Joe Weisberg Shares What Makes ‘The Patient’s Serial Killer ‘Sympathetic’
Preview
The doctor is in…trouble! The taut drama The Patient finds sympathetic therapist Dr. Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) held prisoner by his troubled patient, Sam Fortner (a chilling Domhnall Gleeson), who believes having 24/7 care will help him resolve his impulses — as a serial killer.
(Credit: Suzanne Tenner/FX)
That’s a prescription for terror. “There’s the tension that Sam might jump up and kill Alan at any minute,” says series co-creator Joe Weisberg (The Americans).
Surprises abound — not the least of which is Sam defying some familiar tropes.
“The core idea is you have a serial killer — about the worst thing you could be — but they want to get better,” says Weisberg. “And that makes him sympathetic.”
FX’s The Patient, Series Premiere, Tuesday, August 30, Hulu
