In Treatment (2008–2010): Season 3, Episode 17 - Sunil: Week Five - full transcript

You're taking birth control pills?

I'm not, no. I found them
in Julia's study.

This is an absolute proof
that Julia is having an affair ***.

When I think of them together,
my hand turns into fist.

You also remember the woman
I mentioned to you, Malini?

Did things end badly?

She threw herself
from the bridge and drowned.

I think Julia and Arun, the intimacy
with which they relay

reminds you of your own intimacy
with Malini.

That may be one of the reasons
why you feel so conflicted

in your relationship
to your daughter in law.



It may be, but... maybe.

1000 dead,

another estimated 200,000
displaced from their homes

in what the governor
of west bengal is calling

one of the most
devastating monsoons

to hit
the east coast...

Aid has been
slow to arrive,

as most of the local roads
are flooded.

Indian prime minister...

You know, I have to admit

I was a little bit
worried the last time

at the end of our session.

Things are no better, Paul.

In fact they are worse.



Why? Has something...
has something happened?

Monsoons have flooded
the region

where my parents were raised...

Entire village underwater.

Well, I...
I had no idea.

I'm so sorry to hear that.

How would you have any idea?

Because floods have
scarcely made the news here.

Everything is about
the New York Knicks.

Who is this player...

Amare Stoudemire?

I'm searching to hear
of the disaster in India

and all they want to talk about

is this basketball player,

as if he's a superhero

and he's going to
save the world now.

Now I'm all the time searching
for news on the b.B.C. Channel

or on this radio with
this terrible reception.

And...

These pictures...
they stay in my mind.

And... and I'm having
difficulty to sleep.

So when you do manage to sleep,

are you having any more
of these disturbing dreams?

I keep seeing the same image...

You know, a boy,
perhaps three or four.

He's clinging
to an automobile tire,

and his head barely above water

and his eyes, you know...
they are pleading.

This is in the dream?

No no, this is real.
It was on the news... B.B.C. News.

I wanted to pass
through the television

and rescue that poor child.

People are traveling
from other areas to help.

And I'm trapped in Brooklyn,

useless, locked away
like a prisoner.

So is that
what you feel like...

like a prisoner
in your son's home?

My son is gone.

He's been gone for three days,

attending a medical
conference in St. Louis.

Before he left we watched
the early reports together.

He pointed to the
television and said,

"oh baba, I'm glad
that you are not there."

Hmm.

I feel like

I'm outside of my life.

I feel like a...
like a stranger.

A prisoner, a stranger.

I cannot stop myself
from watching.

I cannot change how I feel.

I just wonder if there
aren't other things

that you might be
able to change.

Other things, meaning what?

Look, Sunil,

things can't go on as they are.

What about the possibility

of your moving
from your son's home?

I know you can't go back to
Calcutta... you told me that...

but finding
someplace else to live.

And where...

Where, please tell me,
would that be?

Your own apartment?

Okay.

And... and who would pay...
pay for this?

You could get a job.

Like selling printer
cartridges at best buy

or standing behind
a kebab wagon?

I cannot do that, Paul.
I will not.

I'm not suggesting that you...

But you're just wasting
your time, Paul.

See, I'm as helpless
to change my surroundings

as those people in my country

who are unable to save their
houses from floodwaters.

I know you are
a hopeful man, my friend.

You like to think
that you can...

You can fix everything.

I think that you have to
talk with your son.

No, just... just
hear me out on this.

You're not happy where you are.

And it's pretty obvious
that having you in their home

hasn't been easy
for them either.

Yet you've never spoken
to your son about this.

You've never expressed
to him directly

what you feel or what it
is exactly that you want.

I didn't understand that.

I said

that you are wasting
my time too.

I know, I know
it can be difficult

to talk to family,

your children,
in a completely honest way

because you risk
a painful conversation.

This is just a strategy, yes...

to tell me you know how I feel?

No no, it's not a strategy.

Look, Sunil,
I have kids myself.

I know what this is like...

to sometimes want to put off

difficult discussions.

But you don't know
my son, Paul.

You have no idea.

I'm telling you with certainty

there's nothing to be gained...

absolutely nothing.

You're so convinced that
he's not gonna help you.

How can you know that for sure?

Because I've already
spoken to him

the night before he left.

I was thinking of you, Paul...

How you encourage me
to express myself.

So I told him the truth.

I told him that seeing the
images made me certain

and I need to return.

Here I'm useless.
I'm only in the way here, to let me go.

And what did he say to that?

He told me that he would never
let me go back to Calcutta,

he had made a promise,

and he could never
betray his mother.

He also told me that...

"why do you want to make
a fool of yourself?

What will you do back in India,

in all that water,
jobless?"

Then he said,
"Julia will send a check

to the red cross in your name,"

and that they would buy me

a queen-sized mattress

from Macy's departmental store.

Later that night
I overheard them

talking in the kitchen.

Julia was saying, "oh, if he
wants to go, let him go."

And she said

she was not comfortable

staying with me
alone in the house.

And what did Arun say to that?

He told Julia that she was
being dramatic and ridiculous

and that he felt better
having a man there

to protect her and the
children while he was away.

Then Julia called me

unstable,

this word "unstable"...

like an old fruit wagon
with loose wheels.

To be called this word...

I held a position

of mathematics professor
for 28 years.

I was married to Kamala
for 30 years.

Is this a profile of someone

who is unstable?

If anything,
she is unstable... Julia.

She has been behaving
like a madperson...

madperson since Arun went away.

How do you mean, she's behaving like a madperson?
What is she doing?

She's continuing her adventures

with Mr. Ethan Barr...
the pale fox.

On Saturday night
they went out,

leaving Naya
with an upset stomach.

And you were watching
the children?

No no, I'm not allowed.

She would not allow that.

Liza the nanny...

She stayed late.

Uh-huh.

He actually came up to
the door to pick her up.

So you met him?

Yeah, he is not
quite as handsome

as he appears
on the jacket cover.

And did you speak to him?
Did he...?

We shook hands.

He's young,

more modest than I thought.

I congratulated him
on his success.

Then he said something
which surprised me.

He said that...
"I have heard

quite a lot
about you."

When they walked
down the stairs

they looked back at me
and they laughed.

You thought they were
laughing at you?

Please, Paul,
you must trust me.

If you had seen for yourself,

you could not doubt me
this time... not this time.

My son said he wanted me
there to protect her,

but I felt quite the opposite.

I wished to smother
her laughing.

To...

Let me get this straight...

To smother the sound
of her laughter

or to smother her?

They were laughing at me, Paul.

Yeah, I understand...

No, you don't understand.
They were humiliating me.

See, now look at your face.
I have alarmed you now.

Yes actually, because the
words that you're using are...

I'm trying to share with you

how their laughter
disturbed me.

I'm trying to express
myself, as you say.

- You understand this, yes?
- I think so, yes.

Good. Because it only
grew worse.

At 1:00

I heard talking
in front of the building.

My window faces the street.

I saw Julia and Ethan barr.

He escorted her up the steps

and then... and then

kissed her goodnight.

What do you make of this?

Well, it depends what kind
of a kiss it was.

A kiss is a kiss.

Don't you think I know
what a kiss looks like?

Well, was it on the lips?

No no, it was on the cheek.

Well, that's not really
an uncommon thing

for people in America to do
when they're saying goodbye.

I know, I know.
You will think what you want to think.

Anyway, after he kissed her,

Julia carefully lifted her hand

to a spot below his eye

and then gently drew the
back of her curled fingers

down his cheek.

Julia never touches my
son's face in this manner.

How much proof
do you need, Paul?

Last week I brought you
solid evidence...

Her birth control pills...
and you still want more.

Is this not enough?

Not necessarily.

It's not acceptable, Paul.

She is disgracing my family.

After I witnessed
the kiss,

I could not move
from the window.

I could hear her

down on the second floor,
preparing her bed.

And I thought I heard her
lock her bedroom door.

She did not even come upstairs

to check on Naya.

And then I wanted
to go to sleep,

but I could not stop myself
thinking of Julia

lying on her bed,

who she was thinking of.

I think it all would be better

if she ran off
with Mr. pale fox

or she simply disappears.

Disappears?
What do you...

What do you mean
by that... disappears?

I have to say
that some of the words

that you've used today,
Sunil...

I really want to understand

what it is that you are
trying to say to me.

If your feelings are as extreme

as I'm hearing them today...

You asked me whether I had

more disturbing dreams.

I have had one again.

- The same one?
- No, a different one.

It was quite troubling.

Do you want to tell me
about it?

Yeah.

Perhaps it will help you

to make sense of my feelings.

I hope so.

I saw my son Arun

lying on the street
in front of the house.

And he was unconscious.

The children were inside,

looking out the window.
They were afraid.

Beyond the street
there was a forest

of thick black trees.

And a woman with long dark hair

came walking out of the forest.

She wore a long white gown,

bright as the moon.

And I was standing over my son.

And as the woman started
walking towards the house,

I was trying to hold
my son's arm.

And I pulled it

and it broke cleanly off

like a piece of old plaster.

So I was thinking that
I should use this arm

to protect the children.

To protect the children
from this woman?

Now the arm was
quite heavy, dense.

I could hurt
this woman very much.

And...

I woke up

as I was about to strike her.

So you were going to
strike this woman

to protect your grandchildren?

I'm quite confused
by this woman.

Who do you think she could be?

Well, sometimes
it's not so much

the physical similarity
as the feeling.

Do you think it could be Julia?

No, she had dark hair.

It was dark, black as onyx.

And Julia's hair is yellow.

Perhaps it was Julia
in disguise.

Is that how you see Julia...
in disguise?

Do you see her as a threat?

She has a secret life.

The woman was most
definitely not Kamala.

What makes you so sure of that?

Because I would never
think of harming my wife.

Do you feel that
you could harm Julia?

The thing I found strange was

that I could not make out the
details of the woman's face

even when she drew very close.

You know, I started to grip my
son's arm with great force.

I could feel the blood
pulsing into my hands.

And she was so close

that I could almost smell the
flower she wore in her hair,

but I could not see her face.

The flower in her hair
like in the El Greco painting?

Sorry?

That's the painting
you mentioned

when you first spoke of Malini.

What do you mean?

Well, you've just spoken
about her death

after 32 years of silence.

It's not surprising
that some form of her...

even the slightest
gesture or detail...

might show up
in your dream.

Like a rabbit in a hat?

Bong!
Oh, there she is.

You said that you felt
you had this need

to protect
your grandchildren.

You said you felt the blood
rushing into your hands

and that you were prepared

to harm this woman.

See, Paul, I no longer wish
to discuss this dream.

Okay.

Can I ask you why?

Because I cannot see
the point of this exercise.

But I'm confused.
A moment ago you asked me

to help you understand these
nightmares that you're having,

to help you make sense of the
feelings that you're having.

So that's what I'd like to do.

For instance, this woman
coming from the forest...

It's clear that she has
a big effect on you.

Do you... you disagree
with that?

See, the image of you
removing your son's arm...

Well, sometimes there's
something primal

or animalistic

that dreams allow us
to express

that our
conscious mind is...

A man can only be
pushed so far.

I have decided it was not
Malini in my dream.

And it upsets me very much
for you to suggest this.

I... I...

I would never ever think
of harming Malini.

Why would you think I would
assume you'd hurt Malini?

Okay, we don't have to
talk about that now.

I don't understand
what you're saying.

You have no idea
what my life has been.

But I want to understand.
I want to know.

Can I ask you what you did

when you woke up
from the dream?

I checked on the children.

They were fine, sleeping.

I then went down
to Julia's room.

I could not resist.
I wanted to check

to see if her door
was in fact locked.

And?

It was.

What would you have done
if her door wasn't locked?

Her door would not open, and
this is all that matters.

No, but I'm asking you,
what would you have done

if the door had been open?

I thought of calling you.

Why didn't you?

It was the middle of the night.

And things felt

out of balance.

Then I went upstairs to my room

and I wrote to Kamala.

Can I ask you what you wrote?

I really did consider
calling you.

The next time
I want you to do that.

Okay?

Yeah, perhaps.

Sunil, there's so much going on

in your life at the moment:

You've lost your wife.

You've started to talk
about a love affair

that ended in tragedy.

You're worried about your son.

You're worried about
your grandchildren.

You have these conflicted ideas

about your
daughter-in-law.

You're anxious about the floods

in your homeland...
in India.

I'm concerned
about you, Sunil...

that with all of these
intense feelings

coming to the surface

I understand
how difficult it could be

for you to stay in control.

And I...
I want to suggest

that you consider coming here

a little more often,
maybe twice a week.

You think I'm going crazy?

No no no no, you're not...
you're not crazy,

I assure you.

I have patients who come to see
me two-three times a week,

but it doesn't mean
they're crazy.

It's just that they can benefit

from working more
on themselves,

going deeper with therapy.

Julia and Arun...

they have done enough for me.

And I would prefer

not to ask anything
more than this.

Well, would you like me
to talk to them for you?

No no, please.
I would not prefer that.

Do you pray, Paul?

Do I... do I pray?

Yes.

Sometimes, yes.

Then please pray.

For what?

For the rains to stop in India.