01x06 - Charlie

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Patient". Aired: August 30, 2022 - present.*
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A psychotherapist who recently lost his wife, finds himself held prisoner by a serial k*ller with an unusual request to curb his homicidal urges.
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01x06 - Charlie

Post by bunniefuu »

♪ ♪

I'm at my wit's end, Sam.

I know, Mom.

I almost called last night.

I had the phone in my hand.

I'm sorry.

Sam.

Don't give up on therapy.

♪ ♪


♪ ♪

Oh, God, no!

(CHAINS RATTLING)

(CRYING): No, no.

(BANGING)

(SLURPING)

(BANGING CONTINUES)

Hi, Charlie.

You're back.

Well, it's an emergency.

I can see that.

I'm...

trying to...

keep it together with him.

Sound normal.

In control.

If he sees me like this...

- like I really...
- (JACKHAMMER POUNDING)

(SIGHS)

Breathe.

(WHIMPERS)

- (EXHALES)
- Again.

Oh, you're just like Beth,
with the f*cking breathing.

(CHUCKLES, EXHALES)

(CLEARS THROAT)

I can't. I can't.

We should talk about Sam.

Well, he just strangled somebody
right in front of me.

I think it's worth noting

that he chose to bring you here
to work with him.

(GROANS)

What do I know about psychopathy?

- I wasn't trained for this.
- None of us are.

(GROANS)

Charlie, I need a plan.

I need a plan. I'm like a second-year,

just throwing sh*t against the wall.

You have to find a way
to come out of this alive.

As crazy as it sounds,

I think there is a conscience in there.

Somewhere.

Little, tiny conscience.

Charlie, that's possible, isn't it?

That means there's empathy
on some level.

Focus on that.

I work with people
on empathy all the time,

but I've never started at absolute zero.

- Empty.
- Yeah.

On top of that, Sam is in charge.

I don't have clinical authority.

Blah, blah, blah.

- (DOOR CREAKS OPEN)
- (SIGHS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

(SHOVEL DIGGING)

You have to help me.

If I don't figure this out,
he's going to strangle me,

and I'm going into that grave.

Or the next one.

I know it's crazy...

but I was...

starting to connect with him.

I thought.

I mean, love your patients, but come on.

A sociopath?

We used to discuss not getting
too stuck in categories.

Right. It's a spectrum.

Maybe I could push him one way
on the spectrum.

Or I'm deluding myself.

(SCRAPING AND CLANGING)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

COLLEEN: How was the funeral?

It was a hard day.

Grieving is difficult.

I've never been to a Jewish funeral.

A funeral's a funeral.

This one probably had
more singing than usual.

♪ ♪

Now I'm one of those guys who
buries people in his basement.

Thanks a lot.

(SIGHS)

Your turn.

Get up.

(CHAINS RATTLING)

Over there.

Don't f*cking move.

(KEYS JINGLE)

Walk.

Keep this distance.

(CLANGING)

♪ ♪

Go ahead.

Go in at a sharper angle.

Good.

Keep going.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(ENGINE STARTS)

(GRUNTING)

ALAN: My whole life,
I have been thinking,


thinking, trying to figure myself out

so I can help other people
understand themselves

so they can have
better relationships, and now...

here I am, my son is
barely speaking to me.

(SIGHING)

I might need another couple of weeks

before getting up in front
of a room full of kids again.

- Do you mind?
- Of course not.

(SIGHS)

(HISSING)

(WHIMPERING)

(EXHALES)

Tell me how you're feeling right now.

Let's see.

I'm talking to my dead therapist.

So I'm disassociating.

Other than that, Beth is dead,
Ezra hates me,

and I've been kidnapped

by a serial k*ller, so...

Why do you keep looking at that?

I'm having a fantasy
of smashing it against his head.

Why don't you do that?

Hit him with the pitcher?

'Cause I don't want to die
any sooner than I need to.

That's very pessimistic.

You have some fight in you.
You used to wrestle in high school.

(CHUCKLES) Well...

while you have been
relaxing, being dead,

I've been getting older and I'm
not as strong as I used to be.

I don't know why you feel so powerless.

I don't feel powerless.

I'm doing everything I can to
fight back with what I have.

Are you?

Great.

I'm out of foot cream.

And I'm running out
of my arrhythmia pills.

If this guy doesn't m*rder me,
I'm gonna die of a heart att*ck.

Or foot fungus.

(SIGHS) Charlie, I need a plan.

I tried pulling
his life story out of him.

I tried getting him
to recontextualize everything

as protecting his mother.

I tried flat-out diverting him.

I, I...

I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

You're going to have
to address the fact that his mother is,

in part, responsible for the abuse
he suffered as a child.

If I had five or six years.

- You don't.
- (TRUCK APPROACHING)

(TRUCK DOOR CLOSES)

(GATE CLANGS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

♪ ♪

Move up.

All right.

(CHAINS RATTLING)

All right.

You can sit.

♪ ♪

(SAM EXHALES)

I got to mix the cement.

Sam, could you sit down for a minute?

(SAM SIGHS HEAVILY)

Mm-hmm.

I'd like to discuss the possibility
of you handling this differently.

I'm not sure that you should
bury the body.

What am I supposed to do?

What you usually do.

Leave it where it can be found.

That's the most thoughtful thing
for the relatives.

I've never brought anyone
back to my house before.

They could trace him.

Uh, yeah, he was in my truck.

I understand your concern about that.
It's reasonable.

(SWALLOWS)

We're talking about the stuff
you see on TV?

DNA and...

little pieces of carpet, right?

Yeah.

Well, I'm no expert, I'll admit.

But...

let's, let's think this through.

There must have been DNA

and fibers from your clothing
on the other people.

But the police never traced
any of that back to you.

Is there any reason
your DNA or fingerprints

would be in some sort of database?

You've never been arrested, have you?

No, but, like...

...like, uh, carpet fibers...

...from the carpet, they could
trace that back to this house.

Well, that's highly unlikely.

It's what, , years old?

I don't know.

Sam... you want to get better.

I can't pull this out of you.

Therapy is not an exorcism.

Mm-hmm.

You want to change.

A good next step is
to think of Elias's family.

To truly understand

what might be of service to them

emotionally as fellow human beings.

Given the givens here.

Sam...

come here.

Why?

Trust me.

Take off the blindfold.

We need to see his face.

♪ ♪

(SIGHS)

♪ ♪

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Why did you want me to do this?

(GROANS SOFTLY)

You have all your feelings, right?

He was a person

who had feelings of his own
to struggle with.

I want you to see...

...that he was not just some guy

who offended you.

Elias was a human being.

He had a mother and a father

who care about him just like
your mother cares about you.

And they are going to miss him.

You know... people have techniques

to help them grieve.

For Jews, it's all laid out.

There's the burial,

which is why it's so important
to have a body.

And there's a special week called shiva,

where we focus just on mourning

and memory.

I always tried to get out of it
a little bit early.

My wife wouldn't let me,
and she was right.

There is a prayer

you say every night for the first year

after someone dies

and then once a year afterward forever.

It's called the kaddish.

Should I say it?

What, the kaddish?

Mm-hmm.

I...

L-Let me think about that.

I think the important thing

is less the ritual
and more that you consider

Elias and his family

and what they need.

That would be something new for you.

And very, very good.

We need to develop
your skills at empathy,

which means putting yourself
in someone else's shoes.

And the truth is...

most people need to work on this.

But you, in particular,

can benefit from growing in this regard.

Yeah, that sounds good.

Yeah.

I'll, uh, I'll leave the body
where it can be found.

For the family.

You're gonna have to help me
fill in that hole.

♪ ♪

(URINATING)

(GRUNTING)

(TOILET FLUSHING)

Oh, sh**t.

Oh, no.

(GROANS)

(WHIMPERING)

(EXHALES)

Is something going on with you?

(GASPS)

(SIGHS)

It's been a lot, Sam.

Thank you for asking.
I really appreciate it.

Yeah.

(GRUNTING)

♪ ♪

(RHYTHMIC CLAPPING)

BETH: ♪ Here we go ♪

♪ Tears may fall ♪

♪ But we'll hear them call ♪

♪ And another song will rise ♪

♪ Another song will rise ♪

♪ Another song ♪

♪ Will rise ♪

♪ Not by might ♪

♪ And not by power ♪

♪ But by spirit alone ♪

♪ Shall we all live in peace ♪

♪ Not by might ♪

♪ And not by power ♪

♪ Shalom! ♪
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