The Patient Episode 6 is out now! Created by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for FX on Hulu, the executive producers for the series are Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg, Steve Carell, Caroline Moore, Victor Hsu and Chris Long. The production companies for the series include Joel Fields Productions, Flim Flam and FXP.
The main cast features Steve Carell as Alan Strauss, a therapist and Domhnall Gleeson as Sam Fortner, a serial killer and the new patient of our therapist in question. Actors Linda Emond plays Candace Fortner along with Laura Niemi as Beth Strauss, Andrew Leeds as Ezra Strauss and David Alan Grier as Charlie Addison. Alex Rich is also part of the cast. The sixth episode of The Patient has a runtime of 30 minutes, much like the previous episode.
– FX’s The Patient Episode 6 Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers –
The Patient Episode 6: Charlie
Being a psychology student, The Patient Episode 6 is an intriguing venture by the makers to help everyone understand how therapy can take a toll on the counsellor and client. In the last episode, we witnessed Sam killing Elias, heinously as Alan watched, traumatized. Now, the present episode takes us through the aftermath of the event.
The Patient Episode 6 opens with Sam digging a hole in his basement to put Elias’ dead body in it. His mother, Candace, expresses her distress over the matter but, also asks him not to lose hope in therapy. However, it is the therapist in this story that seems to be losing or has lost faith in the counselling process. Alan, clearly, disassociates in this episode.
We see him interact in his head with a man named Charlie, whose reality is later revealed. In Alan’s head, the two discuss about Sam’s lack of empathy and how Alan feels pessimistic about the entire situation. Irrespective, Alan continues to embark on the journey to help Sam. But, after witnessing the death and being a Jew, memories of the past and histories haunt him as he tries to find his pacing in his prison world.
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The Patient Episode 6 feels like a page torn from the book of Carl Rogers if he was writing all about this theory whilst being in a thriller series. Alan’s undying faith in Sam is commendable but, his diminishing hope to be able to help him through therapy is truly heartbreaking. The episode was insightful in giving us the perspective of what a therapist might think when he can clearly see that therapy is not helping the one at the receiving end. Trying to build empathy in Sam does not really seem fruitful and, when we see the underlying motive Alan has it makes his trial as a therapist shallow and his survival instincts as a human stronger.
Well, it could very well be that this is exactly what the makers are trying to put across. It is Alan’s character who receives all the varied kinds of attention possible in this episode and it is shot in a haunting manner to keep us anticipating as well as make us hurt seeing where Alan stands in the show. Steve Carell’s unique performance is only helping the cause as is Domhnall Gleeson’s sociopath identity.
The Patient Episode 6: Final Thoughts
The Patient Episode 6 seems to have given the story a new pace and direction. With an ending that promises us some eventful things happening in the future, the weekly releases of the episode seem too long a wait but, worth it all. It is notable the Candace’s character is surely getting annoying with every passing episode and the revelations that she has been a part of the abuse Sam has faced makes sense because a bystander too is a culprit at times. The incoporation of Charlie and the Nazi-era jews haunting the scenes were different to the show’s layout but, impressive still.
You can watch The Patient Episode 6 now streaming on Hulu. To read our review for the rest of the episodes, click here.
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