Name: The Patient season 1 episode 10
Director: Chris Long
Released: 2022-10-25T10:30:00

In the finale of The Patient, Sam goes through a major breakthrough and Alan puts his foot down to request being let go. The episode is now streaming on Hulu.

Recap

Alan tells Candace that Sam is going to kill his father and Candace isn’t too perturbed by it. Sam goes to his father’s house and is let in as his father asks him if he’s hungry.

Candace brings down a drink for Alan and tells him to relax. She tells him that genuinely worries about the families of the people that Sam kills.

Sam asks his father why he beat Sam and his father says that he was a weird kid who didn’t play any games or have any friends and couldn’t follow rules properly. Sam proceeds to pounce on his father and chokes him but stops short of killing him.

He goes back home and tells Alan about this. Alan says that the fact he stopped himself is a big breakthrough and shows progress. He also tells Sam that it’s time for him to set Alan free to have a breakthrough with his son, Ezra.

He assures Sam that he will continue seeing him and won’t turn him in unless he has the compulsion to kill once again.

Later that day, Sam brings in another couch and a mini-fridge and tells Alan that he realizes that he’s been rushing the therapy process and is now ready to take the time required, even if it is years.

Alan goes back to a therapy session with Charlie as they discuss Sam’s condition and how he plans to keep Alan chained down there as a replacement father figure even though Alan is not keen on doing that.

That night, he takes his notepad and writes down something. Once he’s done, he calls out to Sam and tells him that he cannot be his therapist anymore and must be freed.

He tells Sam that he won’t be cured of his condition unless he’s physically restrained from doing so. Sam listens to what Alan has to say and then goes back into his room.

The next day, Sam spends some time parked outside the police station, contemplating whether to turn himself in. He goes back home and sends Candace to give Alan his food.

When Candace is downstairs, Alan tells her that she is partly responsible for the abuse that Sam faced because she made no effort to stop it. Candace begins crying and Alan offers her a tissue but when she reaches out, he grabs her and holds the sharpened tube to her throat.

He calls Sam down and tells him to make a choice, either dial 911 or kill him. Sam says that Alan doesn’t have it in him to kill Candace but Alan digs in the edge and draws blood.

He then finds himself in a gas chamber with his late wife before waking up in his son’s living room. He sits down at the dinner table and they all enjoy the moment but as Alan looks around, he sees Charlie too.

Then it is revealed that he is choked to death by Sam. Sam drags his body to the storeroom and dumps it into the same grave that Elias was buried in. He comes out and finds the notepad with Alan’s written message.

Alan’s daughter Shoshana walks into Alan’s home and picks up all the leftover mail. Among them, she finds an envelope with a note from Sam telling them that Alan is dead and where his body can be found.

He also sends the notepad which is a letter to his children. Alan thanked his children for the love that they shared and went over any issues that they had with each other. He apologizes to Ezra for how he treated him and says that he loves him too.

Sam feels so much guilt for what he’s done so he calls his mother downstairs and then hands her the keys after locking himself with the chain that he used on Alan.

Ezra visits a therapist to talk about his relationship with his father in a poignant moment.

Review

The finale of The Patient is a tragic ending to a brilliant story. The conclusion feels conflicted and should evoke many emotions from the viewers.
Domhnall Gleeson is especially intense in this episode as he confronts his father and later has to face up against Alan while his mother is at risk.
The dialogue in this episode is amazing, with Alan doing the heavy lifting with his analysis of Sam and later with his letter to Ezra and Shoshana.