Divya And Jeremiah: Get Into It

When you're talking about a USA Network drama, it's a bit of a risky proposition to try to choose which of a show's characters is the most interesting, because...kind of, it's none of them. The appeal of the network's hour-long shows -- other than that they tend to air in the summer, when there are fewer new scripted hour-longs to be had -- is that they're made up of an undifferentiated slurry of ingredients that's kind of the same the whole way through. Bland, but at the same time hearty. I guess what I'm saying is that USA Network dramas are like oatmeal, and I love them for it. (I also love oatmeal.) All that said, Divya has always stood out for me as the show's most compelling character, and with things about to get even more exciting for her, I am psyched.

Divya (Reshma Shetty) came to HankMed initially with A Secret. Actually, her employment at HankMed was the secret: her wealthy parents didn't know she was actually using her professional qualifications to do something so gauche as hold down a job as a physician's assistant. She also resisted her parents' wishes when it came to her marital plans, as she called off her arranged wedding Raj (Rupak Ginn), and accepted the consequences, if not exactly proudly then at least respectfully: she became estranged from her parents, and took a second job to make enough money to pay back Raj's parents for the expense of the wedding she scuttled. Then, with that obligation fulfilled, she had a major rebound in the form of a primarily sex-based fling with Rafa (Khotan), a South American polo player. Following an uncharacteristically impulsive marriage, she's quickie-divorced...and surprise-pregnant, an eventuality she never thought was even physically possible due to a childhood injury. But after the latest episode, she now knows that the pregnancy will be viable, that she wants the baby...and that Jeremiah (Ben Shenkman) is pretty interested in hearing all about it.

I admit that I have been in the tank for Jeremiah since his arrival on the show because I fucking love Ben Shenkman. On my old site, Fametracker (R.I.P.), I once wrote a Hey! It's That Guy! profile of him in which I referred to him as a "hot, sexy bitch," and he read it and emailed to say how flattered he was, which obviously means he is awesome and cool (although who doesn't like a compliment, even an objectifying one? No one, that's who). Like Divya, Jeremiah had a lot going for him, backstory-wise: a former researcher, he inherited crazy money from a former colleague, so he really just works for fun; and he's not that great at fun, situated, as he seems to be, on the autism spectrum.

As such, Jeremiah joins a mini-wave of characters with Asperger's or at least very obvious social impairment: there's also Connor (AJ Saudin) on Degrassi, and Hank (Ray Romano) on Parenthood. A bonus for Jeremiah is that the TV trend seems to favour these characters successfully developing romantic relationships with ladies, which has been Jeremiah's focus since last season -- even since before Divya took up with Rafa. He got very good at admiring the oblivious Divya from afar, telling anyone who raised the topic that he and Divya are just colleagues, and finally absenting himself from her life with a research trip to Iceland when he couldn't handle being around her wrong-guy-dating ass.

Fortunately, Jeremiah has returned from his trip with a new sense of purpose with regard to Divya, volunteering to accompany her on a business trip to Savannah. The sad part is that the trip comes at a time when Divya is so preoccupied with the pregnancy that she registers Jeremiah even less than usual. But when she opens up to him about it -- seemingly because he happened to be in her presence at the moment she was ready to unburden herself -- he had the exact right response: "Tell me everything." That's what all broads want to hear anyway, am I right, guys? Just kidding. (It kind of is, though.)

Anyway, I don't know if Jeremiah's Icelandic jaunt was secretly an intensive course in being a smooth motherfucker, because that's kind of the vibe he's giving off now. He made friends with the nice baseball player and bonded over Jeremiah's dad's disappointment that his son wasn't more sporty. He managed to say "I love you" to Divya, and that she wasn't in the room at the time to hear it only means it counts as half a declaration. When she was at her most vulnerable, he showed her what a great listener he could be, without evincing any bullshit worry that she was going to friendzone him or something equally moronic. And, most importantly, he shaved his beard.

Having watched TV before, I know there are still any number of ways this could fall apart without these two getting together. But I really hope they do, because they're both adorable, they should raise her gorgeous baby together, and TV owes me.