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The Patient

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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74

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	Your Score
6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Ratings

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The Patient: Season 1

Now Playing: The Patient: Season 1

The Patient

Series Details & Credits

HULU | Release Date: August 30, 2022

Summary: Psychotherapist Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) is held prisoner by his patient Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson), who divulges he's a serial killer and wants Alan to stop his deadly impulses in this limited series from Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg.

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series, Horror, Suspense

Recent Episodes

tbd
S1:E10. The Cantor's Husband
Air Date: October 25, 2022
tbd
S1:E9. Auschwitz
Air Date: October 18, 2022
tbd
S1:E8. Ezra
Air Date: October 11, 2022

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

74

Positive:

22

Mixed:

7

Negative:

1

Critic Reviews

100

Washington Post

Inkoo Kang

Aug 29, 2022

Season 1 Review: Suspenseful and darkly funny, the 10-part limited series supplies a fairly original B-plot as well. ... For all its character depth, the slyly plotted season has no shortage of twists and surprises. ... It’s a more-than-worthy follow-up to one of the best dramas of the past decade. Read full review

90

Rolling Stone

Alan Sepinwall

Aug 25, 2022

Season 1 Review: I was riveted throughout the limited series’ mash-up of In Treatment and Mindhunter. Read full review

90

The Daily Beast Kevin Fallon

Sep 2, 2022

Season 1 Review: [Steve Carell's] career-best performance in The Patient. OK, career-best dramatic performance. ... It’s the best thriller that’s been on TV this year... and it’s about therapy. ... The series, refreshingly, abandons the trope where the serial killer is brooding, charismatic, and sexually mystifying. Read full review

75

IndieWire Ben Travers

Aug 22, 2022

Season 1 Review: Carell’s turn isn’t loud or attention-seeking; it’s thoughtful and lived-in. By the end, your satisfaction with the resolution may vary, but your investment in another father-son story — steered by a man who’s been through a few — is rewarded with an illuminating portrait of (at least) two lives. Read full review

75

San Francisco Chronicle

Chris Vognar

Aug 26, 2022

Season 1 Review: Powerfully, carefully acted by Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson, laden with themes of guilt, remorse and redemption, the new FX limited series streaming exclusively on Hulu deepens as it moves through its 10 episodes (at approximately 30 minutes each, they’re easily digestible). The nuances of the script come into focus along with the subtext. Even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing, it remains rewarding to the end. Read full review

64

Paste Magazine

Leila Jordan

Aug 29, 2022

Season 1 Review: The Patient takes you somewhere complicated, and it is not an easy watch. It doesn’t always work, it’s underdeveloped, and it’s often a profound bummer. But it’s been weeks since I first watched the series and I still think about Dr. Strauss trying to recite the Kaddish but not knowing the words. Not a lot of shows come around with a moment like that. Read full review

37

Chicago Tribune

Nina Metz

Aug 30, 2022

Season 1 Review: The performances are strong. The story is not. It’s a psychological thriller that feels like a high-end riff on true crime. ... It’s a punishing watch. Read full review

SEE ALL 30 REVIEWS

Write a Review

6.4

User Reviews

7

Formenager

Sep 8, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This review is after episode 3. It's hard not to lose interest after the 3 first episodes. To wait a week to watch 20 minutes and see how the plot slowly develops is quite fustrating. I think I'll wait until the season is over to watch it just as a 2 hour movie, which I believe would be the right format. Although the story is interesting and fresh, the first episode immediately brings to mind Misery and Dexter, which indicates that the ingredients are not.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

6

UncleWillard

Oct 26, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was intrigued by the premise of a serial killer kidnapping his therapist in order to finally stop killing. Overall, the series achieved its goals and I applaud it for its original ending, which I think anyone who watches this saw as the realistic ending, though I think we all wanted it to resolve with salvation. Acting, production values, pacing; all good. These are the only things that kept nagging at me:

1 - Steve Carell's character is canonized as a saint. It makes it very hard to be honest if the lead character, despite the planted flaws (which I think hurt the story as I just didn't see them as flaws), is sold as a saint.

2 - The son is too much of a douchebag. He has enjoyed every advantage; good home life, loving parents, education, and yet he stomps off like a petulant child to join an orthodox Jewish cult, imo. It separates him from his family and he blames them for it and for not being Jewish enough. He doesn't deserve the apology from his father. He left his father high and dry when he was dealing with the mother's death. He's a prick.

3 - The constant flashbacks to concentration camps. I'm still wondering why the writers chose to put these in. Carell's character was not old enough to be in one. I get there's a Jewish element to this story, but it does not play a significant role in the plot. Not sure where they were going, but it came off as a play for sympathy rather than an effective plot device for me. 4 - Lastly, the useless mother. Who would legit stand by knowing their son was a serial killer. And as it's put to her, why did she just stand by and let the father beat his son and not protect him. I love that she gets called out, but that's it.

5 - The father. What a failure in the plot. He confronts him, almost kills him, but that's it. No satisfying conversation or answers. It trivializes Sam's suffering. Maybe that's the point, but we needed more reference to how Sam was created and less flashbacks to concentration camps that had nothing to do with the plot.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

4

idigapygmy

Sep 24, 2022

A psychological thriller with no thrills and surface-level psychological insights.

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

2

Falling_Man

Oct 25, 2022

Lost interest 5 episodes in. The end game seemed inevitable. Looked it up to be sure and indeed it's what seemed like the only possible outcome since the first episode. Seems like it would be a waste of time to sit through.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

0

OlivierPiel

Oct 5, 2022

Totally implausible story line, character motivations that don't make any sense, cheap pathos strewn left and right for extra gravitas, zero thrills as another reviewer mentioned. Need I say more? It feels like a very narcissistic project for Steve Carrell, trying hard to move into "Serious"Totally implausible story line, character motivations that don't make any sense, cheap pathos strewn left and right for extra gravitas, zero thrills as another reviewer mentioned. Need I say more? It feels like a very narcissistic project for Steve Carrell, trying hard to move into "Serious" drama. It's a total failure.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Seasons & Episodes

74

Series Overview
Season 1

74
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: August 30, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E10. The Cantor's Husband
  Air Date: October 25, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E9. Auschwitz
  Air Date: October 18, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E8. Ezra
  Air Date: October 11, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E7. Kaddish
  Air Date: October 4, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E6. Charlie
  Air Date: September 27, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E5. Pastitsio
  Air Date: September 20, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E4. Company
  Air Date: September 13, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E3. Issues
  Air Date: September 6, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E2. Alan Learns to Meditate
  Air Date: August 30, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E1. Intake
  Air Date: August 30, 2022