Meanwhile, Jenna's life takes an interesting turn when she meets her new doctor, Doctor Pomatter (Nathan Fillion):
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, wow, you brought me a pie. How nice. You know what? I've only been here a few weeks, but already I am genuinely impressed with the hospitality of this place.
Jenna: You're not my doctor. Lily Mueller is my doctor. This pie is for her. It's Marshmallow Mermaid, her favorite.
Jenna: But Dr. Mueller delivered me. I mean, she's been my doctor forever. I really liked and trusted her.
Dr. Pomatter: Maybe you could really like and trust me, too?
Jenna: I've never even seen you before.
Dr. Pomatter: Yeah, I just got hired. Long story, making it short, this is still Dr. Mueller's practice, I'm the junior doctor on staff. Um, just moved here from Connecticut two weeks ago. Dr. Mueller had a class over the summer and I was a student of hers, and is this story boring you?
Jenna: No...yes.
Dr. Pomatter: Sorry, anyway, it's nice to meet you.
Jenna: What's your name again?
Dr. Pomatter: I'm Dr. Jim Pomatter.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: And you are?
Jenna: Jenna Hunterson.
Dr. Pomatter: It is nice to meet you. So...What seems to be the problem?
Jenna: Well, I seem to be pregnant.
Dr. Pomatter: Good. Good for you. Congratulations.
Jenna: Thanks, but I don't want this baby.
Dr. Pomatter: Oh, well, we don't perform...uh...
Jenna: No, I'm keeping it, I'm just telling you I'm not so happy about it, like everybody else might be. So maybe you can be sensitive and not congratulate me and make a big deal every time you see me. I'm having the baby, and that's that. It's not a party, though.
Dr. Pomatter: Got it, okay, not a party.
At first their relationship is purely doctor-patient platonic. Both of them are married, and she is pregnant. But when Jenna has some spotting, he has her come in to the office early, only to tell her that spotting is normal without even needing to examine her:
Jenna: Why'd you have me come all the way in here if spotting's a perfectly normal symptom in early pregnancy? I mean, I had to get up early, take a bus, walk five blocks, just to hear that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: I have no response to that.
Jenna: And what time does this office normally open, Doctor, 8:30?
Dr. Pomatter: 9:00.
Jenna: 9:00? So-So you came in here two hours early just to tell me that spotting is a perfectly normal symptom?
Dr. Pomatter: Well, it would seem that way, yes.
Jenna: Good-bye, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Good-bye, Jenna.
Jenna: I think you're strange. I'm not sure I want you to be my doctor anymore. You make me uncomfortable.
Dr. Pomatter: I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm really sorry. Whatever it is I do, I will not do it anymore. You should not be uncomfortable at this time.
Jenna: You're doing it again.
Dr. Pomatter: How? What did I?
Jenna: I don't know, you know, that nice-guy-talky thing you do. You just...Oh, forget it. [Leaves his office] Damn! My purse!
Dr. Pomatter: You forgot your pur-
As Doctor Pomatter walks out to return her purse, she grabs him and begins kissing him passionately, and he reciprocates. He wants to see her again, away from the office, but she initially refuses:
Dr. Pomatter: I want to talk to you, somewhere outside of here. Maybe we can have a coffee or something?
Jenna: I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?
They don't see each other again until she shows up for her next regular appointment. She doesn't mention the kiss, and acts distant towards him at first:
Dr. Pomatter: So I guess we are officially forgetting about that nonsense that happened last month?
Jenna: Yes, we officially are.
Dr. Pomatter: I want to apologize for it. I almost called you just to apologize. I mean, I was so stressed out at the time, taking on all those new patients. I hadn't been sleeping well. My judgment was not what it normally is. I want you to know that'll never happen again. From now on our relationship will be strictly a medical and professional one.
Without further ado, Jenna begins kissing him again. Later in his office, they finally stop fighting the chemistry between them, and agree to start seeing each other:
Dr. Pomatter: Don't do that again.
Jenna: Okay, what? Okay, I won't. Kiss you, you mean?
Dr. Pomatter: No, not that. I didn't mean that. I mean don't go away for a full month and not call...
Jenna: This is craziness, Dr. Pomatter.
Dr. Pomatter: Please, call me Jim.
Jenna: No, I won't.
Dr. Pomatter: Okay, don't. Just Dr. Pomatter's fine.
Jenna: Dr. Pomatter, this is so...
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to have another conversation about how crazy this is or how sorry I am, or how bad my judgment is, or how I'll never touch you again. Not only would I be lying, but every time I start saying those things, all that happens is you attack me.
Jenna: You're right.
Dr. Pomatter: Have you been taking your prenatal vitamins every day?
Jenna: Faithfully.
Dr. Pomatter: Any bad morning sickness?
Jenna: Not too bad, no.
Dr. Pomatter: No more spotting?
Jenna: No more spotting.
Dr. Pomatter: Good, I'm going to want to see you again on Friday for another appointment. Do you have time in the afternoon? Do you get a lunch break?
Jenna: Yeah, but I'll have to ask Becky to drive me.
Dr. Pomatter: Ask Becky to drive you. Noon. Tell the nurse at the desk on your way out that you want to be fit in. I have to go to St. Mary's now and deliver a baby. Because that's what I do.
Jenna: Okay.
Dr. Pomatter: Are we on the same page now?
Jenna: We're on the same page. Dr. Pomatter: Good, then. I wish it were Friday.
He makes his exit looking so funny with his oh-so-serious expression (Nathan Fillion is so great), and Jenna has a stunned expression on her face, like she can't believe what's just happened. She walks out of the office and to the bus stop with this same look of bewilderment. Then, as she waits for the bus, she begins to smile an enormous, gleeful smile, which stays on her face all the way to work and into her shift at the restaurant. Old Joe, the crabby, gruff old owner of the restaurant (who only Jenna is willing to wait on) notices her face, and her smudged makeup, and makes the connection, though she denies it. She has a soft spot for Joe, and he for her.
Jenna and Dr. Pommater continue to meet frequently at the office for their rendezvous. At one point she shows up to find him out of town, and her former doctor, Dr. Mueller, is filling in. Jenna had brought a pie, and Dr. Mueller asks if it's for her. Jenna answers with a guilty pout, "Kind of. It's just something I invented. "Naughty Pumpkin Pie," and hands the pie over reluctantly. She eventually tries to break off the relationship, feeling guilty that they are both having affairs, but is very unhappy without him. Things are as bad as ever at home, her dreams of the pie contest are long since crushed, and the birth of her baby is looming. One day when she is at home alone, Dr. Pomatter shows up at her door, finding her very depressed:
Jenna: What are you doing here?Dr. Pomatter: I took the whole day off. I don't know. I wanted to see you. You look awful.
Jenna: Thanks.
Dr. Pomatter: I mean, you look sad. You look really sad.
Jenna: It's taken you a long time to notice this, but, uh, I'm not a happy woman, Dr. Pomatter. And I don't want you to save me.
Dr. Pomatter: I don't want to save you.
Jenna: Don't want to be saved.
And he takes her in is arms and holds her. In a letter she is writing to her unborn baby, Jenna says, "Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness to it." They spend the day together, her teaching him to make a pie, the two of them talking. Dr. Pommater tells her, "You make me feel calm. You make me feel peaceful. I don't feel that much. I tend to be neurotic. And you're so beautiful...And I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes." Jenna simply responds, "Wow," overwhelmed by his words. Jenna writes in the letter, "Somewhere in the space between the pie baking and Earl eating it later that night, began the most intimate conversation of my life. About my mama, about how much she loved me, how sad she'd be to see my life turned out like this. About Earl and how he changed after we married, became someone I feared. About how lonely it is to be a woman so poor and so afraid. And then I was addicted, baby. I was addicted to saying things and having them matter to someone."
No comments:
Post a Comment