“It’s been on and off, blah, blah, blah,” said Laura describing her relationship to her therapist in the new HBO series, In Treatment. This comment does a very good job of describing the show, aside from a few quirky comments the show is very blah.
The show is based on the therapy sessions of a troubled therapist, Paul Weston, played by, Gabriel Byrne. Throughout the week in each episode he sees a client and then at the end of the week he goes to an old friend and they go through an awkward non-formal therapy session.
In the first episode Paul deals with a patient named Laura. The entire episode is her crying out her problems to him. This is not fun to watch, someone crying and babbling about how their life sucks.
The only plus side to the show is that HBO is not confined to the normal restraints of network television. Laura discusses how she feels, it is a right of passage for any young girl to, “get fucked,” in the bathroom. She also says things like, “Your sitting there like a fucken Buddha.”
That is all Paul does Monday through Friday sit there and listen to his patients sob stories. This is how psychotherapy works and its not fun to watch. HBO has a number of great shows this one does not fit in that category, it seems as though they are reaching for something.
That reach is evident in the way the first episode ends. Half-way through the episode we find that Laura is in love with Paul and that she was imagining him taking her into the bathroom and making her a woman. As this unfolds Paul sits there as if nothing is happening as this poor girl is confessing her undying love for him. He just says, “how long have you felt this way?” Then Laura says, “what am I gonna do now?” Paul responds with, “we’ll talk about it next week.” Yes the session time was over but a real therapist would not end a session like that in that way, it’s a little ridiculous.
Even more ridiculous is Fridays episode where Paul goes to his old supervisor Gina to, “talk.” Paul and Gina proceed to catch up as they have not seen each other in a while, then Paul discusses his problems. In doing so he sounds just like his patients, in many instances even more troubled. He talks about his troubles with his wife, he feels she is having an affair, which is very similar to Laura’s problem. He also gets very defensive when Gina cannot remember Laura’s name. The Friday episode is better than the rest of the week but is still bland.
Bland does not normally describe HBO, with great shows such as Entourage and Deadwood. All other shows on HBO are like honey-nut cheerios and In Treatment is like plain cheerios, bland, with a lot to be desired.
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