User reviews

The Patient offers an intriguing plot line. We follow the protagonist (Steve Carell), a therapist, who has been kidnapped by one of his patients with the intent of truly opening up about his thoughts, struggles, and feelings to someone like he has never before. However, we see glimpses into the protagonist's past that reveal potential character flaws, and events that he has seemingly not dealt with himself. It makes you wonder moving forward who is the true Patient, the patient or the therapist.

From a TV perspective, I believe this could've been a two part mini series, 1.5 hour for each episode or something like that. There are so many shows as of late that they are going back to the old format of 23 minutes. Ultimately, it leaves the viewer unsatisfied by not being able to immerse themselves in the story. This short format is a quick way to maximize the ad revenue. I just hope that the writers have an end in mind, I believe that this will make or break this show. With what has been seen so far, this is not meant to be a show lasting longer than a season.

I encourage a watch now if you can spare the time, or if not wait until all episodes are released.

The patient is about a killer who wants to get rid of his urges, by kidnapping a therapist and locking him in his basement, for private therapy. Which results in a unique relationship.

Not only is Gleeson incredibly convincing as a troubled serial killer, but his chemistry with Carrell as his therapist is palpable. The story itself is not particularly impressive, new or surprising, but the character building and the continuous tension keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Some people may complain about the ending, but I respectfully disagree. The fact that the ending is not cliche, and very un-Hollywood is enough for me to enjoy it more than the current average series.

This started out as an amazing idea, but I'm losing interest. There was so much they could've done with this storyline, but most of it is flat and boring now. Episode 6 gave me hope it would pick up agaim in E7, but by the end of E7 that hope was smashed. I can only pray things aren't as we're lead to believe by one of the characters. I can't even say the acting is great because there isn't much being done anymore. I hope the end of the series makes getting through this worth it. I don't want to feel like I've wasted my time after it started so interestingly. Not much else to say without spoilers.

Clever concept; interesting characters; well acted and the story moves in a very steady (if often plodding) pace.

Unfortunately it ultimately takes you nowhere and when it ends it leaves you in that empty space. The series is not unlike a train ride to a vacant lot. All the promise that travel brings and a terminus of less than no interest.

What may have been intended as clever or to give a sense of openness to speculate on the "what next" it reflect on lessons learned, or not learned; really just ends in unsatisfactory creative conceit. Too bad really as it could have been quite memorable. Oh well.

I saw all the low star ratings, and was confused why this brilliant, thought provoking, cerebral, well-acted, well-executed, thrilling psychodrama was receiving such low ratings. The reason is rather ridiculous.

If your main problem with this show is with the length of episodes and/or the fact that you can't watch the entire thing at once, then you don't have a problem with the show, you have a problem with Hulu or FX's distribution of it. How about we review the actual content of the show, and not act like anything that requires even the most minimal amount of patience is unacceptable.

I personally like the distribution and length of episodes You know that hour after dinner and after work when it's real easy to fall asleep even during snows you like? This is a show that keeps me wide awake every week and I really look forward to it.

As a therapist I came across this quite by accident although I loved The Americans. This is a time where I am myself feeling as if I am tied in a basement somewhere by my patients, metaphorically of course, but psychologically identical. So, Steve Carrell's performance was perfect, portraying the struggle to both remain present for the patient, no matter how disturbed or disturbing, while negotiating the conflicts within oneself and basically dying to get away. Given this premise, I found the show riveting but only a seven because the other characters seemed one dimensional to me. The serial killer was not as interesting as Dexter, his inner struggles not so apparent, his desire to stop killing made little sense. Give it a binge watch and see what you think and next time you go to a therapist, if you do, have a little mercy on us.

This started out interesting enough, and tense enough, to pull us in. Luckily, the episodes were short. But Episode 10 . . . Not going to post a spoiler here, but we went through a lot only to land on an unsatisfying ending. The show is not without merit, but falls flat relying on undefined characters to bring the conclusion. Steve Carnell has shown himself to be a very versatile actor, equally good in both comedy and drama. If you like his work, you will appreciate what he does here. If you are not a fan, you should pass on this. There's not much else that's worthwhile. Serial killers can be such a drag.

If you look through the offerings that most streaming services have to choose from, it is ... disappointing ... to say the least. Boring. Repetitive, almost. By the third row of these 'pickings', every one of the shows being pushed, look and read the same. IN FACT (true story), I held off from suggesting this as a watch to my husband because I thought it was the doctor/patient series 'The Shrink Next Door' (title which I just now had to look up by remembering that Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell were in it), and which did not interest me. In any case, we passed this up a few times until hubby mentioned Steve Carell was in it, after which we looked it up and began watching. We're now 5 episodes in, and we are both surprised and pleased.

The Patient is not perfect. Then again, very few - if any - TV shows are. It has LESS imperfections, however, than do others. The reason, I think, is because the premise is very simple. Patient abducts psychiatrist (in Synopsis and NOT a spoiler). It is the nuanced performances from everyone involved (yes, including Carell), which elevates it to not only watchable, but interesting.

Also worth mentioning AND DESPITE HOW OTHERS VIEW IT, one of the POSITIVES for me, is that the episodes are very short (30 minutes long) and so, what is a story that could become easily bogged down with filler in order to fulfill certain time or advertising constrictions, moves along fairly well and quickly, with mostly "meat" and few potatoes. Now, that meat is not necessarily the best cut each and every bite, but it IS a satisfying dish - if you give it the patience that a MERE 30 minutes entail.

The Patient 1st and 2nd episode review:

Positives: Steve Carell's show - It's always fun to watch him.

Domhnall's performance is awesome. He played a really cool foodie serial killer. 20 minutes episodes - short episodes.

Negatives: Episodes are kinda slow (1st and 2nd) - feels like a documentary. It would have been better if all 10 episodes were released on the same day.

Overall it's a good time pass show and the concept is really interesting.

I would give this show 3 stars out of 5 for now. I watched this show because of Steve but Domhnall's performance is even better. Will watch the remaining episodes.

For the first time ever, I see Steve Carrel as the person he's playing and not Michael Scott. The plot sells itself right away. Unfortunately, how a story is told can make or break it. For me, it breaks it. It feels like Hulu/directors were trying to build the next big series, but pressure or interference forced them to settle for what they thought would be an acceptable time of 20 min per episode. The run time kills any momentum and quickly becomes an mindful annoyance. At the time of this review, there are dozens of new shows willing to fill the void left by the short run time. I'll wait until they release all of the episodes to pick it back up. (just finished episode 3)

TLDR: Excellent plot, great acting, run time provokes disinterest.

I have binged the first three episodes. Great start. The acting is amazing! As an advocate for mental health and horror, I feel as the show is playing it safe while staying interesting. Steve, plays a great therapist so far, very knowledgeable and I am impressed. However, I am rating 7 stars because I need to wait to see how the story will play out but so far- amazing. Yes, it's only 20 minutes but the individuals giving it less than 7 stars are merely impatient. If you cannot wait weekly for the new episodes to release, I suggest waiting for the full first season to come out. Everything is ambiguous but not at the same time. Cannot wait to see how the story will play out. I will possibly come back to rate higher.

As other reviewers mentioned, the short format of these episodes can try your patience, but I would recommend it.

After watching the full series, here's an update: by about episode 4, the overall energy lost momentum, and redundancy kicked in. I think it was the 7th episode which for me was the most powerful, because it took a deeper look at the themes. The final episode did not impress me too much. They gave a glimpse of the next Season, but it does not look as impactful. I do think that this show was a success in what it portrayed. There's fine writing and moody vibes throughout. Carell is one of our finest actors. If you have not seen his mesmerizing role in "Foxcatcher" (2014), check it out. It's also interesting that Carell's real life mom is a psychiatric nurse. Gleeson is also wonderful in his role. He quietly displays subtle facial tics which serve up a bit of dark comedy.

Steve carrel has taken his role to another level, I cannot tell you how good he is at portraying a psychiatrist. And even more so the actor (I have forgotten his name) is fantastic at playing the troubled killer- as he is in any role he seems to pick up. It's written fantastic and is worth a binge. Weirdly uplifting in moments and allows you to feel like you're entering therapy along with the killer. I cannot recommend this enough. The short episodes at the beginning wheel you in, while the longer episodes towards the end feel just as fast as the 2 minutes at the beginning. Masterpiece! Great work.

I liked The Patient well enough.

It was a different kind of show than we are used to. Almost no action at all apart from a gruesome killing here and there. The series basically consists of two people talking to each other for 90% of the time. Keeping the interest of the viewer while doing so is a quality of the acting and the writing, although I don't feel they succeeded fully in that.

This is 10 episodes of round about 25 minutes each. Yet I still think this could have been shortened a bit more. At the mid-end point you kind of feel you are seeing the same conversation and situation without any progress.

Adding the scenes of the Jews in the concentration camp dream sequences didn't make much sense (to me) and felt a bit out of place. The make-believe talks with the dead shrink were interesting and obviously serve a purpose for the victim to try and deal with being captive while at the same time try and solve his own family problems. They became a bit tedious after a while if I am honest.

These fake conversations were made to somehow excuse the actions of the son, but while the main character comes to some kind of reconciliation in his mind with his son eventually. As the viewer I didn't actually feel the same, and still thought his son was a complete *beep* for how he acted. Yet we are somehow being force-fed the father was not accepting of his sons' new way of life and that was the actual problem...... nah.

Which would be one of the biggest negatives of The Patient in my opinion. You don't feel that the "bad" people of the series (in which I include the main character's son) get their just deserves. One could say that the show is not only different in its premise and execution, but also in how the story concludes.

However it is such an unsatisfying watch in the end because of it.

Excellent production and SUPERB acting from the two main characters . If this doesn't win awards I will be astounded . At first I worried about the relatively shortness of each episode but somehow it seemed to fit and I couldn't wait for the next episode . Difficult to describe without spoilers but the word that comes to mind is INTRIGUING. I don't know if it was originally a stage play but if not then someone should consider doing so . Multi-layered and moving script tackling many levels of human existence without becoming boring and spiced with not a little suspense and excitement. WELL WORTH WATCHING .

It's an interesting concept, but the fact that they're dragging it out without any actual advancement of the plot is making it boring. The episodes are short and it feels like nothing of importance happens for episodes at a time. I like both of the main actors so that's why I watched the show but I wish it was more fast paced. They slowly dole out a family drama but it's very slowly done to the point where I'm 6 episodes in and am just fully understanding the drama. It could've been done in two episodes. I'm going to l continue to watch because I want to know how this ends, but I'll probably wait until the rest of the episodes are available.

I do not care how much symbolism you throw at us in the finale; It will never be enough to cover up the let down of the final episode.

The season leading up to the finale was good. It was not great, or subpar, but just good. Each new episode felt like a different style/direction than the last, and I thought that was for symbolism relating to how a messed-up mind could operate, but it was not. The acting was heavy-lifted by Carell, which earned a ton of points in my book since I've always loved the non-comedic roles of his. Not many actors can flip between genres like he can. As for the others, they do a well enough job for the supporting roles, but some of their opportinities, I think, were wasted on intermittent poor writing.

If there is a next season, I might watch a few episodes to see if things have changed, but I will not be recommending this show to anyone. Not only because of the disappointment at the end, but because, regarding atmpsphere/genre/plot, you can find other shows and movies that are far better.

As Episode 1 of "The Patient" (2022 release; 10 episodes of about 22 min each) opens, the Steve Carell character (we later learn a therapist named Alan) wakes up in an unfamiliar room and with his ankle shackled to the bed. We then go back in time when Alan has his first patient session with a guy name "Gene", who proclaims himself to be "f---ed up". At this point we are less than 10 min into it.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from British director Chris Long ("The Americans", "Suspicion"). Here he presents what amounts to a hostage drama between a therapist and his unhappy patient, and I will leave it at that. The series is shouldered by two great performances: Steve Caroll in his most restrained mode, and Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson (son of Brandon) as the baddie. Please note that this is primarily a psychological drama rather than a crime thriller, which is perfectly fine with me. Episode 2 ends with a cliffhanger, leaving me wanting more...

The initial 2 episodes premiered on Hulu a couple of days ago. The remaining 8 episodes will be released over the next 8 weeks (on Tuesdays). If you are in the mood for a great psychological drama starring 2 great actors, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I'd like to start off by saying I did enjoy things from this series but mostly Steve Carell acting.

The premise for this tv show sounds exciting and I had pictured a mindhuter vibe going in.

But I was very wrong this is a VERY slow burn Drama mostly about complicated family relationships and dynamics aswell as compulsion.

It does drag on and feels like at times quite boring, this series could of been done in easily 8 episodes.

It's not a terrible series though, Steve Carell does very well as a psychiatrist struggling with his own issues. But the whole series is based on complex family emotional issues and the compulsions people have who's are darker than others.