Original subtitles

Male voice: You have no messages.

( beeps )

Oh, god, paul.

If you're not coming, Couldn't you just call

And tell me You're not coming?

( knocks on door )

( theme music playing )

Paul.

Are you going out?

You look great.

Thank you.

Well, I'd ask you Where you were going,

But I know that you have

Your boundaries As a therapist.

Look, I hate to do this,

I hate it When my patients do it,

But I've asked My lawyer to call me

About the hearing.

And I'd rather be here

If it's bad news, okay?

Sure.

I was so relieved

That you didn't ask For the letter.

I decided not to send it.

Yeah, I was having lunch

With the kids last sunday

And rosie actually asked me About the case.

And I told her about The settlement offer,

And she said, "Dad, you can't do this.

You can't confess To something you didn't do.

You're the good guy."

She'd been so rude to me All night about other stuff.

I guess she's still angry About the divorce.

And then suddenly In one sentence

She made me feel better Than I'd felt all week.

I'm glad.

So then I called My lawyer

And I said I wasn't interested In the settlement,

Which meant They went through

With the hearing This morning.

So how did that go?

I don't know yet. I wasn't there.

The lawyer said technically I didn't have to be.

You didn't go?

I overslept.

And why do you think you chose This morning to oversleep?

Oh, yeah, The subconscious thing.

Probably because I didn't want to go.

And I just didn't feel Like begging some judge

To let me keep my job.

You felt showing up Would be begging?

I don't know.

So why are you Dressed up?

I want to hear About your life.

You want to hear About my life?

You don't want to talk About your own life?

Exactly.

I'd rather talk about How your lawyer felt The hearing went.

Did he say anything?

Yeah, he said Not to quote him--

'cause these guys Hate to be quoted--

But he said That he thought

That it went well.

Did he say When you'd find out?

Anytime between today And god-knows-when.

So you're in limbo.

Caught between Heaven and hell,

Waiting for my fate To be decided, yeah.

That must be what this whole Year has felt like to you.

You've been Under enormous pressure.

Yeah.

Is that why You dressed up?

That blue looks Really really good on you.

It's the same color As the dress you had on

That night I saw You and david

Coming out Of that country club On the eastern shore.

It was the 4th of july.

I remember.

I had this crummy Summer job.

I was parking cars,

And I brought out The wrong car.

And he asked me to go back And get his convertible.

And I looked at him And I thought,

"Of course. Why wouldn't she be with him?"

Yeah, we had A wonderful dinner

And we danced.

And then we came outside And there was

My most dedicated Graduate student.

We were all So in love with you.

Oh, don't be silly.

How could we not be?

You were brilliant

And we believed Everything you said.

What are you talking about?

You argued with Everything that I said.

Yeah, but you made us Do that.

That was your technique.

We were So fascinated by you.

We wanted to know Everything about you.

What's happening With you today, paul?

What is it you don't Want to talk about--

What happened here Between us last week,

Or your case,

Or your patients, Your children?

No, none of the above.

Can you tell me What it is?

( phone buzzing )

It's my lawyer.

Are you sure You want me to stay?

Please.

( phone beeps )

Hello, ellis.

I just spoke With your judge. I've got news.

What sort of news?

First off, He was livid.

At me?

No, at mr. Prince,

For wasting Everybody's time.

The judge hasn't written The ruling yet,

And he said Not to quote him,

But there are No triable issues of fact.

What?

He said It's a tragic story,

But he's going to Dismiss the action.

He's throwing The case out.

Are you saying It's over, ellis?

I'm glad for you. I know this thing Was a weight.

Thank you so much, You know.

I really appreciate Everything that you've done.

And look, I know

I haven't been the easiest Person in the world To deal with,

But I just wanted To say thank you.

Nobody's nice when They're being sued.

The important thing is Justice was served.

Come see me next week. We'll go over it.

But tonight you go out And celebrate. You hear me?

Yeah. Thanks, ellis.

Goodbye.

I'm so happy for you.

Oh my god, It's amazing.

I'm so glad this judge Could see what the truth was.

How long do you Think it's gonna be Before I really feel it?

Before you Wake up some morning Not thinking about it?

Or not go to bed some night Without thinking about it.

That's so great.

Now you know you can Keep your practice.

What are you gonna do?

You were in limbo about that Last week as well.

How did you do with your Patients this week?

Was it hard for you To see them?

Well, I did what you said.

I acted as if I believed

I really was helping.

And did that help?

To be honest,

I was kind of Skeptical at first.

I felt a bit like A hypocrite,

And that they'd see that.

Of course You'd feel that way.

But then weirdly enough, Something started to happen.

I was talking To oliver's dad

About the responsibility

Of what it means To be a father

And keeping in touch With your kid.

Really, I was talking For both of us.

But I think I reached him.

I mean, I was still Doubting myself,

But I just kept At it, you know?

I just couldn't believe That something so simple

Could actually work.

And it kept working, You know?

No.

You're a good therapist.

And I'm sure you did a lot Of good work this week,

Despite how uncertain You felt.

April left.

Therapy?

Why?

In part because I took her to chemo.

I don't regret it,

But it did alter Our relationship.

Of course.

But also I think She just needed

To stop thinking About herself.

She wanted some space.

She wanted to breathe,

To live.

And did you try To convince her to stay?

Of course I did.

I'm worried that she Doesn't have the tools

To survive another crisis.

But part of me, I have to say,

Is really proud of her.

For rejecting you?

For rejecting therapy.

I meant, for acting out Against you.

That's not what She was doing, though.

She wasn't punishing me Or her parents.

She's fighting cancer.

She needs all Of her energy for that.

And you were able To accept that?

I was surprised By my reaction.

( chuckles )

I know I have This need to rescue,

But I really understood Her reasoning

Completely.

You know, Walter and april--

They both think That the world is Supposed to be

On their shoulders,

And they're both incapable Of receiving support.

One's stopping therapy.

The other wants More sessions.

So you're going To continue.

You know what I realized this week?

Practicing this way,

I may never know whether I help people or not.

It's not Like I'm trying

To get them to pass Their driving test

Or do better On their sats Or something.

The only measure I have Of whether I'm helping Somebody or not

Is how my patients Feel about it

And how their lives Go on from there.

And they won't know that

Until long after We've stopped therapy.

What are you saying, paul?

I guess what I'm trying to say Is that these people come to me

And they want me To fix their problems,

And the truth is, I think all I can do

Is just walk With them for a while,

Keep them company During a rough patch.

I don't think anybody's life Can be figured out,

But it is in our nature

To keep trying To make sense of it.

And sometimes We can use help.

That's when, if we're lucky, There's somebody in the room

Who can listen.

It doesn't have to be Somebody perfect--

Somebody sufficiently Screwed up

To actually get what We might be going through.

- someone like you. - on occasion.

And not someone like me.

No, gina.

Not for me.

Not anymore.

Oh.

When did you come To this conclusion?

I don't know.

Please don't take This personally, gina.

No no no.

I'm not-- I'm not--

No, I'm not taking it Personally.

I'm just--

I'm just disappointed That we're here again.

I know.

I know.

But it is different This time.

- I'm not doing this In anger. - mm-hmm.

And I appreciate

Everything that You've done for me.

- I want you to know that. - thank you.

Let's not drag it out, You know.

After last week, really, What is there to say?

I understand.

I just want to be sure You're aware

Of why you're doing What you're doing.

What is it you think I'm not aware of?

Well, obviously, Last week took a toll--

A big toll On both of us,

I know that I crossed a line,

But you also lost Two patients this week.

I know.

Well, has it Occurred to you

That you're angry at them For abandoning you,

And that may be why you've Decided to abandon me?

That's a little reductive, Isn't it?

No, but this is:

You began the week Questioning your value As a therapist,

And you're ending it Questioning mine.

I'm not questioning you.

I'm questioning the way We interact, you and I.

I don't think it's healthy For either of us.

You're always Questioning me,

Blaming me.

I think I've come To represent

Everything you struggle with In your work--

Emotional restraint, Delayed gratification,

Not indulging your love or Your desire for a patient.

You've made me Your boundary cop--

The mentor Who's prevented you

From having anything You ever wanted.

And I beat you up For that.

It must have been Exhausting

To have to play my mother All these years.

If I came running to you,

It was because I needed my mother.

If was angry at you, It was because I was Angry at my mother.

Honestly, I don't know How you put up with it.

But you did, And you got me through it.

All I'm saying is, you don't Have to do it anymore.

You're releasing me now.

Yes.

Yes, I am.

You know, paul,

If you need to go, you go.

But I'm concerned that You may be punishing me

Because I failed To protect you.

But you didn't Fail me, gina.

This has been My sanctuary.

All the parts of myself That I don't like, That I'm ashamed of--

I could bring them here, And it was always okay.

Do you think There's a connection

Between the lawsuit ending And your stopping therapy?

No no.

It's just time.

The things I needed For so long have changed.

I can't keep Coming to you

For the mothering I didn't get,

And you shouldn't Have to provide it.

So you're not Running away from home?

I'd rather think of it As moving out.

I'm going to make My way in the world.

Where will you go?

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm still going to keep Being a therapist--

Maybe not all Private sessions.

Some days I just sit there In the room with a patient

And I feel like-- I don't know--

I feel like We're two mice

With our legs caught In a glue trap.

Oh, god.

It's a horrible feeling.

Maybe it's the chair.

I hate that fucking chair.

You could get a new one.

I did. It felt good in the store.

But here's the thing About a chair--

You never Really really know

Until you've sat in it For 40 hours a week

For a month-- Month in, month out.

By then it's too late.

Do you want to practice Standing up?

( laughs ) Maybe.

Maybe I need to be In a group practice,

So at least When a patient leaves

I could go into the lounge And run into some other people

And talk About politics or books

Or anything, For christ's sake.

Have you thought About supervising?

I don't think

I'm at a role-model place In my life right now, gina.

I think you'd be A good supervisor.

I mean, you'd have compassion For your students.

And the more A supervisor has seen,

The more valuable He can be.

I'm fairly certain At this point

That no case would Shock or surprise you.

That would make a young Therapist feel very safe.

Maybe you're right.

The one thing I have figured out--

I just need to be With more people.

I don't need a break From being a therapist.

I need a break from--

Just from this,

You know?

I need to stop Analyzing my life.

I need to start living it.

I need you to let me go.

Well, part of me Would love to.

I just worry About the timing.

You're still in mourning. You're alone.

You're isolated.

You don't have a life Outside of your practice.

Are you talking About me or you, gina?

I'm talking about you.

Did something else Happen this week?

What do you mean?

Did you meet someone?

Why do you think that?

I don't know.

I did have a conversation This week

While I was waiting For a coffee.

I was on my way To the subway

And she was On her way to the gym.

And what did you Talk about?

I told her she looked Like a runner.

She said that was The best part about running.

And I said--

Do you know this book, "The memory of running"?

- I don't know it. - neither did she,

But it was just great

To stand there And just talk to her

About a book, you know?

I got so excited, I ruined it for her.

I told her The whole story.

What's the book about?

It's about redemption,

I suppose.

And did you make a plan To see this woman again?

Her name is wendy.

We live On the same block.

I'm sure we'll "Run" into Each other again.

( chuckles )

And you?

Me what?

Do you have A date tonight?

Is that why you're Wearing that dress?

I do.

I knew it.

So who's the lucky guy?

Right.

Boundaries

Until the bitter end.

You're an excellent Therapist, gina.

I never would have Survived without you.

Thank you.

( sighs ) um...

Yeah?

Paul, this is the point Where, you know,

I'm supposed to say "My door is always open,"

But I'm not going To say that.

I understand.

So our time is up.

Good luck.

( door opens, closes )

( music playing )