Thursday, February 21, 2008

Candy Minx Reviews "In Treatment"


I had high hopes for this new HBO series, but a therapist friend of mine watched the first episode and wasn't impressed. Candy Minx is impressed and provides a good review of the series, therapy, blogging, and the patterns of connection. I enjoyed her review quite a bit.

Here's a bit of her review:

2) In Shakespeare, characters develop rather than unfold, and they develop because they reconceive themselves. Sometimes this comes about because they overhear themselves talking, whether to themselves or to others. Self overhearing is their royal road to individuation, Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.

3) HBO has a new series titled In Treatment and I spent yesterday and today watching 20 episodes from this first season, over a ten hour period. A friend, who is a therapist, said it was very good, so I wanted to check it out. It is brilliant. First it has an outstanding format and incredible engaing actors. Every weeknight we sit in on a therapy session of one character for half an hour. The half hour feels much longer and I have found myself checking the clock because it feels like so much has transpired it couldn't really be a half hour program. There are five episodes a week, I suppose a little like the programming of a soap opera. Every night a different patient and sometimes, insights into the doctor's life as well...with his wife or children. On Friday's episode the doctor goes for therapy himself.

4) It's funny that I find myself questioning the time elapses and the clock during this program because not only is the structure of the series referring to time, the patients appointment schedule are the titles of each episode, but there are a couple of clocks in the office, the doctor and patients are almost always consulting how much time they have left during their visits. The nature of time and emotions is rather what this program is about combined with the idea and reality that saying things out loud releases their "power" and reveals subconscious motives.

Read the rest.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I still think the show sucks.
j

Candy Minx said...

Hey, thanks for the shout out and I am glad you enjoyed my review.

"J" says the show sucks...and you know...I thought I wasn't going to be that interested at first but something about the set, all the ships the doctor collected (we are all sailing? in life) the compelling characters really grabbed me....and the idea of finding out how far has the doctor fallen into the rabbit hole (or has he?) kept me watching for the first weeks episides...then I was hooked.

I find it so interesting that in therapy and in talking about ones life...so many people do not see their own coping mechanisms or devices and patterns. We all do this....like it's too painful to see or our ego will not allow us to know ourselves. Is the ego so determined to prevent us from self awareness and is the subconscious a safety valve for self knowledge? I don't know...but all interesting things...

Anonymous said...

I only watched most of the first episode. I couldn't get past the writing, which I found forced. Plus I need a break when I come home, and watching someone else do therapy isn't my idea of a break, so I am biased. I love my job, but not 24/7 :)

J