3.15: X-treme Trope-icals
The Many Tropes of Dr. Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery (Shepherd)
Femme Fatale
The morally ambiguous Femme Fatale is the typical client in a hardboiled detective story. You know the type. Dressed all in black with legs up to here, she's stunningly beautiful and alluring, and she knows it. Made famous by Film Noir and hard-boiled detective stories, the Femme Fatale manipulates and confuses the hero with her undeniable aura of sexiness and danger. He knows that she's walking trouble and knows much more about the bad guys than she should, but damn it if he can't resist her feminine wiles.
DEREK: Meredith, I'm so sorry. … Addison, what are you doing here?
ADDISON: You would know if you had bothered to return any one of my phone calls. (Turns to Meredith) I'm Addison Shepherd.
MEREDITH: Shepherd ...?
ADDISON: And you must be the women who’s screwing my husband.
This trope is my favorite, because this is so Addison. Okay, probably for only the first two or three episodes she was in, but still. Her entrance - when she comes marching up, all dressed in black and all perfect and beautiful and basically turned Meredith Grey’s life upside down - just sheer perfection. And then Derek picks her. Because she’s Addison and she’s awesome.
Law of Inverse Fertility
The fertility of a couple is inversely proportional to their desire to have a child.
NAOMI: Addison, I'm sorry. I did all the tests. There is no fertility potential here.
ADDISON: Ahh. Okay, this is good. This is, um, this is just ... perfect.
NAOMI: Addison …
ADDISON: I have a great guy, I don't have a baby, because I'm focusing on my career. Then I have the other guy and I don't have his baby because he's not the great guy. And now I don't have the great guy or the other guy and I'm finally ready to have a baby but I can't. That is so ... exactly what my life is.
NAOMI: Addie, there are other options.
ADDISON: Yeah, I know about the options.
NAOMI: I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted this.
ADDISON: It's okay. I just, um ... I just didn't realize that I was out of time.
From my favorite trope to the saddest. Oh, poor Addie. We find out in Grey’s Season 3 that she actually did get pregnant - when she was having an affair with Mark - so she had an abortion because she wanted Derek (and Derek’s baby). So when she finally decides she wants a baby of her own, she finds out she’s pretty much infertile. Fast-forward five seasons of Private Practice, and it gets worse. Now, she reallllllly wants a baby. But IVF treatments, a failed adoption and some crazy surrogate interviews later, she is still no closer to having her own baby than she was way back when. Of course, a million other people seem to have gotten babies in the meantime, not to mention all the babies she has to care for and deliver on a daily basis, but nope. No babies for Addison. I hate you, Shonda.
Love Triangles
A and B are both in love with C, who is torn between the two and must make a choice.
DEREK: Addison kissed me. Meredith kissed me. My girlfriend and my wife kissed me on the same day.
Poor Addie. She was the odd-woman out in a love triangle for an entire season, as her husband pined over another woman but kept her around anyway. Technically, the love triangle may be coming back again in this new season of Private Practice, but this time with Addison as the center. Jake wants her, Sam wants her (or at least wants to have sex with her) and there is no telling how that will go (though there is telling how I want it to go).
Your Cheating Heart
Two-timing, playing away from home, having a bit on the side, going behind your partner's back, adultery, infidelity... There are a lot of names for cheating on your partner, but most of them have the same outcome: a world of hurt.
ADDISON: You're right. I'm a cheater, and a husband stealer, and on top of all that I'm barren. So, good times.
Oh, Addison. She has some issues when it comes to cheating (okay, she has a lot of issues when it comes to cheating). During her first full episode on Grey’s, we find out she cheated on Derek with Mark. She doesn’t actually cheat on anyone else in terms of actually having sex with them, but there are a lot of times that come close: She almost had an affair with Noah, who was married. She kissed Wyatt when she was dating Kevin. She kissed Sam when she was with Pete. Heck, even in the AU episode, she’s a cheater. (Of course, none of this takes into account the fact that Mark cheated on her, Derek cheated on her and Sam kissed someone else when he was with her.)
Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places
The character indulges in an endless series of one-night stands and impulsive sexual encounters. Consciously or unconsciously they use such promiscuous behavior as a substitute for a lack of parental love and affection (either actual or perceived).
ADDISON: Oh my god.
JAKE: It’s okay.
ADDISON: Oh my god.
JAKE: It’s okay.
ADDISON: Did I ask you for sex and then cry?
Haha. This trope really is Addison. Sex is her way of masking the pain. Derek ignores her, she sleeps with Mark. Derek cheats on her, she sleeps with Mark again. She lusts after Alex and sleeps with him. She moves to L.A. and has a series of men she lusts after - Kevin, Wyatt, Noah, Pete, Sam and now Jake. She also sleeps with Mark in there again when he comes to visit. She hasn’t slept with Jake, but she tried to because she was upset. Just like the first time she tried to sleep with Sam was when she was upset over her mother’s revelation that she was a lesbian. Which brings me to the next part of the trope - Addison was definitely the poor little rich girl. Her parents pretty much didn’t want her (her mother never ever even told her she loved her. Ever), so to say she’s overcompensating for that is probably an understatement.
Fiery Redhead
A Fiery Redhead is a red-haired character who is strong, passionate, outgoing, usually outspoken, and almost always female. She has a big personality and she's not afraid to use it. Whatever you do, don't get on her bad side, or there will be hell to pay.
ALEX: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
ADDISON: "Dr. Karev, you did such a good job today that I'm going to talk to Dr. Bailey and have you assigned to my service."
ALEX: "What? For how long?"
ADDISON: "For as long as I want. Your ass is mine until I say otherwise. Congratulations."
This trope reminds me of the good ol’ days. But really, bitchy!Addison is sometimes still there. Just not as much as she used to be. But back in Season 2 of Grey’s when everyone hated her, she dealt with it by being awesome. Alex tried to mess with her, and she messed with him right back. She was tough and strong and no-nonsense when it came to work. Even now, when Addison sets her mind on something, she goes after it, no matter what anyone else thinks. Especially when it comes to work and her patients. She will fight tooth-and-nail for what she thinks is right. Even if she’s wrong, she does not give up, and she does not back down.
______________________________________
1,007 words (not counting definitions)
24 photos
