Another Summer's Over, Guys

I'm the first to admit that Royal Pains is hardly appointment TV -- and did admit it, in an Extra Hot Great Mini about the most off-the-radar shows we'd watched every episode of. There's really...nothing to your average episode of Royal Pains: a couple of patients with weird symptoms that end with "you're going to be fine"; some mildly salty banter between the Lawson brothers; three or four statement necklaces. But its oatmealiness is exactly what I love about it.

TV producers know that buzz is practically more important than good ratings these days, which I imagine is part of why the arms race of edginess has led to the rise of Bonkers TV. But in this respect, Royal Pains is like a show out of time: even when something bad happens to one of its characters -- like Hank's drug abuse plotline last season -- it's fixed with a minimum of fallout and everyone stays on good terms. (Hank couldn't even be on drugs just because they're fun: he had some kind of brain thing, but, like all patients on this show, he's fine.) This is TV comfort food, and I'm always happy when summer returns and I can dig in again.

If anything, Season 6 seems like a sunny correction for some of the dark stuff that went down in Season 5. Paige and Evan are having problems and there's even a legal issue with their marriage? No problem: they'll just go into therapy with the incredibly nurturing Bob and be fine. Turns out Bob doesn't actually have any real credentials? No problem: he's still a good guy who helped them, and if he wants to keep seeing patients, nbd. (In fact, Jeremiah's seeking treatment from Bob even knowing he's in a legal grey zone is proof of how much growth the normally very correct Jeremiah has had even since we met him.) Hank's new girlfriend seems perfect in every way except that she's blind? No problem: she'll just get surgery to recover her sight and be fine. Boris is publicly acting out all over Europe in a way that makes it seem like his disease is progressing in worrisome neurological ways? Nah, he's faking it to trick his enemies; he's fine.

The biggest departure from the winning Royal Pains formula was the addition of Emma, the daughter Eddie never knew he had. After her textbook "con artist stranger danger" intro, producers seemed like they couldn't make up their minds on how sketchy she should actually be: she'll take bribe money to get to know her estranged father, sell compromising photos to a local gossip site, steal a prescription pad...but if her brothers can forgive her opportunism we should too, I guess? (The explanation of the prescription pad -- it was bait to draw the mysterious Oz out of hiding -- even leads to yet another happy outcome: Oz is just a lonely rich girl who created the site to impress her mostly absent mother, and who could be mad about that?) Did her revenge pic of a rich dick almost get Hank sued? Yes. But then Hank saved said dick with his doctoring and the case gets dropped. Dick AND doc: both fine. And Emma's shame at the mistakes she made in the Hamptons -- mistakes that all turned out fine in the end -- sends her into her father's loving arms, which is great for their relationship and even better for the show. Scrappy Doo shouldn't feel like she needs to visit Long Island much from now on; she can exist entirely offscreen and only in mentions, just like Mrs. Boris and Boris Jr.

The finale leaves us with a couple of potentially nettlesome plots to be dealt with if the show returns (which seems inevitable): Divya's custody fight, and the resurgence of Boris's disease. But given that it's Royal Pains and not ER, I feel like I know how things will go: a face-to-face meeting with Divya will convince Rafa that his mother is nuts, and Hank will find a miracle cure for Boris's newest symptom -- all under sunny skies that still somehow manage not to make anyone sweat. Sad though I am to see another summer ushered out with a Royal Pains season finale, I'm comforted to know that if we meet back up with all these characters, they'll all be fine.