This week's Private Practice brought a nice meaty part for Chris Lowell, who plays the part of surfer-dude-turned-receptionist-turned-midwife Dell Parker. If you haven't seen the episode yet and want to avoid spoilers, read no further!

When an explosion ripped through Dell's home, it landed his wife Heather and daughter Betsey in the hospital. The big reveal is that Heather had, in fact, NOT given up drugs -- as she'd led Dell to believe -- and was cooking up some meth in the kitchen with Betsey in the next room. While Betsey escaped mostly unscathed, the explosion caused severe burns on Heather's entire body.

At the hospital, Dell was seriously ticked at his wife, telling her nearly comatose body that, in essence, he hated her and hoped she would die. The other part of the equation is that Dell refused to let Betsey see her mother, wanting to shield her from the monster -- both figuratively and physically -- that her mother encompassed.

So what do you think? Should Dell have allowed Betsey to see her mother at the hospital? And was Pete right in wanting to force the issue?

Watch clips and episodes of Private Practice at SlashControl, and read my interview with Chris Lowell at AOL's InsideTV.

Although Chris Lowell says he's "no Zac Efron," we beg to differ. The boyish actor has co-starred with everyone from Kristen Bell (one of his best friends) in 'Veronica Mars' to George Clooney in 'Up in the Air.'

But you might know him best from his role as Dell Parker, the receptionist-turned-midwife on the hit ABC show 'Private Practice.' If you've been missing Dell from the show this season, never fear. He has an "explosive" episode coming up Thursday night, in which his wife and daughter land in the hospital after a fierce explosion in their home.

We caught up with Lowell, who after apologizing for his raspy voice and noting it's because he's ill and not sexy (again, we beg to differ), gave us the skinny on playing a surfer dude, being typecast as an assistant and working with George Clooney.

(S01E09) "He's fighting for her." - Dell about Sam

What could be the last Private Practice episode in a long while (this was the last episode completed before the writers' strike) finally gave Dell a good amount of screen time. However, it felt like it was too little too late.

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(S01E08) "If they talk about us, we should talk about them." - Sam to Pete and Cooper

I'm not sure I like the port Cooper found in his storm and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone thinking this (let your voice be heard in our poll). It's clear they are trying to make Charlotte more meaningful but for me, it's too little too late. The character was almost as poorly introduced and as useful as Nikki and Paulo were on Lost. Let's hope that the Private Practice writers know where they are going with this because it could ruin the show's best character: Cooper.
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(S01E06) "Don't wake the tiger." - Pete about Charlotte

And down the rabbit hole Charlotte went. (For those who didn't get the title twist, it refers to Alice in Wonderland in which Alice goes down a rabbit hole and ends up in a fantasy/dream world.) Per our poll in last week's review, out of the 306 people who voted by the time I typed this line only 1 said they liked Charlotte the best. I'm not sure that this somewhat Charlotte-centric Private Practice episode will have viewers relate more with the character.

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The Grey's Anatomy boards and blogs, and even some of our articles here at TV Squad, have been experiencing a surge in negative comments and posts. Those comments are directed at solely one thing: the potential spin-off featuring the character of Addison.

Why are fans so unhappy with the end result? Will fan comments have ABC not pick up Private Practice?

Let's analyze a few of the negative comments left by the TV Squad visitors in our "Grey's Anatomy vs. the spin-off -- Part 2" post.