The Patient

I saw all the low star ratings, and was confused why this brilliant, thought provoking, cerebral, well-acted, well-executed, thrilling psychodrama was receiving such low ratings. The reason is rather ridiculous.

If your main problem with this show is with the length of episodes and/or the fact that you can't watch the entire thing at once, then you don't have a problem with the show, you have a problem with Hulu or FX's distribution of it. How about we review the actual content of the show, and not act like anything that requires even the most minimal amount of patience is unacceptable.

I personally like the distribution and length of episodes You know that hour after dinner and after work when it's real easy to fall asleep even during snows you like? This is a show that keeps me wide awake every week and I really look forward to it.

The patient is about a killer who wants to get rid of his urges, by kidnapping a therapist and locking him in his basement, for private therapy. Which results in a unique relationship.

Not only is Gleeson incredibly convincing as a troubled serial killer, but his chemistry with Carrell as his therapist is palpable. The story itself is not particularly impressive, new or surprising, but the character building and the continuous tension keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Some people may complain about the ending, but I respectfully disagree. The fact that the ending is not cliche, and very un-Hollywood is enough for me to enjoy it more than the current average series.

If you look through the offerings that most streaming services have to choose from, it is ... disappointing ... to say the least. Boring. Repetitive, almost. By the third row of these 'pickings', every one of the shows being pushed, look and read the same. IN FACT (true story), I held off from suggesting this as a watch to my husband because I thought it was the doctor/patient series 'The Shrink Next Door' (title which I just now had to look up by remembering that Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell were in it), and which did not interest me. In any case, we passed this up a few times until hubby mentioned Steve Carell was in it, after which we looked it up and began watching. We're now 5 episodes in, and we are both surprised and pleased.

The Patient is not perfect. Then again, very few - if any - TV shows are. It has LESS imperfections, however, than do others. The reason, I think, is because the premise is very simple. Patient abducts psychiatrist (in Synopsis and NOT a spoiler). It is the nuanced performances from everyone involved (yes, including Carell), which elevates it to not only watchable, but interesting.

Also worth mentioning AND DESPITE HOW OTHERS VIEW IT, one of the POSITIVES for me, is that the episodes are very short (30 minutes long) and so, what is a story that could become easily bogged down with filler in order to fulfill certain time or advertising constrictions, moves along fairly well and quickly, with mostly "meat" and few potatoes. Now, that meat is not necessarily the best cut each and every bite, but it IS a satisfying dish - if you give it the patience that a MERE 30 minutes entail.

Imagine if Dexter went for psychotherapy and that's enough info to describe the premise of this show without giving away too much. Solid acting from Steve Carell and I'm looking forward to seeing this evolve as the show moves forward. Make sure you watch it with little background noise or distraction as it's pure character discussion and nuanced details.

However, I recommend you save up episodes to watch as each episode is only 20 or so minutes long and this was a little frustrating and caused me to lose the feeling of atmosphere and investment in the story. No need to spoil the storyline by telling you anything here as it's a 'watch it for yourself' show. I went into it with little pre knowledge and feel that's a better way to watch most new shows.

Hope you enjoy as I have so far.

As a therapist I came across this quite by accident although I loved The Americans. This is a time where I am myself feeling as if I am tied in a basement somewhere by my patients, metaphorically of course, but psychologically identical. So, Steve Carrell's performance was perfect, portraying the struggle to both remain present for the patient, no matter how disturbed or disturbing, while negotiating the conflicts within oneself and basically dying to get away. Given this premise, I found the show riveting but only a seven because the other characters seemed one dimensional to me. The serial killer was not as interesting as Dexter, his inner struggles not so apparent, his desire to stop killing made little sense. Give it a binge watch and see what you think and next time you go to a therapist, if you do, have a little mercy on us.