Marco Polo Season 2: Masterpiece

I binged watched the second season of Marco Polo on Netflix the past few evenings - superb, better than the first season in every way, and the first season was pretty good indeed.

I don't want to give anything away in the complicated, twisty story - with lots of surprises, even for those who know history - so I'll just mention some of the highlights -

• The opening credits are themselves a treat for eye and ear - animated brushstroke with meaningful images, and evocative voicing you just can't get out of your head.
• Probably my favorite single scene were horses set ablaze and running into the enemy camp - an assault via horseflesh, literally, deadly and devastating, with no loss of human life for the attackers.
• There's a great mix of religion, especially Islam and Christianity, into the story.  This was present in the first season, because Kublai Khan indeed welcomed all religions in his realm, but the religions play a much more decisive role in the second season.
• Women have outstanding roles, as fighters, lovers, strategists, and indeed all aspects of life.  A pleasure to see.
• There was so much attention on Kublai in some episodes, and so little on Marco, that at times I was thinking the series could be better named Kublai.  But Marco has some crucial moves, especially near the end.
• A personal favorite of mine in the twilight zone between historical fact and myth is Prester John.  It was good to see him brought into these battles for the world.
• Gabriel Byrne makes a fine appearance as the Pope.   And, actually, all the acting was top-drawer, with special kudos to Benedict Wong as Kubai and Joan Chen as his wife, the Empress Chabi.

Beautifully projected, brilliantly plotted, with an eye equally keen for the teardrop, which the blind monk hears, and the grand spectacle of a people who conquered more of the world than any other, Marco Polo is a masterpiece of historical drama, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Marco Polo: Evocative History

Vikings

Vikings debuted on the History Channel on Sunday.  It's the new series by Michael Hirst, who did such a fine job with The Tudors.  Indeed, The Tudors set the mark for historical accuracy - as far as use of  technologies like the printing press - and I consider it second only to Rome as far as historical drama on television.

It's a little too soon to tell where Vikings will rank, after just one episode, but the series is off to a good start.  The central theme is the breakthrough of the Vikings from a relatively local force that plundered east at the end of the 8th century AD to the first in-effect world power, with ships that went west and all the way to North America.  I've long been fascinated by this accomplishment, how and why it succeeded and ultimately failed, and Vikings looks like it's up to the task of telling us more about it.

To get across the "open ocean," as the Atlantic was referred to by the Vikings, suitable ships had to be constructed.   Floki, a slightly cracked genius of a ship builder, is doing the job.   Such a voyage will also require support of a Viking leader, or be much more difficult.  Haraldson - played by Gabriel Byrne - is vicious, jealous, arbitrary in his rulings, and not game.  This is good foundation for a high-tension story.

Most of all, a trip across the ocean, or even to just England and France and the west, will require someone at the helm, a Viking able to get the voyage going in face of all the inertia and outright opposition.  Ragnar - a "real" person in history, insofar as he is a major hero in the Norse sagas - is such a man, and is the protagonist of this narrative.   He has a beautiful wife, a powerful younger brother who covets Ragnar's wife and needs to be convinced about the voyage, and an implacable vision of his future and his place in the west.

Ragnar's wife Lagertha (played by Katheryn Winnick from Bones!) is not only beautiful but powerful in her own right.  She not only rules the home but kicks the asses of two men who want their way with her when Ragnar and brother Rollo are away, and later in the story talks Rollo down when he makes a pass at her.   Rollo is by this time convinced about the value of a voyage to the west, and is willing to brook its dangers, but will Lagertha in the end go along with it?

A good first episode, with heroes and villains and those in between assembling the ingredients of what looks to be an excellent series.

See also Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne ... Vikings 1.3: The Priest ... Vikings 1.4: Twist and Testudo ... Vikings 1.5: Freud and Family ... Vikings 1.7: Religion and Battle ... Vikings 1.8: Sacrifice ... Vikings Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash

                                                                       

In Treatment 3.5.4: Why Didn't Paul Kiss Adele?

So, although were outstandingly great sessions in In Treatment, Week 5 - with just brilliant acting all around, Irrfan Khan as Sunil, Debra Winger as Frances, and Dane DeHaan's tour-de-force performance as Jesse (not to mention Gabriel Byrne's peerless portrayal of Paul) - I'm still most captivated by the developing story of Paul and Adele (sensitively played by Amy Ryan).   That's because I'm a sucker for romance and meta-story (that is, Paul on the other side of the conversation) both.

The sparks that started to fly with Paul and Adele last week continue.   Paul starts talking about his feelings for Adele, then backs off.  But, most significantly, at least twice in their conversation, Adele indicates a little annoyance - nonverbally, in her facial expressions, and a little in the tone of her voice - that Paul is stopping short of telling her what he was fantasizing about doing with her.  

Now, was this annoyance coming from Adele as therapist, a bit frustrated that Paul is still shying away from going all the way in telling her his deepest feelings?  Or, was this annoyance coming from Adele as a woman attracted to Paul, a bit frustrated that Paul is still shying away from, well, telling her about his desire to go all the way with her ... (that's probably the first time in decades I've used that lame euphemism, I couldn't resist).   You tell me.

It all comes to a head - the tension and attraction between Paul and Adele - when Paul stands up to leave at the end of the session.  His face is close to Adele's, and I was thinking he'd kiss her.   But he did not - still unwilling to commit to even a kiss.

So here's my hope for the show:   Paul and Adele get together, maybe even marry.   Paul no longer needs therapy, because he's finally with someone who makes him happy (and who was not his patient).   Would this happen in real life?  Probably not, because Adele as a professional therapist would likely not let it happen, regardless of how she felt about Paul.

But, hey, this is television.


5-min podcast review of In Treatment

See also Back in Treatment 3.1.1-3: Bengali Candy, Twitter, and Superb ... In Treatment 3.4.4: Paul and Adele

And Season Two reviews:  Back in Treatment on HBO ... Back in Treatment: Three More Fine Times ... 2.1-2: Fathers and Daughters ...2.3-5: A Senior, A First Love, A Boy and His Turtle ... Sleep and Ethics ... In Treatment, In Retrospect

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)

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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

In Treatment, In Retrospect

In Treatment concluded its second season on HB0 last week, I'm up here on Cape Cod at the end of a splendid weekend, so I thought I'd say a few words about this splendid series.

First, let me just say - or, reiterate, because I've probably said this before - that In Treatment is like no other show on television. It does what The Shield did with brilliant plotting and jolting action, what Lost does with labyrinthine mind-bending story telling, with just ... talk. And that's saying a lot, because the classic take on all television drama is you need more than just talk.

Mia's talk - the first of the five threads this season - was ok and enjoyable. But the happy ending - the smile on her face, and on Paul's, when they say goodbye, and she says she'll be back next week, after declaring she's finished with Paul's therapy, was one of the best in two seasons.

April's was a much more powerful story, from the beginning. She has cancer, needs therapy, and has told no one except Paul. He has no choice but to take her - but that fractures the patient-therapist's relationship. So she's bound to leave. But not before she tells Paul that Sophie - whom Paul saved last year from suicide - wrote on a Web for evaluations of therapists that he had saved her life. Paul's always at his best with people much younger - and older - than him.

Oliver's was an excellent segment - though his parents, like Jake and Amy in Season One, were a little obvious. But Paul's demonstration that he and Oliver could still talk, even though he was moving upstate, was great. Telephones do make our lives easier, they have since the day they were invented, as I pointed out in my Cellphone book.

Walter - the fourth patient - was my favorite this season, and right up there with the very best of the two years. It was classic psychotherapy - Paul gets Walter in touch with the little boy in him that he had shut out for most of his life. And though all the acting - especially Gabriel Byrne as Paul - was marvelous this year, John Mahoney as Walter was in a class by himself.

Paul as Gina's patient was different this year than last year - Paul was much more combative, and more closely mirrored with Gina what his patients were doing with him. So, unsurprisingly, but still very well rendered, Paul tells Gina that he's leaving...

I'd be surprised if Paul was not back in her office next year - assuming there is a next year, and HBO renews In Treatment. Hey, HBO - you'd need to have your heads examined if you don't.


8-min podcast review of In Treatment

See also Back in Treatment on HBO ... Back in Treatment: Three More Fine Times ... 2.1-2: Fathers and Daughters ...2.3-5: A Senior, A First Love, A Boy and His Turtle ... Sleep and Ethics

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)

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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!

In Treatment 2.1-2: Fathers and Daughters

Two splendid sessions on In Treatment tonight -

1. Mia comes to see Paul - not as his almost-lawyer, but his erstwhile patient. This was an episode which, as a professor (not a therapist) I could thoroughly identify with. There's a profound asymmetry in the way profs remember students, and students remember professors, for the basic reason that students have been taught by far fewer professors than professors have taught students. I've taught thousands of students, and each of my students has been taught by probably not much more than a hundred professors, if that many. The numericals of therapists and patients are no doubt much smaller, but the same asymmetry applies.

So ... Mia remembers Paul far better than he remembers her. And the specialness of their relationship, from her point of view, is apparently not that they had an affair, but that she thinks he talked her out of having a baby - into having an abortion. This is looming larger than ever in Mia's life now, because she realizes that her child-bearing years are concluding. (This must be a concern of every therapist - to be contacted by a patient 20 years later, and find he or she holds you responsible for something they did or didn't do in their lives.)

Mia's relationship with her father (of course) also figures in her current situation. She relays a recollection of how her father made her feel grown-up when she was a little girl, by giving her coffee (mostly milk) in his shop. There's something about fathers and daughters which the writer of this episode keenly understands. I remember taking my daughter to a science fiction convention when she was a little girl, and letting her order an adult cut of steak. She was really happy, not just because she liked steak, but because she loved being treated like an adult.

2. April's session with Paul was even more intrinsically father and daughter. Paul's goal is to get April to an oncologist, so her cancer can be treated. He has to tread very carefully, and make sure his pressure doesn't drive April away. He seems to be navigating these dire straits almost perfectly, but the clock continues to tick...

As I mentioned last week, it's a pleasure to see Paul with teenagers and people in their early 20s - he's a professional completely in control of his emotions and strategies. In contrast, Paul's conversation with Mia is riddled, understandably, with personal responses, and it's often difficult to tell the difference between them and his professional responses. Kudos to Gabriel Byrne for a razor-sharp, satisfying rendition of these different states. He's played some great roles in movies, but his performance in these sessions is in class of its own.

And I'll be back late tomorrow or some time on Tuesday with my review of 2.3-5...

See also: Back in Treatment on HBO ... 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)

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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!

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)

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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!

In Treatment Concludes (For Now)

Laura and Alex, for very different reasons, are no longer in treatment In Treatment with Paul. So it was only appropriate that the finale week concluded with Sophie, Jake and Amy ... and Paul as patients.

Let's start with Jake and Amy. As I've been saying throughout my reviews, I think theirs was the weakest, most obvious segment in the series. Nonetheless, it concluded on a pretty good note, if unsuccessful for their marriage. Jake could just not get over Amy's sleeping with her boss. Not even when she was punished by being fired. Not even when she made some affectionate moves to reconcile with Jake. Not even when Paul tried to get them to see that there was still some powerful energy in their relationship. All to no avail. The therapy got them - at least, Jake - to see that their marriage had to fail.

In contrast, Sophie's final session was an uplifting success. We get to meet her father. Sophie finally lets him know how his leaving her, when he left her mother, was so devastating to Sophie. She may not be 100% whole, but Paul has done a fine job in getting her onto that road. "Goodbye, old fart," she says to Paul. "Goodbye, young fart," he replies. A healthy, productive relationship, in which Sophie is brought well back from the brink of suicide. Well done, Paul, and In Treatment.

And Paul? Well, Laura may be out of treatment but not out of Paul's life and yearnings and therefore not out of the show. Paul goes to see her. He tells her he loves her. She's not quite as seductive as usual, but does wind up sitting on her bed, as she takes off her top, and invites Paul in...

And we cut to black. Not quite a Sopranos' ending, though. Paul arrives at Gina's ... and we learn that Paul had an anxiety attack, and left Laura and their relationship unconsummated.

I found parts of this less than fully believable. I'm not convinced that Paul would have gone to Laura's house in the first place. And, on the other hand, that, once there, in her bedroom, he would have walked out.

But these are quibbles. All in all, In Treatment was a splendid series - the most unique show on television this year. And I very much hope this series of day by day sessions is renewed. You don't find a show like this on television, even on HBO, with Gabriel Byrne and such a superb cast, every day...

See also 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

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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!

In Treatment on HBO

HBO premiered a brilliant original show last week - original in both structure and content. Anyone who thinks HBO is running out of steam as a pioneer in the cable form should take a look at In Treatment.

The show consists of a 30-minute segment every weekday evening. Psychotherapist Paul, played by the always memorable Gabriel Byrne, sees a different patient Monday through Thursday. And on the 5th day, Friday, he sees his own therapist, Gina (played by Dianne Wiest) and becomes a patient himself.

Don't confuse this with Tell Me You Love Me. The talk on In Treatment is much more intense and intelligent. In fact, it's so good, that all almost you get on In Treatment is talking, and that was more than enough to keep my wife and me hanging on almost every word.

Monday's patient thinks she's falling in love with Paul - erotic transference, as the shrinks call it. Laura's beautiful and smart - she's an anesthesiologist - and the real question is whether Paul is falling in love with her (we find out on Friday that all's not well with his wife). Laura's played by Melissa George - Vaughn's wife on Alias - and she won't be putting anyone to sleep - at least, not in the viewing audience.

Blair Underwood plays Tuesday's patient, Alex - I've been enjoying his performances since LA Law. Here he plays a Navy pilot with a complex story of guilt and power and possible attraction to his running partner, who is a gay man. Alex also has a heart attack, running, and nearly dies. Paul's patients clearly all live life to the hilt.

On Wednesday Paul sees a 16-year girl, Sophie, played by Mia Wasikowska. Mia, like Melissa and Blair, puts in a tour-de-force performance. Sophie, a gymnast, may or may not suicidal.

Josh Charles as Jake and Embeth Davidtz as Amy come to the doctor's office on Thursday, as a married couple in real distress. I suppose this is the least original of the four stories, and the most reminiscent of Tell Me You Love Me, but the acting is powerful and the story still captivating.

Four different stories having no real connection except their excellence as narratives and the excellence with which they are acted - and Paul as the psychotherapist they all see. And on Friday, Paul reverses his role, and Gabriel Byrne puts in just as powerful a performance as patient. There's a nice symmetry here as Paul as patient goes through many of same acts of his patients - wondering why he came to his therapist, threatening to leave, verbally attacking his therapist.

In Treatment looks a highly successful experiment in TV drama, that definitely bears more watching.

PS: Steve Levinson is the Executive Producer. He is, alas, no relation...

See also In Treatment 2: Scalding ...3. Triangle ... 4. Love and Death ... 5. Paul's Greatest Strength ... 6. Paul's Boat ... 7. Alex in the Sky with Diamonds ... 8. A Princely Performance ... In Treatment Concludes: For Now

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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!