- HBO premieres the first of 43 episodes of In Treatment, a new half-hour drama series starring Gabriel Byrne, and adapted from an enormously popular Israeli series created by Hagai Levi (one of HBOs executive producers, along with Rodrigo Garcia, Steve Levinson and Mark Wahlberg). Set within the intimate confines of individual psychotherapy sessions with five sets of patients, the series centers ar
HBO premieres the first of 43 episodes of In Treatment, a new half-hour drama series starring Gabriel Byrne, and adapted from an enormously popular Israeli series created by Hagai Levi (one of HBOs executive producers, along with Rodrigo Garcia, Steve Levinson and Mark Wahlberg). Set within the intimate confines of individual psychotherapy sessions with five sets of patients, the series centers around Paul (Byrne), a therapist who exhibits an insightful, confident demeanor when treating his patients, but displays a crippling insecurity while counseled by his own therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest). Patients undergoing treatment with Paul include a young doctor (Melissa George) who has fallen in love with Paul, a Navy pilot (Blair Underwood) reevaluating his life after a failed mission in Iraq, a teenage gymnast (Mia Wasikowska) with suicidal tendencies, and a sexually passionate couple (Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz) who are troubled in all other areas of their lives. In addition, Pauls wife Kate (Michelle Forbes) will be featured prominently this season.HBO’s first half-hour drama gives new meaning to the term, “appointment television.” Adapted from a popular and award-winning Israeli series, In Treatment in its first season aired five nights a week for nine weeks beginning in January 2008. Each episode eavesdrops on a weekly therapist-patient session. “The magic happens”—as one observer sarcastically remarks—in the home office of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne in his Golden Globe Award-winning role). Monday’s patient is Laura (Melissa George), a doctor who reveals in a harrowing “about last night” monologue in the first episode that she is in love with Paul (“You’ve become the center of my life”). Tuesdays bring Alex (Blair Underwood), a cocky fighter pilot whose last mission over Iraq went horrifyingly awry, earning him the media tag, “The Madrassa Murderer.” Wednesday’s child, Sophie (Mia Wasikowska in a breakout performance) is a teenage Olympic hopeful in need of an evaluation following a near-fatal bicycle “accident.” On Thursdays, Paul meets with Amy (Embeth Davidtz) and Jake (Josh Charles), whose rocky marriage is further shaken as they wrestle over whether or not she should get an abortion. Fearing he is “losing patience with my patients,” Paul turns to his former mentor, Gina (Dianne Wiest in an Emmy-winning performance), with whom he had a falling out years before, to talk out his own troubles. The therapist whose own personal life is unraveling could have either been bad sitcom or static and stagey talking heads. But with its insightful writing, powerful performances, and deft, unobtrusive direction, In Treatment avoids the pitfalls to become an intensely gripping drama. Each episode thrives on what Laura calls “the back and forth stuff,” the soul-searching and the questioning that strip away the defenses of each damaged character, including Paul himself, who has his own demons to confront as he becomes further estranged from his neglected and resentful wife, Kate (Michelle Forbes), and grapples with his feelings for Laura. This series is something of a career breakthrough for Byrne, a celebrated character actor (Miller’s Crossing, The Usual Suspects). As the rumpled and weary Paul, he is more compelling just sitting and listening than many actors are in action. Quality programs for adults that deal with the human condition are at a premium on television. For anyone whose psyche has been scarred by so-called reality TV, In Treatment is excellent therapy. –Donald Liebenson
Buy “In Treatment: The Complete First Season” For Only $36.07
March 5, 2010
#1
I must say I was looking forward to this series, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype. I found the writing to be excruciatingly banal and nothing more than elementary. The psychological insight was about what you learned in Psych 101 freshman year in college. Transference? Really? And despite the best efforts of Gabe and Dianne, most of the actors were unable to bring life to the dreary writing. At work we decided about four episodes in that a different cast of exceptional actors could possibly have made good drama of this pablum, but the cast they had just couldn’t do it.
Overall, a big disappointment not worthy of a second go-round.
March 5, 2010
#2
Good show, but Amazon needs to update. How is this preorder when I have owned this for the last 3 weeks? Great show, could not stand Laura though. So annoying, she was the only session I could not watch.
March 5, 2010
#3
I’ve just sat through the first 4 episodes and I’m not impressed. “Kindly” therapist Paul seems very quick to throw his analytical interpretations at clients who look like they are quite unimpressed and want to walk out. The writing is so wooden with lots of occasions where it is just being fluffed out. I doubt if any of it was done by an experienced therapist, or if one was consulted. Blah, inane, boring, silly stuff. Good acting
March 5, 2010
#4
I know, I know…critics love this series, and judging from the reviews, audiences do, too. I don’t. My wife loves it, and this is how I have seen an assortment of episodes, and they have all struck me as about as interesting as listening to my neurotic friend whine about his “issues.” I have very little patience for this sort of thing in real life; even less in my entertainment.
People have praised this as “incredibly real,” which perhaps is the problem I have with it. There is not a narrative in each episode in any traditional sense. There is story, yes, but no plot, and while I certainly don’t need an ambitiously structured plot in stories, I do expect character-driven pieces to have interesting characters. These characters behave like petulant children; these are not interesting neurotics. And frankly, I find Byrne’s “incredibly real” patience trying–I want him to leap up and start smacking them around and telling them to grow up! They’re that annoying!
I have always enjoyed Gabriel Byrne’s work. I wish I could give him a separate 5 star for this.
March 5, 2010
#5
The glowing reviews above reflect wishful and distorted thinking. In my 22 years of therapy — that’s right, 22! — I’ve thankfully never encountered a Paul Weston, and would have ditched him if I had. Weston’s predictably banal responses to his patients could have been generated by computer. His reckless disregard for the boundaries of his profession are ludicrous at best, and dangerous at worst. Accepting an expensive gift from a patient — the famous all-the-bells-and-whistles coffeemaker — cheaply encodes the character’s resistance. But it also irrevocably contaminates his therapy. The remaining clients fare as badly at Weston’s hands — for example, in the unchecked violence the couple display in Weston’s office. Therapy is meant as a safe space, not as a danger zone. Rather multiply examples, of which there are many, I concede the show’s single bright spot: Gina’s scrupulous adherence to the canons Weston so flagrantly violates, and Dianne Wiest’s brilliant evocation of a therapist who knows her business. This show’s problem lies not in its acting, which is fine throughout, but in its overdrawn and needlessly melodramatic scripts. Interestingly, my psychologist agrees. But then, he sets and maintains boundaries. These frustrate the resistant client at times, but ultimately make for successful outcomes. Critical hoopla notwithstanding, the distressing portrayal of “treatment” makes this series one to avoid.