In Treatment
Encyclopedia
In Treatment is an American HBO drama
, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychologist
, 50-something Dr. Paul Weston
, and his weekly sessions with patients, as well as those with his own therapist at the end of the week. The program, which stars Gabriel Byrne
as Paul, debuted on January 28, 2008, as a five-night-a-week series
. The program's format, script and opening theme are based on, and are often word-for-word translations of, Hagai Levi
's successful Israel
i series BeTipul
, which won every possible award for a drama series at the Israeli Academy Awards. After winning critical acclaim and numerous honors, including Emmy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild
awards, In Treatment returned for a second season, premiering on April 5, 2009. The second season built on the success of the first, winning a 2009 Peabody Award
. The third season premiered on October 26, 2010, with four episodes per week.
On March 30, 2011, HBO said In Treatment would not continue in its existing form but the network was talking with the show's producers about possibly continuing in a different format.
. The first season included 43 episodes, each airing a different night of the week, Monday through Friday. The first season covered nine weeks for most of the characters, except in the final week, which did not have Monday or Tuesday night installments.
The series was renewed for a second season on June 20, 2008, with Byrne, Wiest and Glynn Turman
returning. Michelle Forbes
, who played Paul's wife in the first season, made two brief appearances in the second season. Production on Season 2 began in New York City
in the fall and wrapped up in early 2009. According to the New York Times, production relocated to New York from Los Angeles
at the insistence of Byrne, who otherwise threatened to resign. The move and the addition of Sunday night to the schedule were considered votes of confidence in the series by HBO executives.
HBO Canada, a multiplex
channel that includes The Movie Network
in Eastern Canada
and Movie Central
in Western Canada
, is airing the program simultaneously with HBO in the U.S. During the first several weeks of Season 1, episodes were available on HBO's website in streaming video
. The free service was discontinued, however, when Apple's iTunes
and Amazon Unbox
began offering the first 15 shows for download.
is Paul Weston
, a charming, relentless psychologist, who is seeking his own peaceful existence, free of self-doubt and ambivalence. Paul is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned his undergraduate degree, Columbia University
, where he earned masters degree and The New School
, where he received his PhD (however, there's a scene in season one in which two diplomas from the University of Pennsylvania are displayed near the door to Paul's office). In the summer of 1988, he moved to Maryland, where he worked at the Washington-Baltimore Psychoanalytic Institute and later established his private practice in Baltimore. (The location of his practice is unclear; some references seem to place it in suburban DC, and a comment in a session with Jake (Jake & Amy) indicates the town is near the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Maryland just east of Hagerstown—more than an hour from both DC and Baltimore.)
During this season, the episodes aired on their eponymous days of the week.
Supporting:
Laura and Paul's relationship grows more complex and difficult to control. After Laura professes her love for him, Paul reflects on his own feelings for her and eventually, in sessions with Gina, comes to the realization that he is in love with her. Midway through the season, Laura decides to end her therapy with Paul after he rejects her advances countless times. She returns, needing to talk to someone, after she learns her father is dying. They run into each other at Alex's funeral, and later, Gina gives Paul the go-ahead to go after Laura, but a panic attack prevents him from going through with it. Laura's personal issues discussed in therapy include the lack of a father figure after her mother died, a pressing need to break up with her boyfriend, and seducing a much older man when she was a teenager.
Alex, who at one point meets Laura and has a brief affair with her, finds it impossible to express his internal struggles. As Paul tries to get Alex to break through to his reasons for running himself to exhaustion and his real feelings about murdering Iraqi schoolchildren from his plane, Alex drifts into instability, eventually deciding to end his therapy, and returns to the military just as Paul is beginning to make progress with Alex's repressed insecurities. Alex is killed during a training exercise, and while his death is originally ruled an accident, Paul is plagued with guilt that Alex's death may have been a suicidal reaction caused by the traumas of therapeutic reflection.
Sophie's ambivalence is elicited and broken down by Paul, who is able to successfully examine her dark affair with her gymnastics coach Cy and its effects on her, as well as her conflicted feelings about her divorced parents and her father's distance from her. In the end, Sophie benefits greatly from her therapy with Paul and begins to repair her relationship with her parents. At the end of the season, Sophie leaves Baltimore to pursue further gymnastic training in Denver. In Season Two, April reveals to Paul that Sophie eventually went to college (we are not told if she abandons gymnastics). April learned this information about Sophie from Sophie's feedback about Paul on Paul's web page on the Pratt (April's school in Season Two) site/listerv. In her review of Paul, Sophie says that he saved her life.
Jake and Amy's debate on the abortion is just the prologue to an extremely volatile, dysfunctional relationship. During their second therapy session, Amy experiences a miscarriage, but the couple returns to therapy to work on their issues. Amy's inability to hold emotional connection leads her to have an affair with her boss, a man she found "gross" but uses as a buffer against her husband. Both have an individual session, the first in which Jake breaks down his family of intellectuals, and the second in which Amy recounts watching her father die while he was sitting next to her and was hit by a car after they got ice cream. She and Jake finally and sadly decide to end their tumultuous marriage and split custody of their son. Jake thinks the therapy was helpful, but Amy thinks it hurt their marriage.
Throughout the season, Gina and Paul battle each other over issues regarding their shared history and opposing views, but by the finale it appears that they have made peace and will continue therapy.
, and uses the living room of his small refurbished walk-up brownstone for patient visits. He has brought his books and his patient files with him to his new apartment. In Session 1 he states that he attended Columbia University, but this is in complete contradiction to the two University of Pennsylvania diplomas that hung in his Maryland (Season 1) office next to the patient exit door. He never mentions anything about Penn. He is served with a malpractice lawsuit in the first episode, and becomes preoccupied with the consequences.
Paul's personal neurotic and self-aggrandizing behavior was a significant theme throughout the series. He identified with all of his patients' issues and interpersonal conflicts on some level. Ironically, he was their composite personality, except he was intended to be the resolution expert. His self-doubt and feelings of personal inadequacy revealed over the seven weeks made him appear even more vulnerable than those he was treating. As the final episode drew to a close, Paul pulled the plug on his own desire for treatment, with the same ambivalence his patients had exhibited. Was it really making a difference?
The lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous, and his angst involving his professional competency was alleviated, at least temporarily.
The final symbolic message Paul delivered to his audience by that decision was, there are times in one's life when therapy is valuable for a person to become more grounded in reality. However, more often than not, therapy alone only serves as a road map to find a patient's way in the world. It is the universal message that achieves personal satisfaction: "God helps those who help themselves
." Given enough time and patience, and by accepting that there are external forces that cannot be controlled, everything in life tends to work out for the best.
The season had seven episodes for each character. The "Monday" and "Tuesday" sessions aired back-to-back on Sundays, while the remaining three ran on Mondays. HBO repeated the episodes in sequence, several times each week. The season's executive producer was Warren Leight, who previously worked on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
Unlike its first two seasons, In Treatments third season contains only four episodes per week.
In Treatments third season aired on Mondays and Tuesdays and, like season 2, had seven weeks of sessions.
. The Los Angeles Times
Mary McNamara called it "cleverly conceived," well-written and -acted, though "stagey" and "strain[ing]... believability". Variety
' s Brian Lowry deemed it "more interesting structurally than in its execution". On Slate
, Troy Patterson found it tiresome for its "nattering" and "ambitious hogwash". In Entertainment Weekly
, Ken Tucker gave it a "B+", with "lots of great soapy intrigue".
The New York Times
praised the show: "In Treatment [...] is hypnotic, mostly because it withholds information as intelligently as it reveals it. [...] The half-hour episodes are addictive, and few viewers are likely to be satisfied with just one session at a time. [...] In Treatment provides an irresistible peek at the psychopathology of everyday life — on someone else’s tab."
s Hebrew script, and the Israeli writers are credited in the episodes' final credits. The following are the main differences between the shows:
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, 50-something Dr. Paul Weston
Paul Weston (In Treatment)
Dr. Paul Weston is a fictional character on the five-nights-a-week HBO series, In Treatment. The character is portrayed by Gabriel Byrne, who was coined as TV's "latest Dr. McDreamy" by the New York Times for the role. According to Byrne, the character of Weston has flaws, but possesses certain...
, and his weekly sessions with patients, as well as those with his own therapist at the end of the week. The program, which stars Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
as Paul, debuted on January 28, 2008, as a five-night-a-week series
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
. The program's format, script and opening theme are based on, and are often word-for-word translations of, Hagai Levi
Hagai Levi
Hagai Levi is an Israeli film and television director, writer, editor, producer and critic.Levi is perhaps most notably known for creating, directing and producing television drama BeTipul and for producing In Treatment, HBO's American adaptation of the show...
's successful Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i series BeTipul
Betipul
BeTipul is an Israeli television drama revolving around the personal and professional life of an Israeli psychologist, Reuven Dagan, played by Assi Dayan. The series portrays a psychologist who treats patients at his clinic five days a week and then seeks psychological treatment for himself...
, which won every possible award for a drama series at the Israeli Academy Awards. After winning critical acclaim and numerous honors, including Emmy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
awards, In Treatment returned for a second season, premiering on April 5, 2009. The second season built on the success of the first, winning a 2009 Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
. The third season premiered on October 26, 2010, with four episodes per week.
On March 30, 2011, HBO said In Treatment would not continue in its existing form but the network was talking with the show's producers about possibly continuing in a different format.
Overview
Each episode of In Treatment focuses on one patient, including Paul, who is seeing his clinical supervisor and psychotherapist, Gina, played by Dianne WiestDianne Wiest
Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
. The first season included 43 episodes, each airing a different night of the week, Monday through Friday. The first season covered nine weeks for most of the characters, except in the final week, which did not have Monday or Tuesday night installments.
The series was renewed for a second season on June 20, 2008, with Byrne, Wiest and Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
returning. Michelle Forbes
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo , known professionally as Michelle Forbes, is an American actress who has built a career of work in television and independent film and has acted in productions in both the United States and in the United Kingdom...
, who played Paul's wife in the first season, made two brief appearances in the second season. Production on Season 2 began in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the fall and wrapped up in early 2009. According to the New York Times, production relocated to New York from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the insistence of Byrne, who otherwise threatened to resign. The move and the addition of Sunday night to the schedule were considered votes of confidence in the series by HBO executives.
HBO Canada, a multiplex
Multiplexing
The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
channel that includes The Movie Network
The Movie Network
The Movie Network is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
in Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
and Movie Central
Movie Central
Movie Central is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories...
in Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, is airing the program simultaneously with HBO in the U.S. During the first several weeks of Season 1, episodes were available on HBO's website in streaming video
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
. The free service was discontinued, however, when Apple's iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and Amazon Unbox
Amazon Unbox
Amazon Instant Video is an Internet video on demand service, only available in the United States, offered by Amazon.com which offers television shows and films for rental and purchase. The service became available on September 7, 2006 as Amazon Unbox...
began offering the first 15 shows for download.
Paul Weston
Gabriel ByrneGabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
is Paul Weston
Paul Weston (In Treatment)
Dr. Paul Weston is a fictional character on the five-nights-a-week HBO series, In Treatment. The character is portrayed by Gabriel Byrne, who was coined as TV's "latest Dr. McDreamy" by the New York Times for the role. According to Byrne, the character of Weston has flaws, but possesses certain...
, a charming, relentless psychologist, who is seeking his own peaceful existence, free of self-doubt and ambivalence. Paul is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned his undergraduate degree, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he earned masters degree and The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, where he received his PhD (however, there's a scene in season one in which two diplomas from the University of Pennsylvania are displayed near the door to Paul's office). In the summer of 1988, he moved to Maryland, where he worked at the Washington-Baltimore Psychoanalytic Institute and later established his private practice in Baltimore. (The location of his practice is unclear; some references seem to place it in suburban DC, and a comment in a session with Jake (Jake & Amy) indicates the town is near the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Maryland just east of Hagerstown—more than an hour from both DC and Baltimore.)
Season 1
Set in Arlington, Baltimore, Paul has a private entry office in his home.During this season, the episodes aired on their eponymous days of the week.
| Actor | Character | Weekday | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa George Melissa George Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away... |
Laura | Monday | anesthesiologist Anesthesiologist An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine.... who is erotically fixated on Paul |
| Blair Underwood Blair Underwood Blair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award... |
Alex | Tuesday | fighter pilot Fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting... traumatized by a recent mission |
| Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. After starting her career in Australian television and film, she first became known to a wider audience following her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment... |
Sophie | Wednesday | suicidal teen-aged gymnast Gymnast Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia... |
| Embeth Davidtz Embeth Davidtz Embeth Jean Davidtz is an American-born actress who spent much of her early life in South Africa.-Early life:Davidtz was born in Lafayette, Indiana, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. Her parents, John and Jean, later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then... Josh Charles |
Amy Jake |
Thursday | in couples' therapy Relationship counseling Relationship counseling is the process of counseling the parties of a relationship in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress... to decide whether or not to end her pregnancy |
| Dianne Wiest Dianne Wiest Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:... |
Gina | Friday | Paul's own therapist and mentor Mentorship Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.... who plays devil's advocate to his ambivalence. |
| Michelle Forbes Michelle Forbes Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo , known professionally as Michelle Forbes, is an American actress who has built a career of work in television and independent film and has acted in productions in both the United States and in the United Kingdom... |
Kate | Various | Paul's wife who goes to Paul's sessions with Gina as they attempt to salvage their crumbling marriage. |
Supporting:
- Jake RichardsonJake RichardsonJacob Matthew Richardson is an American actor, currently acting mostly in TV series. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the film Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves and the TV series Fudge.-Career:...
as Ian, Paul and Kate's college-aged son. - Mae WhitmanMae WhitmanMae Margaret Whitman is an American television, movie and voice actress. She is known for her role as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, her role as Amber on the TV series Parenthood, her role as Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs...
as Rosie, Paul and Kate's teenage daughter. - Max BurkholderMax BurkholderMaxwell Henry Wolf "Max" Burkholder is an American child actor most noticeable for his role Max Braverman, who has Asperger Syndrome, in the NBC series Parenthood. Prior to that, he became known as a voice actor, among his many roles were those of Chomper in The Land Before Time television series...
as Max, Paul and Kate's youngest son. - Julia CampbellJulia CampbellJulia Campbell , is an American actress, who is best known for her role as the "mean girl," Christie Masters-Christianson in the feature film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.-Career:...
as Olivia, Sophie's mother. - Peter HortonPeter HortonPeter Horton is an American actor and director. He played the role of Prof. Gary Shepherd on the popular television series Thirtysomething until 1991.-Early life:...
as Zack, Sophie's father. - Glynn TurmanGlynn TurmanGlynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
as Alex Sr, Alex's father.
Laura and Paul's relationship grows more complex and difficult to control. After Laura professes her love for him, Paul reflects on his own feelings for her and eventually, in sessions with Gina, comes to the realization that he is in love with her. Midway through the season, Laura decides to end her therapy with Paul after he rejects her advances countless times. She returns, needing to talk to someone, after she learns her father is dying. They run into each other at Alex's funeral, and later, Gina gives Paul the go-ahead to go after Laura, but a panic attack prevents him from going through with it. Laura's personal issues discussed in therapy include the lack of a father figure after her mother died, a pressing need to break up with her boyfriend, and seducing a much older man when she was a teenager.
Alex, who at one point meets Laura and has a brief affair with her, finds it impossible to express his internal struggles. As Paul tries to get Alex to break through to his reasons for running himself to exhaustion and his real feelings about murdering Iraqi schoolchildren from his plane, Alex drifts into instability, eventually deciding to end his therapy, and returns to the military just as Paul is beginning to make progress with Alex's repressed insecurities. Alex is killed during a training exercise, and while his death is originally ruled an accident, Paul is plagued with guilt that Alex's death may have been a suicidal reaction caused by the traumas of therapeutic reflection.
Sophie's ambivalence is elicited and broken down by Paul, who is able to successfully examine her dark affair with her gymnastics coach Cy and its effects on her, as well as her conflicted feelings about her divorced parents and her father's distance from her. In the end, Sophie benefits greatly from her therapy with Paul and begins to repair her relationship with her parents. At the end of the season, Sophie leaves Baltimore to pursue further gymnastic training in Denver. In Season Two, April reveals to Paul that Sophie eventually went to college (we are not told if she abandons gymnastics). April learned this information about Sophie from Sophie's feedback about Paul on Paul's web page on the Pratt (April's school in Season Two) site/listerv. In her review of Paul, Sophie says that he saved her life.
Jake and Amy's debate on the abortion is just the prologue to an extremely volatile, dysfunctional relationship. During their second therapy session, Amy experiences a miscarriage, but the couple returns to therapy to work on their issues. Amy's inability to hold emotional connection leads her to have an affair with her boss, a man she found "gross" but uses as a buffer against her husband. Both have an individual session, the first in which Jake breaks down his family of intellectuals, and the second in which Amy recounts watching her father die while he was sitting next to her and was hit by a car after they got ice cream. She and Jake finally and sadly decide to end their tumultuous marriage and split custody of their son. Jake thinks the therapy was helpful, but Amy thinks it hurt their marriage.
Throughout the season, Gina and Paul battle each other over issues regarding their shared history and opposing views, but by the finale it appears that they have made peace and will continue therapy.
Season 2
Paul, now divorced and quite lonely, has relocated to BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, and uses the living room of his small refurbished walk-up brownstone for patient visits. He has brought his books and his patient files with him to his new apartment. In Session 1 he states that he attended Columbia University, but this is in complete contradiction to the two University of Pennsylvania diplomas that hung in his Maryland (Season 1) office next to the patient exit door. He never mentions anything about Penn. He is served with a malpractice lawsuit in the first episode, and becomes preoccupied with the consequences.
Paul's personal neurotic and self-aggrandizing behavior was a significant theme throughout the series. He identified with all of his patients' issues and interpersonal conflicts on some level. Ironically, he was their composite personality, except he was intended to be the resolution expert. His self-doubt and feelings of personal inadequacy revealed over the seven weeks made him appear even more vulnerable than those he was treating. As the final episode drew to a close, Paul pulled the plug on his own desire for treatment, with the same ambivalence his patients had exhibited. Was it really making a difference?
The lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous, and his angst involving his professional competency was alleviated, at least temporarily.
The final symbolic message Paul delivered to his audience by that decision was, there are times in one's life when therapy is valuable for a person to become more grounded in reality. However, more often than not, therapy alone only serves as a road map to find a patient's way in the world. It is the universal message that achieves personal satisfaction: "God helps those who help themselves
God helps those who help themselves
The phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is a popular motto that emphasizes the importance of self-initiative.The phrase originated in ancient Greece, occurring in approximately equivalent form as the moral to one of Aesop's Fables, Hercules and the Waggoner, and later in the great tragedy...
." Given enough time and patience, and by accepting that there are external forces that cannot be controlled, everything in life tends to work out for the best.
The season had seven episodes for each character. The "Monday" and "Tuesday" sessions aired back-to-back on Sundays, while the remaining three ran on Mondays. HBO repeated the episodes in sequence, several times each week. The season's executive producer was Warren Leight, who previously worked on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
| Actor | Character | Weekday | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Davis Hope Davis Hope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland.... |
Mia | Monday | successful malpractice Malpractice In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm... attorney Lawyer A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political... and former patient of Paul's from 20 years ago, who blames him for her present status: an unmarried, childless workaholic, who makes poor choices in men. |
| Alison Pill Alison Pill Alison Courtney Pill is a Canadian actress best known from her roles in Milk, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Midnight in Paris.-Life and career:... |
April | Tuesday | Pratt Institute Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,... architecture student diagnosed with lymphoma Lymphoma Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage... which she has been concealing from everyone but Paul. Appears in denial about the severity of her illness. |
| Aaron Shaw Sherri Saum Sherri Saum - Biography :Saum got her start at a Model Search America convention near her home in Kettering, Ohio. She was discovered during high school, modeling mostly during summer breaks until she decided to move to New York and work full time with the New York modeling agency Images Management. Her career... Russell Hornsby Russell Hornsby Russell Hornsby is an American theater, television, and film actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying police officer Eddie Sutton on the ABC Family television drama series Lincoln Heights, and Luke on the HBO series In Treatment.-Early life and education:Hornsby was a football player at St.... |
Oliver Bess Luke |
Wednesday | Oliver, the 12-year-old son of Bess and Luke, a divorcing couple, who blames himself for the family chaos. |
| John Mahoney John Mahoney John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr... |
Walter | Thursday | self-confident CEO with a history of panic attacks, who finds his life is becoming overwhelming. |
| Dianne Wiest Dianne Wiest Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:... |
Gina | Friday | Paul's own therapist and mentor Mentorship Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.... who diligently guides Paul away from a mid-life crisis down the road to personal satisfaction and validation. |
| Glynn Turman Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford... |
Alex Sr. | Various | suing Paul for negligence Negligence Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M... , charging him with failing to prevent the death of his son Alex Jr., a former patient who voluntarily discontinued therapy and was killed in a plane crash. Alex, Sr. and his lawyers contend that Paul's professional responsibility was to contact the military and report Alex, Jr. unfit for duty. (from season 1) |
| Laila Robins Laila Robins -Personal life:Robins was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Latvian American parents Brigita and Janis Robins, who was a research chemist. She attended the Yale School of Drama, and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, . Robins has been in a... |
Tammy Kent | Various | Paul's first girlfriend and, coincidentally, a patient of Gina's..."the most beautiful creature I had ever seen..." |
Season 3
Following the final episode of the second season, Leight said in an interview that a third season remained a possibility, but pointed out that the show has been exhausting for everyone involved and also has been somewhat less than a "breakout hit" for HBO. However, on October 23, 2009, HBO announced that it had picked up In Treatment for a third season. Production began in early 2010 for a premiere in late October. The show remains set in Paul's apartment in Brooklyn, New York—the same location of his office in season 2.| Actor | Character | Weekday | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irrfan Khan | Sunil | Monday | After his wife's death, 52 year-old Sunil emigrated to the United States from Calcutta as per the wishes of his deceased wife to live with his son and daughter in law. In deep depression over her death and angry about his daughter-in-law's insensitivity to his culture in his situation, Sunil is just happy to have Paul as someone to talk to, even if it's against his cultural beliefs. |
| Debra Winger Debra Winger Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival... |
Frances | Tuesday | A very successful actress, Frances comes to see Paul after hearing about him from her sister, who saw him decades ago for therapy. Frances is having trouble remembering her lines in the play she is currently working on, but her internal issues may lie in the fact that her sister has breast cancer, as their mother did, and Frances fears that she is next. |
| Dane DeHaan Dane DeHaan - Biography :DeHaan got his start in Broadway Theatre as the understudy for Haley Joel Osment in American Buffalo. He made his television debut in 2008 with a guest appearance on Law & Order Special Victims Unit. He made his feature film debut in John Sayles' Amigo and recently starred as Jesse in... |
Jesse | Wednesday | A teenager living with his adoptive parents, Jesse harbors significant anger toward his adoptive family and towards himself. By turns aggressive, capriciously manipulative, fearful, abrasive and vulnerable, Jesse has been peddling prescription drugs and sleeping with older men. Jesse's world turns upside down when he receives a letter from his birth mother, with whom he has not had any contact since infancy. |
| Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan is an American actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Gone Baby Gone and is also known for her roles in the HBO series The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell; In Treatment, playing psychiatrist Adele Brousse; and The... |
Adele | Friday | A psychoanalyst recommended by a neurologist friend of Paul's to prescribe him more sleep medication, Adele points out several grey areas in Paul's life worth talking about, particularly his relationship with Gina Toll. Despite initial reluctance, Paul finds himself going back to Adele as a therapist. |
| Alex Wolff Alex Wolff Alexander Draper "Alex" Wolff is an American child actor and musician, currently playing in Nat and Alex Wolff. He is best known for his role as himself on the Nickelodeon series The Naked Brothers Band, also starring his older brother, Nat Wolff; the series was created by the boys' mother, Polly... |
Max | Various | Paul's youngest son, Max. During the season he leaves Baltimore, where he lived with his mother, to move in with Paul. |
| James Lloyd Reynolds | Steve | Various | Kate's new fiance and Max's future stepfather, of whom Paul is initially jealous. |
| Susan Misner Susan Misner Susan Misner is an American dancer, television and film actress.-Career:Misner portrayed the doomed Grace Davidson on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 12 March 1999 to 17 November 1999... |
Wendy | Various | Paul's much younger girlfriend. |
| Sonya Walger Sonya Walger Sonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:... |
Julia | Various | Sunil's daughter-in-law who occasionally, along with her husband Arun (Sunil's son), joins Sunil in therapy. Julia disapproves of Sunil's behavior inside her home, and claims to be genuinely concerned about him. |
| Samrat Chakrabarti Samrat Chakrabarti Samrat Chakrabarti is a British-American actor and musician of Indian descent.-Early life:Born in London, England to immigrant parents from Kolkata, India, he performed in Indian community functions in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was exposed to music, poetry and the plays of Rabindranath... |
Arun | Various | Sunil's son, who is currently housing him and trying to help him through his grief. |
| Dendrie Taylor | Marisa | Various | Jesse's adoptive mother. |
| Joseph Siravo Joseph Siravo Joseph Siravo is an Italian american actor and graduate of both Stanford and NYU. Among his most notable roles is that of "Johnny Boy" Soprano, father of Tony Soprano, on The Sopranos. He is credited as the voice of Carmine in the Disney film The Wild... |
Roberto | Various | Jesse's adopted father. |
Unlike its first two seasons, In Treatments third season contains only four episodes per week.
In Treatments third season aired on Mondays and Tuesdays and, like season 2, had seven weeks of sessions.
Critical response
Critical acclaim arrived quickly with the show receiving a rating of 70 out of 100 on metacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Mary McNamara called it "cleverly conceived," well-written and -acted, though "stagey" and "strain[ing]... believability". Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, Troy Patterson found it tiresome for its "nattering" and "ambitious hogwash". In Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Ken Tucker gave it a "B+", with "lots of great soapy intrigue".
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
praised the show: "In Treatment [...] is hypnotic, mostly because it withholds information as intelligently as it reveals it. [...] The half-hour episodes are addictive, and few viewers are likely to be satisfied with just one session at a time. [...] In Treatment provides an irresistible peek at the psychopathology of everyday life — on someone else’s tab."
Differences from BeTipul
The script of the first season of In Treatment is heavily based on BeTipulBetipul
BeTipul is an Israeli television drama revolving around the personal and professional life of an Israeli psychologist, Reuven Dagan, played by Assi Dayan. The series portrays a psychologist who treats patients at his clinic five days a week and then seeks psychological treatment for himself...
s Hebrew script, and the Israeli writers are credited in the episodes' final credits. The following are the main differences between the shows:
- In Treatment skips the first 2 episodes of the last week, unlike BeTipul, making its first season two episodes shorter.
- In Treatments episode 36, which takes place outside of the therapist's office, is completely absent in BeTipul.
- Paul's interactions with his son Ian has no equivalent in BeTipul, as the therapist's oldest son is away in the armyIsrael Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
for the entire first season. Instead, that entire episode is dedicated to the therapist's talk with his daughter, which is interrupted in the American episode. - The treated pilot's military association.
- The treated pilot's father's life and cultural background and his difficult experiences with his father. (In the Israeli version, the pilot's father is a Holocaust survivor.)
- Avi BelleliAvi BelleliAvi Belleli is an Israeli singer and musician.-Biography:Avi Belleli was born on October 27, 1963, in Givatayim, Israel. He has been the lead vocalist and bass player of the Tel Aviv-based rock band Nikmat Hatraktor since its formation in 1988. He also produced soundtracks for theatre, film and...
's opening theme was considerably shortened for the American series. - In season 2 of BeTipul, Oliver is portrayed as the son of the characters who receive couple's therapy in season 1.
- In season 2 of BeTipul, April's brother is displayed as having bipolar disorder, not autism as in the American version.
- As BeTipul only ran for two seasons, all stories from season three onwards will be a divergence from the original show.
Awards and nominations
- 61st Primetime Emmy Awards61st Primetime Emmy AwardsThe 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
:- Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Dianne WiestDianne WiestDianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Hope DavisHope DavisHope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
, nominated)
- Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel Byrne
- 60th Primetime Emmy Awards60th Primetime Emmy AwardsThe 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest and televised in the United States on ABC.The Creative Arts Awards...
:- Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Dianne WiestDianne WiestDianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
, won) - Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Glynn TurmanGlynn TurmanGlynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
, won) - Best Cinematography for a Half-Hour Series (Fred Murphy, nominated)
- Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel Byrne
- 66th Golden Globe Awards66th Golden Globe AwardsThe 66th Golden Globe Awards Ceremony was broadcast on January 11, 2009, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States on the NBC TV network...
:- Best Television Series - Drama (nominated)
- Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, won) - Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Dianne WiestDianne WiestDianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Melissa GeorgeMelissa GeorgeMelissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Blair UnderwoodBlair UnderwoodBlair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...
, nominated)
- Satellite Awards 2008Satellite Awards 2008The winners of the 13th Annual Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film and television in 2008, were announced on December 14, 2008.-Top 10 films:*Ballast*Changeling*Doubt*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River*Milk...
:- Best Series - Drama (nominated)
- Best Actor - Drama Series (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, nominated) - Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or TV Film (Dianne WiestDianne WiestDianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
, nominated)
- Directors Guild of America Awards 2008Directors Guild of America Awards 2008The 61st Directors Guild of America Awards, which was given on January 31, 2009, honors the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and televisions...
:- Drama Series (Night) (Paris BarclayParis BarclayParis K.C. Barclay is an American television director and producer. He has directed over 100 episodes of television to date, for series including NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House M.D., Law & Order, Monk, Numb3rs, City of Angels, Cold Case, and more recently The Mentalist,...
, for "Alex: Week Eight", nominated)
- Drama Series (Night) (Paris Barclay
- Writers Guild of America Awards 2008Writers Guild of America Awards 2008The 61st Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2008. Winners were announced on February 7, 2009.-Best Adapted Screenplay:...
:- Best New Series (Rodrigo García, Bryan Goluboff, Davey HolmesDavey HolmesDavey Holmes is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright.-Writing:Holmes has written for television shows including In Treatment for which he won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay - New Series, Damages for which he received a nomination for Writers Guild of America...
, William Meritt Johnson, Amy LippmanAmy LippmanAmy Lippman is a television producer and screenwriter. She is perhaps best known as the co-creator of Party of Five with Christopher Keyser. She is politically conscious as a donor to Democratic candidates and causes.- References :...
and Sarah Treem, won)
- Best New Series (Rodrigo García, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes
- 2008 AFI AwardsAmerican Film Institute Awards 2008The American Film Institute Awards 2008 honored the best 10 Movies and 10 Television Programs of the year.-Movies:* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River* Gran Torino*Iron Man...
:- One of 10 Best Television Programs
- 2009 Peabody AwardPeabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
External links
- In Treatment HBO page
- JewReview.net Gabriel Byrne video interview on Jindabyne and In Treatment
- http://www.ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=7397
- Season Two: Prince v. Weston Complaint
- Season Two: Dr. Laura Hill Deposition
- Season Two: Dr. Gina Toll Deposition
- Season Two: Dr. Paul Weston Deposition
- NPR Fresh Air: The Art of Listening Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
discusses his role on "In Treatment"