The Patients creators unpack that brutal series finale.
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This interview has been edited and condensed.
It also completely spoils the ending ofThe Patient, so proceed accordingly.
Viewers watched with the hope that Alan would eventually be allowed to leave and return to his normal life.
None of them felt like they fit until we circled around to this one.
But I think we can fairly say that, sure, youre right about that.
What it came down to was that this one felt true and the others didnt, which is lucky.
Its lucky if your story lives in a way that it will tell you what to do.
But he obviously was helped to some degree because he chooses to chain himself up.
Because both of these characters do evolve, but they do it too late.J.W.
Although Im sure Joel and I were equally gratified to hear your interpretation.
Like, that felt good.
The other thing Ill say is that, as a general principle, Joel and I believe in change.
Weve both changed because of therapy.
That, to us, is really the goal.
There wasnt a writers room onThe Patient.
It was just the two of you, which is different from the wayThe Americansworked.
What was that like?J.F.
But when you ask how it was, Ill speak for myself: It was fun.
Joe is going to tell you that he was actually miserable, but I dont care.
I had a good time.
No, the only thing Id add to that is these were very short episodes.
They were half an hour, so it wasnt really biting off more than we can chew.
Did you always envision this as a show with episodes that would be 30 minutes or so?J.F.
- I dont even remember that.
Because I remember we had other story lines and other characters that we were following.
It takes a while for something to gel into what it is.
I dont even know what it is.
Do you still feel that way?J.W.:Totally.
But when its really discrete like that, theres zero outward pressure.
You just do whatever you want.
Look, the response is mixed.
I also felt like it worked so well for the kind of story you were telling.
If it had been much longer, it wouldve defused a lot of the tension.
I thought that was very much to the shows benefit.J.W.
Lets talk about Candace.
I know you guys did some research going into this.
Theres not a lot of research that Im aware of on the parents of serial killers.
We really didnt want to go in that direction because we thought it was not interesting.
What we wanted to explore was that shes also got a functional connection to the world outside.
So shes got those two things competing, and how would that play out in the real world?
What else did you get from that research?J.F.
Like many addictions, it makes you feel worse when you satisfy it.
That was very surprising to me as a consumer of serial-killer fiction.
I think its hard to believe, and you also think thats because the neighbor didnt know him.
But what the research showed was a lot of these guys are oddly successful in the real world.
That was very humanizing and interesting.
How did you balance that?J.W.
It seemed like we could follow that line here pretty easily.
Obviously, this is a serious show, but there are some moments of levity in it.
- I laughed very hard when Sam said, Great.
Im sorry to give you the bad news that your dad is dead thats my favorite.
Everybodys got a favorite.
I mean, theres no better straight man than Steve Carell, but thats a really great straight-man delivery.
- Did you have Steve in mind for the role when you started writing it?J.W.
No, not initially.
How has the conversation around that casting affected you guys?J.F.
:We get that theres a conversation there.
We get that different people feel different ways.
This is not a story thats just for Jews by any means.
Its a story for all of us.
It doesnt seem to me like that would be a net gain for the Jewish actor.
Is that right?J.W.
But it was soon after.
As soon as we stumbled upon that, it started feeding us a lot of story.
You bring in some Holocaust imagery where Alan imagines himself in Auschwitz.
- Did I go too far?J.F.
That wasnt in our minds, but well, it wasnt in our conscious mind.
His son makes no bones about saying Youre bad Jews.
So in a way, maybe it was a wrestling with that, which is essentially what youre saying.
Yeah, thats where my thought process around that came from.
Theyre all struggling with that.
So its time to talk about Sam and his food.
And among the things you go to is, Well, what do they spend their time with?
Do they have any passions?
Everybody I know is either a foodie or surrounded by foodies.
It is not an uncommon trait.
Even if youre not one, you might still relate.
But why Dunkin Donuts, as opposed to any other coffee?J.F.
:Were so glad you asked.
- 1 most important thing for a good cup of coffee is that it was just brewed.
Its what we call a virtuous cycle.
Because people think its really good, theyre constantly having to make more of it.
And the way you have really good coffee is by having it freshly made.
In a similar vein, Sam is obsessed with Kenny Chesney.
:There were two pieces that made it perfect.
It just represents exactly what he yearns for.
The other reason was just what we said before: Its the specificity, right?
:Joes a real country-music aficionado.
I like music, and I enjoy country music, but I dont listen to it like Joe does.
But it turns out Chesneys music is fantastically good.
There are all kinds of songs Joe sent me that I also keep listening to.
So thats no small thing.
:But only do it next to a box of tissues.
