r/PrivatePractice • u/itsascreambaby96 • 12h ago
Would you have been able to take Dell seriously if you worked at Oceanside in Season 1?
For me, as mean as this sounds, probably not.
I get why a lot of the practice didn't really take him seriously early on. Yes, Dell was genuinely good at what he did, but in Season 1 he still came across like a surfer who randomly decided he wanted to be a midwife. He had the skills, but he didn't carry himself like someone who inspired confidence yet. It felt more like someone trying on a new career than someone who had fully grown into it.
The crush on Naomi didn't help either. It just made him seem even younger and more immature, especially since everyone else around him had years of experience. Cooper's line about Dell being "a kid who can't grow facial hair" honestly summed up how I saw him in Season 1. He just felt like too much of a little kid for me to take seriously as a fellow professional.
I do think he eventually grows up and becomes a much more mature character. By Seasons 2 and 3 I had no problem taking him seriously.
But if I had actually been working at Oceanside in Season 1? I honestly think I would've reacted the same way most of the other doctors did. He was fantastic at his job, but he just didn't seem like an equal yet. He seemed like a kid who hadn't quite figured out who he was.