What I’m Watching: The Patient (Series Finale)

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 10 “The Cantor’s Husband” (B-)

This finale didn’t change anything for me other than to feel that it just hasn’t been worth it. To have things end like this was miserable if predictable, especially since Alan did the one thing he hadn’t until then that made him an acceptable person to kill: threaten his mother’s life. Going to kill his father turned out to be a big nothing since he ultimately just choked him and decided not to kill him, but his solution to that big breakthrough moment was to set Alan up to be permanently moved in to the basement. I don’t think there’s a scenario in which Sam would ultimately have let him go, but this was still an unpleasant resolution for everyone. Having Alan open his eyes and remember being with his son’s family while they were singing the start to the Grace after Meals (a melody I’ve sung many times) was the last bizarre callback to religiosity that didn’t really define Alan’s life even if he was haunted by memories and nightmares before and during his captivity. Sam sending Alan’s letter to Ezra and Shoshana made for an emotional ending, and having the last scene feature Ezra going to therapy to talk about his own issues was an intriguing endpoint that also felt somewhat manipulative. It seems that I’m in the minority when it comes to my impression of this show and its Jewish content, but I think this might have been more interesting if Alan wasn’t already coming in with his own arduous drama. The show’s creators have confirmed that this is indeed a limited series and will not be returning, and I think that’s fine given that it’s more than explored a premise I didn’t feel was quite as fascinating or well-done as most.

Series grade: B-
Series MVP: Domhnall Gleeson as Sam

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 9 “Auschwitz” (B)

I’m just not really sure what to make of this show’s tone, with the ending scene of this penultimate episode a perfect example. Joking about having sex with his father’s skull was very odd, and that newfound singular desire, modeled on Ed Kemper, memorably played by Emmy nominee Cameron Britton in “Mindhunter,” felt like it came out of nowhere. It’s also strange that his mother is so present in his life, to the point that she liked Mary but was not at all happy with the fact that she was coming over, likely because she thought Sam might do something. Alan’s whole plan to scream so that she would call the police was never going to work, and Mary doesn’t seem like the type to realize that things weren’t right and take the initiative to report him to the police on her own. Sam did manage to truly butcher the “old age” joke by skipping over all the important introductory parts of it, and then the conversation shifted into uncomfortable territory about his father beating him up a lot as a kid and that sending him into therapy. With just one episode left, I’m not sure how this can satisfactorily be resolved, with or without the possibility of a second season, although maybe him going after his father means that he’ll be linked to a victim and leave a trace to send a message like his new idol Ed. I’m hopeful for a finale that will make this peculiar and off-putting journey feel worth it.

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 8 “Ezra” (B)

We know that Charlie is just a manifestation of Alan’s subconscious, and therefore he’s well aware of how the compliment about the best kosher steak he had ever had would have landed with his daughter-in-law. There’s still so much he’s trying to process about Ezra not feeling that he was embracing his new lifestyle, starting with the apparently insulting donation he made to the yeshiva when he had paid $40,000 for Shoshana to go to medical school. It was affirming, therefore, to see what Alan couldn’t, which is that Ezra was going to pray each morning and then spending all his time putting up missing posters for the parent who he has definitely noticed isn’t around anymore. His absence hasn’t helped his home life either, and I do feel that’s somewhat more interesting to explore than, say, Alan worrying about whether he’s going to come out of this alive and in the mood to tell jokes rather than choose how he’d want to be killed if it came to that. Killing someone else so soon shows that Sam isn’t making any effort, not that Alan isn’t doing the job he’s been abducted to do, and the fact that it’s someone so closely connected to him is only likely to get him into trouble. I do also think that it’s possible that the events we’re seeing play out in the outside world with Ezra and Shoshana are not happening at the same time, though a rescue like the one Alan has been repeatedly imagining doesn’t feel like it’s likely to happen.

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 7 “Kaddish” (B)

This show’s obsession with Judaism feels strange to me, especially because of some of the inconsistencies that come with that. Opening with scenes of prisoners in a concentration camp and the Mourner’s Kaddish being recited around them suggests that Alan is haunted by something in his past or at least by his heritage, but then he claimed not to be able to remember the words to Kaddish. That didn’t feel like a ploy, but there’s no way that the husband of a cantor who attended synagogue on at least a weekly basis would forget. It’s also not a private thing at all, said only in the presence of a minyan of ten people, and I suppose that could have just been a ploy to get away from Sam. The continued descriptions of ultra-Orthodox Judaism as a cult are also not entirely believable, though Ezra’s assertion that his mother didn’t have an authentic relationship with God might hold some water in similar real-life situations. All that focus on Alan meant that we didn’t actually see much of Sam, especially since Alan kept imagining different scenarios of the note being discovered by either the police or by Sam, which won’t happen given how he opted to dispose of the body. Sam asking his professor about whether it was smart to live with his therapist elicited a predictably concerned and disapproving response, though returning him to his life alive and unharmed hardly seems like the route Sam would change to right that situation.

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 6 “Charlie” (B)

I am intrigued by this show’s strong emphasis on Judaism, though I do find myself wishing Alan was played by a Jewish actor rather than by Steve Carell, even if he does do a decent job of his Hebrew pronunciation. It’s funny that he mentioned the Kaddish since that’s something that is often recited for no reason by Jewish characters on TV and in movies in scenes where it feels appropriate, and I can see how someone for whom Judaism is a big part of their life might try to use that to help Sam relate to his victims. It’s a bit late for all that, and Sam is very unpredictable, which makes me think that he’s not going to just drop the body somewhere for the cops to find. Alan had obviously planned to write a note identifying his abductor with a message for his children to put in Elias’ mouth, but that feels like a very risky move that’s likely just going to get him into trouble since Sam might discover it while he’s moving the body. Hallucinating his own therapist may just be a cinematic device, but it’s also possibly just a good way of expressing how alone and hopeless Alan feels since it doesn’t seem like anyone is going to come looking for him anytime soon. Getting through to Sam is really his only option, but that also doesn’t appear to be going too well, especially given how little he seemed to feel anything when it took him quite a while to remove the tape from his victim’s eyes.

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 5 “Pastitsio” (B)

So much time has been spent on Alan reflecting back on his fractured relationship with his family, and now we got to see a bit of Sam out in the world with a woman who used to be a close part of his life. Showing up and sharing that he was in therapy was a good way to start, though it is true that he didn’t know what had to happen after that. Leaving with his beloved chair felt like a symbolic parting, and it definitely felt like a familiar space for him to inhabit when he was relaxing in it during his session. Alan and Elias exchanged messages for each other’s families that recognized the gravity of their situation, but unfortunately Alan wasn’t able to keep Elias alive long enough for there to be a chance that he could deliver the message to his family for him. Shouting for Candace to come down and stop him the first time that he nearly killed Elias worked, but just giving Elias the chance to tell his life story and seem more sympathetic had the opposite effect, resulting in Sam killing him right on the spot despite Alan’s horrified protests. Knowing that he’s capable of that and that his therapy hasn’t had much of an effect is only going to cause Alan to despair more, and it means that Sam isn’t listening to him enough to try to change. We’re only halfway through the season, and so it’s unlikely that Alan is going to die anytime soon, but I also don’t things will look up either.

What I’m Watching: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 4 “Company” (B)

It probably wasn’t a great idea to have Sam go in to work with a new captive in another room and him feeling very much on edge. The fact that he forgot to bring donuts was yet another trigger that could easily have set him off, and at least calling Alan for a phone session helped to prevent too much bloodshed. I’m curious about that letter and its significance, but I suspect that most of Sam’s coworkers don’t actually respect him and feel like he takes his job far too seriously. It’s no surprise that Alan’s new friend in captivity is panicked, and he and Alan did start to connect about their families and the people that might be looking for them. We’ve seen flashbacks so far of the fractured relationship Alan has with his children and a brief present-day interaction with Ezra, but it’s really not clear how much they would be checking in on him and immediately aware of his absence. Candace’s complicity with her son’s actions suggest that any attempts to show up to the house and interrogate the food inspector will end with someone else dying or joining the growing list of people being held there against their will. The brief clues we got to who Sam is in this episode were enlightening and unexpected, with his admiration for No Shoes Nation, revealing himself to be a devotee of Kenny Chesney, one thing he respects more than most and which could be a way in for Alan to be able to get through to him.

Take Three: The Patient

The Patient: Season 1, Episode 3 “Issues” (B)

I didn’t know what to expect from the person who was coming down the stairs, and this turned out to be a disappointing non-starter for Alan. I just saw Linda Emond as another mother who can’t quite connect with her child in the upcoming Apple TV+ movie “Causeway,” and here she brought a detached sensitivity to the role, aware that Sam was not in good shape but hopeless to figure out how to help him. Alan, who is very specific with his requests so that the can maximize his chance of having them fulfilled while also acknowledging reality. Sam was not interested in having his mother be part of his therapy since he didn’t believe that she was his problem, and telling Sam that he should stop for his mom didn’t prove to be effective even after he got him to agree to have her join their therapy session. Pointing out that Sam is much stronger than him and should take the chain off does conflict with his imagined flashes of viciously lunging at him and killing him. Sam would rather just hype up the food he’s bringing for his captive, who definitely can’t enjoy them to the proper degree because of his situation. The flashbacks to Beth singing music at her son’s wedding knowing full well that his new community wouldn’t allow it were very interesting, and I’m curious to learn more about Ezra’s path to ultra-Orthodox Judaism and how that clashed with his mother being a cantor at a liberal-denomination synagogue.

Round Two: The Patient

The Patient; Season 1, Episode 2 “Alan Learns to Meditate” (B)

I was surprised to learn that this show’s episodes are only about twenty minutes long, and even though we got two episodes right off the bat, it still means there’s not a lot of content each week. The focus is also very sharply on just the two protagonists, even though some others are seen and referenced. I’m particularly intrigued by how Alan relates to his religious son Ezra, played by Andrew Leeds from “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” and I’d like to see more of that relationship. We also know that he exists in Alan’s present, and that their dynamic is fractured in the wake of Beth’s death. Sam being a food inspector is such an interesting part of his personality, and he doesn’t seem happy that Alan can’t appreciate the cuisine he brings home for him. Alan has been making astute observations about the efforts Sam made to control himself which led to him initiating contact so that he could try to get treatment to curb his urges. While Alan is imagining stabbing his captor, he seems more set on an intellectual victory over him, asking for a pen and paper that Sam could guarantee wouldn’t be usable as a weapon. Shouting out when he heard footsteps will likely be seen as a breach of Sam’s trust - not that Alan is a willing participant in this arrangement - but I’m just curious to see who it is that is aware that Sam is using the basement and maybe doesn’t mind that he has someone trapped down there.

Pilot Review: The Patient

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.