Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Hulu series, The Patient.
Dr. Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) had his final session with the troubled Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson) whenThe Patientdropped its 10th episode and concluded its limited single season run onHulu.
As Alan spends long days alone in Sam’s basement chained to the floor, the outlook starts to gradually turn more ominous with each passing session. Despite his best efforts, Alan is tasked with trying to rationalize with a broken and tormented patient that doesn’t seem capable of being fixed. As the two sit alone in the quiet basement of Sam’s home, the distraught therapist does his very best to remain calm and in control of his emotions as his psychopathic patient goes about his daily activities. Though the setting is most unorthodox, it is clear what the roles were — Alan Strauss is the doctor imparting knowledge and Sam Fortner is the patient trying to understand his dark and deadly compulsions. By season’s end, however, it’s Alan who has the most to learn about himself and his family relationships.
A Role Reversal Starting To Take Place
When you’re alone for extended amount of time with only your thoughts to keep you company, sometimes strange things can happen. And when you’re under extreme duress, those feelings can get magnified. As Sam goes about his day, leaving Alan in complete solitude for hours at a time, we see a shift in the focus from Sam’s psychopathic tendencies to the inner turmoil within Alan. The extended solitary confinement gives him a lot of time to reflect on his own situation and things that matter most to him, as it appears that he might not be around much longer. You tend to do that when you know that your days are numbered, and Alan’s mind starts to find ways to cope with his dire situation.
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Hallucinatory Therapy Sessions From the Stress
As Alan lay on his bed waiting for Sam to arrive for therapy each day, the extreme duress that plagues him as time wears on starts to take a toll on his mental state. Protecting himself from the stress, Alan begins to hallucinate therapy sessions with his own doctor, Charlie (David Alan Grier), and starts to attempt to make sense of it all. During these sessions, Alan and Charlie try to work through the difficulties of dealing with Sam. Perhaps more importantly, they also start to tackle the root of the issues at the heart of the strained and distant relationship with his son, Ezra (Andrew Leeds). The two pursue not only answers to the disconnect between father and son, but also a healthy understanding of his anger toward Ezra and how his son deals with the untimely death of his estranged mother (Laura Niemi) from cancer.
Father-Son Relationships Are At The Core of ‘The Patient’
While it’s clear that Sam’s issues are due largely to the mental and physical abuse by his alcoholic father, Alan’s differences with Ezra are far more difficult to interpret. The two had fallen out over religious issues revolving around Ezra’s decision to live as an Orthodox Jew and raise his family according to the strict guidelines outlined in the Torah. Being far less Orthodox, Alan has grown to resent his son’s choices. He is angry that his son came across as self-righteous and that he had spurned his own mother because of his religious views, even as she lay dying. His inability to reconcile with his son’s lifestyle and attitude is a heavy cross that he has carried for many years. The time in Sam’s basement forces him to come to terms with his own role and responsibility in the discord between them and acknowledge things he could have done differently.
Finding Answers Gives Alan Courage And Freedom
As Alan begins to see things more clearly, he is more determined than ever to escape from his predicament and make things right. While Sam continues to struggle with his deadly compulsions, having killed two more men while keeping Alan hostage, Alan’s revelations have brought with them the gumption to take control of his situation and confront his demented captor. And though his attempt to free himself by threatening the life of Sam’s mother ultimately fails, his emotional metamorphosis is all too complete. Having met Sam Fortner as an angry, lonely, and unsatisfied therapist, by the time he succumbs to strangulation at the hands of his psychotic patient, he has made a most remarkable journey — all while sitting on a single mattress in a cold, empty room. Being shackled to the floor unable to escape, Alan Strauss has freed himself of his psychological bonds and regained his own emotional freedom.
