The Hamptons Were Never The Same: The 5 Best 'Royal Pains' Episodes

“Royal Pains” aired its series finale in July 2016, but some fans are discovering or re-discovering the USA Network medical comedy-drama today on Peacock. 

For those still unfamiliar, the series follows Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), an ER doctor who finds himself fired and disgraced after he chose to save a teenager instead of a rich hospital benefactor. (For the record, he tried to save both.)

Those events send him into a tailspin that culminates in him getting dumped by his fiancée. To cheer him up, his brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo) takes him to the Hamptons where Hank inadvertently makes a name for himself as a talented physician. He decides to spend the summer in the Hamptons working as a concierge doctor to the rich and the less fortunate alike. 

Eight seasons later, the team at HankMed grew and went on countless adventures, helped many patients, and became a terrific little family that fans were sad to say goodbye to. 

While it may be difficult to lock down any one person’s favorite episode, below are five that fans have rated among the highest in the series' 104 episodes.

"Dancing With The Devil" 

Hank and the team, including Jeremiah Sacani (Ben Shenkman) and Divya Katdare (Reshma Shetty), team up to treat a pop star who has a mysterious illness that none of them can immediately diagnose. After some digging, they learn that her southern roots and brand of tobacco may be at fault. 

Elsewhere in the episode Hank and Harper (Kat Foster) are forced to work together after he figures out that she happens to be one of the top pediatric doctors in the Hamptons. Meanwhile, Divya starts to fall for a professional polo player after a charming interaction. 

"Doubt Of Africa"

This marks the 100th episode of the series and sees Hank work in an honest-to-goodness emergency room for the first time in years. At first, he gets a few softball cases. However, things get kicked into high gear when Jill Casey (Jill Flint) arrives with a doctor who has been working in Sierra Leone presenting with strep throat symptoms. Because the Ebola virus is prevalent in that area, the hospital is forced to put them and anyone he came into contact with in quarantine. 

Hank isn’t convinced it’s necessary and goes to bold lengths to prove that they’re not dealing with an Ebola outbreak, even as the man’s symptoms begin to worsen. 

"Hammertime"

Most of the time, “Royal Pains” was a show that was lighthearted and tackled the lighter side of the Hamptons medical drama. However,  Season 5 included a murder storyline that brought all the characters to a pretty serious place. The episode “Hammertime” sees the gang accompany the suspect to an auction at Shadow Pond. While there, they do some diagnosing as well as some amateur sleuthing that ultimately uncovers the culprit and brings them to justice. 

Meanwhile, audiences see the impact that Hank’s recent brain injury has taken on him as he struggles to get back to being the brilliant mind he once was. 

"Lawson Translation"

This episode takes many members of the gang out of the Hamptons for a change, offering fans a look at how they interact in a new setting. 

Jeremiah and Divya head to Savannah, Georgia to evaluate a company that’s interested in merging its practice with HankMed. However, they need to get a better look at how they do things to ensure that they’re not selling their souls to the devil. 

Speaking of the devil, Hank takes a trip to Europe to further investigate the murder of Boris (Campbell Scott) only to learn that everything is not at all as it seems. 

"The Hankover"

As the gang starts celebrations early ahead of Divya’s wedding, the episode picks up the morning after one of the best parties the Hamptons have ever seen. However, because it was such a good party, no one really remembers what happened. 

Unfortunately, they have to figure it out quickly when Evan notices that he may have accidentally done something tremendously bad to Divya’s fiancé overnight. The episode focuses on everyone scrambling to put the pieces together and find out just how awful their situation is.