In Treatment

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

In Treatment is exhilarating.

Wall Street JournalDorothy Rabinowitz

Its capacity to maintain an unyielding grip on your attention becomes similarly evident fast, as does one's strong sense that that grip isn't going to weaken anytime soon.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

In Treatment feels neither soapy nor formulaic, because of the intensity with which it's presented.

Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker

It all makes for lots of great soapy intrigue, and Byrne makes you believe he can solve everyone's problems. Except his own.

Hollywood ReporterRay Richmond

The performances of the players are so uniformly terrific that you could do worse than to bring these deeply flawed characters into your living room on a regular basis, as this is a series for which TiVo was invented if ever there was one.

Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara

Cleverly conceived, it boasts a star-studded cast (Gabriel Byrne, Dianne Wiest, Blair Underwood) who achieve, at times, theatrical transcendence.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

It's an engaging series that's definitely worth at least a trial spin.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

If you've been wondering about the art of series-TV writing, and how potent and resonant it truly can be, you need look no further than HBO's extraordinary new In Treatment.

NewsdayDiane Werts

Like a series of one-act two-handers--stage plays where just a pair of actors face off--this sneaky little gem steadily strips away its therapy patients' emotional defenses and excuses, exposing the raw fears and paralyzing reactions beneath.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

If you like shrink-oriented, smartly written TV, In Treatment (Monday-Friday, 8:30 p.m., HBO) just might get you through the next few weeks with your sanity intact.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

You get out what you put into it--even in the episodes that are weaker, I was rarely bored--and it's a consistent scripted oasis in a sea of shows where people take lie detector tests on camera.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

This show is smart and rigorous, with a concentration that bores deep without growing dull.

Washington PostTom Shales

It isn't high literature nor even perhaps high television, but In Treatment does have a welcome, and occasionally riveting, pulpy streak, perhaps inevitable with its promise of peeks behind doors that usually remain closed.

New York PostLinda Stasi

Some half-hour segments work spectacularly well and some don't. Like real life, I guess. But even the ones that don't work so well are very interesting.

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

Though I took a strong dislike to tonight's patient, Laura--and was more than casually interested in no one but Wednesday's patient, Sophie--I've somehow made it through 23 episodes so far, and found something in each that advances the storyline.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

The first episode of this show will probably make you roll your eyes and beg the gods for mercy. Don't give up, though, because In Treatment is sharp and unique and worth the effort.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

Oddly enough, as much as I like In Treatment and its theatrically deft interplays, it doesn't get off to a great start with its Monday patient.

TimeJames Poniewozik

The writing is uniformly strong and Byrne excellent not only at reading Paul's dialogue but conveying what he's withholding--his true feelings about his patients, his inner turmoil over his disintegrating home life. But the storylines vary wildly from riveting to tedious.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

In Treatment is fascinating TV, but it's not a pleasant experience. Watching these therapy sessions is akin to eating your TV broccoli.

VarietyBrian Lowry

In Treatment's intensity does build as the weeks progress, but it's never completely absorbing, and you wonder how many viewers will commit to such a demanding regimen even with multiple plays to catch up on missed half-hours.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

Even at its sporadic best, In Treatment comes across as no more than an actor's exercise, one likely to be best remembered for providing future acting students with a large supply of two-character scenes for class projects.

The New YorkerNancy Franklin

In Treatment, while offering viewers a seemingly intimate look at this process, doesn’t capture the emotional mise en scène: the characters on the show have all too easy a time expressing themselves, and the element of suspense is mostly absent.

TV GuideMatt Roush

The gimmick's in the scheduling of this tediously claustrophobic though sometimes searing half-hour drama, set almost entirely in a psychotherapist’s office.

SlateTroy Patterson

Paul Weston's (Byrne) nonadventures straddle the realms of the scarcely credible and the incredibly boring.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

The writing is forced and thin, some of the acting stagey, most of the characters unlikable and - the show-killer quality that HBO execs apparently failed to see--profoundly boring.