When Sam makes it to his father’s place, the man offers to make him a sandwich. He apparently shares his son’s love of food.
Sam doesn’t kill him right away. He first asks him why he hit him and how it made him feel. Candace’s dad replies that he doesn’t know. He was a weird kid, and Candace always telling him it was his fault. “Sorry,” he say half-heartedly.
Sam jumps on his dad suddenly and starts suffocating him. But he stops himself before his dad dies. “My therapist told me not to kill you,” he says.
Alan and Sam meet again, and the two discuss what happened.
Does Dr. Strauss convince Sam to let him go?
But then, one day, he killed his father. He can’t remember why, but it felt right. And now he can’t stop thinking about it. He doesn’t know how to get rid of the thoughts, but they keep coming back.
This is a major breakthrough for Alan. It shows that he’s trying to change and that by not killing his father, he’s breaking the cycle.
“Thanks,” he says with a smile. ..
Alan then gently changes gears. He says it’s time to let him go home. Like Sam had to work things out with his father, Alan needs to work things out with his own son. He promises to not turn Sam in (as long as he doesn’t kill again) and wants to see him every day in his office for regular therapy sessions.
Sam doesn’t respond to my message, but processes the information. The next morning, he leaves in his truck and brings back a couch and a mini fridge.
Alan tells his therapist that he knows he’s been rushing him, but like he said earlier, therapy takes time, even years. He’ll keep him here but he’ll make him more comfortable.
Does Sam turn himself in to the police?
Alan now has to reevaluate. He talks to Charlie in his mind and finds that he has some sympathy for Sam and marvels at the therapy’s success to some degree.
Alan tells Charlie that he’s not going to spend the next 10 years of his life chained up here. Charlie tells Alan that Sam is looking for a replacement father. But Alan and Charlie agree: Alan isn’t going to spend the next 10 years of his life chained up here. ..
He tells Sam that he can’t treat him anymore because he has a professional opinion that Sam needs to be physically stopped from acting out his urges. Only then can Sam have the freedom to heal.
He tries to convince Sam that it’s time to go to the police. Sam goes to sit outside the police station, but he doesn’t go inside.
Does Alan kill Candace?
Candace argues with Alan. She claims her son isn’t ready. Alan turns his focus to Candace now. He tells her that she didn’t protect Sam from his dad. It wasn’t her fault, but she still didn’t protect him.
Alan hands her a tissue and takes the opportunity to grab her and pull her close to him. With the sharp tube of foot cream pressed against her throat, he calls for Sam.
Alan tells Sam that he will kill Candace if he doesn’t call 911. Sam doesn’t want to make the choice, thinking that Alan is bluffing. ..
Alan presses the weapon deeper into her neck, causing her to scream.
Does Dr. Strauss die?
Alan wakes up in a sweat. He can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched. He looks around and sees Beth close by, her eyes wide with fear. She’s not alone, though. There’s another person in the room with them- a man named John.
When he wakes up, he’s with Ezra’s family. His grandson asks if he was thinking about when he was “away.” Alan says he was. He’ll tell him about that time in a few years. ..
He sits with his family all around the table. They sing, and Alan is happy. That is, until he sees Charlie.
Suddenly, Alan’s family is gone. Sam is above him, choking him while Candace screams at him to stop.
Sam doesn’t stop. He kills Alan, unchains him, then brings him to the other room. He puts his body in the grave Alan himself dug, but he doesn’t bury him.
Alan’s final words before he passed away were “I love you.” ..
Did Alan make peace with Ezra?
Shoshana picks up her mail and finds a letter from Sam. The letter is typed and addressed to both of Alan’s children. ..
Dear Jews, I am writing to you today to let you know that I know about the importance of a body after someone has died. I also want to let you know about Alan, who is dead and is buried in a place that I know very well. I hope that this letter can help you feel better about what happened. Sincerely, Sam
Shoshana and Ezra share a note with Alan. They express their love for each other and their families, and they apologize for any pain they may have caused Beth. They understand that they were in the wrong, and they are so sorry.
Candace is sitting on the couch, watching TV. Sam walks into the room and sits down next to her. Candace turns to him and says, “Hey, have you been thinking about that therapist we talked about?” Sam looks at her for a moment, then shakes his head no. “No,” he says. “I haven’t been thinking about him at all.” ..
Sam goes to the bed and chains himself to the floor. He calls for his mother, and hands her the key. It seems like he’s accepted that Dr. Strauss was right. He needs to be physically stopped.
How does ‘The Patient’ end?
Hulu’s The Patient ends on a bittersweet note. Ezra sits with his own therapists. He’s gone through so much, but he’s in a place where he can find healing, too. ..
Ezra tells his therapist that he’s more concerned for his family than for himself. The therapist encourages him to talk about himself, but he’s not sure if he wants to start. ..
The protagonist, a young man, is about to say something but is interrupted by a loud noise. He looks around and sees that the other people in the room have all turned around to see what was going on. The protagonist doesn’t know what to do and just stands there.
The Episode Review
Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields have created a limited series that sets up a premise with a lot to unpack about the nature of therapy and generational trauma. The finale does a satisfying job bringing these compelling themes to a close.
Alan may have died in the end, but his search for meaning through relationships was something he found valuable in life. ..
Ezra and Sam’s journeys focused on generational trauma in the finale. Sam and Candace each had to learn a difficult lesson through Alan’s death. Each is now doing the hard thing by accepting Alan’s advice. Sam, by physically stopping himself from killing. And Candace, by letting her son heal the difficult way. ..
Ezra’s therapist suggests that generational trauma can come to an end in the scene where Ezra’s therapist tells him that he has broken a cycle.
Although dark and brutal, The Patient closes with an ultimately sympathetic message and encouragement for audiences to reflect on their own potential and to work towards change.
