In Treatment (2008–2010): Season 3, Episode 25 - Frances: Week Seven - full transcript
Frances struggles with the prospect of losing her sister Tricia.
MONDAY 3PM
Sunil, it's Paul calling...
Paul weston.
Um, it's now
3:15
and I was just wondering
where you are.
I'm pretty certain we agreed
you'd be coming back this week.
Julia, this is...
this is Dr. weston
calling again.
I... I'm trying to reach
your father-in-law.
And he doesn't seem
to be responding
to any of my messages
on his cell.
I wonder if you could please
have him be in touch
or let me know
how I might reach him.
I'd appreciate that.
Thank you.
So do you think
I did the wrong thing?
Why do you always assume
that I'm judging you
negatively?
Isn't that a negative judgment?
Frances, please,
let's not start this again.
It's just the way
that it feels.
You know, I think that you
judge yourself negatively
most of the time.
I think you expect people
to think the worst of you...
Izzy, Russell,
Patricia.
- You.
- Yes, me.
Then you want me
either to confirm
what an empty, irresponsible...
Narcissistic.
...Person you are...
Is that what you think?
...Or you want me to
refute it in some way
that will validate you
once and for all
in the eyes of the world.
That's not my job.
So what is your job?
My job is to help you
discover what you
think of yourself
and if you're displeased
with what you discover,
to help you change that.
Right.
Let me rephrase:
What do you think
of what I did?
Patricia was in deep distress
and you had to make a choice.
I think what you did
sounds reasonable.
Well, Izzy doesn't think so.
She says Trish
wanted to be at home,
we had finally gotten her home,
and I was wrong
to send her back.
Well, Izzy wasn't there
on Sunday night,
so it's easy for her
to stand in judgment.
She thinks I should
have just held her,
held on to her, done nothing
until tricia, I don't know,
lost consciousness,
went into a coma,
fuck,
died in my arms, I guess.
It sounds simple in theory...
no extraordinary measures.
Yeah, and the crazy part is
it was going okay this week...
I mean better than
okay even... fine.
Tricia wanted
to die at home
and that's,
I guess, what she was doing.
And Sunday...
Sunday started out the same.
Izzy had spent
the whole day with her
and then I came to be
with her for the night.
And when
the hospice nurse left,
she quizzed me on everything.
She gave me her number
to call her at home
in case I needed to.
And then she checked
to make sure
the rescue kit was
stocked... morphine,
something for nausea,
something else for fever.
Tricia has this port
now, you know,
that you can inject
whatever into.
It's a lot of responsibility.
It's not so hard.
We had a decent night actually.
You know, tricia seemed
almost stronger.
You know, her temperature
was way down.
She started asking about daddy.
She was so young when he died.
She hardly has any memory
of him... none really.
Suddenly she was curious.
And what did you tell her
about your father?
That's the alarming part.
I mean he's really
faded for me too.
I told her I had
this vivid memory
of him picking her up when
she was a little baby.
He was laughing
and smiling
and holding her up to the sky.
She was laughing.
Everybody was saying
how beautiful she was,
you know, what a gorgeous baby.
That's a lovely memory to have.
Well, I don't know
that I really remember it
or if mama told it to me
or it's from an old photo.
Either way, the image is
clearly important to you.
I hope it's real.
I hope it really happened.
The rest of the night
is a blur.
The way I remember it,
we went from, you know,
childhood reminiscing...
these happy memories
by the bedside,
to five paramedics shoving a
tube down Tricia's throat.
And it happened just that
fast, in an instant.
I know it wasn't, but...
but that's what it felt like.
Yes, it was awful.
I mean she just sat up in
the bed gasping for breath
like she was drowning
or something.
I gave her more morphine,
but it didn't help.
And I called the nurse
and she didn't answer.
And Tricia's saying,
"help me. Help me."
And what am I supposed
to do? Nothing?
You know,
later in the ambulance
I'm looking at her and
I'm thinking, "oh shit,
Izzy's gonna be so mad with me.
I should not have let them do that."
But it was... it was
beyond your control.
That's what Izzy doesn't get.
In the hospital she was
just screaming at me...
"why didn't you call me?"
How could you not honor
Patricia's wishes?
You always do exactly
what you want to do,"
on and on.
It was like an assault.
And you know what the final
thing she said to me
before she walked off
in a rage was?
"You really
fucked this up, mom."
So...
so how is Patricia?
She's, you know, sedated,
on the ventilator.
Is she conscious?
In and out.
Mostly out.
And when she comes around,
does she know who you are?
I think so.
I don't know.
And what's her prognosis?
Will she go home again?
The doctors say no.
I really did fuck this up.
You did the best you could.
No, but my best was pretty
fucking pathetic, wasn't it?
I don't think so,
not at all.
Her living will.
Look at what it says
at the very bottom.
"I hereby appoint
Frances Greer
as my health care agent
to make all health care
decisions for me
in conformity
with the guidelines
i have expressed
in this document."
She named you.
Are you surprised?
That she chose you?
No, I'm not.
Clearly you are.
You'd seen this before Sunday.
Ugh, that's part of the
reason Izzy's so furious.
She says tricia trusted
me and that I failed her.
I tried to explain to her
what it felt like in the mom.
This was the last thing
I was thinking about,
the last thing that tricia
was thinking about.
She wanted me to call.
Did she?
Yes, she did.
She was begging me...
"please get help.
Get help, Frances."
But that's not
what you said earlier.
Fuck, I don't know.
Maybe that isn't
what she was saying.
Maybe I just heard
what I wanted to hear.
Can we talk about how...
how we move forward from here?
You've dealt with one
extremely painful situation
and now you're facing another.
What did the doctors say?
Well, they said
I have to think about
a couple of things, you know...
whether to take her
off the ventilator.
I don't think I can do it.
I keep wondering
why tricia chose me.
She must have known
that I don't have this in me.
I'm not up to it.
Who do you think
she should have chosen?
This is such a mess.
I don't know what to do.
I imagine Izzy is for it...
taking her off the ventilator.
That's the bewildering
thing... she's not.
Now it's all, "don't you dare.
She could rally and come home.
"Don't you dare think
about killing her."
Is that really how she put it?
Last night she said I...
no, I can't even repeat it.
What?
She said that I've
always hated tricia
and that I want her to die.
Well...
I hope that you can put
that remark in perspective.
You've got to remember
she's just a teenager
and she's dealing with
the imminent death
of somebody that
she loves very much.
Of course she's gonna be angry.
And of course she's gonna
take it out on you.
I want to make sure
that you hear this clearly:
It would be normal,
when all this is over,
to feel a sense of relief.
You said there were a couple
of decisions to be made.
A feeding tube...
that's the next big one.
Izzy's all for it,
paradoxically.
And you?
I haven't made up my mind.
What about Patricia?
I can't not feed her, Paul.
The idea of starving
my sister to death...
it's just not something I can do.
I'm not strong enough.
Your sister thought you were.
You say you don't know
why she chose you,
but Patricia knew
what she was doing.
She put you in charge
of these extremely
difficult decisions.
And that means
that she trusted you...
trusts you
to make the right choices.
She believes that
you have it in you.
What if Izzy's right?
She keeps sending me these
articles, stuff from the Internet
where people
go off the ventilator
and they breathe on their own.
They wake up.
Let me ask you again...
what would Patricia want?
If she was sitting
right in front of you,
what do you think
she would say?
The will that you have
there in your hand...
what does it say about
extraordinary measures?
Please read it to me.
The part in bold
in the middle of the page.
Please.
"I do not want
cardiac resuscitation."
I do not want mechanical
respiration.
I do not want tube feeding.
I do not want antibiotics.
"I do want
maximum pain relief."
Then it's clear, isn't it?
She wanted to die at home.
I know.
If I pull the plug,
as Izzy says,
there's no chance for that.
I mean, maybe...
I know that you want
to give your sister
the death that she
envisioned for herself,
but it's a fantasy.
And in that fantasy
you get to redeem yourself.
And that's why you cling to it.
It seems to me
that Patricia's wishes
are right in front of you
in that letter
and what she's asking you to do
is to follow her instructions.
What am I gonna do
when she's not here?
You know, 'cause I have
no one really...
nobody...
nobody that knew me
when I was a kid. She...
it's like that time
when we were kids
won't exist anymore, you know.
It will just be stories.
I won't even know which ones are
real and which ones I made up,
like that picture of my father
holding her up in the air.
Without her I don't know.
You don't know what?
No, it's just she
grounded me, you know?
She... she believes
in me.
You said it, Paul.
Remember last week I told you
that she said, "I love you"?
You know, I cannot
remember the last time
that somebody said that to me.
You know what that
feels like to lose that,
to be completely alone?
Yes.
I don't think
it's quite true though
that you're going to be
completely alone.
You have Izzy.
Izzy hates me.
You're her mother.
She needs you.
She needs you to be there for
her when Patricia passes.
We've talked about this.
I believe that relationship
can be repaired.
I'm not so sure of that.
It'll take time,
but you can do it.
You have your work.
You have your career.
Please, the play
is gonna close.
It's not gonna extend
past the limited run and...
I've read the reviews.
You read them?
They're good,
especially for you.
Not good enough to keep it
past the limited run.
Look, I asked you
something last week
and you didn't get a chance to
answer because Izzy interrupted us.
What was that?
She said that therapy
wouldn't do me any good.
Oh yes.
Yes, I remember.
- She diagnosed you.
- A true narcissist.
Where did Izzy get her degree?
Do you agree with her?
That you are a narcissist?
No,
that I can't be helped,
I can't change.
Tell me this...
because I need to know
that you'll be here for me.
Will you be here for me?
I will.
You hesitated.
It's just...
earlier on we...
we kind of touched on this...
why you chose me.
Are you still certain
that that was
the right decision?
Yeah, you knew Trish
and Trish knew me.
I wanted that connection.
I want to keep that connection.
Does that make sense?
Yes.
So what are you going to do?
About tricia?
I don't know.
I guess I'll tell you
next week.
Tell me something, Paul...
were you in love with her?
I cared about her a great deal.
She was...
she was a striking woman.
Yeah, she was.
Sunil, it's Paul calling...
Paul weston.
Um, it's now
3:15
and I was just wondering
where you are.
I'm pretty certain we agreed
you'd be coming back this week.
Julia, this is...
this is Dr. weston
calling again.
I... I'm trying to reach
your father-in-law.
And he doesn't seem
to be responding
to any of my messages
on his cell.
I wonder if you could please
have him be in touch
or let me know
how I might reach him.
I'd appreciate that.
Thank you.
So do you think
I did the wrong thing?
Why do you always assume
that I'm judging you
negatively?
Isn't that a negative judgment?
Frances, please,
let's not start this again.
It's just the way
that it feels.
You know, I think that you
judge yourself negatively
most of the time.
I think you expect people
to think the worst of you...
Izzy, Russell,
Patricia.
- You.
- Yes, me.
Then you want me
either to confirm
what an empty, irresponsible...
Narcissistic.
...Person you are...
Is that what you think?
...Or you want me to
refute it in some way
that will validate you
once and for all
in the eyes of the world.
That's not my job.
So what is your job?
My job is to help you
discover what you
think of yourself
and if you're displeased
with what you discover,
to help you change that.
Right.
Let me rephrase:
What do you think
of what I did?
Patricia was in deep distress
and you had to make a choice.
I think what you did
sounds reasonable.
Well, Izzy doesn't think so.
She says Trish
wanted to be at home,
we had finally gotten her home,
and I was wrong
to send her back.
Well, Izzy wasn't there
on Sunday night,
so it's easy for her
to stand in judgment.
She thinks I should
have just held her,
held on to her, done nothing
until tricia, I don't know,
lost consciousness,
went into a coma,
fuck,
died in my arms, I guess.
It sounds simple in theory...
no extraordinary measures.
Yeah, and the crazy part is
it was going okay this week...
I mean better than
okay even... fine.
Tricia wanted
to die at home
and that's,
I guess, what she was doing.
And Sunday...
Sunday started out the same.
Izzy had spent
the whole day with her
and then I came to be
with her for the night.
And when
the hospice nurse left,
she quizzed me on everything.
She gave me her number
to call her at home
in case I needed to.
And then she checked
to make sure
the rescue kit was
stocked... morphine,
something for nausea,
something else for fever.
Tricia has this port
now, you know,
that you can inject
whatever into.
It's a lot of responsibility.
It's not so hard.
We had a decent night actually.
You know, tricia seemed
almost stronger.
You know, her temperature
was way down.
She started asking about daddy.
She was so young when he died.
She hardly has any memory
of him... none really.
Suddenly she was curious.
And what did you tell her
about your father?
That's the alarming part.
I mean he's really
faded for me too.
I told her I had
this vivid memory
of him picking her up when
she was a little baby.
He was laughing
and smiling
and holding her up to the sky.
She was laughing.
Everybody was saying
how beautiful she was,
you know, what a gorgeous baby.
That's a lovely memory to have.
Well, I don't know
that I really remember it
or if mama told it to me
or it's from an old photo.
Either way, the image is
clearly important to you.
I hope it's real.
I hope it really happened.
The rest of the night
is a blur.
The way I remember it,
we went from, you know,
childhood reminiscing...
these happy memories
by the bedside,
to five paramedics shoving a
tube down Tricia's throat.
And it happened just that
fast, in an instant.
I know it wasn't, but...
but that's what it felt like.
Yes, it was awful.
I mean she just sat up in
the bed gasping for breath
like she was drowning
or something.
I gave her more morphine,
but it didn't help.
And I called the nurse
and she didn't answer.
And Tricia's saying,
"help me. Help me."
And what am I supposed
to do? Nothing?
You know,
later in the ambulance
I'm looking at her and
I'm thinking, "oh shit,
Izzy's gonna be so mad with me.
I should not have let them do that."
But it was... it was
beyond your control.
That's what Izzy doesn't get.
In the hospital she was
just screaming at me...
"why didn't you call me?"
How could you not honor
Patricia's wishes?
You always do exactly
what you want to do,"
on and on.
It was like an assault.
And you know what the final
thing she said to me
before she walked off
in a rage was?
"You really
fucked this up, mom."
So...
so how is Patricia?
She's, you know, sedated,
on the ventilator.
Is she conscious?
In and out.
Mostly out.
And when she comes around,
does she know who you are?
I think so.
I don't know.
And what's her prognosis?
Will she go home again?
The doctors say no.
I really did fuck this up.
You did the best you could.
No, but my best was pretty
fucking pathetic, wasn't it?
I don't think so,
not at all.
Her living will.
Look at what it says
at the very bottom.
"I hereby appoint
Frances Greer
as my health care agent
to make all health care
decisions for me
in conformity
with the guidelines
i have expressed
in this document."
She named you.
Are you surprised?
That she chose you?
No, I'm not.
Clearly you are.
You'd seen this before Sunday.
Ugh, that's part of the
reason Izzy's so furious.
She says tricia trusted
me and that I failed her.
I tried to explain to her
what it felt like in the mom.
This was the last thing
I was thinking about,
the last thing that tricia
was thinking about.
She wanted me to call.
Did she?
Yes, she did.
She was begging me...
"please get help.
Get help, Frances."
But that's not
what you said earlier.
Fuck, I don't know.
Maybe that isn't
what she was saying.
Maybe I just heard
what I wanted to hear.
Can we talk about how...
how we move forward from here?
You've dealt with one
extremely painful situation
and now you're facing another.
What did the doctors say?
Well, they said
I have to think about
a couple of things, you know...
whether to take her
off the ventilator.
I don't think I can do it.
I keep wondering
why tricia chose me.
She must have known
that I don't have this in me.
I'm not up to it.
Who do you think
she should have chosen?
This is such a mess.
I don't know what to do.
I imagine Izzy is for it...
taking her off the ventilator.
That's the bewildering
thing... she's not.
Now it's all, "don't you dare.
She could rally and come home.
"Don't you dare think
about killing her."
Is that really how she put it?
Last night she said I...
no, I can't even repeat it.
What?
She said that I've
always hated tricia
and that I want her to die.
Well...
I hope that you can put
that remark in perspective.
You've got to remember
she's just a teenager
and she's dealing with
the imminent death
of somebody that
she loves very much.
Of course she's gonna be angry.
And of course she's gonna
take it out on you.
I want to make sure
that you hear this clearly:
It would be normal,
when all this is over,
to feel a sense of relief.
You said there were a couple
of decisions to be made.
A feeding tube...
that's the next big one.
Izzy's all for it,
paradoxically.
And you?
I haven't made up my mind.
What about Patricia?
I can't not feed her, Paul.
The idea of starving
my sister to death...
it's just not something I can do.
I'm not strong enough.
Your sister thought you were.
You say you don't know
why she chose you,
but Patricia knew
what she was doing.
She put you in charge
of these extremely
difficult decisions.
And that means
that she trusted you...
trusts you
to make the right choices.
She believes that
you have it in you.
What if Izzy's right?
She keeps sending me these
articles, stuff from the Internet
where people
go off the ventilator
and they breathe on their own.
They wake up.
Let me ask you again...
what would Patricia want?
If she was sitting
right in front of you,
what do you think
she would say?
The will that you have
there in your hand...
what does it say about
extraordinary measures?
Please read it to me.
The part in bold
in the middle of the page.
Please.
"I do not want
cardiac resuscitation."
I do not want mechanical
respiration.
I do not want tube feeding.
I do not want antibiotics.
"I do want
maximum pain relief."
Then it's clear, isn't it?
She wanted to die at home.
I know.
If I pull the plug,
as Izzy says,
there's no chance for that.
I mean, maybe...
I know that you want
to give your sister
the death that she
envisioned for herself,
but it's a fantasy.
And in that fantasy
you get to redeem yourself.
And that's why you cling to it.
It seems to me
that Patricia's wishes
are right in front of you
in that letter
and what she's asking you to do
is to follow her instructions.
What am I gonna do
when she's not here?
You know, 'cause I have
no one really...
nobody...
nobody that knew me
when I was a kid. She...
it's like that time
when we were kids
won't exist anymore, you know.
It will just be stories.
I won't even know which ones are
real and which ones I made up,
like that picture of my father
holding her up in the air.
Without her I don't know.
You don't know what?
No, it's just she
grounded me, you know?
She... she believes
in me.
You said it, Paul.
Remember last week I told you
that she said, "I love you"?
You know, I cannot
remember the last time
that somebody said that to me.
You know what that
feels like to lose that,
to be completely alone?
Yes.
I don't think
it's quite true though
that you're going to be
completely alone.
You have Izzy.
Izzy hates me.
You're her mother.
She needs you.
She needs you to be there for
her when Patricia passes.
We've talked about this.
I believe that relationship
can be repaired.
I'm not so sure of that.
It'll take time,
but you can do it.
You have your work.
You have your career.
Please, the play
is gonna close.
It's not gonna extend
past the limited run and...
I've read the reviews.
You read them?
They're good,
especially for you.
Not good enough to keep it
past the limited run.
Look, I asked you
something last week
and you didn't get a chance to
answer because Izzy interrupted us.
What was that?
She said that therapy
wouldn't do me any good.
Oh yes.
Yes, I remember.
- She diagnosed you.
- A true narcissist.
Where did Izzy get her degree?
Do you agree with her?
That you are a narcissist?
No,
that I can't be helped,
I can't change.
Tell me this...
because I need to know
that you'll be here for me.
Will you be here for me?
I will.
You hesitated.
It's just...
earlier on we...
we kind of touched on this...
why you chose me.
Are you still certain
that that was
the right decision?
Yeah, you knew Trish
and Trish knew me.
I wanted that connection.
I want to keep that connection.
Does that make sense?
Yes.
So what are you going to do?
About tricia?
I don't know.
I guess I'll tell you
next week.
Tell me something, Paul...
were you in love with her?
I cared about her a great deal.
She was...
she was a striking woman.
Yeah, she was.