In Treatment (2008–2010): Season 3, Episode 2 - Frances: Week One - full transcript

You shouldn't have.

I'm sorry.
I startled you.

Oh no, not at all.

You're just early.

Oh, annoying habit.

I apologize for that.

It's fine.

Let me just put these...

Please come in.

So do I look familiar?

I...



I mean, I don't go
to the movies that often.

Oh, no no, I meant
do I look like my sister?

Well, it's been what,
18 years now

Since Patricia's
been my patient?

Oh, of course.

Why would you remember, right?

But yes, I do.
I see the family resemblance.

Well, Tricia looks
more like our father

And I look like mother,
or so people say.

Look, I didn't even know
if you'd agree to see me.

I don't know the rules.

Well, if enough time
has passed, it's...

Well, as you said, 18 years.

And there's no chance that
Patricia will be my patient again.



That's not...
that's not a problem.

Then as long as she is
comfortable with it...

Yeah, it's fine.

Not that I need to get her permission.
'cause I'm the big sister.

Well, you may not need
to ask her permission,

But... but I do.

No, of course, yeah.

Did you...
did you tell her

That you'd made
an appointment with me?

She speaks very highly of you.

Oh, she does?

Yeah.

When you called you said
that you'd been having

Some trouble with
remembering your lines,

Some memory problems.

Wait, I called?

Yeah, I'm back onstage.

It's been years.

"night of the iguana."
do you know it?

Yeah, I've seen the ads
all over town.

Stars

And, well, former stars,
I suppose.

Is that how you
perceive yourself...

As a former star?

Well, is that how you see me?

I'm sorry.

I haven't been here
five minutes

And already I'm
a parody of myself.

How so?

Oh, you know,
the archetypal actress...

"enough about me.
What do you think about me?"

This is therapy.

It's supposed to be about you.

So have you been
in therapy before?

Well, I did est
back in the day,

And later lifespring.
You remember all that?

Hey, it blew my mind
at the time.

It kind of seems
silly now, I guess.

Let's see.
What else?

Oh, later I 12-stepped it
for a while

But that was mostly because
my friends were doing it.

I never got
past the first step.

I had trouble with that
whole higher-power thing.

What else?

Oh, I was on a film
once in Ecuador

And I had this session
with a real-life shaman.

I mean, that was a trip.

It's unbelievable really,
after all that

Alternative
counterculture crap,

That I would wind up on a couch

Like a 19th-century
neurotic.

Are you surprised that you,

As you say, wound up here?

Well, back when
my mother was dying,

You know, when Patricia was
seeing you in Baltimore,

You really helped her.

And I think my sister felt

Like I should be
seeing someone too.

But you didn't?

Oh, I was so overwhelmed
with work.

I was racing from one job
to the next.

And plus, you know,

I've just never been attracted

To traditional therapy.

It just seemed very...

Naked to me...

Sitting across
from someone, talking,

Being scrutinized...

A nightmare.

Does this feel
like a nightmare...

Having to sit here with me now?

Oh, I wouldn't say that.

More like a vague
anxiety dream.

Patricia's right.
You're easy to talk to.

Besides, what can I do?
I need help.

With your lines.

I have them down verbatim
the night before.

And then I go into rehearsal and
wham... they just disappear,

I mean, sometimes in
the middle of a sentence.

I'm talking to another character
and I just lose my place.

I don't know where I am
in the play.

I don't know what's
supposed to happen next.

I can't even improvise
my way out of it.

So during rehearsal

How often would you
lose your lines?

Oh, once, twice, maybe more.

Mm-hmm.
Anything about the part

That makes you feel
uncomfortable?

No.

Do you tend to trip
over the same spots...

Certain passages,

Certain scenes
that give you trouble?

No, one day it's one place,

And another...
the next.

No.

Ava Gardner played
the part in the movie.

Did you see it?

I think so, years ago.

Are you worried about

Being compared to Ava Gardner?

Oh no, I have
my own take on it.

I'll be fine...

Different, very different.

I'm not afraid.

As long as I can learn
my fucking lines.

So how long have you got?

Well, two more weeks
of rehearsal,

Two weeks of preview
and then opening.

And that's the big night.

The producers are in a panic,

Always hovering,

Whispering in
the director's ear.

Do you think they're
whispering about you?

I heard a rumor that
one of them didn't want me,

Didn't think
I was right for the part.

In other words, too old.

The little prick.

You're angry with him.

No, I'm angry with myself.

I mean, it's just not like me.
I'm always prepared,

No matter how much
blathering on I have to do.

I did "happy days" in London.
Do you know it?

- Sam Beckett.
- That's right.

I mean, it's really a 90-minute
monologue... that play.

Winnie never stops talking.

And I was a quick study.
I mean, I nailed it every time.

Back then I had some help.

From whom?

Oh, my husband Russell.

He's a European history
Professor at Columbia,

Kind of a bigwig.

Yeah, he used to get a kick
out of running lines with me.

I don't know.
Maybe he just liked correcting me.

He used to lie in bed

And I'd pace back and forth
around the room.

He was like some kind of
academic drill sergeant,

You know, with his glasses
down on his nose,

Doing these ridiculous voices.

What a ham.

Well, now he's a pig.

So he's not
helping you anymore?

Oh, we divorced
two years ago.

Yeah.

He was boffing one of his
graduate students.

She dumped him
six months later.

But it was enough
to finish us off.

So how long were you married?

16 years.

That's quite a long run
for someone in my business.

And did you and Russell
have children?

Izzy...
short for Isabel.

She just turned 15.

And how is she coping
with the divorce?

Fine, I thought.

I tried to change
the custody arrangement

When I got the play.

I mean, usually

We alternate weekends
and split up the week.

I just thought
she could stay with me

Full-time
while I was in rehearsal

Because I'd be home at night.

And then she could
go to her father's

When I was in tech and preview.

And she wasn't happy with that?

Somebody wasn't
happy with that.

Russell said Izzy felt
manipulated by the change.

I said let her speak
for herself, right?

Now she's staying
with him full-time,

Won't answer my calls.

You sound frustrated.

Yeah well,
you have teenage kids.

You know.

Oh, Patricia told me

That you were having babies
when she saw you.

So I figure they must be
teenagers by now, right?

Okay, so I mean, you get it.

They're little and cute
and affectionate.

And then they're gangly
and resentful

And they're blasting evil
shit about you on Twitter

And silencing their
cell phones when you call.

You know, I gave her
my old blackberry

And she uses it against me.

What kind of things
does she write about you?

Oh, I don't know. I can't do all
that social networking stuff.

It's too complicated.

Yeah, I know.
I still have problems with email.

Oh no, that isn't what I meant.
I'm not a Luddite.

It's just I...
it's too public.

I would have to have an alias.

Oh, yes yes.
Of course, yes.

Anyway, who knows what
she's posting or tweeting?

"my mother the diva

Took another gig and bailed
on her responsibilities."

Send.

Do you think that's something
that might be true...

That you've bailed
on your responsibilities?

That you've chosen career
over motherhood?

Not at all.

History is being
rewritten by Izzy.

If she only knew
how many jobs I passed on

To stay home and what,
make her a Halloween costume?

Listen to me.

I sound so...

So what?

You must think
I'm a terrible person.

Why would I think that?

Why did I launch into that?

I don't know why
I started in on that story.

What were we talking about?

Oh, Izzy.

Yeah, it's not easy

To withstand a child's
anger or scorn

And just to be there
to love them anyway,

Even when they reject you.

It's very stressful.

I think I can withstand

A lot worse
than team Wiskowitz...

That's what I call Russell and
Izzy when they gang up on me.

That's his last name and hers.

I took a pass.

Look,

I'm sure you know this
from Patricia,

But when our mother was dying

I was doing three or four
films a year.

I was under
a lot of pressure...

Both personal and professional.

I mean, I would sometimes fly
from the set to the hospital

And I would have to be back
in makeup by crack of dawn.

I never missed a day...

Not one.

My director friend
used to call me t. M.F.C....

Tough mother fucking cookie.

I can take it.

You must have found work then

To be a useful distraction.

Kept me sane.

Only now it's making me crazy.

But obviously that was
a long time ago.

Back then you probably could

Handle the stress,
the schedule, the jet lag.

But you were much younger then.

- We were all younger once, Paul.
- Yes, I know, but...

Yeah well, I know what you're getting at.
And you're wrong.

What am I getting at?

How would you like it
if I sat here

Implying things
about your aging body?

I mean, certain issues
do tend to arise

Or not arise, as the case may
be, in men of a certain age.

That is true, yeah.

It's not menopause.

Okay.

Good.

Seems like
I've made you angry.

It was interesting earlier on when
you talked about that producer...

The one who thought
you were too old.

That made you angry too.

Is it a sensitive subject
for you?

Oh, it's not for everyone?

Well, it is
for most people, yeah.

Look, I'm sure that you're
dating some 25-year-old hottie

Who bops home from the gym
and bops you into bed, right?

Patricia caught
a glimpse of your wife,

But I don't notice
a wedding band.

Sounds like you and Patricia
talked about me quite a lot.

Does that make you nervous?

Oh, don't worry.
She adores you.

She said before she met
her husband

You were the most wonderful
man she had ever met,

Quote unquote.

Did you know she got married?

No, I didn't.

Yeah, she found someone...
Yvan.

They met on some
fellowship in France.

They used to finish
each other's sentences,

Sometimes in several languages.

Really nice to see her
so happy.

But he died, though.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

He had a heart condition.

And she knew this
when she married him.

She married him anyway.

That's Patricia...

Unconditional love.

My sister is sick.

She has our mother's disease.

- Breast cancer?
- Mm.

What's her prognosis?

Stage IV.

I see.

How long?

I'm not sure.

I wanted to tell you
when I called you

And then later when I got
here, but I couldn't.

I understand.
It's very hard

To say that kind of thing.

Does she have somebody
to talk to?

I mean, is she seeing
a therapist?

- Patricia?
- Yes.

I'm just concerned.

She should be... she should
be talking to somebody.

I'm not sure.

Well, death runs in the family.

- What does that mean?
- It's a family disease.

If your mother
dies of it, watch out.

You're five times more likely
to get it yourself.

Are you all right?

Yes yes, I'm fine.

You said it was
a family disease.

Yeah, there's a genetic test

For breast cancer...
the brca1.

Yes, I know.

Patricia's obsessed
with it...

All those miserable statistics.

I finally had a mammogram
just to shut her up.

I was 100% clean.
But that's not enough for her.

She still wants me
to take the test.

She harangues me
every time she sees me.

Of course I haven't seen
her for close to a month.

I've been so swamped.

Does she still live
in Baltimore?

No, she moved here years ago.

She lives just
15 blocks from here.

She hates being sick.

She's so confined.

I mean, she used to be
so vibrant.

- You remember.
- Sure.

She must have been quite ill

When you started rehearsals.

Yeah well, when I took the play

She was just
starting chemo again.

And when I started rehearsals

Well, they had started
another round,

But it wasn't working.
So they stopped treatment.

Why? Are you joining
team Wiskowitz?

You think I shouldn't
have taken the play?

No, I just think it's worth
looking at the reasons

Why you might have
taken the job.

I needed a job.
I wanted to take a job.

I hadn't worked in two years.

I hadn't had a decent job
in longer than that.

So I grabbed it.

Does that make me
a cold-hearted egomaniac?

Look, you've just come through

A difficult divorce;

Your daughter isn't
relating to you;

Your sister is sick;

There's a genetic test
that you're anxious about...

No, I'm not anxious about
the fucking test, okay?

Patricia's the one
who's anxious.

Well, I would imagine
that the play

Provided a kind of an escape...

Escape?

No, it's the problem,
not the solution.

What's the problem?

I'm failing.

Is it possible
that some part of you

Might be inclined
towards failure?

I mean, people sabotage
themselves all the time

For what they think
are very good reasons.

Well, that's not me.

You know, earlier you were
talking about Izzy

And how angry she is and how
she resents you working.

Did you notice during that that
you lost your train of thought?

No.

Well, you did.
And it was at a moment

When you were judging
yourself for being selfish.

I'm just wondering if you're
having a similar judgment

About yourself in rehearsal...

You know, about being selfish
by being in the play.

My God, did you aggravate
Patricia like this?

She said you were
supremely supportive.

Well, maybe I've just
become more aggravating

In my middle years, yeah.

Or maybe she was a nicer patient.
I don't know.

Was she a nicer patient?

What if she was
a nicer patient...

A better patient,
whatever that might mean?

You know, I think
it's interesting

That you chose to see me...

Your sister's former therapist.

Well, as I said,
you came highly recommended.

Well, I'm sure
that you had recommendations

From a lot of people.

- No.
- Did you ask around?

No, not really.

Do you think
there might be

Something particular
in coming to see me...

Some special understanding
that you might hope

To gain about Patricia,

Some insight into her maybe,

Into her relationship
with you bef...

What?

Just say it.

It's true.

She's dying... Tricia.

That's the first time
I've said it out loud.

Is it time?
Because it must be time.

Oh God.

I tell you,
rehearsal's gonna be.

So are you on your way to work?

Yes, I am.
Wish me luck.

Well,

Break a leg, as they say.

Oh well, save the superstitions
for the performance.

This is just
a run-through.

Well, good luck with
your run-through then.

Tell the truth... do you always
buy fresh flowers for the office

Or were you just trying
to make a good impression?

I was just passing the bodega

And I thought they'd
brighten up the place.

They do.

And just keep an eye
when you're rehearsing

If you go up on the lines.

If?

Hello.

Um, Dr. Burdick, please.

Paul Weston.

Hey Alan.

How are you?

Yeah yeah, I'm great.

Oh, they're...

Thanks for asking.
They're doing really well.

Thank you.
And yours?

Great.

Alan, I had...
I had a favor to ask.

I was wondering
if you could recommend

A good neurologist.

I just... I just have
a few questions about...

It's about Parkinson's, just...

Yeah, sure sure.

I'll... I'll hold.

Yeah, sure.