What's Alan Watching?: In Treatment, week two: Paul and Gina

Friday, February 08, 2008

In Treatment, week two: Paul and Gina

Fire away with any thoughts on the second shrink vs. shrink episode of "In Treatment."

13 comments:

Theresa said...: What most struck me about tonight's episode was the way that Paul's manner of manipulating the truth is almost identical to his patients', especially Laura's. His description of the way Kate told him every gory detail was, to me, very reminiscent of Laura's claim that Andrew gave her the ultimatum. The way he turned the tables on Gina also reminded me of some of the interactions earlier in the week. Last week's episode gave me the impression that Paul and Gina had had an affair, but now I'm confused by the history between them, other than the fact that it obviously did not end well. I look forward to finding out more. This show's got me hooked.; 11:13 PM, February 08, 2008
Anonymous said...: ^ITA about Paul's manipulations of the truth. It seemed like he needed to be the victim instead of admitting he may have contributed to the decline of his marriage.

I was also confused about the rift between Gina and Paul. Did she have the affair with her patient and then abandon him, or bail out on him before she could succumb to temptation? Although I wouldn't blame her if she told Paul to eff off. She *is* retired, after all--she doesn't need to put up with his b.s., heh.; 1:36 AM, February 09, 2008
Mapeel said...: I was also struck by how much Paul bends the truth in recounting his week to Gina. For instance, he had called Kate to come help him get the blood stain out of the couch when Amy began miscarrying, but when he recounts it to Gina, he says that Kate barged into the room, and started picking on things.

The slow reveal of back history is one of the powers of the show. But it's a little frustrating. Who called Gina at the beginning of the show? It seemed he/she was looking for her dead husband.; 12:34 AM, February 10, 2008
Anonymous said...: I saw the first few episodes of this show, then missed a few, but am now caught up. I wasn't sold on the first week, but I'm glad I watched this week's worth of episodes as I am now a bit more forgiving of things that I didn't like about the first week.

I really hated Paul's seeming inability to direct the various sessions in the first week, where he was almost letting patients walk all over him and having emotional reactions to all them, quite frequently looking taken aback or letting them question his line of questioning -- which, it turns out, he's aware of. In those first few sessons, he definitely wasn't a therapist I would want to see. I like my therapists neutral and in charge, TYVM -- but as has been said, this is a show about him and not really about the patients.

I still have this particular bone to pick, though, and yeah, I'm projecting, but I really hate it that none of the patients on the show are there because they *want* to be, except maybe Laura, and that's a whole other kettle of fish. No one on TV ever goes to therapy because they realize hey, I'm not happy, maybe I'll go work on some of this stuff, and maybe it'll be hard work and make me uncomfortable, but I'm committed. I suppose the assumption would be that that would lack dramatic impact, but that's why I'm on the couch myself and there's plenty of drama to be had even if you actually want to be there.

Alex's wife has my name. Very few people on TV have my name, so it's weird to hear Blair Underwood say he never loved me. *ahem*

And yes, the Paul/Kate confrontation was the best part of the week.

I'll definitely give it another week and see how it grabs me...; 2:21 AM, February 10, 2008
Mrglass said...: Am I the only one who decided to only watch the Paul/Gina episodes? 5 episodes a week for a drama is just too much.; 9:40 PM, February 10, 2008
Anonymous said...: If you have OnDemand, I recommend watching a full week of episodes at once -- it's not much longer than a movie would be. I watched all of the episodes to date over the past few days and, all in all, I enjoyed the show quite a bit. I can't see myself watching every night but being able to catch up in bunches works.

My take on Paul and Gina is that their relationship fell apart over the Charlie thing - Paul referred this guy who was a close friend of his to her as a patient and then she ended up sleeping with the patient and wrecking the guy's life. I would be extremely pissed as well. I'm sure Paul also feels guilty as well, feeling like if he hadn't recommended her, none of this would have happened.

But I think that incident is precisely why Paul was willing to talk to her about the Laura situation, because he knows that he can always hold that over her head and feel superior about it -- after all, *he* hasn't slept with a patient. And maybe be Gina wants to help Paul because she still feels guilty too. To sum it up, their relationship seems as dysfunctional as Paul's marriage!

When Paul is in session, I find him handsome and soothing and insighful (for the most part) and kind of wish he was my therapist. When he's out of session and bellowing for Kate to come do things for him like a needy little baby...not so attractive.; 10:45 PM, February 10, 2008
Anonymous said...: Am I the only one who decided to only watch the Paul/Gina episodes? 5 episodes a week for a drama is just too much.

Are you at least reading recaps of the other eps? Otherwise, you are missing some key information that will help you better understand Paul & Gina's sessions.; 11:04 PM, February 10, 2008
Alan Sepinwall said...: Are you at least reading recaps of the other eps? Otherwise, you are missing some key information that will help you better understand Paul & Gina's sessions.

Yeah, you're missing out on how Paul winds up distorting the truth and trying to make himself look good just as much as the patients are clearly doing to him.; 11:06 PM, February 10, 2008
Mrglass said...: I understand that I am missing some development, but it doesn't seem the format of the series is viable; and the very low ratings so far confirm this impression.; 11:59 PM, February 10, 2008
Eric said...: Does anyone know when Week 3 is going to show up in On Demand?

(And DVR or On Demand is definitely the way to go with this show. We've been watching 2 episodes one night and 3 another.); 9:10 AM, February 11, 2008
JJB said...: Did she have the affair with her patient and then abandon him, or bail out on him before she could succumb to temptation?

My impression is that she didn't have a physical affair with her patient, Charlie, but an emotional affair, returned his feelings of love without consumating the relationship, then abandoned him. If Paul's father left his mother for a patient, this issue is obviously a touchy one for Paul. Did I miss that Gina actually slept with Charlie?

Who called Gina at the beginning of the show?

I thought it was just a telemarketer, just a moment to show how she is still grieving, learning to live without him, but I could be wrong. In a few episodes, it could be revealed to be a major plot point.; 1:19 PM, February 11, 2008
Anonymous said...: I thought it was just a telemarketer, just a moment to show how she is still grieving, learning to live without him, but I could be wrong. In a few episodes, it could be revealed to be a major plot point.

I'm not convinced that the telemarketer was calling about her late husband. Charlie is dead too. While it is implied that Paul has had contact with Charlie over the years, we don't know how much contact. We know he's had zilch contact with Gina (she didn't even know his youngest so existed). I wonder if maybe there is more to Gina and Charlie's relationship than Paul knows.; 6:12 PM, February 11, 2008
Theresa said...: I'm not convinced that the telemarketer was calling about her late husband. Charlie is dead too.

I was under the impression that Charlie had died just a few months ago, and she said that "he" had been dead a year.; 8:11 PM, February 11, 2008