What I’m Watching: In Treatment

In Treatment: Season 4, Episode 21 “Eladio – Week 6” (B+)

This was a particularly strong rebound from the previous ill-conceived installment, mainly because we got a therapist and a patient, two crucial ingredients for any realistic conversation. It’s strange to watch this episode knowing that this is the last we’ll see of Eladio, even though this show will continue for three more episodes and possibly future iterations. It’s good to see that he took a positive approach to working with the person Brooke referred him to, and he’s all about trying to understand and accept his new diagnosis rather than holding onto resentment that he shaped an identity around a different diagnosis that he received earlier in life. Defining what the relationship he has with Brooke means isn’t so crucial for their work, but he has an idea of what wants to get out of all this, so having some sort of closure is important so that he can feel good about what they did together. Anthony Ramos is an actor who’s blowing up right now thanks to his headlining role in “In the Heights,” which makes the fact that he did this show at this point in his career a bit interesting, since some of his predecessors did so either at the very beginning or much later on after doing many other projects. Eladio has felt very much like a real person, and the fact that he got Brooke so angry previously because he kept putting words in her mouth was a particularly dynamic and intriguing moment. He’s been a formidable part of this show.