In Treatment 3x13

Paul Westen’s Bengali patient Sunil is convinced his daughter-in-law Julia is having an affair, the thought of which repulses him as much as it enthralls him. He finds her open flirtatiousness at once shamefully immoral and irresistibly enchanting. His absolute proof that Julia is sleeping with one of the authors her firm represents is that he found birth-control pills in her study, when he felt compelled to look for the manuscript of this genius author, who he ridicules. His son Arun would very much like to have another child with Julia, so why would she be taking contraceptives? Sunil speaks about a disturbing dream and about watching Arun and Julia in their sleep, and then returns to the girl, Malini, he loved when he was in college. It is clear he’s buried the pain of losing her deep down his heart, and it’s similar to the animal he tried burying in his dream. And just as the animal fell off a high cliff, Sunil tells Paul that Malini, the love of his life, jumped off a bridge after breaking up with him. It’s a deeply emotional moment – even Paul is pained by the tragic story. The universal theme of love and heartache also bridges the cultural divide that has prevented Paul from making much progress with Sunil. However, Sunil remains unwilling to accept that he recognizes in his son’s marriage the love and passion he felt for Malini, or that the anger he feels towards Julia is not so much because her affair might jeopardize her marriage with Arun, but that he wishes to save his son from the same undying hardship. In short, this was yet another wonderful and highly gratifying episode.