I Like to Watch

Jan. 27, 2008 | I know how you worry about me, gentle reader. Tossing and turning at night, you wonder how I can possibly watch so much crappy TV week after week. Shouldn't I be applying myself to something a little more lasting or relevant? Isn't it tragic, how I waste my (admittedly middling) talents, sifting through the depraved, frivolous offerings of the small screen?

Well, I appreciate your concerns. But let me assure you, I'm doing vital and important work here. Not only is TV the defining medium of our modern culture, but it's absolutely rich with the relevant themes and shared concerns and values of all of the world's peoples. Each week, I don't simply sit through tedious, vapid televised entertainments, as you might imagine. No! I explore complex perspectives on the role of individual liberty in society, I navigate the destructive impulses of human beings in the face of our inherently temporary existence on Earth, and I uncover profound and lasting insights into the human condition!

In so doing, I bring together a vast collection of readers hungry for wisdom, self-knowledge and a burgeoning understanding of the interrelated nature of all living creatures on the earth. Together, we can touch the very soul of the universe!

Now let's explore some of the timeless questions and pressing inquiries of humankind, by delving into the I Like To Watch mail bags together...

Hi, Heather,

Kevin
Minnesota

Dear Kevin,

You know, I have to admit that every now and then, I do wonder what the point of this job is. Struggling with deadlines, slogging through hours of bad TV shows ... And then I get a letter like yours, and I remember what it's all about! What an honor it is, to aid your quest to draw closer to this mysterious siren and enrich your deep appreciation for the eternal, incandescent vivacity of womankind itself!

I'm sure you don't get as many redheads up there in Minnesota as you once did, let alone redheads who can wield a stick broom with total confidence and authority. And redheads are becoming extinct, did you know that? Even so, I lack the tools to deliver the identity of this exotic creature into your hands, and I can't begin to explain to you "what" she is, assuming that she's animatronic.

But don't let that stop you from honoring the glorious mysteries of femininity in whatever private and fulfilling ways you see fit! And if it's any consolation, keep in mind that you and that redhead are united as one, as all living beings are a part of the same whole. Any distance between you is only imaginary. So stop imagining that you don't know her. You are her, and you're hot, that's all!

Heather

More talk, less action
But let's set aside such lofty and potent discourse for a moment so we can address HBO's latest dramatic series, "In Treatment" (Weeknights at 9:30 p.m. starting Monday, Jan. 28), which aims to offer viewers a deep and penetrating exploration of humankind's deepest fears and desires, all through a nightly half-hour visit to the therapist's office.

Let me level with you, my sweet, concerned reader-amigos. When I first heard about "In Treatment," I cringed. HBO may have a fine legacy of turning out some of the most brilliant and original shows on the air, but last season they offered us two hugely disappointing dramas. After a promising pilot, David Milch's "John From Cincinnati" devolved into arbitrary acts of God and unhinged babbling. Far worse, though, was "Tell Me You Love Me," an unbearably monotonous, painfully awkward series about a handful of couples in therapy. From its twitchy, unlikable characters to its repetitive story lines, the best thing you could say about "Tell Me You Love Me" was that it was seriously intense -- albeit, in a seriously boring sort of way.

Yes, "The Wire" has returned for a fifth and final brilliant season, but what else does HBO have brewing? Yet another drama about psychotherapy! This one stars Gabriel Byrne as therapist Paul Weston, and this time, the camera never even leaves his office. There we sit with Weston and talk, talk, talk. Not only that, but "In Treatment" airs each weeknight, with a different character showing up for therapy each day of the week, and that character's story progresses on the same day each weeknight. If "Tell Me You Love Me" didn't make you feel like an overworked couples therapist attempting to improve a bunch of messy, unraveling relationships, then "In Treatment" is sure to offer you a real-time sense of just how tedious it can be to administer the talking cure.

The first episode of "In Treatment" appeared to be the sort of pretentious, overwritten purgatory that I'd expected. Weston's patient Laura (Melissa George) shows up for therapy after a reckless night on the town, feeling mixed up and guilty. Without giving anything away, all of the therapy clichés are laid out in this half-hour-long episode. The writing is sharp, and at least Laura talks about her thoughts and feelings instead of mumbling incomprehensibly like the soggy ghosts of "Tell Me You Love Me." Even so, after watching the first episode, I was convinced that "In Treatment" was another grandiose experiment that wasn't all that compelling or provocative, let alone entertaining.

But then, in the second, third and fourth episodes, a completely different picture emerges. The characters are less predictable and their stories unfold more slowly. Weston acts more like a detective than a therapist at times, trying to separate fact from fiction in each client's anecdotes, confessions and observations. It's obvious that Navy pilot Alex (Blair Underwood) is arrogant and controlling, but does he feel guilty about his actions during the Iraq war (the most obvious explanation), or is he simply incapable of empathy? Are Jake (Josh Charles of "Sports Night") and Amy (Embeth Davidtz) a good couple who are caught up in a pattern of contempt and lies, or should they just give up on their marriage? Why is Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), a teenage gymnastics hopeful, so sad and angry? What kind of a relationship does she have with her parents and her coach?

In spite of its seemingly monotonous setting and the heaviness of its subject matter, "In Treatment" gets more addictive the more you watch it. At the end of each session, I don't want the patient of the day to leave Weston's office. After just two sessions, even though she can be ruthlessly mean and unaware of her own flaws, the young gymnast Sophie seems so unnervingly fragile, it's hard not to want to save her from her crappy life. Alex, the pompous fighter pilot, leads with his ego, makes snap judgments and refuses to look at himself too closely, but he's still sympathetic, somehow. I want to understand the bickering couple, Jake and Amy, in ways I never cared to understand the couples of "Tell Me You Love Me." Even Laura, the patient whom I initially found irritating, lights up in her second and third sessions. She challenges Weston and seems to have his number, to the point where you start to believe that she might just be smarter and more intuitive than he is. Now that's a rare choice: creating a therapist who's less sharp than one of his female clients.

Although "In Treatment" might be a little heavy for viewers who wouldn't dream of stepping into a therapist's office and aren't all that curious about the layers of meaning in each person's reports about themselves, the stories are imaginative and unfold patiently. The writers (executive producers include Rodrigo Garcia, Hagai Levi, Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg) know just when to change the subject, move on, double back and keep us guessing, lending the series an unexpectedly lively, unpredictable energy, particularly considering we spend every half-hour episode in the same room (except on Fridays, when Weston visits his therapist). The cast is absurdly good, from Byrne to the always-captivating Michelle Forbes, who plays Weston's wife, Kate, to Dianne Wiest, who plays Weston's therapist. Despite the seemingly precious format, soon it's hard not to experience the characters of "In Treatment" as real people.

That said, the first episode of this show will probably make you roll your eyes and beg the gods for mercy. Don't give up, though, because "In Treatment" is sharp and unique and worth the effort. And in this impoverished TV era, well, let's just say you have the time.

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