Therapy’s Theatrical Side Revealed

A close-knit, Italian mobster family, four single fashionista friends living in Manhattan, a dysfunctional, family-owned funeral home: it seems that with each new series, HBO never lacks imaginativeness. And like in previous shows, HBO’s latest original series, “In Treatment” provides a unique, deeper insight into its characters’ psyches and their relationships with others. “In Treatment” showcases the office of therapist Paul Weston (played by Gabriel Byrne) and the often intense encounters he experiences with his patients. The show exhibits originality in both concept and style, exposing a closer look at the complexity of human mentality. However, the ups and downs in emotion are often predictable and lacking in sincerity.

Gabriel Byrne plays the typical therapist perfectly. Always good at seeming mellow and disinterested, he pulls off the objective, unfeeling type with ease. He delivers his lines with dead-on nonchalance. The stereotypical psychiatrist questions, like “And what do you make of this?” or “How does this make you feel?” come off with cool indifference and the intelligent-sounding remnant of an Irish accent. But it is not until Paul Weston seeks out his own therapist, Gina (Dianne West), that Byrne’s performance becomes slightly charged and engaging. Yes, he even gets angry. Despite this subtle change, Byrne’s emotion still feels forced and droll, swinging from frustration to his usual easiness very unnaturally. This strained performance makes Byrne almost uncomfortable to watch, in contrast with the overly dramatic acting of his costars.

Though Byrne’s performance may be lacking in intensity, everything else about “In Treatment” certainly is not. The show’s concept is brimming with creativity and potential. Squeezing plot, characterization, and everything else into a half-hour therapy session is a risky endeavor. And in the end, it makes for heavy, magnified dialogue and very exaggerated circumstances, including one attention-starved woman’s deep-rooted sexual desire for her therapist, as well as the egotistical ranting of a soldier who is seemingly unaffected by the death and destruction he has seen. The plot and performances are overdone and unrealistic. However, this dramatization is needed to counterbalance the monotonous, unchanging backdrop of a therapist’s office. With this less than visually stimulating setting, it is easy to get bored and lose interest in the slower, developing parts of the dialogue.

In concept, “In Treatment” is inventive and original. It is its overdependence on excessively dramatic dialogue and plot that ruins its shots at becoming a prominent HBO series. While displaying a deeper view at the human psyche, the show’s insights are anything but profound. They are, instead, rather predictable. This predictability, along with the drab visual ascetic, deadens interest, leaving viewers to enjoy their own normalcy and wonder how, exactly, this makes them feel.