The Patient Hulu

Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson deliver strong performances in the FX on Hulu miniseries 'The Patient,' a thought-provoking thriller from Joel Fields and ...

It may not be the most uplifting series you’ll watch this year, but it’s certainly one of the most thought-provoking and absorbing. On a surface level, The Patient is a thriller about a man being held prisoner by someone he’s expected to treat. Carell gives one of his strongest dramatic performances, conveying panic in moments of genuine distress and, more impressively, in the undercurrent that runs beneath his seemingly affable attempts to encourage Sam. But The Patient is not a “murder show.” It does not fixate on the grisly nature of Sam’s crimes or a police investigation into those crimes or, refreshingly, any sexual compulsions that may be driving Sam’s tendencies. If Sam doesn’t reach that point, it seems very likely that Alan will become his next victim, a possibility that hangs over the series like the unspoken diagnosis of a terminal disease. The Patient is about more than disturbing the cardiovascular system, though. Alan’s life preserver is his ability to maintain professionalism in an absolutely maddening situation, but that doesn’t mean it keeps him fully afloat. Because the show is rolling out weekly — after the first two episodes, one will drop on Hulu each Tuesday — watching isn’t quite the nonstop heart attack it would be if The Patient were instantly bingeable. The Patient is not epic. Several episodes end cliffhanger style, including the second installment, when Alan hears movement upstairs in the house but we don’t get to see who’s there until episode three. When Sam returns home from work or an errand, the headlights from his car illuminate the basement as though someone has finally come to Alan’s rescue, a hope extinguished each time Sam walks through the sliding glass doors. Alan Strauss and Domhnall Gleeson as Sam, a patient with homicidal tendencies.

Steve Carell plays a therapist who makes an unexpected house call in the series premiere of Hulu's 'The Patient' — read our recap.

“I am going to commit another crime,” Sam counters — but he thinks Alan can help him learn how to control these impulses. In another session with Gene, Alan lightly presses him to open up more; he can sense that he’s holding back. Gene says his dad beat him up a lot when he was a kid, and it “f—ked me up.” As a result, he has anger issues and trouble connecting with people. But he thinks Alan can help. He struggles to free himself, finding he can only walk a few feet in any direction, and screams for help, but no one responds. We flash back to Alan living his normal life, leaving a message for his daughter and having a session with a new patient named Gene (Domhnall Gleeson), a jittery young guy who insists on wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap while they talk.