Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew - Baldwin Quits

Episodes 1 - 3
The story lines were pretty much the same. We met the celebrities and learned why they were there. The strongest narrative came from Jeff Conaway, who suffered greatly during his first few days of withdrawal. Everyone at the rehab facility seemed very concerned for him and behaved very supportively. Daniel Baldwin was the most supportive. After Conaway returned from the hospital, Daniel Baldwin called Conaway out for having drugs in his pants pocket. Daniel found this a threat to his sobriety. He upset Conaway so much, that he rose out of his wheelchair long enough to deliver a physical threat against Baldwin before falling down again in pain. Even after that incident, Baldwin's support continued. He helped talk Conaway OUT of quitting the rehab facility which he so obviously needed.

He not only gave support to Jeff Conaway but to other members of the group as well. For Jessica Sierra, fallen American Idol contestant, he served as a surrogate father. And for the group, he always had helpful words because he came into the situation already sober and wanting to help those who had not yet seen the light. He seemed earnest in his belief that his presence among the broken celebrities would not only serve to strengthen his own sobriety but he himself would bring to the group, the wisdom that comes with age and experience.

Episode 4
Daniel Baldwin quit therapy, citing a BBQ as the reason. Earlier in the episode, we learned that Daniel and Mary were sending text messages back and forth. And we saw him telling her before group one morning, to destroy those messages. But back to his excuse for quitting. Dr. Drew allowed his patients a BBQ with friends and family as a reward for their hard work. At the BBQ, Seth Binzer's girlfriend/wife/baby's momma jumped into the pool with Jessica and Mary. When their t-shirts got wet, this proved too tittilating for Baldwin. He retreated to his room and promptly called his wife to tell her the temptation was weakening him. And then he called his sponsor and his agent so they could get him out of a situation that was "no longer condusive to his sobriety."

At 1 am, Drew Pinsky called a group meeting so Daniel Baldwin could explain to the group why he was leaving. He left a trail of disappointed friends in his wake. Jessica Sierra felt abandoned by her surrogate father, and to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure how the others felt. I'm only guessing they were disappointed. It's entirely possible that they were relieved that he left because in the end, it was starting to become ALL ABOUT him instead of all about everybody else.

Episode 5
Dr. Pinsky had to deal with the fallout of Daniel's leaving. He knew something wasn't right about what happened.

Mary Carey
Dr. Drew learned from Mary Carey, in a private session with him and a therapist that deals with former porn stars in recovery, that Daniel was communicating inappropriately with Mary. She felt guilty about Daniel leaving because she felt responsible for his sexual feelings towards her. Dr. Pinksy complimented her for her insight into Daniel's behavior. He also noticed that her outward appearance had changed over night. While Daniel was there, she was dressing in a more suggestive, sexy manner. But starting with the morning after, she was wearing a dowdy sweatshirt that covered up her enormous boobs. In that therapy session, Dr. Pinksy told Mary that he signed her up for a ballet class, because before going into porn, she was going to be a ballerina.

Before group, at breakfast, everybody learned about Daniel's messages and Mary received a lot of support. And everybody reacted differently. Generally, everyone felt that Daniel took advantage of the much younger porn star. Everyone that is except ultimate fighting champion Ricco Rodriguez, who believes that both should share the blame for the irresponsible communications. While everyone else in group therapy demonized Daniel Baldwin, Ricco took a more objective approach, reminding the group that Mary is almost thirty years old and not a child easily taken advantage of. Later in the episode, Mary took a break from all the drama at the facility. This segment made me cry a little bit. Mary expressed to the teacher and ultimately to the cameras, how much dancing meant to her. And I could see it as I watched her. If it hadn't been for that extra bone in her ankle, she probably could have been a very good dancer.

Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway's girlfriend brought an alcohol laden drink into rehab. He kicked her out and then called her later to yell at her. How she could do that to him was the jist of the call. He yelled at her for bringing alcohol into his treatment center because he is afterall an alcoholic that is trying to get better. The whole incident seemed a little staged to me. According to the coming attractions for next week's show, we'll learn more about what happened. If it wasn't staged, we should all be proud of him for owning his sobriety like that. And if it wasn't staged, there could be hope for him.

Golf Outing
Episode 5 ended on a golf course somewhere in California, where our broken celebrities spent the afternoon having fun and bonding. Dr. Drew provided exploding golf balls as part of the afternoons festivities, which led to light hearted antics and good natured goofing about their more serious drug problems. At the end of the outing, Jeff Conaway presented everyone with a big golf trophy that the members of the group will pass to each other every time they meet for lunch.

I can't wait to see what happens next.