At the end of the last session, Dr. Alan Strauss lost his efforts to save the life of Elias, the young man who was abducted by The Patient, Sam Fortner. It’s time to return to the basement for another round of therapy notes in this episode recap of “Charlie.” Shall we begin?
(Suzanne Tenner/FX)
Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson) drives his truck into the driveway in the early hours of the morning. His mother Candace (Linda Emond) stands outside wrapped in a cardigan waiting for him. “I am at my witts end; I almost called 9-1-1 last night,” she warns him. “I’m sorry,” Sam says as he begins to carry in the items he bought – a bag of cement mix, construction earmuffs, a jackhammer, and a shovel. He drags everything inside, waking up Dr. Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) in the process. As Sam makes repeated trips back and forth, he passed the dead body of Elias (Alex Rich), still bound on the floor where he was strangled. Getting things set up, Sam begins to break up the concrete floor in the closet.
Alan closes his eyes and despite still being able to hear the sounds of cement breaking, he is mentally in the office of Charlie (David Alan Grier), his deceased therapist. “You’re back,” Charlie greets him. “It’s an emergency,” Alan replies. He consults with Charlie about his need to appear in control of the situation with Sam, but admits that he wasn’t trained for this. He believes Sam has a tiny conscience and Charle reminds him that this means he has empathy. “You have to help me. If I don’t figure this out, he’s going to strangle me, and I’m going into that grave, or the next one,” Alan pleads. His fantasy concluded, Alan sits on the floor and tries to read one of the books Sam provided for him while the inescapable sound of cement breaking continues behind him. Unable to focus, he remembers back to one of his first sessions after his wife Beth passed away. His patient Colleen (Cindy Michelle) asked him about Beth’s funeral and mentioned that she’d never been to a Jewish funeral. He reminded her that a funeral is a funeral.
(Suzanne Tenner/FX)
Sam injures his hand while trying to dig up the earth under the freshly cracked cement. Going to Alan’s bedside, he blames him, saying “Now I’m one of those guys who buries people in his basement. Thanks a lot. Your turn.” Sam instructs Alan to face the wall as he unlocks the chain that connects him to the basement floor. As Alan waits, he imagines himself as a captive in The Holocaust. As he is led into the closet and chained to a pipe, he visualizes himself in a gas chamber. Sam is careful to keep his distance while passing the shovel over to Alan. He supervises him for a short time, giving him tips on how to dig deeper before leaving. Alan hears Sam’s truck engine start and drive away as he works.
Alan remembers a conversation with a colleague (Eva La Dare) who took over his teaching responsibilities while he mourned the death of his wife Beth. While walking on campus, he shared the irony of working with people on their relationships when his own son is barely speaking to him. As they walk, they pass a student activities board. A flier with a swastika catches his attention, promoting a “March Against The Radical Zionist Agenda.” Alan sighs and shakes his head.
Back in another mental session with Charlie, Alan’s therapist notices that he keeps glancing at the glass pitcher of water and asks why. “I’m having a fantasy of smashing it against his head,” Alan reveals. “Why don’t you do that?”, Charlie calmly asks. Alan says it would just make him die sooner than he wants to. Charlie reminds Alan that he used to wrestle in high school and Alan makes a joke about how much older he is now. “I don’t know why you feel so powerless,” Charlie tells his patient. “I don’t feel powerless. I’m doing everything I can to fight back with what I have.” Alan then shares te he’s out of foot cream and almost out of his arrhythmia pills. “If this guy doesn’t murder me, I’m going to die of a heart attack… or from fungus.” After recounting all of the things he’s already tried with Sam, Charlie brings up a valid point. “You’re going to have to address the fact that his mother is in part responsible for the abuse he suffered as a child.”
(Suzanne Tenner/FX)
Alan’s mental therapy session is paused when he hears Sam’s truck return. He resumes digging as his captor enters the closet, keeping his distance but taking the shovel back from him. He moves Alan back into the furnished basement and offers him donuts and coffee after reconnecting his chain to the floor. They sit in silence and eat, with Sam eventually getting up to mix the cement. Alan asks him to sit back down for a minute. “I’d like to discuss the possibility of you handling this differently,” he says. He brings up that Sam usually leaves his victim’s bodies in a place where they can be found. Sam worries that Elias has too much DNA on him that can be traced back to his home, but Alan says that the basement carpet would be hard to trace due to its age and that Elias likely doesn’t have any more DNA or particles from Sam than his other victims did, who were never connected to him. He brings up Sam’s quest to get better. “I can’t pull this out of you. Therapy is not an exorcism. The next step is to think about Elias’ family. To truly understand what might be of service to them emotionally as fellow human beings.”
Alan stands up and moves towards Elias’ body, asking Sam to join him. “Take off the blindfold. You need to see his face.” Sam cuts the duct tape and peels it away, which makes Alan get nauseous as he sees the discolored skin that hadn’t been able to breathe. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” he admits. “Why did you want me to do this?”, Sam asks with no emotion. “You have all your feelings, right?”, Alan asks. “He was a person who had feelings of his own to struggle with. I want you to see that he was not just some guy who offended you. Elias was a human being. He had a mother and a father who care about him just like your mother cares about you. And they are going to miss him. You know, people have techniques to help them grieve. For Jews, it’s all laid out. There’s the burial, which is why it’s so important to have a body, and there’s a special week called shiva where we focus just on mourning and memory. I always tried to get out of it a little bit early, but my wife wouldn’t let me. She was right. There’s a prayer you say every night for the first year after someone dies and then once a year afterward forever. It’s called the Kaddish.” Sam looks at Alan blankly and asks “Should I say it?” Alan is surprised by this. “Let me think about that. I think the important thing is less the ritual and more that you consider Elias, his family, and what they need. That would be something new for you and very, very good. We need to develop your skills of empathy, which means putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. And the truth is most people need to work on this. But you, in particular, would benefit from growing in this regard.” Sam agrees that this is the better plan and tells Alan he will have to help him fill in the hole. Sam goes to his bedroom and shuts the door.
Alan uses this rare opportunity to go to the coffee table quietly. He pulls out his small legal pad and pen and scribbles a note. It looks like he writes “Sam Rest Insp. Shosh Ez. Dad Loves you.” He wads the paper up and tries to keep his chain quiet as he returns to Elias’ body. He has to lay on the ground to reach him, but he stuffs the wadded-up note in Elias’ mouth. Using his pen, he pushes it to the back of Elias’ throat to try to ensure that it won’t be dislodged while the body is moved.
(Suzanne Tenner/FX)
Alan rushes back to his chair and notices that his hands are now full of black ink from the pen, which must have broken while he was stuffing the note in Elias’ mouth. He tries to wipe it off on the underside of the comforter on the edge of his bed. Sam’s door opens and Alan is breathing heavily, trying to calm down. Sam asks if he’s okay. “It’s been a lot, Sam. Thank you for asking. I really appreciate it.” Sam nods and crosses the room, grabbing a blanket. He lays it on the floor next to Elias and rolls his body onto it. He wraps him up and drags him outside by his feet. Alan watches as Elias’ head is dragged over the track of the sliding glass door. It bounces, but the note seems to have stayed in place. He closes his eyes and thinks back to a happy memory of his wife Beth (Laura Niemi) singing “Not By Might, Not By Power.”
FX’s The Patient will resume on Tuesday, October 4th with the next episode on Hulu. We’ll continue our session notes then, but for now, here’s what’s on the agenda for next week’s episode, titled “Kaddish.”
Both Dr. Strauss and Sam try to make new connections in their pursuit of an elusive peace. Written by Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg; Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton.