What I’m Watching: In Treatment

In Treatment: Season 3, Episodes 17-20 “Week Five” (B+)

This is an especially intense week for all of the patients, and each of the sessions manages to hold its own and prove entirely compelling. Sunil’s consistent deference of his dreams coupled with his anguish over the natural disaster back home is fascinating, and Paul did seem genuinely concerned when he indicated some potentially violent tendencies. I found Paul’s comment about kissing in America and Sunil’s perception of the situation interesting as well. Frances’s session got off to an intriguing start with a discussion of silence and the reading of the test results, and Paul telling her that she has to go see her sister was a rare show of definitive opinion, and she managed to turn the tables right back on him by alleging his past romance with her sister. Jesse’s very angry session was extraordinarily well-written and pretty damn compelling. His frustration about not being able to find a diner in Westchester and his fury with the Nabisco commercial picture were memorable and powerful as well. Paul’s wrap-up session with Adele proved very enlightening as always after a complex week, and it’s so interesting to see him try to justify his crush on Adele and explain it away as something other transference when he was in that very situation with Laura two years ago. What I found most intriguing about this episode was how Adele stood up for herself, not being content with Paul standing outside her building and trying to lengthen the session. Her statement of “are you so paralyzed you’re unable to stand up?” was particularly biting.