The Patient (2022): Season 1, Episode 4 - Company - full transcript

Oh, dear Lord.

Is this how therapy works?

I don't know, Sam.

Did you like being married?

Yeah, I did.

What were the good parts?

When she went with me twice

to Kenny Chesney concerts.

How was that?

That's not a question
that you ever need to ask,

ever, because they are
always awesome.



And she liked it, too?

I wouldn't say she was a full
member of No Shoes Nation.

So, I told you I was
a transport supervisor

in a warehouse,

but really
I'm a restaurant inspector

with the Department
of Public Health.

I figured if I told you
the truth,

you'd write it down
in your notes

and the police would find it.

What's No Shoes Nation?

That's, uh, Kenny Chesney's
community of fans.

I've been to, uh, 27 concerts,

and that's, that's not even
a lot.

My friend Shane,
he's gone to 78.



You said it's a community.

Yeah, and a lifestyle.

It's peaceful.

Everybody's happy.

The central idea
of No Shoes Nation...

...is love.

You said to tell you
before I did it again.

I went there last night.

I w... I was gonna...

I've never stopped myself
in the middle before

once I start.

I don't bring people back here,

but you said to talk to you
first, and so I...

stopped myself and I brought him
here, and I'm talking to you.

But it is... it is so strong.

Let's sit.

So, I'm about a half a second
away from going in there

and taking
that shit-fuck asshole

off the face of the earth.

You and I talked about
protecting your mother

in moments like this.
Do you think that...?

That didn't work. I told you
my father fucked me up.

- Okay, okay.
- You need to fix me, or I'm gonna...

Okay, we're going to try
something else, then.

Let's distract you
from the feelings

that you're having right now.

- I can't.
- I think maybe you can.

We have to give you
some physical distance.

I want you to go to work.

Just have a regular workday.
Think about it.

You don't want to call in sick

on a day when someone
has gone missing.

That could look suspicious.

Just go in,
do everything normally,

and we'll see how you feel
at the end of the day.

They like me in there.

I don't want them to see me
like this.

I understand, but you have
a bigger problem right now.

Just try to go to work.

Time and even small
daily experiences

can alter people's states.

I can't just go to work.

You can! Y-You can.

If you're too anxious, call home

and have your mother
put me on the line

for a phone session.

Fuck.

Please...

Please let me go.

Please.

I haven't done anything.
Where am I?

What the fuck is going on here?

I barely know anything.

- I'm chained to this...
- Can you talk louder?

I can't, there's
someone upstairs.

- Oh, my God.
- I've been here for days.

This fucking lunatic...

Be quiet for a minute.

I think he feels terrible,
Doctor.

He really wanted to do
what you said.

I... I think you should
tell me more

about what happened to him,
about his father.

I can tell you all about it,
but I don't think

it's going to give you
the answer

to why he does what he does.

He was always...

just Sam.

- Hey.
- Hey, Sam.

- Hey.
- No doughnuts?

Oh, shit. It's my week?

Mr. Efficient forgot something?

We won't tell anyone.

Are you still out there?

- I'm here.
- Who was that?

Was that his mother?

Do you...

Do you know these people?

I'm his therapist.

The guy who has us down here...

That was his mother, yes.

Who is this guy?

I think I may be able to
stop him from killing us.

I'm working on it.

It's not easy.

I don't understand.

He's not going to kill you,
right?

If-if-if you're his therapist.

Well, he doesn't seem
to fully respect

the patient-doctor relationship.

So, Richie and Ellen, I
need you to get there at 7:00.

They made a big fuss last year

and had trouble getting started
on time.

If Gertrude's is back this year,

I would recommend
their breakfast burrito.

I wish someone wrote a letter
like that about me.

What?

The letter that
Gertrude's wrote about you.

How do you know about that?

Kyle reads it to
us every time we fuck up.

Right? Let's hear it.

- Come on.
- Come on, let's hear it.

All right.

"Dear Mr. Donohue,

"I am writing to commend
your employee

"Sam Fortner
for his outstanding work

"helping expedite the approvals
of Gertrude's Burrito Hut

to participate in
this year's Sip and Savor."

Hello out there?

I'm here.

I'm scared.

I know. Me, too.

My parents...

If I don't come back...

if I just disappear...

My poor parents.

I can't see.

My face is covered,
and I-I can't move

a fucking inch.

Oh, God.

- That sounds horrible.
- Are you blindfolded?

No.

You can walk around out there?

I'm chained to the floor,

but I can move around
a little bit, yes.

- What's it like?
- Uh...

There's a big
sliding glass door.

A yard.

No other houses around.

Are your hands cuffed?

No.

God, he really trusts you.

Can't you knock him out
or something?

I'm not young, and this guy...

I-I can't just knock him out,
no.

I'm sure the police are out
looking for me.

And now with you missing...

My-my parents, they're,
they're calling the police,

that's definite.

My kids, well,
my daughter at least,

would have figured out
that I was missing

within a day or two.

How many kids have you got?

One daughter, one son.

Shoshana and Ezra.

- Interesting names.
- Jewish.

My wife's a cantor... was.

We have five grandchildren.

What's a cantor?

They sing the prayers
at a synagogue.

She died, Beth,

a few months ago, cancer.

My mom had cancer.

That's why I came back home.

Hmm.

My son...

he wasn't so dutiful.

It was complicated
between he and his mother.

They were so enmeshed
when he was a kid,

and then he became Orthodox.

Like an extreme Jew,
very religious.

- I don't believe in God.
- Yeah.

Well, at the moment...

He wants to talk to you.

Hello?

- Please charge phone.
- Sorry.

The battery's low.

I forgot to put it
on the charger.

- Okay, what's...?
- I can't do this. I tried.

- I-I think if you just...
- I'm coming back.

- I have to do it now.
- Slow down, slow down.

I think that you have
some choices

that you're not seeing
right now.

Yeah, I've told you
that you have choices.

Mom, I don't have a choice.
Why don't you understand?

- I understand.
- I'm not saying it's easy.

- I'm saying that it's possible.
- Please charge phone.

Tell me what you have been doing
at work today.

I just finished a staff meeting.

I'm supposed to be filing
my assignments.

But I'm just sitting here,

staring at
the fucking paperwork,

'cause every time I look at
Kyle, it gets worse and worse.

That's your supervisor?

He's the, he's the
one who sent me back to that restaurant.

Please charge phone.

It is not surprising
that this is difficult.

Everything you're experiencing
makes sense.

This is exactly the point
that I want you to try

to push through, and I know

that it may not seem this way.

- But you are doing very, very well.
- Please charge phone.

Just the fact that you are
staring at that paperwork

is progress,
even if it is painful.

Listen to the doctor.

Can you try to meet
this challenge,

- as difficult as it is?
- I don't know.

I want you to
stay at work until the end of the day.

- Please charge phone.
- Okay?

- I'll try.
- Good.

And then, after work,

can you go to one
of your concerts?

Uh, the No Shoes Nation concert?

You go to them, right?

He's in fucking California
right now.

I'm not going to California.

I have tickets for Chicago
and Kansas City.

I got to go. Ha, ha.

Please charge phone.

What was that?

What happened?
I-I couldn't really hear it.

He was calling me from work.

Is he going to kill me?

It sounded
like he's going to kill me.

Okay.

Will you give my-my family
a message,

if it happens?

Uh, yes. Yes, of course.

They're at Taverna Petraki.

That's the, uh, the place
with the pastitsio

and the udon noodles.

Yeah, that's one of
my dishes I came up with

after I got back from Asia.

You came up with that?

I was working with all
these different ingredients

while I was traveling.

I just kind of put some of it
together when I... got back.

I was working in the restaurant
late one night.

And my mom,
she was... at home,

so fucking sick.

And I was like,

what can I make her
to get her to smile?

So, okay...

Mom and Dad...

um...

I love you.

I-Is that okay?

I think...

I think that's the main point.

You know what? You know what?

See, your story never gets old.

It never gets old.

Okay, here we go.

- Thank you, Grandma.
- Thank you.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome. Let me take this.

- Thank you, Grandma.
- Thank you.

Hey, is that him?

Is he coming back?

Keep quiet.

Okay. Okay.

Nothing's working.

I'm not so sure about that.

After all, you haven't done
anything yet.

Let's keep trying.

You're just gonna tell me
to go into work every day?

It's a dumb idea.
All I did was think about it

all day long,
which I knew would happen.

You controlled yourself all day.

'Cause I didn't want
anyone to see.

This is uncharted territory
for both of us.

That means
we are going to have to...

- It's time.
- Wait, wait. Sit down.

This is a good time
to keep talking,

when things are so raw.

Did he see you
when you took him?

- I know I didn't see you.
- No.

Maybe on some level
that was intentional.

You gave yourself the option
to let him go

- as we work through this.
- This...

This one deserves it.

You have resisted this impulse
with him

for a long time.

Months, four months.
That's incredible.

That shows a real capacity
to control yourself.

When I was smoking,
even going a week...

That's... that's
a terrible analogy.

I can't. I'm just... I'm gonna...
I have to do it now.

Stop, stop. Stop.

Go see your ex-wife.

Does she live around here?

Go see her right now.

That sounds strange,

but it might give you
the emotional shock

that moves you
into a different space.

I-I don't understand.

You had a genuinely
emotional relationship

with her, yes?

Seeing her might shift you
out of your current state.

And anything that you can do
to put this off

gets you further away
from your impulse to do it.

You brought me here
because I am an expert,

and I can help you.

Trust me.

Could you turn off
the noise machine, please?

Is he gone?

Yes.

I'm not doing so good here.

I know.

I'm... I'm
really not doing so good.

♪♪ Almost heaven ♪♪

♪♪ West Virginia ♪♪

♪♪ Blue Ridge Mountains ♪♪

♪♪ Shenandoah River ♪♪

♪♪ Life is old there ♪♪

♪♪ Older than the trees ♪♪

♪♪ Younger than the mountains,
growing like a breeze ♪♪

- ♪♪ Country roads, take me home ♪♪
- ♪♪ Take me home ♪♪

♪♪ To the place ♪♪

♪♪ I belong ♪♪

♪♪ West Virginia ♪♪

♪♪ Mountain mama ♪♪

♪♪ Take me home ♪♪

♪♪ Country roads ♪♪

♪♪ Take me home ♪♪

♪♪ Country roads. ♪♪

My name is Elias.

Elias Petraki.

I'm Alan.

Strauss.