Looking for a new quality show to binge? Allow us to put The Patient, which stars Steve Carell, on your radar…
The first three episodes of The Patient – a new miniseries created by Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg, who both worked on Emmy award-winning series, The Americans – are now available on Disney+ Australia and Hulu. And they’re well worth watching.
The Patient will have a total of ten episodes, which are getting released weekly, and the series follows Dr Alan Strauss, a psychotherapist who awakes to find he’s been kidnapped and imprisoned in one of his patient’s homes. The patient in question is a serial killer named Sam Fortner, who believes the only one who can help him “get better” is Strauss, hence the kidnapping and imprisonment.
Each episode is only twenty minutes and they all show rather than tell; a rare storytelling device used in television these days, which is one of the many reasons The Patient is rather refreshing and engaging.
Another is that while the show’s main premise has arguably been done to death – an exploration of the psychology behind a serial killer’s motives – The Patient doesn’t actually examine Fortner nearly as much as it analyses Strauss’ character, motivations and past trauma.
WATCH: The trailer for ‘The Patient’…
Undoubtedly, the best thing about The Patient is Steve Carell’s performance as Strauss. Of course, Carell built a successful career with mostly comedic roles – for instance, his role as Michael Scott in The Office made him a household name – but The Patient proves Carell can act extremely well in dramatic roles too… In fact, The Patient to Carell is like what Ozark is to Jason Bateman; a series that completely destroys an actor’s previous ‘typecast’.
Domhnall Gleeson also turns in a fantastic performance as Fortner. He is the perfect balance of creepy and likeable; when casually speaking about serious matters like his obsession with killing, Fortner is horrifying but when he passionately talks about food, you can’t help but think this guy is, yes a little odd, but ultimately endearing.
The one thing about The Patient that may annoy some viewers is that you need to be patient (pun intended). The series’ first three episodes have a very slow burn feel to them but they’re clearly building the suspense to something big and honestly, at least to us, the drawn-out pacing satisfyingly adds to the tension clearly felt by Strauss.
If you’re looking for a new series to watch, add The Patient to your watch list immediately. Especially if you’re a fan of thrillers with small doses of black comedy; you’ll love The Patient.
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