In Treatment (2008–2010): Season 3, Episode 7 - Jesse: Week Two - full transcript

Paul addresses Jesse's reluctance to get in touch with his long-lost birth mother.

(SIGHS)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

(DOOR CLOSES)

How was your... Fine.

Given any more thought
to Karen's phone call?

Who?

Karen, your... The woman who...

I was just kidding, Paul.

I didn't forget the name
of my fucking birth mother.

Jesus.

Hey, have you
ever heard of RISD?



The art school?

Yeah, they have this summer
program that I kind of want to go to.

Do you want to tell me about it?

There are, like, 200 kids there,

all different kinds of artists.

And you live in dorms
and take classes.

And then once a week
you have these crits.

And I heard from this girl
who went there last year

that on Thursday, before crit,

the whole school,
like, stays up all night

and everybody comes out
into the hall, and plays music.

And it sounds awesome.

Sounds great.

I applied online.



Really? When?

A few days ago.

I sent them some of the
pictures I showed you.

You liked the one of the
Statue of Liberty, right?

Yeah, very much.

You didn't think it
was, like, too cliche?

No, no, no, I thought it
was really interesting.

"Interesting" is
what somebody says

when they think
something is a load of shit.

I thought it was a
very striking image.

Two boats passing
in front of her,

one old, one modern.

Her placement in the picture
made me think of her place in history.

Whatever. As long
as you didn't hate it.

So you completed
the application?

Yeah.

Even got Ms. U to write me
a letter of recommendation.

Do you want to see the brochure?

Sure.

What do you think?

It looks incredible.

I showed that brochure
to Marisa last night.

Do you want to
know what she said?

What?

"I'm not going to
pay for that shit."

Is that what she really said?

No.

So what did she actually say?

"We can't afford it."

She didn't even look at the
book. She wouldn't even look.

Is there some kind of financial
aid that you can apply for?

No. Have you asked?

It's for rich kids, Paul.

It's, like, six grand
for three weeks.

Well, maybe there are some
options available through the school.

Have you talked to
your guidance counselor?

Ms. U?

I told her I had it covered.

Why?

You've met her, right?

We've talked on the phone.

You should meet her.
She would like you.

You're, like, totally her type.

I met her last boyfriend.
He was a total douche,

but he was all, like, dark
and depressed like you.

(CHUCKLES)

Are you trying to find out
if I'm depressed, Jesse?

Well, you're a shrink. If
you're depressed, you can deal.

I'm just trying to
get you a little pussy.

Jesse. Vagina. I meant vagina.

Look, this is the
woman who kept you

from getting expelled
during the Adderall incident.

Yeah, she's a good egg, Ms. U.

She's, like, the only
one that has my back.

Well, and you.

I'm a little confused as to why
you should talk about her so crudely.

Whatever, dude. If you want to
give up on yourself, be my guest.

Can we go back to
the RISD application?

You said that you had
the finances under control.

Yeah.

Tell me about the plan.

$200 for a blowjob.

For $250, I'll take it up the
ass, but you provide the lube.

I'm kidding.

I'm gonna sell my Adderall.

But...

I'm still kidding.

I'm gonna call Karen.

Your birth mother?
Or is that a joke, too?

No, she's rich, Paul.
She lives in Westchester.

And she owes me. I mean,
she, like, really, really owes me.

And have you
called her back yet?

No.

Have you spoken about her
phone call to your parents?

Why would I? It
isn't their business.

It isn't?

The woman called
me. I am her son.

Yeah, but you're also
their son, aren't you?

Look, I don't envy you, Jesse,

the amount of stress
you must be under.

But I want to help you
sort out what you're feeling.

Right now I think
you're worried about

how to tell Marisa and
Roberto about Karen's call.

I also think you're worried
about calling Karen back.

So why don't we
tackle the first anxiety

before moving on to the next?

I think I should
call Karen back first.

Why? Because I
need money for RISD.

And how do you imagine
that's gonna play out?

You'll call Karen, ask her for
$6,000, and she'll say what?

Just talk it through
with me, Jesse.

Just imagine the possibilities.

I get your fucking point, okay?

And what is my point?

You don't think she's
going to give me the money.

I didn't say that. I don't
know what she'll do.

No, that's right. You don't.

You don't know
anything about her.

But you feel as if you do.

You know what? I'm gonna go.

Why? Because this
is a waste of my time.

And how do you think we could
better serve your time, Jesse?

You could act like a normal
fucking shrink, for starters.

I don't know what that means.

Ask me normal shrink questions.

Such as? I don't know.

Ask me about my
freaking week or something.

Okay, I will.

Will you stay?

(SIGHS)

So how was your week, Jesse?

Fine.

Anything out of the
ordinary happen?

Yes.

What?

We got prank-called.

"We"?

Yeah, somebody's been
calling our home phone.

And when Marisa
picks up, they hang up.

At first I thought it was
Karen calling the house

because she couldn't leave
another message on my cell phone.

Why not?

The mailbox is full.

I let that happen sometimes.

Why?

So people think
I'm really popular.

How did you feel about
Karen calling you at home?

It wasn't Karen.

It was Nate.

Come on, man. You remember Nate.

Starting point guard on
the Dalton basketball team,

straight as an arrow except
for when he's sucking my dick?

God, like my life isn't
fucked up enough as it is.

Now I have a stalker.

Do you feel like
he's stalking you?

He called my landline. How
did he even get that number?

The phone book, possibly?

Who does that?

Well, I know when I was young,

we used the phone
book quite a lot actually.

Well, sure, you grew up
in pre-industrialized Ireland.

It was either that or
tipping cows over for fun.

I haven't heard you
mention Nate in a while.

When was the last
time you saw him?

A couple of months ago.
He was getting on my nerves.

How?

He was just, like, asking
me all these questions.

He wanted to see where I lived.

And that annoyed you?

Yeah, it annoyed me.

I told him we were
homeless right now,

but as soon as we found a place,

we would have him over for tea.

I seem to remember
that you told Josh and Raif

something similar
when you met them,

something about being homeless

because your father
was in the army

and your mother
was a drug addict.

No.

He's not in the army.
He's in the Marines.

And she's not a drug addict.

She just has a little drug habit

which causes her to snort all the
money he sends us up her nose.

And then every once
in a while we get evicted

and have to, like,
live in this shelter

until she can track him down again
in Iraq and he sends us more money.

It works every time.

It turns Nate on like a Hoover.

Is this perhaps
part of the reason

why you're so annoyed
by Nate's phone calls?

Are you worried that he'll find
out you've been lying to him?

I don't give a shit. I
was tired of him anyway.

If he does find out the truth,

are you afraid that he'll be
no longer attracted to you?

No.

Or that you won't
be attracted to him?

You said at first that you thought
the call was coming from Karen.

Yeah. So?

How did that make you feel?

Well, it wasn't Karen.

I know, but if it had been
Karen and Marisa had...

It wasn't.

Do you think any part of
you might have been relieved

if Karen just called
Marisa directly?

Wow, you're, like, kind
of obsessed with this.

(EXHALES)

Whose are these?

My son's.

What's his name?

What, I can't know his name?

I told you, I don't talk
about my children in therapy.

I saw him in the hallway.

He seemed kind of sad.

Could you put
those back, please?

What would you
do if I hurled these

through the window right now?

And why would
you do that, Jesse?

Are you angry with me for
protecting my son's privacy?

What would you do?

I don't know what I would do.

Look, do you want to
know what Marisa would do

if I broke a window at home?

What? Nothing.

She would just, like, pick
up the glass and say nothing.

I could bring two guys
home and fuck them

in front of her on
the living room floor,

and she would just step over
us and offer them some tea.

Would she offer you some tea?

Probably not.

Why not?

Because I'm a degenerate.

Bet you're regretting you took
me on pro bono right about now.

I didn't take you on pro bono.

Who's paying you?

Your parents.

What?

Why?

Because therapy
costs money, Jesse.

But I thought Ms. U found you.

She did.

I mean, after
Adderall-gate she said

if I didn't want to get expelled,
I had to see a therapist.

And I thought she called
you and asked you to see me.

That's right.

For free.

No, your mother sends
me a check every month.

Why did you think
that therapy was free?

I don't know.

I just did.

They can't afford this.

They must consider it important.

(SCOFFS)

I should have known.

Known what?

Of course she'd rather pay a
therapist than talk to me herself.

Do you think if I stopped coming
here, she would pay for RISD?

I don't know. You could ask her.

I once showed her these pictures

that I'd taken for
a school project.

I was "developmentally
challenged,"

so they let me do this,
like, pictorial family tree thing

instead of writing a
report. I was, like, 12.

She hated them.

She, like, made me promise
never to show my father.

And what were the pictures of?

Normal things, the house
where we had this reunion,

other members of
my family, the beach.

Sounds like there was
something in those photographs

that maybe frightened her.

Uh, yeah. Me.

What do you mean?

Look, Jesse...

Look, I know you want
me to, like, love Marisa

or, like, develop an
oedipal crush on her

or whatever you
people consider normal,

but it's just not going to
happen that way, okay?

I've read all about this stuff.

What stuff?

Maternal instincts.

Biological imprints.

When real parents see their kid,

they get, like, this
hormone surge, oxycontin.

Oxytocin, yeah. Yeah, that's it.

And it makes
them, like, feel good.

They get, like,
addicted to their baby.

But...

When Marisa looks at me, all
she sees are two strangers fucking.

I mean, it's fine. I don't feel
anything when I look at her either.

(CRYING) But, you know, what's
hard though is, like, all the lying,

like pretending
that she loves me,

pretending that I love her,

pretending my whole life
hasn't just been one giant...

Finish the thought, Jesse.

Mistake.

And who made the mistake?

Was it Marisa?

Karen?

Was it you?

God, look at you.

You've got, like, a total
hard-on right now, don't you?

You've got yourself, like,
all aroused by some idea

and you can't wait to
come all over me with it.

I'm sorry. I don't
know why I said that.

Do you think I have Tourette's?

No, I don't.

Should we maybe talk about
why I think I have Tourette's?

(EXHALES)

Why don't we go back
to talking about Nate

and how he's, like,
borderline obsessed with me?

Do you think I should
get a restraining order?

No, I don't.

Well, what do you
think I should do?

I think you should talk to him.

I think you should tell him
why his phone calls upset you.

Do you know why his
phone calls upset you?

He's stalking me.

No, he's not.

He's calling your house because
he can't reach you on your cell phone

and he just wants
to talk to you.

Why? I don't know, Jesse,

but my guess would be that he's
interested in knowing more about you.

And I think that
really scares you.

This story that you told Nate,

the one about being homeless,

have you ever asked yourself
where that comes from?

I made it up.

But why somebody who's homeless?

You tell it so often, it's
become like an alter ego.

You step in a phone booth,
you become a different Jesse.

And every time that you enter
a new intimate relationship,

you start to play this part.

And so you remain protected.

Because the person having
sex with Josh and Raif or Nate

isn't really you.

The real Jesse can't be hurt
because he isn't even there.

And now suddenly you're on
the verge of finding out the truth

about where you
really come from.

That must be unsettling.

Are you planning to call
Karen back this week?

Because if you do...

Relax, Paul.

If I want to get to RISD, I'll just
sell my Adderall or something.

But you knew that the
RISD summer program

was too expensive
for your family to afford.

Why did you apply?

I really wanted to go!

Okay, I think that's true.

And I also think it was a test

that you knew Marisa would
fail, because she had to.

She doesn't have the money.

And when she did fail,
you could get angry at her,

which would
perhaps make it easier

to justify calling Karen back
without telling your parents.

You don't have a fucking
idea what you're talking about.

Okay, tell me what
I'm missing then.

I'll call Marisa right
now. You'll see.

What will I see? What
is she going to say?

She'll probably be
relieved. Relieved?

Yes, somebody's finally coming
along to take me off her hands.

And what does that
mean? What will she do?

I don't know.

Turn up the music,
clean the fridge? Probably.

Step over you and
make tea? Probably!

So in other words she's
not gonna react at all.

She'll ignore the
situation completely.

Is that what you're afraid of?

Are you this harsh
on your own kid?

I told you, I don't discuss...

Your children in therapy. Right.

Well, maybe you should.

Jesse.

Because he's headed
for a world of pain.

Jesse.

It takes one to know one.

Jesse.

(DOOR SLAMS)

(SIGHS)