In Treatment

You have no messages.

God, Paul.

If you're not coming,

couldn't you just call and tell me you're not coming?

Are you

going out?

You look great.

Thank you.

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?

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 wanna 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.

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 club on the eastern shore.

- It was the 4th of July. - I remember.

I had

this crummy summer job.

And 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.

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?

What is it you don't wanna 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?

It's my lawyer.

- Are you sure you want me to stay? - Please.

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...

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.

Good bye.

- I'm so happy for you. - 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...

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 to see them?

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...

could actually work.

And it kept working, you know?

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.

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