Michelle Forbes Is Brilliant In Treatment
Michelle Forbes’ Admiral Helena Cain may be dead, but a bit of Helena’s vicious spirit can still be seen in Michelle’s portrayal of an adulterous wife on HBO’s In Treatment.
Michelle plays Kate, the wife of the show’s main character. Her husband is played by Gabriel Byrne, whose character is a shrink who struggles this revelation even as he becomes increasingly impatient with the patients he treats in his practice.
“Paul’s wife, Kate, resents competing with his patients for attention, and though she pitches in to help with daily snags in his practice, she feels purposefully shut out of his professional life. The secrecy necessary to protect patient confidentiality feels excessive to her, but she also keeps some secrets of her own.”
Paul has his own therapist, Gina, played by Dianne Wiest. Gina is helping Paul delve into his sadness over the affair, and perhaps with the consequences of his professional life and the toll it has taken on his family.
The best parts of In Treatment are the interplay between the characters, and the interaction between Paul and Gina is top notch. The veteran actors embrace the complexities of their characters, and circle one another in a conversation that is at times a duel and at times a series of sympathetic revelations between old friends. Gina is acutely aware of the self-delusions of Paul, who sees the self-delusions of his patients equally clearly but his blind to the deceptions of his own mind.
In the fifth week of their sessions Michelle’s character Kate joins in for couples therapy with her husband, and things get very interesting. Kate’s insightful observations about Paul and his aforementioned self-delusions about his own life are some of the most interesting moments in the show.
Full episodes of In Treatment can be viewed on the HBO web site and on YouTube. The show also airs on Fridays at 9:30 on HBO.
Leave a Reply