MovieChat Forums > In Treatment (2008) Discussion > is there something in common about peopl...

is there something in common about people who like In Treatement ?

posted 12 years ago by bruce-129
9 replies | jump to latest

I have watched 3 seasons of "In Treatment" now, and I am just blown away by how interesting and good it is. It seems to with sparse and sparten images and effects, a simple two people talking to touch on the most deep and important subjects in human life and it does it well and believably.

Of course I think everyone should watch this and should like it, but I know that could not be. In fact most people would not have the patience for this show or the subject matter. I wonder why.

What is the common characteristic that allows people to see the real genius behind this show? Why don't a majority of people find these kind of explorations of the human psyche fantastic? To me this seems to be at the heart of storytelling and art … and literature, yet so very many people just like to be distracted and dont care to go anywhere near this kind of content, while I just find it fascinating?

[–] Craytonus_AP 12 years ago

I think that anyone who likes character-studies would appreciate iT. I love the tv shows and films that feature performances based on small details and nuances(facial ticks, slight changes in vocal tone, etc.), and iT is BUILT upon those details. Add in the fact that I'm a psychology major and it's not hard to deduce why iT is my favorite show!

"Tahiti is not in Europe . . . I'm going to be SICK."

[–] Stirchley 12 years ago

Surely what those of us who love In Treatment have in common is simply the fact that we love good drama? I have loved shows as diverse as The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Band of Brothers, etc., etc. All of these shows are very different from each other, but what they have in common is fantastic acting, well-written scripts, engaging and engrossing stories. In other words, hugely entertaining!

[–] soundofviolet 12 years ago

Maybe the common thing is that we're all in treatment. ;)

[–] bruce-129 12 years ago

LOL, or we KNOW we are crazy while the rest of the country THINKS they are sane! ;-)

[–] HollyHop 12 years ago

I never thought I would like this show, ever. Whenever there's a scene in a film or a series where two characters are just talking about themselves I'm bored to tears. My favourite genres are horror and sci-fi and the closest I've been to enjoying soap or drama are Twin Peaks and Dark Shadows, shows filled to the brim with crazy *beep*
On top of that I've never managed to take therapy seriously, those few sessions I've been to went nowhere.

I wondered myself why I got so hooked on this show. One thing I certainly find interesting is how Paul acts as a therapist in contrast as a patient. As a therapist he acts very calm and humble, his personality seems very comfortable, while as a patient he reveals an impatient, lustful and egocentric personality. In the first episode in season 2 he didn't came off as someone who handles stress very well. He's a very flawed man, I even find him despicable at times.

Don't tell me, it's no use to me. Tell yourself if you want to but don't tell me.

[–] ShoddyCursive 12 years ago

This is one of my favorite shows, and this morning I sat down and rewatched some of Season 1. It's even better than I remembered. As you said, this show could have easily been boring, but the writing and the performances are so damn good, it legitimately has you on the edge of your seat.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

[–] ma_marcil 12 years ago

It really is one of my favorite shows ever. I am watching the third season now, just started it in fact, and I realized how I missed it since I finished the seond season. Emotionally speaking, it probably is the show that left the deepest impact on me, and it still does. I believe it certainly is not made for everyone, bu onlyt for those who really appreciate shows/movies that purely concentrate on character development and dialogues and emotions. I happen to be in therapy now, and have been on and off for a part of my life, and I can definitely assert that the show feels authentic for me, from my experience. I will eventually buy the whole series; I think it is a show that could watch at different periods in your life and get something from it every time. I am sad that it stopped frankly; they adapted it in french, in Quebec, Canada, where I am from, and it is very good, but somehow I got hooked on Gabriel Byrne as the therapist. I think he brings incredible depth to the show and his character.

Bill Foster: I'm the bad guy?...How did that happen?

[–] uzairdx 11 years ago

Great post and it's a shame that this show never found the audience it deserved. Tbf, it was always going to be a niche show, but it's incredible to me how this show wasn't boring at all despite it being purely dialogue driven and almost exclusively set in a single set. The second and third seasons had some patients who were a little dull but the first season of this show is literally perfection. Every patient was great and it was a brilliantly written season, up until the anticlimatic end. I rank the first season of this show among the best TV I've ever seen.

[–] alexiahart 11 years ago

I'm also going with a love for character studies/character driven drama.
Breaking Bad and Mad Men are also phenomenal at character driven drama.