Private Practice: Shonda Rhimes Opens Up About the Premiere’s Big Death

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How many of you were expecting Private Practice to resolve Tim Daly’s departure from the series by killing off his character, Dr. Peter Wilder? Considering his character was merely expected to stand on trial in a courtroom, his death came as quite a shock. I’m sure most fans thought he would ride off into the sunset, or at the very least be sent to jail. But as executive producer Shonda Rhimes kindly pointed out, this is a medical drama – the stakes are life and death. When you look at things from that perspective, death is always an option. Peter’s fatal heart attack was just another example of how sometimes life doesn’t play out the way you think it will.

But that’s not all Rhimes had to say. Speaking with TV Guide, she broke down where the show will go from here in terms of how Peter’s death will ripple through the characters he left behind, specifically his wife – now widow – Violet (Amy Brenneman). She’ll be spending the next little while trying to cope with Peter’s absence, particularly in an upcoming episode involving karaoke, and there will be something resembling a funeral for Peter, to commemorate his passing.

When you factor in Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes has killed a lot of people between the two shows. Does she like killing? Perhaps. She certainly doesn’t regret any of the deaths in her shows. Well, except for Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Bomb Squad Buy (Kyle Chandler), but that has more to do with enjoying the actors playing the characters.

She freely admits Daly’s departure was purely budgetary and she is sure he would’ve loved to continue with the series if he could. And why wasn’t he brought back to act out his death? Rhimes tells us it’s because, when Peter fails to show up to court, she wanted the feeling of him missing and the assumptions the other characters might have for why he is absent. A pretty good explanation, if I do say so.

You can also check out Rhimes’ recent thoughts on Kate Walsh leaving Private Practice after this season.