Private Practice: 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Relationships

Private Practice ran for a respectable six seasons, and it followed the life of Addison Montgomery as she moved from Seattle to LA. With her new move, came a whole host of fresh faces who seemed wildly different to the doctors from Grey’s Anatomy, in that they waited until they had exited the elevator to begin a romantic relationship.

Over the course of Private Practice, many couples got together and split up, and some even stayed together for the long haul. There were, of course, a few couples who fans absolutely adored, but on the other hand, there were some relationships which just didn’t work out.

10 Best – Addison Montgomery And Jake Reilly

Addison and Jake met fairly late on in the series, with the latter only making his Private Practice debut in the last few episodes of the fourth season. He asked Addison to come to Fiji with him, and she accepted but later stood him up.

Obviously, that wasn’t a great start, but Jake acted pretty cool about the whole thing and even helped Addison to try and get pregnant. The two soon developed real feelings for each other and they finally tied the knot in the series finale.

9 Worst – Dell And Heather Parker

Dell and Heather had begun their relationship before the show began, and it clearly hadn’t gone well. While viewers never got to hear the whole story, the gist was that Dell and Heather had a daughter at a young age, and then Heather became a drug addict.

The young couple never really had a happy moment together. They got married, which everyone knew was a big mistake, as not long after, Heather relapsed and severely injured their daughter when she blew up their house while cooking meth.

8 Best – Amelia Shepherd And James Peterson

Amelia and James first met when the former was feeling particularly vulnerable and not really up for seeing anyone. In the previous season, Amelia had relapsed, witnessed the death of her fiancé, and dealt with the fact that her baby had no brain.

In short, it was a pretty rough year for the youngest Shepherd sibling. After all that, Amelia really needed some fun in her life, and James was the one who gave it to her. Although their relationship eventually ended on Grey’s Anatomy, these two were pretty adorable.

7 Worst – Naomi Bennett And Gabriel Fife

Gabriel Fife was an immensely dislikable character. From the moment he was introduced, he automatically assumed that he was the smartest person in the room. When he asked the other doctors for help and they refused, he literally bullied them into coming round.

He would insinuate that they were scared and then bait them until they snapped or gave in. His approach to wooing Naomi was not much different. After he asked her out and she declined, he remained persistent, which in this day and age is just creepy.

6 Best – Sheldon Wallace And Violet Turner

Although theirs was a very short relationship, Violet and Sheldon were actually pretty good together. Violet was trying to get her life back on track when she met Sheldon, the new psychiatrist who had recently been hired by Charlotte King.

The two started off fairly awkwardly, but their friendship eventually turned into a romantic attraction. They did sleep together, and enjoyed each other’s company but, unfortunately, it never really evolved from that point, and then Violet became pregnant.

5 Worst – Amelia Shepherd And Ryan Kerrigan

Amelia and Ryan clearly loved each other very much, but they definitely were not good together. They were both drug addicts, and their relationship essentially encouraged that addiction.

One of the tensest moments of their relationship was when the rest of the Oceanside Wellness Group held a terribly stressful intervention for Amelia. Ryan walked in halfway through, just as Addison realized that Amelia had given him her father’s watch. Amelia lost it then, and Ryan took her home. Later that night, Ryan sadly overdosed and died in bed next to Amelia.

4 Best – Sam And Naomi Bennett

Although these two had some very major ups and downs over the series, they were able to do what most exes can’t, and remain cordial after they split up. Of course, they did have some tremendous arguments but they always managed to reconcile after.

Most of their biggest challenges actually happened while they were separated. They had to deal with their daughter getting pregnant and with Sam dating Naomi’s best friend, Addison. However, they always found their way back to each other, as demonstrated by the series finale.

3 Worst – Addison Montgomery And Sam Bennett

Addison and Sam, while great characters in their own right, just never seemed to click whenever they were together. Their first kiss even deliberately lacked chemistry. To be fair, though, it seemed that their relationship was doomed from the very start.

Addison was reluctant to date Sam, as he was her best friend’s ex-husband. However, they went ahead anyway, severely hurting Naomi in the process. Sam and Addison were just too different; Addison wanted kids, whereas Sam just wanted Addison, on her own.

2 Best – Cooper Freedman And Charlotte King

Yes, their break up during Season 3 of Private Practice was by no means pretty (and really painted Cooper in an uncharacteristically cruel and sadistic light), but apart from that, their relationship throughout the series was nothing short of inspirational.

The way they met too, was just so unexpected, it was almost iconic. However, after acting as friends with benefits for a while, the two realized that they actually loved each other. They got married, took in Cooper’s son, and even had triplets in the final season.

1 Worst – Pete Wilder And Violet Turner

At first, Pete and Violet appeared to be a great match for each other. Pete helped to curb Violet’s overactive tendencies, and in return, Violet helped Pete to become gradually less cynical and angry. Unfortunately, Pete then had a heart attack in the Season 4 finale.

Although he survived, this near-death experience was essentially the death toll for their relationship. Throughout Season 5, they constantly argued with each other, and there was never a nice moment between them. Their animosity remained unresolved after Pete died offscreen.

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