In Treatment Online

I think it should be understood, that therapy is not always the cliff-hanger that these episodes are. But, if you made a show that was truly realistic to what occurs in therapy, no one would watch it. So I feel the writers/producers of "In Treatment" made the smart move in focusing on the aspects of therapy (psychoanalysis, to be precise) that are most riveting; these tend to be issues of transference and counter-transference. The Friday supervisions/treatments that Paul receives provide vital clues to keep an eye out for in the subsequent sessions that he has in the following week. In the most recent episode (2-5-08), Paul is seen to be projecting onto Alex his own feelings towards his marriage by telling alex that he's probably known these marital concerns were at a "boiling point" for some time. This is a small example of the attention to detail that the writers/producers have paid to the realities of therapy; and if they did this without a psych consult, all the more credit to them.

Lets not forget that this is a television show. It can't be a perfect portrayal of the reality of the therapeutic environment. Lets ALSO remember that therapists are not perfect people. They can be idiots who foolishly leave medicine in their office bathroom cabinets; they can project their own issues into a session; and they can clog their toilets up, resulting in an argument with a client over boundaries (Laura, week2). Paul is being portrayed as an adept psychoanalyst with issues of self-worth that were probably never thoroughly analyzed during his training. When the narcissistic thrill of being a gifted therapist wears off, everything starts to make its way to the surface.

Kudos to HBO on a well-done series.

The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Rome ending, left a gaping hole in the heart of HBO for me.

I was ready to drop my subscription when I realized that Gabriel Byrne was going to be a key player in the new series, In Treatment.

WOW! I'm so glad I stuck it out...Gabriel Byrne...I first admired him years ago when he played in a robust movie called "Into The West" which I now own on DVD. He is one damn fine actor in a tour de force of a show that he can easily sink his teeth into.

Diane Wiest as the therapist's therapist is noteworthy as well!

The plot is addictive...I quickly became committed to the weekly patients, some of whom I really hate. The script is detailed, intense and very well written. The simple sets and the subtle camera action during emotional moments, serves well to keep one purely focused on the drama. And man what drama! Even though it has no comedy, In Treatment is almost destined to be another big hit for HBO.

Some one suggested Robin Williams should have had the part of the psychoanalyst...what? I hope that was a joke.

I just watched the very first episode and after it was over I just sat there, silent, amazed at what I had just seen. It's dialog and character driven. It's simple and yet complicated. Gabriel Byrne seems to be the perfect choice for the therapist character. He's an actor who says a lot with his face and his eyes. Frankly, I can't wait to see what happens with these people.

Very engaging first episode. It drew me in with just two people sitting in a room talking. There really aren't many things out there that can do that. Definitely give it a chance, especially if you enjoy most things HBO.

I've written before that I'm a sucker for one-on-one scenarios - they're generally the hardest to pull off, but when they're good, they're very, very good: intimate, intense and deeply rewarding. In Treatment has a unique format: Monday through Thursday, we focus on a different patient of therapist Paul (an interesting performance by Gabriel Byrne) and then on Friday, it's Paul himself who is in therapy (with the superb Dianne Wiest as Gina).

For the most part, the sessions are written in a realistic way, where the issues are revealed in layers, not upfront, which is how things generally are revealed in real life, so this works.

On Monday, we have Laura (the compelling Melissa George), who tells Paul she is in love with him. Yer basic "transference" as it's called, and Paul responds by telling her he's not an option. She's very persuasive, this Laura, and the next week (the second session we see), she comes back to tell him she's decided to accept her boyfriend Andrew's proposal of marriage, simply because Paul told her no. A lot of game-playing and power-tripping going on here, a lot of testing, as well, and then there's Paul's true feelings about the situation, which go far deeper than he shows Laura, of course.

Tuesday is Alex - he's a pilot who's flown bombing missions and is seeking help for his guilt, which he cannot even admit he has. He's the most controlling of the patients, constantly playing tedious ego games with Paul.

Wednesday, we've got Sophie, a teenage gymnast and Olympic hopeful who may or may not be subconsciously causing herself harm in order to get attention from her mother and/or to get out of the pressure of training. She also might be sexually involved with her coach - this is something I picked up on during the first session and I was pleased to see Paul bring it up with Gina in his own second session (which I watched last night). The actor who plays Sophie is Mia Wasikowska, and she is absolutely fantastic - she makes her lines sound as if she's creating them on the spot, a brilliant actor with a stunning career ahead of her. Her sessions are by far the most believable, and I find myself truly caring about what happens to her character.

Thursday we meet with a couple, Amy and Jake, who are having a baby and not sure if they want to keep this baby. The second of their sessions was cut short when Amy started having pains and they had to leave.

This provided a chance for Paul's wife Kate to have it out with him in his office, which she feels he uses to escape from her and shut her out. She's been very unhappy because she feels Paul puts all his energy into his work and has nothing left for her and their children - "all I get is an anemic old tired man," she tells him. Then she proceeds to say she's been having an affair - something Paul already suspected and had mentioned to Gina in his first session with her. He then flies into a rage and demands details, so he won't be left to his own imagination, he tells her.

Friday, things really heat up, when Paul seeks solace by going to see Gina, a therapist with whom has an apparent history. By the second session, he's a wreck, although he was a mess the first week too, confiding in her that he feels he's been "losing patience with my patients" - which is true, from the behavior we had witnessed.

It's like the blind leading the blind, really, because Paul, we find, is egotistical, angry, deeply conflicted, confused and in denial just as much as the patients he attempts to treat. Even worse, he's withholding when it serves him. For instance, in their second session, he fails to tell Gina that HE was the one who demanded details of the affair from Kate, instead passing it off as if she was throwing these details in his face. It's only when Gina calls him on it that he sort of admits what really happened.

This is good though, the way Paul is portrayed - it makes him human. And the show is addictive, if you like this sort of thing, which I do, of course, even with the self-consciousness of some of the writing - only the sessions with Sophie genuinely ring true, as I've said. Rodrigo Garcia, who also worked on the other therapy show, Tell Me You Love Me, is a good writer and director, as are the others being employed, and I believe this show could blossom and go on for quite some time.

2/26/08: I've watched weeks 1-7 now, and I have to add: keep watching. It gets better. MUCH better. I've up'd my rating from a 6 to a 7 to reflect this.

3/18/08: Week 8 is nothing less than transcendent, some of the most compelling TV I've ever seen. Giving the series an 8 now.

5/5/09: After 5 weeks of Season 2, it's a 9 from me. This season is much better, in every possible way: all the self-consciousness is gone from the writing, it's much more organic now and quite brilliant. Paul has new patients (all intriguing and beautifully written and brought to life in stunning performances across the board), and he's dealing with the fallout from Season 1 - most notably his infatuation with Laura which cost him his marriage and the potentially hugely damaging lawsuit brought on by Alex's father, who holds Paul responsible for his son's death.

In Week 5, we see a heart-breakingly sad Paul, whose father has just died. The subtlety, complexity and poignant restraint with which these segments were written and performed represent, in my opinion, some of the most stunning and affecting television you will ever witness.

This Show is a definite contender for the Emmy awards this year. The writing was superbly well done and even if it always remains in his office it keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Personally its Gabriel Byrne's best job since " The Usual suspects". The characters all have amazing depth in their histories and personalities. My personal Favourite is Sophie, she shows what many true teenagers are feeling everyday but are to afraid to get help. Diane west playing Gina was an excellent choice because of her inviting motherly aspects as well as her coldness.

I personally think it was a brilliant idea even if it was already done in another country. It is the best new HBO show in my opinion and one of the best show's ever produced.

OK all of you who've read the first draft of this article thank you for saying it helped you and now that i've finished the series i can say that i stand behind everything i said before. I honestly cant wait for the next season.

So i've just finished watching the first 5 episodes of HBO's new therapy session adaptation, "In Treatment", and I can say that I'm am more than satisfied. This show is really great! I'm not one to fall for 'buzz', and i'd seen a few interview/promotions for the program before I had sat down to watch it but this program works purely on its script and sharp camera work. it's quite easy to get pulled into it. It is of course a bit 'over'-dramatic (or just dramatic as this is TV) for the sake of entertainment, but the dialogue is kept realistic and subtle enough to be engaging.

Each of the characters bring something totally different as well and the final therapy session of the week is probably the most ironic and consequently the most fun.

I would like to say this feels totally original, though truthfully it reminds me a bit of the Soprano's, specifically Tony's therapy sessions, it has that same feel but with a little more spice to last that whole 30 Min's or so. The cinematography is also really tastefully done.

All in all its a well carried out show, and i could say a ton more at the risk of sounding like a advertisement so i won't. its a really great show and can't wait for the next slew of episodes.

Don't hesitate to check it out!

I nearly judged this one by its first episode, which I think pointed the series in the wrong direction. This show is a cleverly constructed concept that feels quite like it belongs on the stage. Gabriel Byrne uses his greatest talent - subtly of style - and performs exceptionally in the long pauses and lingering shots. Its addictive. Come 'Thursday' night you may feel cynical, but after 'Friday's' episode you just have to know what transpires the next week. In an age where we are all obsessed with over-analysing everything, this is a show that will appeal to many people with its everyday issues and obvious psychology that we are so keen to recognise in others, but not ourselves - a fact blatantly realised when the tables are turned and the therapist effectively goes to therapy.

I was ready to be seduced by a new HBO series and here it was. Perfect timing coincided with perfect writing and acting had made an immediate fan out of me before the end of week 1. We follow week-by-week the therapy sessions of four individuals (which includes watching Paul Weston, the therapist go through his own therapy) and one couple. For anyone who has ever been in therapy there is an automatic connection to the whole process as we see it unfold with different characters and being able to relate to pieces of all of them.

The acting is incredible though this show belongs to Gabriel Byrne and Diane Wiest. I'm having my own erotic transference to Dr. Weston but am I relating to him as an actor or a therapist? That's how wonderful he is in this role.

"In Treatment" is what "Tell Me You Love Me" tried to be but didn't quite hit the mark. Promise you, after 2 sessions, you will be hooked.

In Treatment is one of those series that doesn't need anything more than creativity, because it's all about it. There's no need for more than a director, a camera, an effective editing, great few actors and interesting cases. OK, any other series need all of that too but here everything's much more simple, fitting in a low budget that results in a high profile series that holds your attention just by amazing performances in a room.

When I heard about it for the first time I thought that it could be a lot boring, but I was completely wrong. HBO's philosophy about realistic drama shows never goes wrong on the target.

In Treatment really is something like 6 different series in just one. I mean... you can follow each one of the 5 weekly patients individually or you can just opt following all of them. So you will keep understanding the primal idea anyway you choose. And that is a lot interesting and innovative.

Boring? No way. The actors and their characters have their very own personality and problems a part, and each one of them has their own meaning and importance in a way that it's impossible choose the most interesting or the best performance between them.

First season is filled with great actors and amazing characters. You have Laura (monday) - brilliantly performed by Melissa George - a person who have relationship problems with her fiancé because she's in love with Peter, her psychotherapist; Alex (tuesday) - performed by Blair Underwood - an arrogant navy pilot that is always testing Peter and himself without balancing consequences; Sophie (wednesday) - performed by Mia Wasikowska - a teenager that seems to be a potential suicide but in fact problems are too much worse than that; Jake & Amy (thrusday) - performed by Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz - a couple which husband has trust problems with a wife that's always hiding truths to avoid his jealousy behavior; and at least and last Peter himself (friday), performed by Gabriel Byrne, who searches for his once a time mentor and now a retired psychotherapist Gina - magnificently performed by Dianne Wiest - because psychotherapists are also humans and have their own personal and professional problems.

But the best thing for me is the realistic tone of each chapter, making us fell like in a real psychotherapy session. If you like consistent dialogs and enjoy a lot to be an observer of human behaviors and also all those psychotherapist manners to take away hidden truths like playing a game, you'll be mesmerized with this show. It's simple, consistent, dense and emotional with no shame.

As a therapist myself (not psychoanalytical), I think this series comes the closest to depicting a real therapy session that I have yet to see on television. Yet, it has its flaws. To wit: What clinician, in his right mind, would leave prescription meds in a client bathroom? Also, the characters of Paul and Gina follow the stereotypical image of the therapist as detached and soft-spoken with bland affect. I don't know of any colleague (myself included) who doesn't infuse her/his sessions with humor, emotion, and most important, empathy. These are important tools that help us connect with our clients. There may be hope for Paul, however, as in Session Four with the gymnast, he managed to show anger when she told him she'd been taken advantage of by her date.

Finally, there is the usual assumption that therapists are upscale (check out Paul's and Gina's respective digs). Psychology, Social Work, and Professional Counseling are arguably the lowest paid of all professions.

I would love to see a competing series about a therapist who works out of a cramped office in a bare-bones non-profit agency, and drives to work in a second-hand Yugo. This therapist would, of course, also share a laugh and a a tear with the clients from time to time.

I don't know why, but everyone who comments on this show feels a need to outline each of the characters, with a short "bio" and some personal remarks.

What's curious about this is that the show's uniqueness comes from Gabriel Byrne's performance, and the subtle variations in his dealing with each patient. Their problems and dilemmas are somewhat secondary to his attempts to address them, which, ironically, is only possible because the other actors are absolutely brilliant.

All that said, Sophie is fascinating, not only from the character/plot/script standpoint, but from the unbelievable performance by Mia Wasikowska. She was the only one in the show I had never heard of or seen anywhere else, and for this kind of incredible performance to spring out of nowhere, it's clear she's sold her soul to the devil, and truly gotten her money's worth. Looking forward to seeing her in everything else she does.

The show started off a little rough, but now entering it's 3rd week, the show is growing some feet. I think the real treat of the show so far is reaching the end of the week when Paul (played by Gabriel Byrne) meets with his own shrink Gina (played by the wonderful Dianne Wiest) on Fridays.

Melissa George (Laura on Mondays) is another treat. There is this awesome sexual tension between her and Paul.

Blair Underwood (Alex on Tuesdays) is still rough yet. He's a cocky arrogant fighter pilot who thinks he knows more than he really knows...slowing his character will understand himself.

Mia Wasikowska (Sophie on Wednesdays) is young and quite immature yet still has a good read on herself (a little like Natalie Portman in "Beautiful Girls"). I can't tell if I like her character yet, as its still early.

Jake & Amy (on Thursdays) are married couple who trying to get pregnant and then finally did. I don't want to give too much away, but its almost as if they are aggressively using each other against each other.

So far, I enjoy the show's premise, the writing, the character development. I hope HBO gives it time to gain and grow an audience.

It felt like i was in therapy myself.. powerful drama and deeply emotional..strong dialogs.. i have never seen something like this before.. i was sick with all these special effects and stuff that we see now-days in all the movies and series and i wanted to see good stories.. and finally here i was!I saw two seasons in one and a half week!! isn't that crazy?i'm about to see season 3. i was surprised to see a little bit of myself in many of the "patients" and i also saw a different point of view in specific acts.. how weird.. it make me think after every episode and this i call it a success! how it seems simple but also complicated..just two people talking but doesn't make you bored at all! Gabriel Byrne couldn't be better it was a successful choice and all the characters were in role in such way that amazed me! i still can't understand why the brilliant HBO canceled season 4. big big mistake..i really hope they reconsider and i believe there are a lot like me that want the series to continue.

In Treatment has been a gutsy move by HBO. In the world of television production, where the need to present program content in a hurry, and the rule of thumb that a hurried pace is a substitute for the development of characters, the medium is plagued with mediocrity as much as ever. Of course, many viewers prefer their telly fix with this subtext and the rule of hurry. Things have to be happening all the time, and expeditiously.

But this show resists these conventions brazenly: with exceptions in later episodes, each half-hour session is staged in the therapist's office, where each Monday Laura (Melissa George), for example, sits on a couch facing Dr. Weston and the two talk about her problems. This intimacy grows on the viewer and becomes very absorbing - maybe too absorbing to some. A viewer is frequently confronted with profound hardships and misery below the surface that he might not want to bother with – and more,that he might find too close to home to watch. And although there is plenty of intensity and fireworks, the pace is minimalist, using Bergmanesque silence and implication in ways that might prompt some viewers to reach for their remotes.

When these features of the program are combined with its dense time slotting, it runs the risk of being too much to ask of even the culturally high-ranked HBO viewer. One has to wonder if a second season might want to spread out the schedule, or somehow do one-hour shows.

HBO needs to bring it back in any case, because this is exceptional television. Through the intimacy of the single scene, clear channel dialog between the very able Byrne and his well-played patients, In Treatment moves, provokes, challenges, arouses – and entertains. The writing has its lapses, but they are few.

As his therapist (and teacher of years back), Wiest excels and her deeply ambivalent, often riveting exchanges with Byrne at their Friday evening sessions are finely wrought set pieces. Their time together is a well-designed vehicle for Byrne to let us know his story, the one he can't reveal during the rest of the week.

The ensemble of patients and his family – perhaps because of the commanding presence of Byrne to spur them – does well, including the sixteen year old Sophie and Byrne's wife, played by Michelle Forbes. Dr. and Mrs. Weston are unhappy – miserable is more accurate – and their row halfway through the show over her infidelity is a match for any excruciating confrontation in a work of an O'Neill or a Williams.

But by far the best of In Treatment is in Laura's sessions, and Melissa George informs her role with an energy and inventiveness that is both startling and marvelously disturbing. In a sense, the epicenter of the show is Laura, even when she's absent from an episode. In her raging passion for Paul, loosed in quanta among quieter but suspenseful moments of gazes and pleasantries, George's character takes confessions of impossible, painful love and turns them into potent star bursts. These are not exploding novas light years away, but launched across the table in the therapist's office, and rather than fading they refuse to cool, threatening to melt the covenant of therapist-patient.

These days television rarely has the privilege of portraying the kind of tension one witnesses between Byrne and George. His efforts to impose his distance as therapist from her (and his) tormented erotic impulses are matched by her doggedness, however tainted it is by the maladjustment that brought her to him in the first place. In a sense Laura makes her therapist captive, deftly blurring the hallowed ethical line separating them.

Somewhere along the line, beyond her casting in unremarkable pictures like Amityville Horror and other television work like Alias, Melissa George dived into the big waves of HBO. Beauty counts for much on television and in the movies, but at some point one has to turn action into character, and George has figured it out. And then some. With more parts like Laura in In Treatment, George just might be the reincarnation of Gene Tierney.

I don't usually give reviews like this. In fact, I don't even login IMDb. But, for this title, I HAD to create an account and just had to tell people what an amazing show it was. I'm completely in awe of it. The superb acting, the extremely engaging script, the perfect camera-work, the subtle and soothing music in the backdrop, and the layers of complex story lines associated with each character. This show is just perfect. And the last episode in season 3 provides just the perfect end. So beautiful. As a psychology student myself, I have got to learn so much from this show. I'm no one to even comment on the brilliance of this show, but I just couldn't resist doing so anyway! I have just finished watching the last episode of the series.. such a perfect ending. Thanks to the directors and producers of the show for giving me the privilege of having such an experience; for providing an alternate reality for me to go back every week and experience the world with a part of me that heavily empathised with the protagonist.

I've been left truly humbled by the show.. the raw emotions of each character and the brilliant acting did justice to the whole concept. As much as I would like them to continue making new episodes, I think there couldn't be a more perfect ending to the show.

I loved every single bit of this show. Missing it already...

No joke- I'm sure it's not the same in all cases, but the way the characters in this drama dig into deep, personal baggage, I couldn't help but look at my own. It began as a sort of admiration for the characters- Sophie in particular; she had a certain charm that just drew me in, and made me want to get to know her, much the way Paul tells her he felt, when she asks if he had to go at her "with a magnifying glass" to find anything to love.

But the scene that hit me the hardest was the couple, Jake and Amy, in their fifth session. When Amy, with that glazed look in her eye, the one Jake hates, announces that she wants a divorce. And Jake just breaks down, crying into her lap, helplessly, yet she can't even bring herself off her own pride to properly comfort him. I felt so saddened by it, and attested it to "I don't want to be her. I want to treat my partner better than that." But then I realised my sadness wasn't pity on the characters, or worry of how I would treat someone, but the realisation of how I did treat someone. How I once was her. And it was both frightening and upsetting. I've since been really working through it, and have started to lay down my pride a little more.

This is a powerful, powerful program, and I like to think that there's a little healing in it for everyone. I don't know how they did it, but HBO hit the very object of therapy right on target. Maybe it falls together a little too easily, or ties together a little too nicely from time to time, but the underlying truth of it is, it gets close and personal, and offers a little hope.

Perhaps this is more a personal account than a proper review of a series, but this drama has touched me like no other, and for that I am very grateful.

It's very easy to be skeptical about a show whose episodes consist of therapy sessions. There is potential here for everything that is wrong with television today, such as cheesy sentimentality or, a viewer's worst nightmare, reality TV drivel.

Thankfully, judging from the first four episodes of _In_Treatment_, the creators of this show have something else in mind. The concept of presenting a conversation between therapist and patient(s) has such wide possibilities that I'm really curious where this will go. If I understand correctly, all the patients appearing during the first week will be back for subsequent sessions, so all the episodes thus far are pilots of sorts.

My advice is not to make up your mind based on the very first episode, as it operates with an old cliché, and despite the convincing acting from both cast members, it can be a bit of a letdown. There is a very sharp contrast between this and the much more interesting second episode (less "drama" and a very satisfying, intelligent plot), and if this is an indication of the variety to come, the show will be a sure winner.

As a licensed psychotherapist, I was fairly impressed with the first episode; however, it appears that the series could have benefited from a psych consultant (I read that they had used none, incomprehensibly!).

I don't think one needed to be a shrink to have picked up on the Melissa George character's erotic transference WAY before Gabriel Byrne-as-therapist did. How thick could he be? And the fact that a therapist would have patients use a bathroom that has a medicine cabinet that contains not only his personal items but actual medications was utterly lacking in credibility.

Let's hope the coming episodes don't have such gaffes of verisimilitude, because it's a unique show.

I'm a little surprised (given that the show is about self-analysis with a goal of better self-understanding, which invites analytical perspectives) that no one has brought up any non-literal interpretations of the series. I think it's possible to view all the client-characters in the show as aspects of Paul's personality. Somewhere I read a description that the series focuses on the clients who mean the most to Paul. I think it possible his passions, his family relationships, his sense of self, are all reflected in his five clients. (And his relationship with Gina, his therapist, is like his superego, if I may awkwardly throw around psychological concepts.) His actual family gradually begins to enter the picture more as the series goes on, and have more independence from him / are not mere projections of his ego (although sometimes that's what they seem to be). But the clients, taken together, seem like reflections - fragments, perhaps - of Paul's inner self, in a The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts way. (Note added 3-11-2008: I just found an IMDb message board thread which in part addresses what I've been saying. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0835434/board/nest/98892009 )

I offer this perspective as one way to enhance the viewer's appreciation of the series. The series doesn't require looking at it this way, but it helps me to have an A+ experience of an already Grade A series.

This is a show that if I had given up after the 1st disc, I would have regretted it. This is not for kids or even teenagers early twenties at all. This is talky show w/little to no music & just solid acting and writing. You really are thrown in the middle of the characters lives & it takes you at least 5-10 episodes for you to catch up. There is a lot that is said & the characters become very established & you learn a lot about them. Gabriel Bryne is fantastic in this role & he really shines as the mostly mellow shrink. I would not recommend just trying to watch this mid-season because you will probably be lost. I'm not saying it's Soap Opera-y, but it's close. Give this a try if you are tired of the the terrible Reality shows & are interested in some real characters & acting.

Read about how it was merely doctor patient conversations and stifled a yawn. About 2 minutes into the first episode and was hopelessly hooked.

Doubt the portrayal is entirely realistic but don't care. It is gripping and moving. Immersive and addictive. No matter how many episodes passed, still couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Have always liked Gabriel Byrne and he brings to life this flawed man trying to display an air of imperviousness. Deeply affected by his patients yet struggling to keep his distance at all times. Inevitably his reserve seeps into his personal life, alienating his family.

As an actor he has to depict a wide range of emotions, all the time bound by the chair he sits in and the patient/character he speaks too. Truly a sight to behold.

He is helped in no small part by the supporting cast who more than hold their own.

In the age of transformers and avatar this is a master class in storytelling and drama.

If you are debating seeing this, don't.

Wish them well.

Thank you.

This is the best show I had seen so far on HBO. Its hypnotic, excellent writing and superb acting. One of the most intelligent writing in contemporary TV series. Impossible to watch only one episode at the time. Gabriel Byrne is so believable as a therapist, including his facial expressions while following the conversation between his patients, and monitoring their brake through and emotional reactions. Mia Wasikowska (Sophie)-in whose treatment episode wouldn't be my first choice in the first few weeks, absolutely engaged me in her treatment every week more and more watching her character "making progress in therapy" letting her therapist in and bonding with him by creating that circle of trust sealed with the air kiss at the end of the week 7th's episode. Embeth Davidtz (Amy) convinced us how complicated for the therapist and impossible to treat patience could be...

I was so concerned about what I'd get hooked on after The Sopranos. This is it. Gabriel Byrne is fabulous. Plays the role so well. He's Paul to me the way James Gandolfini was Tony though they're obviously much different roles. The other cast is fantastic too, particularly Blair Underwood & Mia W. Diane Weist is great too. I always found the therapy sessions between Tony & Melfi to be the most interesting and this show is basically those scenes throughout. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the fighting couple but the other sessions are totally riveting. Monday nights have become In Treatment nights for me!! I can see a bunch of Emmy's coming this way across the board!!

I had been looking forward to the premiere of "In Treatment" for months -- partly because I'm a fan of Gabriel Byrne's, and partly because a friend of mine works on the show. One does have to support one's friends.

I was more than pleasantly surprised after the first episode. I immediately emailed my friend, and told him the show would be a failure. Why? Because it was intelligent, insightful, well written, well acted, well directed, well edited, well everything. The best shows never seem to make it, so this one was sure to be a goner.

I only hope I'm wrong. Not because I want my friend to keep working (although I do), but because I want to see what happens next with these characters.

Guess that season one of "In Treatment" was just an appetizer because season 2 is really hauling out the entrees in a big way. This is Theater with a capital "T". Thoroughly dependent on writing and character development, "Treatment" is delivering the goods week after week. We've already come to expect this performance level from Gabriel Byrne, Hope Davis, Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney but, like the Who said, "The Kids Are Alright". Aaron Shaw and the brilliant Alison Pill are really lighting up the screen this year. HBO has managed to score once again. Almost obviates the need for Broadway (and B'way ticket prices) when you can get this kind of thoughtful writing and acting in the comfort of your own living room.