In Treatment

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In Treatment

In Treatment logo
Genre Drama
Created by Hagai Levi
Starring Gabriel Byrne
Dianne Wiest
Hope Davis
John Mahoney
Alison Pill
Aaron Shaw
Russell Hornsby
Sherri Saum
Laila Robins
Theme music composer Avi Belleli
Country of origin Israel
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 78 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Rodrigo Garcia
Steve Levinson
Hagai Levi
Mark Wahlberg
Warren Leight
Noa Tishby (Co-Executive)[1]
Location(s) Los Angeles, 2008
New York City, 2009
Running time 25 min.
Broadcast
Original channel HBO
Original airing January 28, 2008
Chronology
Related shows BeTipul
External links
Official website

In Treatment is an HBO drama, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychotherapist, 53-year-old Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with patients. 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, often word for word, on Hagai Levi's successful Israeli series BeTipul, which won every possible award for a drama series in 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.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Overview

Each episode of In Treatment focuses on one patient, including Paul, who is seeing his own psychotherapist, Gina, played by Dianne Wiest. The first season included 43 episodes, each airing a different night of the week, Monday through Friday.[4] The first season covered nine weeks for most of the characters, except in the final week, which did not have Monday and Tuesday night installments.[5]

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, has 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.[6] 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.[2]

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.[7] 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.

[edit] Cast and characters

Gabriel Byrne is Paul Weston, a charming, relentless, but detached and neurotic psychotherapist, who is seeking his own peaceful existence, free of self-doubt and ambivalence. Paul is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, and received his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research. In the summer of 1988, he moved to Maryland, where he worked at the Baltimore Psychotherapy Institute and later established his private practice.

Paul's family has ongoing cameo appearances in various episodes of Season 1:

  • Michelle Forbes, is Paul's wife, Kate. Their marriage ends at the close of the first season, a result of Paul's unconsummated obsession with his patient, Laura, and the extramarital affair Kate pursued in response to the lack of emotional intimacy in their marriage.
  • Jake Richardson is Ian, their college-aged son.
  • Mae Whitman is Rosie, their teenage daughter.
  • Max Burkholder is Max, their youngest son (9-years-old in the first season).

In the second season, Paul's ex-wife and children for the most part remain in the background, although Kate, Rosie and Ian all make appearances.

[edit] Season 1

Set in suburban Maryland, Paul has a private entry office in his home. During this season, the episodes aired on their eponymous day of the week.

Actor Character Weekday Role
Melissa George Laura Monday anesthesiologist who is in love with Paul
Blair Underwood Alex Tuesday fighter pilot traumatized by a recent mission
Mia Wasikowska Sophie Wednesday suicidal, anorexic teenaged gymnast
Embeth Davidtz
Josh Charles		 Amy
Jake		 Thursday in couples' therapy to decide whether or not to have an abortion
Dianne Wiest Gina Friday Paul's own therapist and mentor who plays devil's advocate to his ambivalence.

By the end of the season, Paul finally succumbs to his attraction to Laura, but a panic attack prevents him from following through and he leaves her. Laura discontinues her therapy with Paul, but it is later revealed that she still holds him in high regard when she offers praise of him in a legal deposition.

Alex, who at one point meets Laura and has a brief affair with her, ends his therapy and returns to the military, just as Paul was 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 theraputic reflection. In the second season, Alex's father sues Paul for failing to prevent Alex's death.

Sophie benefits greatly from therapy with Paul and begins to repair her relationship with her parents. She leaves gymnastics and therapy to pursue college. In season two, Paul learns from a message board post that Sophie credits him for saving her life and is now living happily.

Amy has an affair with her boss and then experiences a miscarriage. 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.

[edit] Season 2

Paul, now divorced and very lonesome, has relocated to Brooklyn, and uses the living room of his small refurbished walk-up brownstone for his office visits. He has brought his books and his patient files with him to his new digs. He has been served with a malpractice lawsuit, [8][9] and is completely preoccupied with the consequences all that might entail.

Paul's personal neurotic and self-aggrandizing behavior was a significant theme throughout the series.[10] [11] 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 at the least, temporarily alleviated. [12] [13]

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. [12][13]

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.[2] Following the final episode, Leight said in an interview that a third season remains a possibility, but pointed out the the show has been exhausting for everyone involved and also has been somewhat less than a "breakout hit" for HBO.[14]

Actor Character Weekday Role
Hope Davis Mia Monday successful malpractice attorney 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 April Tuesday architecture student diagnosed with lymphoma which she has been keeping shamefully secret. Appears in denial about the severity of her illness.
Aaron Shaw
Sherri Saum
Russell Hornsby		 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 Walter Thursday self-confident CEO with a history of panic attacks, who finds his life is becoming overwhelming.
Dianne Wiest Gina Friday Paul's own therapist and mentor who diligently guides Paul away from a mid-life crisis down the road to personal satisfaction and validation.
Glynn Turman Alex Sr. Various suing Paul for negligence charging him with failing to prevent the death of his son Alex Jr., a former patient who voluntarily discontinued therapy, to return to his career as a pilot and was killed in a plane crash. (from season 1)
Laila Robins Tammy Kent Various Paul's first girlfriend who happens to be a patient of Gina's..."the most beautiful creature I had ever seen..."

[edit] Critical response

Critical acclaim arrived quickly with the show receiving a rating of 70 out of 100 on metacritic. The Los Angeles Times', Mary McNamara called it "cleverly conceived," well written and acted, though "stagey" and "strain[ing]... believability".[15] Variety's Brian Lowry deemed it "more interesting structurally than in its execution".[16] On Slate, Troy Patterson found it tiresome for its "nattering" and "ambitious hogwash".[17] In Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker gave it a "B+", with "lots of great soapy intrigue".[18] 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."[19]

[edit] Differences from BeTipul

The script of the first season of In Treatment is heavily based on BeTipul'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 Treatment's 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 army 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 Belleli'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.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Finke, Nikki (2008-05-31). "Leight Leaves 'Criminal Intent' for HBO". Deadline Hollywood Daily. http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/sag/. Retrieved on 2008-06-21. 
  2. ^ a b c Orange, Michelle (April 2, 2009). "Sessions and the Single Man". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/arts/television/05oran.html?_r=1&fta=y. Retrieved on 2009-04-28. 
  3. ^ "In Treatment: Awards". Variety. 2009. http://www.variety.com/profiles/TVSeries/main/180862/In+Treatment.html?dataSet=1. Retrieved on 2009-04-28. 
  4. ^ Johnson, John. "Winter TV Preview: Inside 18 New Shows". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20169587_7,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. 
  5. ^ Lavalie, John (March 16, 2008). "In Treatment (a Titles & Air Dates Guide)". TV.com. http://epguides.com/InTreatment/. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. 
  6. ^ Weprin, Alex (2008-06-20). "HBO Goes Back 'In Treatment'". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6572096.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-21. 
  7. ^ "The doctor is in...a new season of In Treatment begins April 5 on HBO Canada". CNW Group. March 2009. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2009/10/c7201.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-28. 
  8. ^ "In Treatment: Complaint Document, Roland Prince v. Paul Weston, Ph.D.". HBO Website. 2009. http://www.hbo.com/intreatment/img/season2/cast_crew_landing/rt_col_includes/pdf/laura_deposition.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  9. ^ "In Treatment: Laura Hill's Deposition". HBO Website. 2009. http://www.hbo.com/intreatment/img/season2/cast_crew_landing/rt_col_includes/pdf/COMPLAINT_FILE.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  10. ^ Hawkins, Kristal (April 7, 2009). "In Treatment, Gina: What's the Meta, Paul?". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/04/in_treatment_gina.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  11. ^ Hawkins, Kristal (April 28, 2009). "In Treatment: Eating Themselves Up Inside". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/04/in_treatment_eating_themselves_up_inside.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  12. ^ a b Hawkins, Kristal (May 19, 2009). "In Treatment: The Fighting Cure". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/05/in_treatment_the_fighting_cure.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  13. ^ a b Hawkins, Kristal (May 26, 2009). "In Treatment Season Finale: Analyze This". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/05/in_treatment_season_finale_ana.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-07. 
  14. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (May 25, 2009). "In Treatment: Warren Leight Breaks Down Season Two". The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/05/in_treatment_warren_leight_bre.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-28. 
  15. ^ McNamara, Mary (2008-01-28). "'In Treatment'". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-treatment28jan28,0,5739903.story. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  16. ^ Lowry, Brian (2008-01-18). "In Treatment". Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935826.html?categoryid=32&cs=1. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  17. ^ Patterson, Troy (2008-01-28). "Crazy Talk". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2182948/. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  18. ^ Tucker, Ken. "In Treatment (2008)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20172367,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 
  19. ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "Television Review 'In Treatment' Four Days, a Therapist; Fifth Day, a Patient". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/arts/television/28stan.html?_r=1&fta=y&oref=slogin. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Treatment"
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