In Treatment is a New Favorite Show

After the Emmy nominations were announced recently, I decided to check out a couple shows.

First, Mad Men. I had watched it once before, but it seemed to be all about sex. And not in a Sex and the City kind of way where the real story was about relationships and life - and not really sex.

This time it was different, but it still didn’t catch my fancy. They have a political element to it now, and it has the feel of West Wing, which was a great show during its time. But no need to revisit that style in my book.

Then I decided to check out In Treatment on HBO. WOW! I had kind of been interested in watching this show based on the commercials I’d seen, but never made time for it. Man, this is one of the best shows I have ever seen.

I will warn you that the content is adult and very explicit. But, for the most part, I don’t think it is done gratuitously.

The show is about a therapist and 4 of his patient appointments during the week. At the end of the week, the therapist, played by Gabriel Byrne, goes to see a former colleague of his (which he has a very dramatic background with). Each appointment/session gets its own episode.

Each episode is one conversation. For a long time, I’ve been intrigued by that concept - long scenes, dramatic dialog. It’s amazing how much story is there when there’s one scene, one location.

The acting on this show is phenomenal. Even though most of the actors are very recognizable (Dianne Weist, Blair Underwood, Embeth Davidtz, Josh Charles), you totally lose yourself in their characters.

The first session features Laura who has an erotic transference (i.e. she’s in love with the therapist). I didn’t realize it the whole first episode, but she is played by Melissa George. I was floored to see the credits. She had been on Alias near the end of the series, but whether it was the storyline or the evilness of her character, I just didn’t like her. But WOW she won me over in this role. She is truly amazing.

Session three is about a teenage gymnast, played by Mia Wasikowska. The ability to play such depth at the age of 18 is stunning. It’s no wonder that Tim Burton has tapped her to star in his upcoming rendition of Alice in Wonderland.

Anyway, I recommend you check out In Treatment. But the downside is, if you want to start at the beginning - and I highly suggest you start at the beginning - you’ll have to wait. HBO on Demand only shows certain episodes at a time, and you can’t buy them from iTunes or anything (right now - you used to be able to). The DVD comes out September 9.