“The Patient” Episode 8, has the longest runtime in the series so far, and the reason for that is that it covers all bases. Ever since we started seeing Sam outside of his house, we have been seeing more of him in his workspace and in the city, and this continues in this episode too. Along with this, there are a few scenes with Ezra as well, as Alan now contemplates and reconsiders his relationship with his estranged son.
Spoilers Ahead
‘The Patient” Episode 8 Recap And Ending
Alan has now lost hope of making it out alive from Sam’s captivity, and he makes this clear to his dissociative self, Charlie, as well. As he recalls and reminds himself how the note, he had hidden inside Elias’ body would most probably never be found, Alan also takes a close look at the empty tube of fungal foot cream. Although Sam had most carefully placed the medicinal cream beside Alan’s bed before he had kidnapped the therapist, knowing that he would need it, times have changed since then. While Sam is out looking for a new therapist, Alan contemplates a sad ending for himself as he looks at the tube and sharpens the end by scraping it. Back to his dissociative conversations with his dead friend Charlie, the two men now discuss more internal feelings of Alan, particularly about his son. Charlie brings up an incident that repeatedly returns to Alan’s mind in which he had praised Ezra’s wife, saying that a steak she had prepared was the “best Kosher steak” he had ever had. This had made the son angry as he felt there was a snide judgemental tone in Alan’s use of the word “kosher,” but Alan never understood his anger. Like always, the father had taken this as Ezra prioritizing his blind faith over love for his parents. Charlie, who is just another side of Alan’s own self, now questions this and brings up further events and situations that have made Alan and Ezra grow apart.
Through discussions with the dead friend, Alan talks about how he had always felt Ezra was more like his wife Beth, while their daughter Shoshana was more like him. This distinction, he says, was more with regard to religious belief and free scientific thought, as both Beth and Ezra had strong beliefs in their faith, and this further built the uncomfortable barrier between them later. On the other hand, Shoshana did not care much for all this, like her father, and she grew up to be a therapist, again like her father. Alan recalled how he had readily and happily spent $40,000 a year on Shoshana’s medical school because he supported her radical-minded lifestyle. Around the same time, Ezra had gone to Israel to attend a Yeshiva as part of his serious pursuit of religion. Alan and Beth had visited the place and met with their son, who had sent them a set of instructions before their meeting and had also asked his father to make a contribution to the Yeshiva. Alan had donated a sum of $1,000, and Ezra had been disappointed in it for the rest of his life, making Alan feel that he was biased towards Shoshana only because their perspectives matched. Alan had never felt he had done something wrong, though, for he was genuinely disappointed at his son’s choices in life. To him, Ezra’s wish to become an Orthodox Jew was as ridiculous as someone becoming a Scientologist. Charlie asks Alan what he would say to Ezra if he had a chance to do so at present, and the man bursts out with anger and frustration, claiming how his son had always felt his own thoughts and beliefs to be more important than anybody else’s and how Ezra had essentially been a selfish son, denying to be with his mother even at her deathbed.
On the other side, Sam now spirals out of control as his murderous instincts take over everything that Alan has said to him in their recent sessions. He is seen working at his office when a colleague informs him about how their supervisor, Kyle, has asked her to go to a restaurant for re-inspection only a few days after it had been inspected. Sam understands that his boss might be up to some dodgy business, as he has probably been taking bribes from restaurants to allow them to skip the legal wait time for a re-inspection. He walks up to Kyle and asks him about it, and the supervisor sternly tells Sam to stick to his own business. Obviously, Sam is furious with this interaction, and he plots a plan of revenge. That evening, he stalks Kyle after the office and then meets up with him. Asking him to come to check out unhygienic practices at an eatery, Sam brings a reluctant Kyle to a dark alley and chokes him to death. He takes away all ID and possessions from the body and is about to walk away when he suddenly returns and brokenly recites a couple of words from the Kaddish. This scene probably further stresses how Sam has been taking therapy in a completely wrong sense as he tries to show empathy to a man, he mercilessly killed just seconds ago for no reason at all. After returning home, Sam asks Alan to play ping pong with him, and at the end of a long game, Sam opens up to his therapist. He admits that he has killed once again and tells Alan how he has agreed to start therapy with his high school counselor, basically making Alan useless to him now. Both of them acknowledge the tense nature of this statement, and Sam now hesitantly asks Alan how he would prefer to die if Sam had no other option but to kill him. With a very serious countenance, Alan cracks a joke and lets Sam know that he intends to die only of old age.
What Does Alan Realize About His Relationship With Ezra?
After Alan’s outburst to Charlie about his son, the dead friend-cum-therapist keeps questioning the matter. Alan now admits that Charlie, or rather a part of his own self, believes that there might have been a deeper understanding of his relationship with Ezra that he had kept suppressed deep inside. Gradually, the man admits that he himself might have been extremely judgemental towards his son and had harshly dismissed him only because of his beliefs and choices. While Alan had been stressing about how Ezra had been selfish and cruelly opinionated about his faith, the father now realized that he himself had been doing the exact same thing against his son. Charlie now once again asks him what he might say to Ezra if he has the chance to talk to him again, and this time an ultimate realization hits Alan. He admits how he has been more understanding and supportive towards a psychopathic serial killer, Sam, than he has supported his son, Ezra. It seems Alan had indeed intended to help Sam out of his distress and not just play along to ensure his own protection, but in comparison, his neglect towards Ezra is glaring.
To make this distinction even more apparent, “The Patient” now shows Ezra at present going about hanging posters for his missing father, Alan. Despite their differences, Ezra remains dutiful towards his father, and his tense and gloomy face makes it clear that he still has a love for him. Ezra talks about the time when he refused to be with his mother, during her death, to his wife Chava, and it is also evident that the son has regrets for behaving that way when his father had argued with him. These new realizations are not just Alan’s, though, as Ezra also seems to be deeply affected by his father’s going missing. The man even brings boxes of candies, which are most probably non-Kosher, to his own children, as he does not want to be so rigid and stiff about life choices anymore. Ezra had always felt that Alan had strictly wanted him to stick with his father’s beliefs and perspective on life, but now as a father, he does not want to inflict the same on his children. Back in Sam’s house, Alan admits to the imaginary Charlie that he would want to truly apologize to Ezra if he had the chance to do that, but the very real chance of Alan never getting that opportunity looms large over this sad realization.
What To Expect Next From ‘The Patient’ Episode 9?
The question of whether Alan would make it out alive still remains the most important matter, and perhaps even more so now. There is a change in the man, especially with regard to how he deals with Sam now, and whether he will actually fight back would be something to look forward to. In that case, the empty tube of foot cream that he has been sharpening throughout “The Patient” Episode 8 will make for an effective weapon, it seems. On the other hand, Sam has also grown extremely reckless in his murder spree, as he has now killed a man in a rather busy area and has even left the body there. This might indeed lead the law to him, and this could help Alan out. With only two episodes left now, it would be interesting to see how “The Patient” plays out an end to its intense plot.
See More: ‘The Patient’ Episode 9: Recap And Ending, Explained – How Does Alan’s Plans For Sam Backfire Again?
