S01.E09: Auschwitz

[Guest]

Quote

Dr. Strauss leaves nothing unsaid. Sam gives it another shot with Mary. An idea sparks for Sam, and everything seems to click together.

October 18, 2022

[gesundheit]

So next week is the finale? This didn't seem to really set that up -- it didn't have that "penultimate" feel, structure-wise, so I'm extremely nervous that the finale won't be any sort of resolution but just a cliffhanger hoping for another season.

[SunnyBeBe]

2 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

So next week is the finale? This didn't seem to really set that up -- it didn't have that "penultimate" feel, structure-wise, so I'm extremely nervous that the finale won't be any sort of resolution but just a cliffhanger hoping for another season.

If this is a cliffhanger and the doctor remains in the basement….I think the show can call it quits.  I can’t imagine anyone wanting to watch another season of that. I know I’ll just wait and find out what happens, but not by watching,  

I would prefer The Patient be about a different patient each season.  Next season could actually still be about Sam, but have Sam the one who is locked up in jail as he awaits trial AND the doctor who comes to him to talk….sort of a reversal of roles.  

[Faceplant]

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

Okay, no idea why, but that's the first time I laughed out loud at this show. So stupid. Also, I assumed his father had died already, but I'm probably not paying enough attention. Onto the finale next week! 

[AntFTW]

Quite an interesting episode.

We’re not any closer to getting out of that basement.

[gesundheit]

1 hour ago, Faceplant said:

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

Okay, no idea why, but that's the first time I laughed out loud at this show. So stupid. Also, I assumed his father had died already, but I'm probably not paying enough attention. Onto the finale next week! 

I cracked up, too. Well done, show! But I also hadn't realized his father was still alive.

[AntFTW]

3 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

I cracked up, too. Well done, show! But I also hadn't realized his father was still alive.

Me either. I assumed his father was dead.

[Nellise]

I felt like I'd already seen this episode several times this season. There's no momentum to what should be a very tense story.

[HelloooKitty]

I too thought the father was dead. I had assumed Sam had a lot of anger at his mom for not protecting him and her guilt over that is what led to her covering his crimes. I didn’t see her as someone who got the courage to leave. And abusers don’t normally leave their victims unless they become “inconvenient” and start fighting back. 

[Words]

I'm thinking now that in the finale, Sam confronts his father, and they end up killing each other.  When Sam never returns, his mother sets Dr. Strauss free.

[WaltersHair]

I'm a little ticked off at FX. They've been advertising this as if you could stream it all, but there's one episode left.

Because I binged it last night, I think it was a better series than if I'd watched every week. Sam said in episode one or two that his father just left the family, so I didn't assume he was dead. Sam seemed as angry about his dad leaving as anything else he'd done to him or his mother. I'd wager there's another woman in the picture, but that's speculation.

I really hope they wrap this up next week. I want the good doctor out of the basement.

[sistermagpie]

5 hours ago, Faceplant said:

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

Okay, no idea why, but that's the first time I laughed out loud at this show. So stupid. Also, I assumed his father had died already, but I'm probably not paying enough attention. Onto the finale next week! 

I cracked up at that too. And I'd started assuming Dad was dead as well, just because he wasn't talked about. Have to admit I had no problem with him killing his dad to end all this, though the doctor would still be stuck.

Weird as it is, I admit to being happy when he mentioned Edmund Kemper. It was like a Mindhunter crossover--I was almost surprised to see the actual Ed Kemper instead of the fantastic Cameron Britton.

[gesundheit]

4 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

I'm a little ticked off at FX. They've been advertising this as if you could stream it all, but there's one episode left.

Because I binged it last night, I think it was a better series than if I'd watched every week. Sam said in episode one or two that his father just left the family, so I didn't assume he was dead. Sam seemed as angry about his dad leaving as anything else he'd done to him or his mother.

Oh, glad for that perspective because I'd definitely been wondering how this would've landed as a binge. Clearly better for relevant details like that, that's for sure! 

[SunnyBeBe]

I keep wondering if something random happens like Sam getting killed in a car wreck and not coming back.  What would the mom do then?  

[Guest]

7 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

What would the mom do then?  

Mom is a psycho by proxy: she'd try to finish what Sam started. PLOT TWIST! She's the one who gets stabbed to death by the razor-blade foot cream leaving Dr Strauss alone in the basement to slowly die of starvation.

Season 2 will entirely consist of Ezra stapling flyers to trees.

[ErinV]

What was the deal with Mary's reaction to Sam telling her about his father's abuse?  She seemed shocked, but then started talking about her cat?

[SunnyBeBe]

1 hour ago, ErinV said:

What was the deal with Mary's reaction to Sam telling her about his father's abuse?  She seemed shocked, but then started talking about her cat?

I’ll have to rewatch it.  I fast forward through parts.  
 

The actor who plays Sam really reminds me of Adam Driver.  I could totally see Driver in that role.  Here’s a link of a photo of him, though he normally doesn’t have a mustache. 
 

https://www.slashfilm.com/659322/adam-driver-almost-passed-on-girls-because-he-didnt-understand-it/

Edited October 19, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[Faceplant]

4 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

Mom is a psycho by proxy: she'd try to finish what Sam started. PLOT TWIST! She's the one who gets stabbed to death by the razor-blade foot cream leaving Dr Strauss alone in the basement to slowly die of starvation.

Season 2 will entirely consist of Ezra stapling flyers to trees.

Or Dr. Strauss kills psycho mom and then tries to saw off his own foot with the razor blade foot cream, but only makes it halfway before he passes out and bleeds to death. I think you are spot on for season 2 - sad sack Ezra stapling his sad flyers to trees.

[Whimsy]

4 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

Mom is a psycho by proxy: she'd try to finish what Sam started. PLOT TWIST! She's the one who gets stabbed to death by the razor-blade foot cream leaving Dr Strauss alone in the basement to slowly die of starvation.

Season 2 will entirely consist of Ezra stapling flyers to trees.

Mom is definitely a psycho, but I don't know if it's by proxy.  Her eyes turned cold and hard and she started to move her hand that I thought she was going to get a weapon and hurt Mary after Sam dropped the bombshell (to Mary, at least) that his dad was abusive.  For some reason, I thought Sam's mom was going to stab Mary or something.  I just thought her entire demeanor changed in a very creepy way and I started thinking Sam actually got his tendencies from his mom (if he got them from anyone at all.  Not saying he had to have). 

2 hours ago, ErinV said:

What was the deal with Mary's reaction to Sam telling her about his father's abuse?  She seemed shocked, but then started talking about her cat?

I think Mary was so uncomfortable and probably felt the tension in the room that she tried to change the subject to something benign.  I will say, Mary seems VERY boring, though, so maybe she thought that was a scintillating topic. 

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, ErinV said:

What was the deal with Mary's reaction to Sam telling her about his father's abuse?  She seemed shocked, but then started talking about her cat?

That was her just being awkward and wanting to change the subject. And maybe wanting to signal she didn't want to be back in his life.

[luna1122again]

It was really strange to me that Mary didn't know about Sam's abuse by his father...she'd known him since they were kids, and then they were married, and he never confided that? Very weird, but so is Sam, of course. 

So no reference or mention of Sam's boss being found murdered? 

I don't see Adam Driver, specifically, in Domhnall Gleeson, but they're both fascinating actors to watch. Very interior and intelligent and intense. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by luna1122again

[Guest]

1 hour ago, luna1122again said:

So no reference or mention of Sam's boss being found murdered? 

I don't think there are any police in this town. Maybe Ezra will hear about it somehow and pew! pew! with the staple gun he goes.

2 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I just thought her entire demeanor changed in a very creepy way and I started thinking Sam actually got his tendencies from his mom (if he got them from anyone at all.  Not saying he had to have). 

Yeah, because this show is so interminably boring, I make up my own stories to fill up the space so I had a half thought last night that it wasn't Sam's father who was abusive, it was actually his mother and that's why he's so vague with his stories about the father. I mean, it's your garden-variety blanket statements: "He abused me. He hit us. He yelled at us." There are no specifics whatsoever -- because there likely aren't any. 

This show is a fucking mess.

[Madding crowd]

I’m also finding the show boring which is a lot to say about a serial killer show. There certainly is room on TV for shows about family relationships and how religion can affect family dynamics. But this show was advertised as a man trying to outwit a serial killer to escape. And I do realize that the actual patient is Alan not Sam. It’s just that a person who is kidnapped and terrorized is not thinking clearly and unlikely to have a major breakthrough in figuring out their problems outside of the kidnapping and it’s not all that interesting. 
Having Alan trying and failing to escape, using his skills to manipulate Sam and his mom, any of this would be more interesting.

[SassyCat]

Yes, I could do without the many long lingering profile shots of Alan sitting in the wooden chair “thinking” during the measly half hour eked out weekly. I’d like to see more of what Sam is doing during his day before he drives up the gravel driveway and enters the sliding glass door.

[peeayebee]

On 10/18/2022 at 7:40 AM, Faceplant said:

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

Okay, no idea why, but that's the first time I laughed out loud at this show. 

I think there has been humor many times thruout the show, though YMMV. As for me, my LOL moment during this ep was when Sam completely f's up the joke that Alan had told him. I esp loved it when we see Alan sitting there with his head in his hands.

23 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Weird as it is, I admit to being happy when he mentioned Edmund Kemper. It was like a Mindhunter crossover--I was almost surprised to see the actual Ed Kemper instead of the fantastic Cameron Britton.

Me too! I had never seen video of the real Kemper before. Does anyone know what TV show that was from?

2 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

Yeah, because this show is so interminably boring, I make up my own stories to fill up the space so I had a half thought last night that it wasn't Sam's father who was abusive, it was actually his mother and that's why he's so vague with his stories about the father. I mean, it's your garden-variety blanket statements: "He abused me. He hit us. He yelled at us." There are no specifics whatsoever -- because there likely aren't any. 

I'm not sure how serious you are, but I started to think that the mother was the abuser. I don't remember when the father left the family, but if it was when Sam was very young, then Sam may have altered memories, either to protect himself from hating his mother -- now his only caring presence in his life -- or his mother manipulated him to make him think it was his father. 

6 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

The actor who plays Sam really reminds me of Adam Driver.  I could totally see Driver in that role.  Here’s a link of a photo of him, though he normally doesn’t have a mustache.

I said in another thread that he reminded me of Kevin (Ezra Miller) in We Need to Talk About Kevin. 

[Guest]

On 10/18/2022 at 6:21 AM, gesundheit said:

So next week is the finale? This didn't seem to really set that up -- it didn't have that "penultimate" feel, structure-wise, so I'm extremely nervous that the finale won't be any sort of resolution but just a cliffhanger hoping for another season.

The show was announced as a limited series so there shouldn’t a cliffhanger. 

[BusyOctober]

Over the closing credits, did anyone else hear the sound of breaking glass?  Or maybe it was (finally) Chekhov’s ceramic pitcher??   Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like that pitcher is getting a lot of scenes in the back half of these episodes.  If that white pitcher turns out to be a red herring, I’m gonna be upset.  (but not enough to kill anyone, cut their head off,  and fuck their skull, so no need to call the authorities)

[SunnyBeBe]

Yes. I heard something at the end. What was it?  

[Elizzikra]

20 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yes. I heard something at the end. What was it?  

My closed captioning said it was a gate opening and closing, so I thought it was just Sam leaving the property.

I'll give the show this - I really have no idea how it's going to end. If they do have a second season, I can see it being Allan and Sam continuing therapy, with Sam now imprisoned for murder and kidnapping. Or events shown from the mother's point of view and maybe Allan in therapy with her.

Quote

I started to think that the mother was the abuser.

I thought that - or that Sam would decide his mother needed to die because she failed to protect him?

Quote

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

Okay, no idea why, but that's the first time I laughed out loud at this show. 

My husband and I laughed at that too. It was nice to see Sam have something of a personality. For a serial killer, he really is pretty bland.

Quote

 If that white pitcher turns out to be a red herring, 

Also Sam's Dunkin' Donuts coffee cups, where he drains the cup, puts the plastic lid in the cup and then goes and takes a very long pee. There has to be something going on there...

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

And I do realize that the actual patient is Alan not Sam.

I will lose my mind if it turns out Sam is not actually real and just some projection for Alan to work out his issues with his son.

[sistermagpie]

28 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

I will lose my mind if it turns out Sam is not actually real and just some projection for Alan to work out his issues with his son.

LOL. And Sam's mother just wants this strange man out of her basement.

[headhoncho]

"I'm just kidding. I'm not going to fuck his skull"

while I thought that was funny, it didn't make me laugh as much as when Sam kidnapped that guy, brought him home, dragged him through the basement room, tossed him into the other room, and turned around and walked back through the basement room and out the patio doors without saying a word to Alan who just sat there and watched incredulously.

for a split second I thought maybe this was supposed to be a comedy because that scene just cracked me up.  LOL

[peeayebee]

13 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

My husband and I laughed at that too. It was nice to see Sam have something of a personality. For a serial killer, he really is pretty bland.

Bland is the creepiest kind of serial killer.

Quote

Also Sam's Dunkin' Donuts coffee cups, where he drains the cup, puts the plastic lid in the cup and then goes and takes a very long pee. There has to be something going on there...

At first I wondered about that, but now I think it was just humor. The sound of someone taking a long pee can be funny, as well as being forced to listen to it because you're chained to the floor.

I do wonder about the pitcher. In the beginning Alan had the recurring fantasy of breaking it and attacking Sam with the chards. I can only hazard random guesses as to what if anything will happen with the pitcher. I gotta say, I'm glad Alan didn't try to attack Sam with the sharped tube of foot cream. I agreed with his dead therapist: Not a good idea.

[ErinV]

20 hours ago, peeayebee said:

 I esp loved it when we see Alan sitting there with his head in his hands.

I was rolling at that part!  I sort of felt bad for Sam.  The mom and Mary could've chuckled FFS.

[gesundheit]

19 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

My husband and I laughed at that too. It was nice to see Sam have something of a personality. For a serial killer, he really is pretty bland.

That and his whole "Thanks a lot, now I'm one of those guys with a body in the basement" line a few episodes back gave us a little sense of his humor, which I appreciated. But I like that he's generally such bore, since real-life serial killers usually are (despite the exciting, captivating ones of cinema). Can't even re-tell a simple joke. Tedious man.

19 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I will lose my mind if it turns out Sam is not actually real and just some projection for Alan to work out his issues with his son.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[peeayebee]

20 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I will lose my mind if it turns out Sam is not actually real and just some projection for Alan to work out his issues with his son.

I can't see how that's possible since we see Sam out in the world doing stuff, Ezra putting up flyers, and so many other things. But I'll eat my hat (and throw my shoe at the TV) if that happens. Maybe in the finale we see Bobby Ewing come out of Sam's room. It's all a dream!

[Milburn Stone]

On 10/19/2022 at 12:08 PM, Madding crowd said:

But this show was advertised as a man trying to outwit a serial killer to escape.

Was it? All I knew was it was a show about a shrink held prisoner by his serial killer patient.

Which they've delivered on!

[Madding crowd]

Every write up, interview and description of the series I have read describes it as a psychological thriller.

[peeayebee]

I'd say technically it IS a psychological thriller. There's a lot of psychology going on -- Alan's dreams, his issues with Ezra and with religion, his handling of Sam; Sam's mental issues. And it's a thriller in that Alan's being held by a serial killer who's not always predictable. So to me it fits the bill, though there's more psychology than thriller.

[Madding crowd]

That’s fair but to me it’s much more family drama than thriller which is what I expected. Everyone watches for different reasons and enjoys different content .

[Quilt Fairy]

I'm trying to figure out how many days it's been since Alan was kidnapped.  Did they say last week when Ezra was out and about?  Because it usually is a much shorter period than the viewer thinks when they have to wait a week between (in this show's case) these excruciatingly short episodes.  I ask because Alan's clothes look exactly the same, and his hair and his beard don't seem to have grown at all.  At most we've seen his hair mussed after he's been sleeping, and he has used a whole tube of foot cream - although, come to think of it, he could have over-used the foot cream if his goal was to make a weapon of the tube.  Anyone?

[Eureka]

1 minute ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm trying to figure out how many days it's been since Alan was kidnapped.  Did they say last week when Ezra was out and about?  Because it usually is a much shorter period than the viewer thinks when they have to wait a week between (in this show's case) these excruciatingly short episodes.  I ask because Alan's clothes look exactly the same, and his hair and his beard don't seem to have grown at all.  At most we've seen his hair mussed after he's been sleeping, and he has used a whole tube of foot cream - although, come to think of it, he could have over-used the foot cream if his goal was to make a weapon of the tube.  Anyone?

We’ve been thinking about a week. I was trying to figure it out based on the dinners Sam brought home.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Eureka said:

We’ve been thinking about a week. I was trying to figure it out based on the dinners Sam brought home.

I think we could also figure it out based on how much foot cream was in the tube when Alan first was taken. It's gone now -- so I assume if it were a regular rx, it would be a 30-day supply.

[peeayebee]

That makes sense, but it never occurred to me that he's been in that basement for 30 days.

[Nellise]

21 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

That makes sense, but it never occurred to me that he's been in that basement for 30 days.

I'm not sure it's been that long since Sam said it was only 3 days between his two murders.

[chaifan]

16 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I ask because Alan's clothes look exactly the same, and his hair and his beard don't seem to have grown at all. 

I keep on thinking that no matter how long it's been, Alan's been wearing the same pair of underwear this whole time.  (No way to change them, or even take them off to wash them with his one ankle in a shackle & chain.)  He may be taking sponge baths with the basin, and could even wash his hair, but still, he has to be getting pretty stinky by now.

I don't think I realized until this episode that Sam sleeps in the other room in the basement.  I thought it was just a storage room. 

I hope Alan tells Sam's mom that Sam is going to kill his dad, and maybe that's just the one line for her that he crosses, and she calls and turns him in.  Or does something stupid when she goes to stop him.  I can't figure out how they're going to wrap this up in one episode.

I said in a previous thread that even though I like really like the show, I don't want a second season of this.  The idea of a second season where Sam is in prison and Alan's his therapist would be so incredibly unbelievable (I think there would be some serious professional ethical problems with that scenario, not to mention horrible for Alan's mental health) that I can not get on board with that.  I'm fine with this being a one season, limited series.  Not everything has to go on forever.  I do hope they give us a finite ending, not just Sam and Alan both lying on the basement floor after an epic battle, each half dead and us not knowing who survived. 

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, Nellise said:

I'm not sure it's been that long since Sam said it was only 3 days between his two murders.

How much time passed before he kidnapped Elias and killed him?

I just glanced at the beginning of E1. The tube of foot cream that Sam has placed on the nightstand is Alan's partial tube, so it's not a 30-day supply. Still, the tube looks more than half full.

[eejm]

Small nitpick: I think Domhnall Gleason must have a very uneven complexion.  Not a big deal, but I understand why that would need to be evened out when he’s onscreen.  But I swear that make-up chose a foundation color a shade or two darker than he needs and then decided to freaking bathe the poor guy in it.  Seriously, it’s just caked on.  Makeup department, the direction that Sam needs layers was not meant for you.

Edited October 23, 2022 by eejm

[Eureka]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:01 PM, Giant Misfit said:

I think we could also figure it out based on how much foot cream was in the tube when Alan first was taken. It's gone now -- so I assume if it were a regular rx, it would be a 30-day supply.

Do we know it was a full tube at first? Did they show that and I don’t remember? Same thing with his arrhythmia meds, which must have been in his pocket when he was taken?

[peeayebee]

23 hours ago, eejm said:

Small nitpick: I think Domhnall Gleason must have a very uneven complexion.  Not a big deal, but I understand why that would need to be evened out when he’s onscreen.  But I swear that make-up chose a foundation color a shade or two darker than he needs and then decided to freaking bathe the poor guy in it.  Seriously, it’s just caked on.  Makeup department, the direction that Sam needs layers was not meant for you.

I haven't noticed bad makeup, but I have thought how much younger he looks than his real age (39). I wonder if the heavy makeup was to make him look younger. To me Sam looks to be in his 20s or maybe early 30s. As far as his real complexion goes, he's a fair-skinned Irishman.

5 hours ago, Eureka said:

Do we know it was a full tube at first? Did they show that and I don’t remember? 

Yes. I happened to post about this just upthread. It was about half full.