THE PATIENT IS NOT EPIC. Unlike several of the major shows arriving on TV of late-House of the Dragon, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power-it does not boast dizzying visual effects, take place in a fictional realm, or have any connections to a larger cinematic universe.
While they go big, The Patient remains appropriately, suspensefully intimate and contained. For long stretches, it functions as a two-hander with scenes that involve a pair of actors doing exceptional work opposite each other: Steve Carell as therapist Dr. Alan Strauss and Domhnall Gleeson as Sam, a patient with homicidal tendencies. Much of it is set in a single room, the spare finished basement of Sam's isolated home in the woods. Most of the ten episodes run 30 minutes or less; the first lasts a mere 20, which is precisely how much time is required to establish the show's central premise and conflict. It is, pardon the pun, all killer, no filler, but not in the ways you may imagine.
Sam is a serial murderer who kidnaps Alan, chains him up in said basement, and insists that Alan cure him of his desire to take the lives of people he deems offensive. Yes, we see Sam engage in some rather violent behavior, but The Patient is not a “murder show.” It doesn’t fixate on the grisly nature of Sam’s crimes or a police investigation into them or, refreshingly, any sexual compulsions that may be driving him. Creators Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, in the follow-up to their masterpiece The Americans, steer all the way around serial-killer tropes to create a limited series that offers surprising twists and thoughtful nuance in equal measure.
Denne historien er fra September 12 - 26, 2022-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra September 12 - 26, 2022-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
SLOP started seeping into Neil Clarke's life in late 2022. Something strange was happening at Clarkesworld, the magazine. Clarke had founded in 2006 and built into a pillar of the world of speculative fiction. Submissions were increasing rapidly, but “there was something off about them,” he told me recently. He summarized a typical example: “Usually, it begins with the phrase ‘In the year 2250-something’ and then it goes on to say the Earth’s environment is in collapse and there are only three scientists who can save us. Then it describes them in great detail, each one with its own paragraph. And then—they’ve solved it! You know, it skips a major plot element, and the final scene is a celebration out of the ending of Star Wars.” Clarke said he had received “dozens of this story in various incarnations.”
The City Politic- The Other Eric Adams Scandal The NYPD shot a fare evader, a cop, and two bystanders. He defends it.
On Sunday, September 15, Derell Mickles hopped a turnstile, got asked to leave by cops, then entered the subway again ten minutes later through an emergency exit. This was at the Sutter Avenue L station, out by his mother's house, five stops from the end of the line. Police said they noticed he was holding a folded knife. They followed him up the stairs to the elevated train, asking him 38 times to drop the weapon.
Can the Media Survive?
BIG TECH, Feckless Owners, CORD-CUTTERS, RESTIVE STAFF, Smaller Audiences ... and the Return of PRINT?
Status Update
Hannah Gadsby's fascinatingly untidy tour through life after fame and death.
A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective Steve McQueen's worst film is still a solid WWII drama.
Creator, Destroyer
A retrospective reveals an architect's vision, optimism, and supreme arrogance.
In Praise of Bad Readers
In a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
Trust the Kieran Culkin Process
First, he nearly dropped out of Oscar hopeful A Real Pain. Then he convinced Jesse Eisenberg to change the way he directs.
The Funniest Vampires on TV
What We Do in the Shadows is coming to an end. Its idiosyncratic brand of comedy may be too.
The Water-Tower Penthouse
Gigi Loizzo and Angel Molina's apartment on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx looks out on Yankee Stadium.
