The fifth season of Private Practice premiered on September 29, 2011. It was announced on February 9, 2011, that Audra McDonald, who plays the character Naomi Bennett, will not return as a regular cast member in the fifth season, however she may return as a guest star or a recurring character.

Following the departure of Audra McDonald, it was announced on March 20, 2011, that actor Benjamin Bratt will be added to the series as a regular cast member for the fifth season. The details of his character were released on August 7, as he is set to play Jake Reilly, an accomplished fertility specialist that is knowledgeable in cutting-edge technology and procedures.

Later in the season, Cooper Freedman was revealed to have had an 8-year-old son from a previous one-night stand. Son Mason is portrayed by child actor Griffin Gluck. While Gluck initially served as a guest star, he was promoted to series regular later on in the season. Gluck is notable for being the first child to be a series regular in Private Practice or in the original series Grey's Anatomy.

Cast

Casting Following the renewal of Private Practice, it was announced that Benjamin Bratt would be returning to the show as a series regular, and his character was reviewed to be named, Jake Reilly. It was also announced that Audra McDonald would not be returning as a series regular, but instead could possible return as a recurring cast member. The remaining regular cast including, Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Paul Adelstein, KaDee Strickland, Brian Benben, Caterina Scorsone, Taye Diggs, and Amy Brenneman all returned in their roles as series regulars. In September 2011, it was announced that My So Called Life actress, A.J. Langer, was cast as Erica Warner, a recurring role as a woman who shows up in Cooper's life proclaiming they have an eight-year-old son together. It was later announced that Griffin Gluck was cast as Mason Warner, the son that Cooper and Erica share together. Later in the season, Griffin was billed as a series regular, while A.J. stayed as a recurring character as her character died. In November 2011, it was announced that Stephen Amell had been cast as Scott Becker, a paramedic that was also a potential love interest for Violet, seeing as Violet and Pete decided to split up after Pete's heart attack.

In November 2011, Wes Brown had a recurring role as Ryan Kerrigan, a drug addict and a potential love interest for Amelia, but his character eventually dies pursuing Amelia to go to rehab. In November 2011, it was announced that, Jessie star, Debby Ryan would be making a special guest appearance, as Hailey, a girl that Amelia meets while she is going through rehab for drug addiction. In January 2012, it was announced that Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy would be having another crossover, and Patrick Dempsey and Chyler Leigh would be making a special guest appearance in an episode in an effort to save Erica's life. In February 2012, it was announced that Anika Noni Rose had been cast in a recurring role as Corinne Bennett, who would play Sam's sister who drops in town for a visit.

Development On January 10, 2011, ABC renewed Private Practice for a fifth season. The fifth season premiered on September 29, 2011.

A plot device this season sees most episodes begin with Addison at a therapist's office introducing the episode while most but not all end with a redux of the plot device although Kate Walsh does not narrate the actual episodes. In the beginning of the season a major part of the story-line is Amelia's drug addiction, and how all of the doctors work to try to save her. Another story-line in the beginning of the season is the practice going under, and trying to save it and Violet trying to get her medical license back. A major story-line that has been in place since the fourth season, is Addison trying to have a baby with IVF treatments, but after the IVF treatments fail and she no longer has any eggs left, she decides to adopt a baby, eventually adopting a baby named Henry, who she delivered the very same day she was called about adopting him. A plot that took place for the entire season, is Cooper finding out that he has a son and that the mother, Erica Warner, has an inoperable brain tumor, and how Cooper and Charlotte must deal with the death of Erica and how it affects Mason. Through the middle of the season, Pete and Violet decide that they should go through separation; Violet tries to move on with a relationship with Scott, a paramedic she met, but the relationship eventually ends when Scott ends it and Violet decides to try to work things out with Pete. The addition of a new character, Jake Reilly, opened up the story-line of Addison trying to figure out if she wants to pursue a relationship with Sam or with Jake. After Amelias' drug addiction story-line, it's found out that Amelia is pregnant, and she has to deal with finding out that her baby (who was conceived while Amelia was actively using drugs) was developing without a brain and would not survive; she decides to carry it to term to donate the organs. Amelia also dealt with her anger at Addison while having Jake be her doctor.

Cast and characters

Main cast Kate Walsh as Addison Montgomery Tim Daly as Pete Wilder Benjamin Bratt as Jake Reilly Paul Adelstein as Cooper Freedman KaDee Strickland as Charlotte King Brian Benben as Sheldon Wallace Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd Griffin Gluck as Mason Warner Taye Diggs as Sam Bennett Amy Brenneman as Violet Turner

Recurring cast A.J. Langer as Erica Warner Stephen Amell as Scott Becker Anika Noni Rose as Corinne Bennett Scott Alan Smith as Addison's Therapist Jack Bobo and Joey Bobo as Lucas Wilder Aloma Wright as Mildred Clemons Emily Rios as Angela Reilly Betsy Brandt as Joanna Gibbs Michael B. Silver as David Gibbs Wes Brown as Ryan Kerrigan Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Michelle Blue Deckert as Joe Price Myk Watford as Billy Douglas Emily Moss Wilson as Judi Billy John Malone as Hendricks

Special guest stars Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd Chyler Leigh as Lexie Grey

Guest stars Patrick Fabian as Robert Weston Debby Ryan as Hailey

Episodes

Ratings

Live ratings No. inSeries No. inSeason Episode Air Date Timeslot (EST) Rating/Share (18–49) Viewers (m) Weekly Rank (m) 77 1 "God Laughs" September 29, 2011 Thursdays10:00 p.m. 2.8/8 7.79 TBA 78 2 "Breaking the Rules" October 6, 2011 2.1/5 6.06 TBA 79 3 "Deal With It" October 13, 2011 2.3/6 6.51 TBA 80 4 "Remember Me" October 20, 2011 2.3/6 6.38 TBA 81 5 "Step One" October 27, 2011 2.4/6 6.59 TBA 82 6 "If I Hadn't Forgotten..." November 3, 2011 2.6/7 6.56 TBA 83 7 "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" November 10, 2011 2.8/7 7.51 TBA 84 8 "Who We Are" November 17, 2011 2.6/7 7.23 TBA 85 9 "The Breaking Point" November 17, 2011 2.6/7 7.23 TBA 86 10 "Are You My Mother?" January 5, 2012 2.7/7 7.71 TBA 87 11 "The Standing Eight Count" January 12, 2012 2.3/6 6.55 TBA 88 12"Losing Battles"January 19, 2012 2.1/5 6.00 TBA 89 13"The Time Has Come"February 2, 2012 2.3/6 6.55 TBA 90 14"Too Much"February 9, 2012 2.2/6 6.52 TBA 91 15"You Break My Heart"February 16, 2012 2.6/7 7.08 TBA 92 16"Andromeda"February 23, 2012 2.1/6 6.32 TBA 93 17"The Letting Go"March 15, 2012 2.1/6 6.85 TBA 94 18"It Was Inevitable"April 17, 2012 Tuesdays10:00 p.m. 1.7/5 6.53 TBA 95 19"And Then There Was One"April 24, 2012 2.2/6 8.13 #22 96 20"True Colors"May 1, 2012 2.1/6 7.38 TBA 97 21"Drifting Back"May 8, 2012 1.4/4 5.77 TBA 98 22"Gone, Baby, Gone"May 15, 2012 1.8/5 6.81 TBA

DVD release

Private Practice: The Complete Fifth Season Set Details Special Features 22 Episodes 5-Disc Set English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround) Audio CommentariesThe Practice Of Parenthood- Filmmakers and cast discuss the addition of children to the series this season, the different kinds of family the show explores, and how being a parent affects the cast, both as actors and in their person lives. Deleted Scenes Bloopers Release Dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4

References