show work for me.
2. Divya was fairly insignificant in the episode. I really liked her character before but again the chemistry has changed some now that Hank seems to have accepted her as his assistant.
3. With the exception of Tucker's father, there were no encounters with precocious rich people creating drama.

The common theme in these three points is that there was a shift in the characters. There was a lot of relational tension created by the unique characters which a good spring board for humor. In one episode, the characters have mellowed out and a lot of the humor and interaction just seems corny.

The acting, mainly Jill's character, seemed a lot less believable in this episode as well. Particularly noticeable was the scene where Hank goes to Jill's office while she is talking on the phone. The frustration and anger she was supposed to be showing felt very contrived to me.

Ok, what was with the food making dance? I know Evan was cooking for a ballerina but WTF was that? I watched the episode with two other people and we all looked at each other and said "what the hell?"

The episode was a complete failure but if I hadn't enjoyed the first episode so much, I would have quit watching after this weeks installment. I love the scenery, the beautiful mansions and the characters but the show really needs to pull it together in the next episode or I can very well see the ratings circling the drain.