Dear Joel, Peggy, and Phil,
Sunday night’s episode was the most powerful yet. The rape scene was extraordinarily graphic, and the writers used it ingeniously. Because of the brutality of it, the audience was wanting Jennifer to subvert the therapy process and enlist Tony’s help in whacking the rapist. As they have done in other episodes, though, Mitch Burgess and Robin Green, two of the best writers, brought Jennifer to the brink of the abyss only to have her step back at the last moment. Her sobbing seemed to signal the role reversal that so often precedes a major boundary violation. Yet just when we thought she had succumbed to the “charms of a sociopath,” as she described it to Elliot, she regained her composure. Her last comment, “No,” which was followed by a blackout was like a thunderclap that reverberated for several minutes afterward.
By the way, I think this is the first time in any cinematic or TV depiction of therapy that a therapist actually uses her own therapy effectively to deal with her countertransference. Note also that she had chosen not to reveal her patient’s name to her therapist in the same way that Tony keeps certain things concealed from her.
Glen Gabbard
