By Curt Schleier
I have long felt that May Foster (Jane Alexander), the therapist of TELL ME YOU LOVE ME, really ought to increase her malpractice insurance. The woman seems to have only three patients – two couples and a young single woman. The couples are both on the verge of divorce and the young lady just broke up with her second boyfriend of the season – the first actually being her fiancée.
Since next week will be the last episode of (at least) the season, it’s difficult to see how this will all be resolved. My guess is a suicide pact. That certainly works for me.
Let us begin with Dave (Tim DeKay) and Katie (Ally Walker), the couple in their 40s who haven’t had sex in over a year. Katie learns one of her best friends, Rita (Sherry Stringfield) is getting a divorce, and doesn’t understand why. You got top stick by your man. “If his legs fell off I wouldn’t leave him,” she says, to which Rita replies “What does that mean?” Good question.
I believe this opens Katie’s eyes to other possibilities. She applies for a job, is out of the house all day abdicating her mommy responsibilities and falls asleep on the couch in front of the TV. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she heads into the bedroom, takes one look at Dave and decides to spend the evening on the couch.
Dave better be careful. Last episode a friend told him about a quickie he had with a female co-worker. The woman was Katie’s age and she was full of passion. There are a lot of them out there not getting enough at home, he tells Dave. But does Dave pay attention? Hardly.
He can’t tell Dr. Foster why he lost his passion. “It’s like something came in and took it. I looked over and I didn’t want her and I didn’t know what to do.”
Foster, of course, understands. She says couples frequently come to her believing they lost their passion because they’ve grown too far apart. But the problem can also be just the opposite: “Sometimes there’s no passion left when the space is so small you can’t reach across it.” I have absolutely no idea what that means, but I’m open to suggestion if any of you do.
Meanwhile, Palek (Adam Scott) and Carolyn (Sonya Walger) are in worse shape. He clearly doesn’t want the baby his wife so desperately years for. Carolyn even tries to get Palek’s mother on her side. “Palek’s not happy and I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t want the baby. He doesn’t want to be a dad.”
“He’ll come around,” mom-in-law says. But apparently she doesn’t know her son.
Carolyn quits her job with a prestigious law firm, now putting herself completely at Palek’s mercy. He has a panic attack, prompting another visit to Dr. Foster and the following conversation:
“I don’t think I can be a good husband and father. I don’t think I have it in me.
“What do you need me to do?”
“I think it might be too late. I think we should split up.”
“Why?”
“I’m not happy. I haven’t been for a long time."
Dr. Foster’s final success comes with Jamie (Michelle Borth), the promiscuous single girl. Foster tells Jamie she needs to spend some time alone. So Jamie breaks up with boyfriend Nick (Ian Somerhalder).
“I think we’re moving too fast,” she says.
“But I’m in love with you; you’re not in love with me.
“But I want to be.”
Here’s the deal. I’m going to watch the last episode – and if they don’t all commit suicide, I will.