Patience is a virtue. This is the mantra one must tell themselves as they dive into Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg’s new series, The Patient. While the show in its entirety is electrifying and incredible, the pacing as well as the cliff-hangers that are presented at the end of almost every episode are bound to drive audience members crazy. While this will discuss the show in its entirety, the final episode will not be discussed at all in any way shape or form.
The show focuses on a therapist, Alan Strauss, played by Steve Carell who finds himself captured by a patient of his, Sam Fortner, played by Domhnall Gleeson. Sam is carrying what Dexter Morgan would describe as a dark passenger, and is trying to stop himself from continuing down the path he has found himself on. This has lead to him to kidnap his own therapist, Alan, so he can be constantly there to try and help him subdue his urges. The constant struggle that Alan is facing is trying to convince Sam to do the right thing and self preservation. It is clear that Sam is a ticking time bomb, but Alan is finding himself struggling to make heads or tails of the entire encounter and that truly puts himself and his family in immediate danger. As things progress throughout the season things continue to get more and more tense between the two, and the audience is sucked into this world that is quite simply terrifying.
What works in The Patient so well are the performances from both of the leading men. Steve Carell is doing everything he can to prove that he is the furthest thing from the bumbling buffoon, Michael Scott, that we all came to love and admire. However his recent work between The Patient, The Morning Show, and even Crazy, Stupid, Love, Steve has proved himself to any doubters out there but proves that he has the acting chops to be serious and truly make you have sympathy for him or hate him, depending on the character he is playing. Domhnall Gleeson playing a crazed killer on the relative loose is a toned down and subdued version of his character of General Hux, but it is more insane and unhinged almost. Without having the wild insane outbursts of Hux, Gleeson’s portrayal of Fortner is nothing shy of terrifying and grounded. Both Gleeson and Carell are solidifying themselves as forces to be reckoned with their performances in The Patient.
Now, the only reason I previously mentioned that patience is a virtue is because I had the luxury of watching all ten episodes of The Patient in one sitting which was an exhilarating and powerful experience. However, knowing where the credits land and that audiences are going to find themselves having to wait seven days between episodes (minus the first two episodes which dropped together) is going to test audiences. The Patient is a slow burn that needs to be constantly fed and cannot let the fire dissipate, by waiting a week between episodes it is possible the attention may drift elsewhere and the show be caught up on in a binge as its over. However, that being the only flaw behind The Patient is not a deal breaker at all, just more of a frustration.
