What I’m Watching: In Treatment

In Treatment: Season 4, Episode 19 “Laila – Week 5” (B+)

Unlike her other sessions this week, Brooke wasn’t, as far as we know, caught off guard by the unexpected arrival of her patient, and this conversation started right in the middle as she was telling Brooke all about the sad story her Uber driver told her. Laila was definitely on edge, lashing out as soon as she mentioned Peru for the first time because of how much she had brought it up previously, and her response of “Is there an echo in here?” wasn’t particularly kind. Casually mentioning that she donated her car to a woman’s shelter indicated how she’s continuing to try to rid herself of personal possessions, especially those she doesn’t need that could be of considerably more value to others. Grand gestures like that didn’t equate, however, to her knowing what kind of cheese she liked and how she felt about scrambled eggs, and Brooke did a decent job of trying to ground her and bring her back to a place of positivity. Having her walk around the room and telling her that it wasn’t too late to change the failure she felt her life was almost worked, but then Brooke’s mention of her legitimate concern about suicide undid it all. Storming out was emphatic, but doing so after affirming that her grandmother was right to think that there was no worth in therapy was even harsher. I imagine she’ll be back for her last session, but they’re not going to be starting off on a good note. In the interim more intrigued about the phone call that Brooke just received and whether she’s actually going to meet her son.