Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields created F.X. on Hulu’s psychological thriller Series “The Patient.” It centers around Alan Strauss (a therapist), who is being held captive by Sam Fortner, a serial killer.
Sam seeks out the assistance of Alan to end his homicidal tendencies. Alan is forced to end serial killer Sam’s “compulsion to murder” to save Sam and his potential victims. The 2022 limited series features Steve Carell and Domhnall Geeson.
It offers a realistic exploration of the human psyche and psychotherapy, making one curious about the show’s real-life origins. Let’s find out!
Is The Patient a True Story or a Fiction?
The story of ‘The Patient,’ however, is fictional. Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields were the creators of The Patient. They wanted to create a show about therapy, as they believe in the “value of introspection.” They could see the potential for a show that explored therapy because they had both been there. Weisberg explained to the U.S.A. Today, in the origins of the show, “We [Fields] thought, “Is there any way to add an element that ratchets it up and makes it entertaining but doesn’t knock down the reality about therapy?”
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Weisberg wanted to be realistic about the situation. He was a therapist who changed the life of a serial murderer to save his own. He met his therapist to do the same. “I had to take the idea through my therapist, but I think I got a smile, a little laugh, and a bit of a laugh. The U.S.AU.S.A.The co-creator informed the U.S.A. Today that the subtext was too obvious for exploration. Fields and Weisberg carefully applied therapy principles to the story, even though it is fictional. They also didn’t take too many creative liberties.
“When you do a lot of therapy, it becomes obvious that you can have cyclical anything. This is how people function. It’s what makes it interesting and powerful to tell a story about someone trying to break free from that cycle,” Weisberg explained to The Wrap, the psychological foundation of the show. It doesn’t matter what you are repeating, whether it be alcoholism, violence, or other forms of abuse. It’s courageous to lead the charge to make a change and not follow those same steps. Sam referred to this as “in a way that Sam is trying to do.”
Fields and Weisberg firmly believed that therapy and psychology could be explored realistically. Dennis Palumbo, a licensed psychologist, joined them as a consultant to ensure the same. They had to then conceive Sam. They had an idea of a serial killer who wanted to “get better” and “have a lot of normal personality traits.” Sam isn’t a typical “neurotic” and “crazed ” serial killer.” This makes him stand out from other serial killer characters that we’ve seen in several T.V.T.V. shows and films.
Fields and Weisberg did not want to terrorize viewers with a serial killer but instead wanted to show us the intricacies of such a character. They wanted to avoid the common tropes of psychological thrillers. Fields stated that they deliberately set out not to fall into the trap of feeling obligated or compelled to deliver the tropes and moves of the genre but to let the story unfold as it felt to them. Sam is a remarkable character despite his traumatizing childhood, which many serial killers and their characters share.
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Although “The Patient” is not a true story about any individual, it is fiction that is controlled by an emphasis on reality. This is especially true for therapy and psychology. Without misinterpreting the real-life principles, The Patient shows how therapy can be a significant part of one’s daily life.
