Tuesday, February 12, 2008

In Treatment, week three: Alex

Talk about the latest episode of "In Treatment" -- kind of the second half of a two-parter with last night's show -- here.
Posted by Alan Sepinwall at 11:01 PM
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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alex' character was compelling to me mostly b/c the stakes were so high, not b/c the writing was the best. I'm glad we've at least gained more insight into him this week. It loses energy at the tho, at least to me. I think Laura, who's background we understand least, is just a thinly veiled plot device, which is strangling the show. I guess, you could say Gloria Trillo was a plot device too but look how well written and played she was. Even before the real craziness started, we got a real sense of her through savvy dialog, that wasn't so obvious.

For those off-put at this point watch Wednesdays episode with Sophie. It's a knockout! I think the writer Sarah Treem, has done the best job so far. And Mia and Byrne are great.

12:06 AM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

Alex has some definite control issues to work through. And once again, Paul is doling out advice he could use on himself.

I'm wondering how Paul will handle talking to Laura about Alex. Will he wait until she brings it up, or will he manipulate it out of her? Or even mention what he knows before she can speak? He was clearly jealous of Alex's assignation with her.

I also wonder how he will spin this all when he meets with Gina. I'm really looking forward to that ep!

12:27 AM, February 13, 2008
Eric said...

I find Alex's power games interesting, even though I still don't believe the character. Bringing the espresso machine is clearly a way to control the space, get himself permanently "inside" Paul. Alex thinks there's a winner and a loser in this process (and in everything) and he's determined, as usual, to be the winner. And by bedding Laura, he just may have succeeded.

1:05 AM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

There is a parallel with their kids. They both have children who have no friends. I did appreciate that Alex made some headway understanding his son wasn't a freak. And of course their dads were both philanderers.

1:12 AM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

^I wonder how much of that registered with Paul and if he'll discuss it with Gina (or better, Kate). Byrne does as good a job of hiding Paul's reactions to what he's hearing as he does showing us when the things he hears make him uncomfortable, jealous, etc.

10:47 AM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

Was I the only one who, at the end, thought that Alex knows about Laura's feelings for Paul? Alex's last line, about telling Laura to pull away her cup quickly, cause she liked lots of foam, had this air of sadness about it, like he knew that Paul was jealous/angry about him being with Laura, and he was the third wheel in all of this.

But maybe that's just me...

2:30 PM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

^I thought it was more of a brag of how he nailed her, andrew [shrug].

3:46 PM, February 13, 2008
rukrusher said...

I think Paul knows he should have told Alex take the machine out right away and then was sort of satisfied that Alex had made a decision to start therapy and not just come for quick advice and his ego allowed him to accept it. I thought Byrne did an excellent job of showing the obvious conflict Paul was having with his own feelings for Laura, his concern for her as a patient, and her motives for bedding Alex both to show Paul she is over his rejection and as a signal that she continues to need therapy because of her sex issues. That was quite a bit of information to be dumped on him by Alex.

4:47 PM, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

What about all that stuff about staying at his gay friend's house and how he was the "toast" of the gay community and even going out to a club all night long?

Is Alex really gay? These references are brief and fleeting but are so consistent I think something is up.

12:03 PM, February 14, 2008
Anonymous said...

^My first impression was that Alex was bragging about how hot he was ("I'm so hot, even gay men want me! But I'm straight because I'm married and I banged your patient!"). He's got a healthy ego going.

But you could be right. Alex could be in denial about his sexuality (or just controlling it the way he likes to control every other aspect of his life).

2:55 PM, February 14, 2008
The Alden said...

The question as to Alex's sexuality is amusing to me, because in his first episode, I had to rewatch the first few seconds 2, 3 times to make sure he wasn't checking out Paul's ass. Something about the way he moved his head made it jump into my mind, even though after checking it was just a trick of the mind.

This episode is very interesting, because it takes his former viewpoint ("The gifted ones are perfect physically, emotionally, are attractive, etc.") that was basically an ego rush and reverses it when he talks about his son being happy lonely and envying him. Alex is clearly starting to see himself in a new light, and isn't nearly happy in his job as before. It seems he's taken Paul's advice under consideration and realised that he needs to change his life - not going back to work, leaving his wife, idolising his son. He's seeing the competition, not as a rush, but as something distasteful now. Very interesting.

Another thing I noted and loved was that, in three sessions, Alex has loosened up considerably. There was an interesting vibe there with Paul, and though he still interrupts and tries to control things, he does seem to be attempting to listen to him.

Oh, and though the hatred/apathy here for Laura continues, I don't mind her nearly so much, and the chemistry she showed last episode with Alex was through the roof. I just regret that, in the constraints of the show's format, we might not see the two together much. Curious to see what occurs in the Laura/Andrew/Paul/Alex square, though. I'm guessing Andrew will get dropped like nothing.

And the look Paul had when Alex was talking to Laura? Yeah, like hell he isn't attracted.

6:51 PM, February 15, 2008

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