Royal Pains

There Will Be Food

Season 1, Episode 2, Aired 6/11/09

Episode Summary

A ballerina Evan is dating loses consciousness after he feeds her junk foods she had to give up to keep her dancer's physique.

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Cast & Crew

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Reshma Shetty

Divya Katdare
Jill Flint

Jill Casey
Paulo Costanzo

Evan Lawson

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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"There Will Be Food" is an appropriate title for Royal Pains' Episode 2. Food, and plenty of it, are prevalent throughout the show, so the title is obviously meaningful.

8.5

"Great"

By sunsethill, Jun 14, 2009 Report Abuse

In the opening scene, Hank is preparing an egg white omelet for breakfast, much to Evan's disgust. It has the appearance of regurgitated baby formula and Evan reacts accordingly when takes a bite. Jill calls Hank to treat a diabetic realtor's burn wound. It so happens that the realtor has baked chocolate chip cookies to enhance the atmosphere for prospective clients. Hank is then called by Divya to remove sutures from his hemophiliac patient, Tucker, who invites him to the retirement party of a famous ballerina named Tess. At the party, there is enough food to subsidize a five star restaurant. Evan is smitten with Tess and they sneak off for some real food at a local fast food establishment. Hank and Jill leave with Tucker and his girlfriend Libby for an organic feast at Tucker's home. While eating a hot dog, Tess suddenly loses consciousness. Hank comes to the rescue but the diagnosis is unclear. Jill becomes intoxicated from too much wine and Hank takes her home. It seems she is upset because the money that was pledged to fund her free clinic has been withdrawn by the wealthy contributors. Hank reads one of the letters Jill wrote to patients who would benefit from the clinic. There has to be more to the storyline than people's eating habits. And there is.

On a deeper level, the food is a vivid allegory of the often quoted cliche "food for thought." Tess, at a very young age, is retiring from the only thing she has ever really known how to do. Complicate that with Hank's diagnosis of a rare heart condition and it is easy to see the dilemma she must think through. Jill is faced with the loss of her free clinic but is unwilling to work outside the system. Hank gives her something to think about when he tells her that maybe she should start. Hank confronts Tucker's father(played by Andrew McCarthy) who is always away on business and tells him he needs more "father time" with his son. Hank is summarily fired for giving advice outside his scope of practice. Both Hank and the father now have something to think about in relation to Tucker. Jim, a fisherman(remember the letter Hank read), who needs treatment for Hepatitis C, must reevaluate his thoughts about doctors and accept Hank's life-saving therapy. After meeting Tess, Evan contemplates his past and what direction his life needs to take. In the final scene, while eating Chinese food and watching a sunset, Jill and Hank share their thoughts about their pasts and contemplate the future.

Though not quite as good as the first episode, there was a lot here for the viewer to consider other than the many humorous one-liners and assortment of allusions. Laying the groundwork for a new series is never easy, but hopefully the writers will quickly build on a fairly sound foundation and develop the storyline in a timely manner.moreless

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Hank and Evan meet a ballerina that Evan is taken with. Hank discovers that the girl has a heart problem that must be dealt with. Jill's clinic may not get its funding and Hank starts helping out working with people that the system won't help.moreless

8.5

"Great"

By jyarter, Jun 12, 2009 Report Abuse

Pretty good follow up to the Pilot episode. The episode got off to a pretty good start with the Diabetic Realtor but hit some slow parts from that point on. I really enjoyed the demeanor Hank used with the Realtor and later with the fisherman when he insisted on helping them.

Jill's clinic is a sticky problem. The economy of the show is paralleling the current economy and people do stop giving to causes as one of their first cut backs. I find one thing to be true. People who have money tend to plead poor. Not that they can't be generous, but I have found that you begin to wonder when enough money is enough. Andrew McCarthy's cameo was short and sweet. I think we saw him for a minute at the most. His character seemed more concerned with not being bothered by a underling than worrying about the welfare of his son. Basically his attack on Hank was all about defending his obsession with whatever it is he does and he doesn't want to be bothered with his first and foremost responsibility, his son. McCarthy did a fine job with his characterization as you really hated his guts very quickly. Evan and the Ballerina was a fun distraction. It was a very entertaining piece of the show. I especially liked a few lines from the show this week. First Evan saying, Two women unconscious. Mother would be so proud." Then when Hank asks him if he'll be alright getting home Evan reply's, "If they haven't started to spike Artic Freeze's I'll be fine."

Hank and Jill's relationship is going swimmingly and we'll obviously be seeing more of that as time goes on. There is a nice feel to them together and the pace of the relationship seems to be realistic as well. Overall a fine episode with some very entertaining bits. Not quite as good as the Pilot but good enough to make it entertaining. Thanks for reading...moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- Original International Air Dates:
  United Kingdom: May 16, 2010 on Hallmark
  Germany: May 24, 2011 on RTL
  Czech Republic: January 24, 2012 on Universal Channel Edit
- The show's opening credits, title logo, and theme song ("Independence" by The Blue Van) are introduced for the first time in this episode. Edit
- The scenes at the hot dog stand were filmed at the Dairy Barn in Long Beach, NY. Dairy Barn is normally a drive-thru convenience store, and Long Beach is over 50 miles away from where the show is set. Edit
Quotes
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- Jill: Like Mr. Kliner. He was our biggest donor. He had plenty of money to throw a retirement party for a ballerina, but not enough to honor his pledge to the free clinic. And for the record, free clinics, they're not free. Big misnomer. They're expensive. Only you can't call them that or nobody would come. Edit
- Hank: (pulling out Tucker's sutures) Huh. The surgeon did nice work. Tucker: He was under a lot of pressure. Divya: Why? Was your father standing over him? Libby: No. I was. Tucker: Imagine being Mozart's piano tuner but then more stressful than that. Edit
- Hank: You wanna grab a bite to eat? Jill: I only have 30 minutes 'til my next meeting. Hank: We'll take big bites. Edit
Allusions
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- Bruce Springsteen: Among the memorabilia in Tucker's house is a pair of torn jeans. Jill asks if they were "really Springsteen's". She is referring to American rock icon and Grammy-award-winning artist Bruce Springsteen, whose hits include "Dancing in the Dark", "Born in the USA", and "Streets of Philadelphia". Edit
- Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld: While Evan hangs out with Tess on the white sands of East Hampton's Main Beach, he points out "Spielberg's pad", Martha Stewart's "modest little mansion", and "Seinfeld's summer place". Oscar-winning and Hollywood blockbuster filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan), lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, and actor-comedian Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld) all own homes at the Hamptons. Edit
- Lennon: Jill has lost funding for her free clinic. On touring a room in Tucker's house containing collectibles and memorabilia, she notices two guitars signed by Lennon. She points out to Hank that it's John and not Vladimir. This allusion is to distinguish the rock group Beatle's guitarist (John Lennon) from the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and founder of the Communist Party in Russia (Vladimir Lenin). Edit