In Treatment: Season 3

This is an excellent series by and large. Personally, I felt that the third season was better than the second, which lagged a bit without the dramatic tension of the Paul/Laura affair that cohered the first season. The writing in season two devolved into clichéd psychobabble towards the end and I found myself losing interest. So I almost didn't watch the third season, but I'm certainly glad that I changed my mind. Irrfan Khan, as Sunil, gave one of the best performances in any medium that I have seen in quite some time, really the stellar performance of the entire series and that's no small complement considering the performances that were given by his colleagues.Speaking of Sunil, his storyline as well as Paul's, are particularly interesting in the context of an interview given by the show's original creator, Hagai Levi. I will attempt to include a link, but if I am unsuccessful, it's easy to google or find on Vimeo under "Hagai Levi: How I Learned To Stop Loving and Start Worrying About Psychotherapy." [...]. Levi, who was in therapy himself for many years, expresses some serious concerns about the ultimate value of psychotherapy and about the narcissistic nature of what it has become in the 21st century. Levi feels that therapy is quite limited in its ability to heal as it reduces existential dilemmas into pathologies to be cured. It's practitioners, he claims, "are really pretty limited people...lacking even a shred of those qualities that would make one a spiritual guide or role model".Another part of his talk concerns the various forms and formats that the series has taken internationally. In Treatment, or BeTipul as it is known in Hebrew, originally broadcast in Israel with Levi at the helm. It has been reproduced with different casts and writers in 13 other countries including Romania, Argentina and Russia as well as in the U.S. According to Levi, the Russian In Treatment would have cast Paul's character as a woman because Russians do not consider psychotherapy to be an occupation that is suitable for a man. In addition, all of the patients in the Russian version would have either been relatives of or known personally by the therapist. According to the Russian producer, this is because Russians would never discuss personal problems with a stranger. Levi claims that as some countries, particularly those in Eastern Europe, have learned more about the West since the fall of Communism, they have begun to yearn for and emulate some aspects of Western culture including psychotherapy. Levi questions whether psychotherapy and the narcissism that it reflects and to some extent, to which it contributes, is a part of our culture that will ultimately be beneficial to them. Certainly an interesting perspective from the creator of In Treatment.

I am in total awe of this amazing series, and I wonder both how it ever got made considering it has none of the typical elements of American media/TV and why there is so little commentary on it.The plot revolves around Paul Weston a aging middle aged psychoanalyst and his patients, but the hook is that on Friday Paul himself becomes the patient.This is quite simply brilliant and stands along in its fearless exploration of human beings and their fears and behaviors.For the week Weston is God, he holds court and controls all that goes on ... well, mostly, in the domain of his analytic office where he is cool, collected, BUT HUMAN in his efforts to help his patients, but slowly we see that Paul is human, and has frailties and faults and does not always help people, and in fact even Paul has doubts and fears if he does the right thing or not and if he has made a difference.In this cool controlled environment and life we see behind the facade the almost animalistic drives and irrational fears and needs that drive people. For example at one point one of Dr. Weston's patients bursts in on his in his private life with what appears to be a major breakdown, but we see how infantile this patient bahaves when he is unable to control his Dr. which seems to be his biggest need. Then the next day we see Pau himself do a very similar thing to his doctor and not be able to see the parallel at all.I wish I lived in the kind of country where people would watch and discuss programs like "In Treatement" instead of the mindless distracting idiocy of most average TV that is geared towards just taking people's minds off of their own inner world and what is going on with them, but until then I guess I'll have to be satisfied by appreciating the brilliance of this TV series and discussing it with a few friends and the people who comment on the Internet about such things.Not for everyone, but for those who find this kind of material interesting, this is a perfect 5/5 stars.A related book, that I have found interesting is Daniel Goleman's "Vital Lies, Simple Truths" which also deals, but as a non-fiction book about need for people to have defense mechanisms and how they work. I think this program and this book can be an eye-opening experience for anyone interested.

The number of characters changed from five to three. Paul gets a new therapist and that brings new things to the table for him. His patients are not quite so interesting as in the previous seasons, however one really throws an amazing, completely unforeseen curve-ball into the mix, which definitely spiced it up.This season gives a better glimpse into Paul's mind, which makes it more interesting than in previous seasons as the viewer was not shown too much of his personal life. He had some challenges to deal with, decisions to make and some of that spills over into the way he treats his patients. His professional judgement is questioned and he has to deal with the fallout.I gave it three stars because the characters were not as interesting. Paul was more interesting. If there was a fourth season, I'd be first in line to buy it. Gabriel Byrne delivers, he is convincing in his role and he captivates the audience with his acting.

I haven't seen this one available on streaming services like Netflix so far, but it's a fantastic series with an excellent cast. This third season introduces Amy Ryan, known for her work in The Office series.

Il y'a certaines oeuvres dont le propos épouse parfaitement le format série, et In Treatment en fait partie. Quelle brillante idée de suivre semaine après semaine une poignée de patients et leur thérapeute, il n'y a pas mieux pour entrer dans la vie de ces gens, constater leur évolution et suivre avec intérêt leurs erreurs et leurs errements.Le tour de force d'In Treatment, c'est d'être une série incroyablement addictive. Quand j'ai regardé la saison 1, ça m'a surpris à quel point j'enchainais les épisodes sans aucune lassitude, et à quel point le temps passait vite en les regardant (le fait que chaque épisode ne soit au fond qu'une seule longue scène brouille certainement la notion du temps). Ce sentiment d'addiction fut également présent sur les saisons 2 et 3.In Treatment est tellement chiche dans la forme (une pièce, deux fauteuils) que ce sentiment d'addiction peut surprendre : c'est parce que son fond est tellement profond qu'il nous donne toujours envie d'en savoir plus sur la vie de ces personnages. Il n'y a pas besoin de grand chose pour faire une grande série, il faut juste 2 composantes essentielles : un bon scénario et de bons interprètes. Et In Treatment a tout bon sur ces 2 points.La série repose encore une fois sur son écriture, et elle est d'une grande richesse. Mais des scénarii complexes et des dialogues bien pensés ne seraient rien sans de bons acteurs, et cette 3ème saison fait encore mouche. Gabriel Byrne est à nouveau formidable de justesse, et les nouveaux patients aussi, ma préférence allant à Irrfan Khan (Sunil) et Amy Ryan (Adele) : Sunil est très attachant (et même bouleversant) tandis que les séances avec Adele, la nouvelle thérapeute de Paul, permettent à ce dernier de se lâcher, d'exprimer sa colère et ses déceptions, et leurs joutes verbales sont un pur régal.HBO est réputée pour son audace créative et la liberté totale qu'elle laisse aux têtes pensantes de ses séries, mais néanmoins, la chaine a annulé In Treatment 3 mois après la diffusion de cette 3ème saison. Cela dit, il ne faut absolument pas s'inquiéter, la fin de l'épisode 3.28 est très satisfaisante et marche parfaitement en tant que fin de série, je n'ai ressenti aucune frustration.En clair, cette dernière saison est passionnante et à la hauteur des deux premières. In Treatment nous quitte par la grande porte et confirme qu'elle est clairement une grande série.

I wanted all the seasons of this show and now I have. You gain incite into various different patients and, most especially, the psychiatrist.

La saison 3 est aussi captivante que les autres.Le personnage de Sunil est d'une telle complexité qu'il donne à la série une tension et une émotion particulières.Les thèmes comme le déracinement, la difficulté de s'intégrer dans un pays où les valeurs sont si différentes sont abordés avec sa thérapie ainsi que la difficulté de la cohabitation de plusieurs générations. Des thèmes comme la peur de la maladie, de la mort,l'ambivalence des relations entre soeurs,entre mères et filles sont finement montrées dans la thérapie de la comédienne.C'est toute la fragilité humaine qui transparait .Gabriel Byrne (le psy)est excellent ainsi que Ami Ryan (Adèle) sa nouvelle psy . A voir absolument..