In Treatment: Alex – Week Two
By fred | February 6, 2008
(S01E07) As always, with each day now comes a new episode of HBO’s latest series. And as this second week goes by, you really realize that the show is constructed as four or five different shows, one for each day of the week, one with its own patient and the story that comes along. And with this second week, I might start to cancel a few appointments, on days I don’t find the story or patient to be worth it.
Tuesday is the day where Alex, dead-man walking, shows up. I liked his session last week, so I was happy to see him come back, though unlike Paul I knew he would.
Funny thing though. Last week I didn’t like Monday’s session, I thought Laura was a boring cliché and I didn’t care one bit about her or her story. I’m not saying it got much better this Monday, but I may stick around a bit longer that I originally thought I would on Mondays. Alex, on the other hand, I really liked last week. He was a character, different and unique, his story was interesting and I wanted to find out more about it.
Now that I have, I wonder if that was such a good thing. I was disappointed by this session yes, although it did look much more like a session than last week. Ironically, that might be a reason I didn’t like it so much. His story with the bomb, the dead children, the being dead for a couple of days, the going back to Baghdad, it was all pretty good.
And this week I liked how it started. Alex spilling out the coffee made me laugh, it did. I’m with him in that Paul is over-thinking the whole thing, that Alex wants to impose his rules on him and how things will go down in here, but Paul isn’t wrong in his way of seeing how Alex function. He’s still in control, he still decides what can and can’t be talked about, was is true and what is not, what is worth it and what isn’t.
And the guy sure likes to tell stories. Last week it was what he did best, and this week again. He likes to tell stories, whether his trip back to the place he bombed, or how his father killed his grand-father, he likes to be telling stories. And I liked that he actually went there, and felt nothing. I really liked that, but what threw me off was that of course Paul had to digress to talking about this father, which I too find annoying from therapist and the likes.
And yes, I know, he opened up and put himself at ease when he went into that story, but I’d like to think it was more because he was telling a story and less because it was about his father.
But when things went about his broken marriage, I pretty much got bored. I did because suddenly it was nothing more than a very usual thing we had there, and we already have that the rest of the week so that’s not really what I wanted there. I’m also fearing that they may go and say that despite his claims he was, indeed, really affected and felt guilty for the deaths he caused, and I won’t like that turn either.
So while Laura managed to want me to come back next Monday to see how she’ll keep messing up her own life, as well as Paul’s maybe, Alex on the other hand had me wondering whether or not I want to know what other stories he wants to tell Paul.
The only thing I already noticed last week, and that makes me smile for some reason, (though I’m sure it relates to his need to be in control and have power,) is how he’s the only one of all of Paul’s patients to actually pay him.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: In Treatment
