Adele -- Week Six

Paul meets with another neurologist and once against the diagnosis is inconclusive, as Paul is not exhibiting the symptoms of Parkinson's. During their session, Adele stresses how unlikely it would be for Paul to be debilitated by the disease in any reasonably near time frame. She asks him what he would do if he had a clear diagnosis, one way or the other, and it's clear that Paul hasn't really considered it. In Adele's view, Paul is paralyzed by his "wait-and-see" attitude. He brings up the message that Adele left and asks why she called him. She points out that in their previous session Paul was concerned about the possible threat that Sunil posed. Paul describes his session with Sunil, the incident with Julia at her home, and the fact that he offered to see Sunil pro bono. When Adele expresses her skepticism, Paul points out that she is indulging his fantasy of the two of them sitting together over a meal, discussing their patients: She called him from her home, possibly over breakfast. Adele is caught off guard and when her phone rings, she gets up to shut off the ringer, revealing her pregnant belly. When she returns to her seat, Paul refuses to discuss his – now shattered – fantasy of the two of them together. Instead they talk about Sunil and the fact that Paul has not acted on the troubling things he has said in therapy. Paul stands by his instincts that Sunil is not a violent person and calls Adele a "Freudian ice queen" for not seeing that. When Paul caustically suggests they change the topic again, Adele offers to discuss her pregnancy. Paul accuses her of getting off on his imagined relationship with her, while she sits and hides the fact that she's in a happy relationship with a growing family—a charge she doesn't directly address. He calls therapy a "crock of shit" that "gives power to the sphinx-like doctor at the expense of the humiliated patient." Before Paul leaves, Adele tells him that he doesn't recognize the danger of the situation with Sunil. She wonders if letting the situation with Sunil get out of hand is Paul's subconscious way of sabotaging his career as a therapist so he doesn't have to leave it on his own. Later that evening, Paul calls Julia.