The patients seen being treated for season 1 are: Monday's Laura (Melissa George), a sexy nymphomaniac doctor who claims she's fallen in love with Paul; Tuesday's hardnosed Navy fighter pilot Alex (Blair Underwood), a man traumatized by a mission in the Middle East; Wednesday's teenage gymnast Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), who requires written confirmation from Paul that she's not suicidal; and Thursday's argumentative couple Jake (Josh Charles) and Amy (Embeth Davidtz), who are at loggerheads over an abortion.I've heard it mentioned there's a distasteful element of voyeurism with In Treatment, as we're essentially snooping on private discussions, but that's a criticism I can't subscribe to because these people are fictional. The series is essentially about investigating personalities, exploring lives, and healing psychological wounds in a setting where that's achieved through nothing but spoken words and memories. In many ways it lifts a curtain on therapy and portrays it as less intimidating and invasive than you'd assume, speaking from a British standpoint -- where you're more likely to encounter a shark than a shrink.
Paul's an eminently appealing, likeable, yet brittle character, superbly played by Byrne in a performance that's so resonant it makes you want to reacquaint yourself with the Irish actor's previous work. He's the core of the show with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and he rises to the challenge to craft a nuanced character with a great deal of charm, warmth and complexity -- particularly impressive considering the majority of episodes are, ostensibly, focused on others. This being TV, there are occasions when the demands of story upstage realism, as Paul's patients tend to reflect problems he's going through himself, has experience of, or some insight into -- but that's to be expected in a drama where viewers need to forge strong, sub-textual connections with the characters that a documentary couldn't provide. You're rarely coshed over the head by how Paul's life begins to get entangled with his patients', which was a blessed relief. In fact, I grew to appreciate how the season was more about the therapist than those on his couch, as you started to notice Paul's altering attitude and approach because of events occuring in other episodes.It's hard to imagine anyone who values characterisation disliking this series, although I appreciate it may take a few episodes to adjust to the loquaciousness. Personally, I found myself embracing its style almost immediately (it's an oasis of calm in today's TV culture), and my preconceptions of a "dull, wordy, televised stage show" were proven inaccurate. By mid-season the characters had been given enough life and dimensionality to make you eager, sometimes desperate, to "sit in" on their next session.
The character with the biggest effect on Paul's life is undoubtedly anesthetologist Laura, whose adoration of Paul crosses a line he's not professionally comfortable with, but finds his defenses slowly crumbling when he starts to realize his feelings for her are mutual -- nudged along by the cracks in his twenty-year marriage.. but is it a sign of mid-life crisis?However, the character who works the best is most definitely Sophie, mainly because Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (who recently had the title role in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland) proves to be an incredible youngster, oozing talent, given a character who makes the sweetest and most cathartic connection with her therapist. It's a shame Wasikowska was overshadowed by Johnny Depp™ in her movie breakthrough, but I predict she'll be clutching an Oscar within a decade, provided she makes the right career choices.
Hotshot aviator Alex's story isn't too far behind in popularity, thanks to a fine performance from Blair Underwood, particularly around mid-season when his character's deep-rooted frustration with therapy boils over into a startling moment with Paul that packs a great deal of "shock and awe" (ironic given his career). The fact so much emotion comes from drama you could cynically distill as "just two people talking in a room" is testament to much can be done with two great actors working with good material.
Least interesting is "couple therapy" between blue-collar songwriter Jake and snooty wife Amy, partly because their storyline and relationship is based on torment and broiling resentment, and that's tough to watch over nine weeks. Of all the stories, Jake and Amy's felt like it was on life-support and didn't naturally fill the entire season with an involving, developed plot. That said, there were still moments that worked really well, and both Charles and Davidtz put in decent performances as opposing forces whose marriage has been built on a fiery passion that's burning itself out.I've heard complaints that Friday's meetings with Gina is of least interest to people, but I again have trouble agreeing. It's actually very intriguing seeing Paul confront his own problems to a neutral party (the doctor becoming the patient), and useful to understand his uncensored feelings toward those he's treating. For awhile, Gina even becomes a kind of marriage guidance counselor for the Weston's, in weeks that give Michelle Forbes a great opportunity to flex muscles I didn't know she had as an actress. Dianna Wiest (her transformation into Judi Dench nearing completion) is perhaps an acquired taste, but she gives Gina a pleasantly inquisitive sincerity, and the final few week's definitely present her "sleepy spider" character in a different light that proves very touching.
The downsides of In Treatment, and the missteps that prevent it being a perfect piece of work, boil down to three things: Firstly, the fact that nearly every storyline followed a path that wasn't much of a surprise, in hindsight -- although the writers do a great job leading you down interesting alleys. But ultimately you finish the season thinking it panned out as exactly as you expected it to by Week Five, with perhaps two exceptions.Secondly, it was disappointing to note that nearly every patient was troubled by those clichéd "daddy issues": Alex has a domineering father, Sophie's playboy daddy is absent, Laura's attracted to father figures, Amy's dad was killed in front of her, and we even learn that Paul's father abandoned his family when he was a teenager. It felt lazy for the show to jab that Freudian button repeatedly in the same season. And thirdly, the final few weeks of resolution to each story are earned and appropriate but mostly lacked a cathartic release you almost feel entitled to after 18 hours of diligent viewing. They weren't terrible endings (indeed, one was a premature shock and one incredibly sweet), but it definitely felt a shame the writers couldn't deliver endings that were more memorable and less pat.
WRITERS: Rodrigo Garcia, Amy Lippman, Bryan Goluboff, Sarah Treem, William Merritt Johnson, Davey Holmes & Bryan Goluboff
DIRECTORS: Rodrigo Garcia, Christopher Misiano, Paris Barclay & Melanie Mayron
CAST: Gabrielle Byrne, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Forbes, Melissa George, Blair Underwood, Mia Wasikowska, Embeth Davidtz, Josh Charles, Jake Richardson & Mae Whitman
PICTURE: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
SOUND: English DD5.1, Spanish 2.0 Stereo
RUNNING TIME: 1238 mins. (9 Discs)
