Back In Treatment on HBO

Two people - Mia and April - were back In Treatment with Paul on HBO, and though the April story was grim and wrenching, it was good to see such good, trenchant television again. As with the first year - last year - the action is almost all conversation, and it's captivating and impressive indeed.

Mia is an attorney, and Paul comes to see her, not vice versa, because he's being sued for $20 million (far in excess of the $3 million his insurance covers) by the father of one of his patients, Alex, who may have committed suicide last year, when his plane crashed, after Paul certified that Alex was ready to return to pilot service. The Alex thread was one of the best last year. You can read more about it in reviews of last year's episodes listed below, but the gist of the story, for the purposes of the present season, is that Alex left Paul, after he and Paul moved from words to shoves, and Paul was not one-hundred percent sure at all that certifying Alex was warranted, when Alex returned and pressured Paul to do so...

Meanwhile, it turns out that Mia is not just any excellent civil attorney - she was a patient of Paul's, twenty years ago, and something happened between them, which perhaps involved their having an affair and more ... Paul sagely does not want her as his attorney, but she'll be showing up as his patient ... a great set-up for this year.

April's story is thus far the most wrenching we've seen In Treatment. She has lymphoma, progressed to Stage 3, and has not told anyone about it except a construction worker (she shot back to him that she had cancer, in response to his cat-call about why wasn't she smiling). The possibility of a cure - from what I could see online - is 70-80%, so it's not a death sentence, but she has to start treatment, fast. And she's resisting that.

Three more brand new patients tomorrow - this year In Treatment is on two rather than five days, with two patients on the first day, and two more plus Paul as patient with his therapist Gina on the second day. I'm looking forward to riveting conversation tomorrow and next week, and the powerful acting of Gabriel Byrne as Paul (he looks, understandably, a little more worn this year) and the cast portraying his patients. Allison Pill as April was especially effective tonight.



See also Back in Treatment, Three More Fine Times

And Season One reviews: In Treatment on HBO ... 2. Scalding ... 3. Triangle ... 4. Love and Death ... 6. Paul's Greatest Strength ... 6. Paul's Boat ... 7. Alex in the Sky with Diamonds ... 8. A Princely Performance ... In Treatment Concludes (For Now)

---

The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

more about The Plot to Save Socrates... good reading if you're in a doctor's office...






Read the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates .... FREE!