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S4 WEEK 6 ELADIO: A RECAP- REVIEW and the Overall OPINIONs of 2 other VIEWERS

posted 3 years ago by joi2049 (5561)
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http://www.tv-recaps-reviews.com/2021/06/in-treatment-421-review.html

REVIEW: 'In Treatment' - Brooke Hopes Eladio Can Walk Away From These Sessions Without Feeling Rejected in 'Eladio - Week 6'

So ...

After finally getting to see the last and final WEEK with ELADIO what are your thoughts?

Was anyone else as disappointed as I was to see ELADIO told that he needs to WALK AWAY and get TREATMENT elsewhere, whereas COLIN gets to stay in TREATMENT with BROOKE???

This may make sense from a THERAPUDIC standpoint, but DRAMATICALLY speaking it was extremely disappointing to have the Colin character (who has no respect for anyone) remain in therapy, and see ELADIO sent elsewhere.

And the fact that Brooke, Colin, and LAILA were what BROOK calls "PRIVILEGED" characters also leaves one feeling more indifference towards their situations than what one feels for ELADIO and for what he's been through.

https://www.reddit.com/r/InTreatmentHBO/comments/o0wcsf/im_surprised_at_how_few_members_this_subreddit/

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Sunsettz
·

The 2021 writers, by contrast, seemed to know very little about therapy and were not able to (or perhaps interested in) creating characters that were lifelike in their depth or credibly real in their presentations of themselves as patients. Instead, the patients felt as if they had been created to serve as paper-thin covers for the expression of social and political views the writers and producers wanted to teach us about (very heavy-handedly).

My problem with this, I should say, is not those views themselves, which I largely share. It’s that when art becomes transparently didactic, it’s not art anymore. It’s a series of lectures delivered using the characters as mouthpieces— which invariably produces a tedious, predictable, condescending and pretentious mess, as this season turned out to be.

Season four was essentially what you can expect from the endless crap on network TV— no magic, no mystery, no grace. Just thin, two-dimensional material written by people who prize sounding clever but don’t have the faintest idea how to create genuinely plausible characters with real depth struggling with actual human pain.

brant_ley·
12d

I don't think it was as bad as you say but ultimately I agree it wasn't high quality. I think shows that require a curtain to be pulled back often fail at the end. This show was great at the beginning because there was enough mystery and unknowableness to the characters that you could see it going a bunch of different ways. When the curtain got pulled back on all four, it felt much more rote and hackneyed.

The resolution to Brooke's alcoholism by confronting her childhood was real goofy, Colin became a caricature of an evil rich man, and 80% of the things Laila revealed about herself were brought up and never acknowledged again. You could say, sure, it's only 6 weeks and therapy is messy- but this show presented itself as a dramatized and stylized version of therapy and that's the only reason I was ever on board.

The only character who felt like a real person to me was Eladio because, by the end, he was the only one whose emotional turmoil I actually related to, but I think they handled the inappropriate relationship with them poorly.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

With Colin, Brooke was able to navigate through the ethical missteps and keep the therapeutic relationship on track. Their sharp and anger spiked exchanges do produce breakthroughs which we saw when he admitted thinking all people are frustratingly stupid to him. She knows she can start there and explore why he exploits that feeling over and over again.

With Eladio, one of the central goals of his therapy was to heal from the maternal abandonment he experienced. He was stirring up too many personal feelings in Brooke about her own biological son. It wasn’t possible to reset the boundaries, especially after he became aware of it. She was no longer a therapist to him and he was no longer just a patient to her. She was turning into a replacement mother figure which would only prolong his dependence on that relationship and her longing for it.

[–] joi2049 (5561) 3 years ago

Thanks for the explanation Who which is also appreciated very much. What you say definitely MAKES SENSE therapeutically, but dramatically or story wise it's still VERY SAD to see BROOKE's relationship with ELADIO come to an end (especially when he's also the only patient who was of interest to me).

Because I also couldn't stand COLIN from the first moments that we encountered him, and, imo, he also only got WORSE instead of better as the story progressed.

The scene where he comes to her home was also EXTREMELY FREAKY and if ADAM hadn't shown up, one also feels as if BROOKE would have become a RAPE VICTIM (due to how Colin previously also described how he'd raped other girls who were too drunk to comprehend what was happening to them).

Anyhow, even though the BREAK UP was for the best TREATMENT wise, it's still also disappointing that it wasn't possible for BROOKE to RESET the BOUNDARIES again with ELADIO.

Because it would also have been nice if they could have at least been FRIENDS after he was seeing someone else for his TREATMENT and BROOKE completes her recovery.

😞

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Yes, I like the Eladio story best too but Colin is my second favorite. I hate Colin the character but the drama, the dialogue and the acting are all excellent. The tension between Brooke and Colin is fascinating and frightening. There are tangible power shifts in their conversations and I cheer when Brooke gets the upper hand in these struggles.

[–] joi2049 (5561) 3 years ago

I understand what you mean about how Colin is more of an ATTENTION WHORE and a DRAMA QUEEN, but it's also as if "the NICE GUY finishes LAST" and the BAD GUY WINS (due to ELADIO wanting to remain in TREATMENT with BROOKE just as BADLY as the BAD BOY COLIN does).

That's why it's so FRUSTRATING to see COLIN GETTING his way again with BROOKE, when it's ELADIO who deserves to spend more time with her (from a DRAMATIC point of view).

It's pretty much the same as if we watched the courtship of someone who had to choose between whether they wanted to marry a CREEP who treats them like CRAP (aka the way COLIN does), or choose to marry the other one who is a much better choice and then the story ends with them choosing the CREEP.

In other words, EM0TIONALLY speaking it's EXTREMELY UNSATISFYING to have the story end this way (even though THERAPUEDICALY it makes more sense to have it end the way that it did).

Because that's also the implication of this story is how it's the NICE GUYS who FINISH LAST and get SHOVED OUT the DOOR when, imo, it should be the other way around with the JERKS like COLIN getting KICKED OUT of it.

🥴