Adele left a message earlier in the week because an hour had opened up that Paul might perhaps take advantage of so they may return to their truncated session and discuss some lingering concerns. Her awkward voice message is loaded with meaningful pauses, significant silences. And Paul certainly picks up on the fact that she called him first thing in the morning, from her private number. Apparently that makes him feel he has an advantage, because he doesn’t catch bait. Adele begins the regular session asking about Sunil. Paul interprets this as an invitation to act out his fantasy of discussing his patients with her. She is just concerned that Paul is unable to separate himself from his patients, is unable to act decisively, and is blind to the fact that Sunil is a potential threat to his surroundings. Just like Sunil, Paul is stuck debating the difference between “pushing” someone and “pushing past” someone. The moment they disagree, Paul reverts back to platitudes that she doesn’t understand the situation, doesn’t know the intricacies, and has no idea what she is talking about.
Then they are interrupted by the phone ringing, and while Adele apologizes for the interruption, Paul notices that she is several months pregnant. He gets dismissive, he feels betrayed and refuses to engage any further. He assumes that she is in a happy relationship, growing a family. But we know different: she’s alone, facing the challenge of raising a child on her own, and drawn to Paul’s fantasy of sharing their experiences as equal partners. His behavior is so childish, I can only imagine that she feels disappointed. She has been trying to encourage him to break through the paralysis, whether in his therapy or in his private life. He wants her to know what specifically she wants him to act on, believing she is offering him to live out his dream, as if they have not discussed his inability to make decision for himself over the course of the past sessions. He still believes he is developing Parkinson’s, despite a second opinion that proves otherwise, and he has no answer to Adele’s question what would have been so different if the neurologist could have told him with absolute certainty that he will or will not get the disease. Isn’t that uncertainty what every person has to deal with? Somehow Paul keeps using the “wait-and-see” attitude as an excuse not to do anything. Adele repeats that his inability or refusal to act in Sunil’s case may cause harm to Julia and her children, and wonders if this is his subconscious way of sabotaging his career. That evening Paul does call Julia, apparently to discuss Sunil’s violent fantasies with her.
Overall, Paul has hardly gotten anywhere with his patients, certainly not with Sunil, Jesse is still very volatile, perhaps only Frances is ready to face her situation. Adele pointed out that she feels Paul may be identifying too much with Sunil, a foreigner forced to migrate to America, alienated by his new environment, and fascinated by the attraction of an impossible relationship. We could add that Paul also recognizes himself in Frances, her fear of dying, her struggle to get diagnosed for breast cancer, her trauma of losing her mother, her inability to communicate with her daughter, her sense of loneliness. Even in Jesse Paul can see part of himself, the feeling of rejection and abandonment, the inability to break through paralyzing thoughts that leaves him incapacitated to establish meaningful relationship and recognize the people who love him. There’s just one more session for each of them left. I am curious how things are going to wrap up in the next four episodes.
Then they are interrupted by the phone ringing, and while Adele apologizes for the interruption, Paul notices that she is several months pregnant. He gets dismissive, he feels betrayed and refuses to engage any further. He assumes that she is in a happy relationship, growing a family. But we know different: she’s alone, facing the challenge of raising a child on her own, and drawn to Paul’s fantasy of sharing their experiences as equal partners. His behavior is so childish, I can only imagine that she feels disappointed. She has been trying to encourage him to break through the paralysis, whether in his therapy or in his private life. He wants her to know what specifically she wants him to act on, believing she is offering him to live out his dream, as if they have not discussed his inability to make decision for himself over the course of the past sessions. He still believes he is developing Parkinson’s, despite a second opinion that proves otherwise, and he has no answer to Adele’s question what would have been so different if the neurologist could have told him with absolute certainty that he will or will not get the disease. Isn’t that uncertainty what every person has to deal with? Somehow Paul keeps using the “wait-and-see” attitude as an excuse not to do anything. Adele repeats that his inability or refusal to act in Sunil’s case may cause harm to Julia and her children, and wonders if this is his subconscious way of sabotaging his career. That evening Paul does call Julia, apparently to discuss Sunil’s violent fantasies with her.
Overall, Paul has hardly gotten anywhere with his patients, certainly not with Sunil, Jesse is still very volatile, perhaps only Frances is ready to face her situation. Adele pointed out that she feels Paul may be identifying too much with Sunil, a foreigner forced to migrate to America, alienated by his new environment, and fascinated by the attraction of an impossible relationship. We could add that Paul also recognizes himself in Frances, her fear of dying, her struggle to get diagnosed for breast cancer, her trauma of losing her mother, her inability to communicate with her daughter, her sense of loneliness. Even in Jesse Paul can see part of himself, the feeling of rejection and abandonment, the inability to break through paralyzing thoughts that leaves him incapacitated to establish meaningful relationship and recognize the people who love him. There’s just one more session for each of them left. I am curious how things are going to wrap up in the next four episodes.
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