- Network: HULU
- Series Premiere Date: Aug 30, 2022
Critic Reviews
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The Patient, like its central killer, is as fascinating as it is frustrating, the unusual format turning a dramatically juicy thriller into something a little repetitive and improperly paced. It’s a ten-part show about therapy that could have benefitted from being told in one long session.
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It’s an uneven narrative, with a few tonal mistakes and excesses along the way — but there’s a lot more to the story line than you might expect from the basic plot description.
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The metaphor of Alan’s faith reverberates through each episode of this ambitious, flawed, masterfully acted show in ways both ham-fisted and profound. ... It’s a fascinating relationship, expertly developed through short, suspenseful episodes, thoughtful dialogue, and a pair of note-perfect performances. But the rest, as the Strausses might say, is mishegas.
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Across 10 episodes, The Patient gestures at a lot of big ideas but never manages to mold them into something meaningful or entertaining. The Patient is ultimately a scattered and unfulfilling exploration of evil, trauma, and whether human beings really have the capacity for change, and it only occasionally shows flashes of something more compelling.
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“The Patient” ends up feeling too much like a concept in search of a show, a program that never quite figures out how seriously to take the danger inherent in its set-up, content to always make viewers think instead of taking the risks that would be required to thrill them.
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Its heart is in the right place, especially as a text that believes in therapy and empathy. But its mind wanders in circles when making one get what it’s trying to say.
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A languorous 10 episodes (granted, only half an hour apiece) are spent telling a story that might have, in another era, made for a tidy 90-minute movie. ... We’re left with little to contemplate but a figure whose story doesn’t come together, in ways that are more frustrating than complicating. ... Fields and Weisberg owe viewers something compelling if they’re going to play out a relationship entirely in retrospect, with little apparent possibility for development.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 14
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Mixed: 2 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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Sep 5, 2022This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.