When HBO introduced final 12 months they have been reviving In Treatment, I believed, “After all.” In any case, the drama is ideal for the pandemic period, because it’s a easy set-up of psychologist and affected person, simply speaking in a room — a string of interconnected two-handers, pared right down to the barest of dramatic bones. The brand new revival (debuting Sunday, Might 23 at 9/8c) does discover loads of emotional fireworks inside that restricted format… but it surely’s a decidedly combined bag. The sequence rotates its episodes amongst 4 storylines, and a few find yourself being extra compelling than others.
In Therapy‘s scheduling is just a little uncommon: It airs 4 half-hour episodes every week, two on Sundays and two on Mondays — I’ve seen the primary eight — with every episode centering on a single session with a special affected person. Uzo Aduba stars as therapist Dr. Brooke Taylor, who conducts periods from her distractingly attractive L.A. dwelling. (It is a continuation of the 2008-10 HBO sequence; we see that Brooke receives emails from Gabriel Byrne’s Dr. Paul Weston and has images with him.) Like the unique, the episodes listed here are largely self-contained single scenes, as Brooke gently probes into her sufferers’ psychological points — though, in a fourth storyline, it’s Brooke herself who will get put underneath the microscope.
Her first affected person is Eladio (Hamilton‘s Anthony Ramos), an in-home nurse caring for the disabled son of an ultra-rich household. He can’t sleep and desires a lithium prescription, however Brooke is reluctant to assist him get tablets with out drilling right down to the foundation of his insomnia. Ramos is a gifted actor — however Eladio’s periods are carried out by way of video conferencing, and so their scenes really feel oddly disconnected, like they’re simply two actors performing monologues at one another. (It’s unclear if Ramos couldn’t movie with Aduba resulting from COVID restrictions, however the digital distance between them badly hampers that storyline.)
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The revival’s most profitable episodes are with Colin, performed by John Benjamin Hickey (The Massive C, Manhattan). He’s an entitled tech govt contemporary out of jail for monetary crimes and compelled into court-mandated remedy with Brooke. He’s charming at first, however there’s a particular darkness beneath; he whines concerning the burden of being a privileged white man nowadays, scary Brooke and getting explosively hostile at occasions. Their periods flip right into a sparring match, or a bullfight, nearly, with Brooke nimbly dodging Colin’s assaults, and the escalating pressure brings out one of the best in each Aduba and Hickey.
In a 3rd set of episodes, Quintessa Swindell (Trinkets) performs teen affected person Laila, dropped at Brooke by her grandmother, who’s involved concerning the lady’s sexuality. Laila is a lesbian and a self-described intercourse addict who takes a snotty, sullen method to remedy. (“Would you like me to, like, do your job for you?” she snipes at one level.) However after some preliminary bumps, Brooke patiently chips away at her defenses. Plus, within the fourth storyline, Brooke’s pal Rita (Liza Colón-Zayas) offers her an opportunity to vent her personal points; she’s nonetheless mourning her not too long ago deceased father, and her poisonous ex Adam (Joel Kinnaman) is slowly however absolutely easing his means again into her life.
Brooke shouldn’t be a straightforward position to drag off, however Aduba was positively the correct option to play her. Her work as Suzanne on Orange Is the New Black is likely one of the finest TV performances of the previous decade; she’s a affected person, openhearted actor and slips simply into therapist mode right here. And when it’s Brooke’s flip to face her personal demons, Aduba reveals a fireplace and a contemporary complexity tucked inside the great physician’s persona. Actually, this present is an actor’s dream, with lengthy speeches and plenty of time to discover each final nuance of a personality’s persona. The half-hour format works effectively, too: It concentrates the drama and doesn’t let the navel-gazing linger for too lengthy.
However the remedy periods are amped up for dramatic functions right here in a means that feels unnatural. Someway, all of Brooke’s sufferers find yourself getting prickly and confrontational together with her. (For a extra true-to-life portrait of remedy, I extremely suggest the Showtime docuseries {Couples} Remedy.) The Colin episodes are glorious, however the others lag behind to various levels, and Brooke’s personal self-examination doesn’t fairly gel, regardless of Aduba’s finest efforts. One of the best ways to observe this would possibly truly be to attend till it’s all aired and obtainable to stream on HBO Max; that means, you’ll be able to decide the sufferers you wish to watch… and skip the remainder.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: HBO’s In Therapy revival is an actor’s dream with loads of emotional fireworks, however some storylines work higher than others.