"Considering the fact that almost everything about therapy -- going to
therapy, talking about what you learned in therapy, therapy offices,
therapists -- is unsavory and deeply irritating, it's all the more
impressive that HBO's "In Treatment" (premieres 9
p.m. Sunday, April 5) intrepidly conquers such perilous ground. The
show's riveting second season, which begins with two back-to-back
episodes on Sunday night and continues with three back-to-back episodes
on Monday night, proves that the intelligence and intensity of the
first season weren't a fluke. Even though each episode of this drama
series depicts a therapy session at the office of Paul Weston (Gabriel
Byrne), a format that should be unbearably monotonous, each half-hour
segment has the emotional weight and authenticity to knock the feet out
from under even the most skeptical viewers, leaving them laughing and
sighing and sniffling their way through a big box of tissues."