In Treatment (2008–2010): Season 3, Episode 10 - Frances: Week Three - full transcript

How did it go this week?

I told the director that
I'm seeing the best

psychoanalyst in New York
and that I'm sure I'll be fine.

So you'd like us to
be in this together?

Aren't we?

Do you feel that Patricia has
usurped your role as Izzy's mother?

I lost Izzy a long time ago.

But Russell, that...

That was a bit of a shock.

When did you separate?

Two years ago.
He had an affair.



Las week you said Patricia
had recommended, me to you.

What, do you want to
catch me in a lie?

Did I catch you in a lie?

It's important that we be as
honest as we can with each other.

I'll tell her.

Too early.
Need to sleep.

Max is gonna be up
in 15 minutes.

I'll make him breakfast.

I make really nice waffles.

You... you've got to
get going.

I know, I know.
I'm going.

You been up a while?

You had another rough night?

I'd say average.



I stopped trying
to sleep around 5:00

And then I just
got up and read.

I'm sorry, sweetie.

I know you hate
when I tell you this,

But you should sleep a lot
better if you had some exercise

Because they're
directly linked.

And you know, it doesn't
have to be yoga.

It could be anything.

A bike ride
or it could be...

- Can I ask you something?
- Yeah.

Do you think that I have

A happiness deficit?

I mean, when was the last
time that you saw me

And I seemed
genuinely happy to you?

Is this because of the book?

Because I keep telling
you to stop reading it

'cause it's making you
a little crazy.

No, it's not
because of the book.

Somebody asked me and I was
thinking about it, that's all.

Someone who?

Somebody. It doesn't matter.
Not important.

Okay, and they're
saying what to you?

That you are having
trouble being happy?

More or less.

I'm just...

I'm just asking your opinion.

My opinion?

Not when you're with me.

Wendy, I...

Ahem.

I was beginning to think
I had the wrong day.

Come in, please.

Sorry about that.
I, uh...

I was just finishing
off something.

Went to see Patricia yesterday

To talk to her about, you
know, this... about you.

Ask her permission to see you.

And what did she say?

Fine.
She said it's fine.

You gonna call her?

I really don't think that's...

Oh, you believe me.

Of course.

So you're not
gonna double-check,

You know, when we're done
just to make sure?

Well, I don't really
need to talk to her.

I don't have any intention
of talking to her.

She is sick, you know.

She might appreciate you
just checking in.

Okay.
So you've given me a choice.

I could check in with your
sister and make you jealous,

Or I could ignore her
and make you angry.

Well, I'm already
jealous and angry.

Here.

Found this at Trish's.

It's Izzy's.

Her favorite.

And you borrowed it?

My daughter
still won't talk to me.

And she has dinner with
my sister every night.

They make soup.

Every week
it's a different soup.

Last night
was cream of broccoli.

God.

When I think of me
making soup for Izzy

When she was home sick
with a cold or something,

I mean, d open a can.

And I never remembered
to add the extra water in.

It still smells like Izzy.

I took it as an excuse
to see my daughter.

I thought maybe I could
return it to her.

God, I don't even know
what I'm doing here.

You know, I should be somewhere
working on my lines.

Tonight is the first
night of previews.

I'm thinking of inviting
Patricia to opening night.

Although...
If she's up to it, I don't know...

She probably won't come.

Why do you say that?

'cause she doesn't
like parties or premieres.

She likes p.B.S.
And soup.

Well, you could ask her.

And she could simply
say no if she had to.

It's not her thing.

She's seen all my movies.
I mean, the major ones.

She just doesn't make a fuss.

Does she withhold her praise?

She withholds
my daughter, all right?

I...

I was at Trish's.

She got cold and I went
to get her a robe

And this is hanging on a hook.

She's hiding it from me.

I mean, Izzy forgot it,

But Trish knew I'd be
upset if I saw it.

So I smuggled it out.

I didn't want a confrontation.
I just left there.

A confrontation about Izzy?

About Izzy and... you know,
she's one-track with me.

She just can't stop
talking about the brca1.

And did you tell her that you'd
made the appointment for the test?

No, I didn't want to
open those floodgates.

She's always preaching
surgery statistics.

She torments me.

Did you take the test?

Are you worried about me?

On Friday as scheduled.

I'm still waiting
for the results.

The way you
describe Patricia...

That she's preachy,

She torments you...

I think you seem to take her
anxiety as a form of aggression.

I think it could also be

A sign of love.

No, she's punishing me.

Punishing you?
Punishing you for what?

We were opposites,
you know, growing up.

Our mother used to call us
"beauty and the brain."

She was the star student

And I was the star.

Did she tell you something
differently when she was in therapy?

You seem to care a lot about
what people think about you...

Me, Izzy, Tricia.

What do you think Patricia
is punishing you for?

When Tricia
was at Johns Hopkins

She was on a scholarship.

I was in New York, you know,

Just finding
a little bit of success.

She called all excited.
She had news.

She had gotten cast in a play.

Clifford Odets'
"the country girl."

Mm-hmm.

She had auditioned on a whim

And gotten the lead.

The title role.

- You sound surprised.
- I was totally surprised.

I never knew she was even
interested in such a thing...

Acting or the theater.

I mean, it was sweet.
She was sweet.

Her enthusiasm, she
thought it was so easy.

Do you remember who played
the role in the movie?

- Grace Kelly.
- Grace Kelly, exactly.

So Trish was this cast,

To say the least.

But it was college,

And she really wanted me
to come and see it.

So how was that for you?

Well, it was terribly
earnest, but she was fine.

Actually, she was one of
the better performances.

We went out
to dinner afterwards

And she was
so excited, you know?

So grateful that I had come.

She wanted to tell me her news.

She wanted to tell me
that she had always thought

About being an actress like me.

But she had never had
the courage to try,

And now she was getting all this
wonderful attention, you know,

From the school newspaper,
her classmates, whatever.

And she was thinking that she would
really take some acting courses.

Maybe even
transferring colleges,

Coming to N.Y.U.
To be closer to me.

And she wanted to know
what I thought of this idea.

You know, did I think
she had the talent?

Should she change course?

So she was asking your advice
as an older sister?

- Yes.
- Yeah.

And I gave it.
Yeah.

I told her no.

"you don't have it."

Just become a lawyer
like you planned.

"Don't be an actress.
Don't waste your time."

I mean...

I thought I owed her
an honest response.

You know?
You should not be an actor

Unless you cannot bear
to do anything else.

It's just too fucking hard.

And she had no idea
how hard it was.

And what was
her reaction to that?

She was pretty quiet.

She looked crushed.

So as a result of that,

She never pursued acting.

She never did
another play again.

Did you feel that you
were responsible for...

I could have encouraged her a
little bit more, don't you think?

She did ask you
for your opinion.

An honest opinion
and you gave it.

Sounds like you
and Patricia

Had very distinct
identities in the family.

"the beauty
and the brain. "

Did your mother,
do you feel, cast you in...

Listen, when I first
started to come here

I made myself one promise...

That no matter what other
troubles we unveiled,

I would not blame
my mother, so...

But it's not about blame.

Fine, then you can stop pointing
your finger at my mother.

It seems to me that
you might be a little...

Is that kind of
a sensitive subject for you?

Maybe because
of the relationship

You have with Izzy?

Isabel.

Her full name is Isabel.

I mean, she's named
after my mother.

I always thought it was a beautiful name.
Glamorous.

Not like my name...
Frances.

I asked my mother,
"why did you name me Frances?"

She said, "oh, don't you know?

I named you
after Frances farmer."

- Hmm, the actress.
- Yes.

- Did you see the movie?
- Yes.

Yeah, Frances.
Well, what happens to her?

- They institutionalize her.
- She has a lobotomy.

And who put her in the asylum?

- Her mother.
- Right.

I called my mother from the lobby on
a pay phone after I saw the film.

I said, "mother, how could
you name me after her?

She had such
a horrible life."

- And you know what she said?
- What?

"but she was
so beautiful."

So being beautiful

Was important
to your mother, yeah?

I mean, she was beautiful.

- Your mother?
- Yes.

People used to say
that I looked like her,

But I didn't think so.

She had, I don't know,

A delicate beauty, you know?

A natural grace.

This is Isabel, 1970.

She carried that picture
around till the day she died.

She liked to show people how
she looked in all her glory.

Um-hmm.

She's a very striking woman.

Trish thinks it's perverse
that I carry

This particular shot
around with me.

She says it looks so posed.

She thought just because mother
is obsessed with her looks

Doesn't mean
you have to be too.

And was she
obsessed with her looks?

Not at all.

I mean, I understand it,
you know,

Wanting to hold on
a little bit.

I was so critical of my looks
when I was young.

Every little flaw.

Now I look at images
from that time and I think,

"God, who is
that gorgeous girl?"

You want to own it.

You want to feel
that way inside.

I like to remember
my mother just like this.

Not the way she looked
at the end in the hospital.

Her skin got so translucent
it looked almost blue.

You know, she was so
little and frail

She looked like a tiny bird.

Even at the end,
she still wanted

To have her hair done
every week.

So she her...
she had her pride,

Her vanity.

Vanity?

Well, yeah, maybe
that's not the right word.

She still wanted
to look her best.

That's what I meant.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

Well, you told me
that your mother

Always wore her
signature red lipstick.

That even in the hospital
as she was dying,

She'd sit up
and she would ask you

To come and do her face.

I never told you that.

You never told me that?

Her lipstick, we used to
call it the "cherry."

It was a classic...
Maybelline cherry red.

I barely mentioned
my mother here.

I certainly never said
anything that specific.

Tricia told you that.

Maybe.
Maybe you're right.

Of course I'm right.

She told you that
all those years ago.

You heard it and you
have never forgotten it.

Honestly, I don't know why

That particular detail
came into my head.

I apologize if it upsets you.

I don't want to be
confused with my sister.

Are you thinking about her, what
she told you, while I'm talking?

- No, I... - because she has
her own version of things.

You know, "vain"? That's what she
chooses to call our dying mother?

I don't know that that's
what she actually said.

I was shooting a movie.
I was going back and forth to the set.

I was killing myself.
And my mother's lipstick,

That's what she remembers?

Honestly, I don't think that
that's all she remembers.

Yeah, well, what else
did she say? What?

Did she call me weak?

Did she say
I couldn't handle it?

Because I wanted to help.

But Tricia wouldn't let me.
She did everything.

She practically moved
into the hospital.

At night, you know, I would
want to read to my mother

Because she loved mysteries.

But no, Tricia
said, "let her rest,"

And sent me back to the hotel

While she stayed.

- Stayed at the...
- stayed in the hospital.

I mean, Tricia thought
I was useless.

One morning I had to
leave very early.

I had to get back to the set and I
wanted to kiss my mother goodbye.

And I came
to the hospital early

And I went to the room

And I saw Tricia.

She had climbed up
in bed with mama

And she had her arm around her.

They were lying in the bed.

Is that what you called her
when you were a little girl?

Mama?

Well, my daddy died
when I was five.

Trish was one.

Our mother used to cry
all night.

And she would come
into the bedroom and...

She would take Trish
out of the crib

And take her back
to bed with her to sleep.

I was wide awake, but she would
choose Tricia every time.

It must have been very painful.

Well, Tricia didn't know
what was going on.

Can you see how your sister
became the nurturer,

The caretaker
almost by accident

Because she was cast
in that role by your mother?

Later on when you were older,

She asked your advice
about becoming an actress.

Oh, back to that.
No, the truth is

That Tricia was wonderful
in that play.

She was really good.

But I never had the generosity

To let her know so.

U can still tell her.
It's not too late.

You can still make amends.

I don't want to talk anymore.

I've talked enough today.

Okay.

But you know what could
be helpful, actually?

If you could just
read this with me,

That would be great.

Isn't this what you
used to do with Russell?

Don't worry.
I'm not confusing you with Russell.

Russell was an asshole.
You actually,

You know, make me feel calm.

I thought I aggravated you
most of the time.

So, uh, just read this part.

You know what?
We... I'm sorry.

Ah, you're not gonna do it.

I understand
that you're anxious.

No, you understand
but you won't help me.

I would like to help you.

- I just don't think that
it's appropriate... - I know.

- Well, I just won't do anything.
- Frances.

What? I'm about to be embarrassed
in front of 1200 people.

I have no one in my life
who's willing to help me,

And that obviously
includes you.