EMMY® Winner Uzo Aduba Calls Season 4 of HBO’s IN TREATMENT ‘One of The Hardest Jobs I’ve Ever Had in My Life’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Dr. Brooke Taylor sure has her hands full in Season 4 of IN TREATMENT – or even more accurately, she has her brain full. The acclaimed HBO series is returning after more than a decade, with three-time EMMY® winner Uzo Aduba taking on the main psychotherapist role, in place of Gabriel Byrne’s Dr. Paul Weston, who was at the helm in the first three seasons. Season 4 debuts Sunday, May 23, at 9 p.m. ET,  with two new episodes on Crave, and two more new episodes on Monday, May 24, at 9 p.m. ET (the series will continue rolling out that way, for four consecutive weeks). The first three seasons are also available on Crave, but since it has been a while, here’s a refresher on how IN TREATMENT works: In Season 4, Dr. Taylor sees a different patient in each of the first three episodes, and then undergoes some analysis herself – in an unconventional way – in the fourth episode. The pattern repeats itself, with the same patients, in subsequent weeks. But after seeing what Dr. Taylor is introduced to in those first three episodes, no one could deny her a little pep talk by the time the fourth episode arrives. There’s a lot to unpack with this complex crew. There’s the young man working as a home health aide for a wealthy family who is having trouble sleeping, but his insomnia could have its roots in a questionable medical diagnosis from many years previously. There’s the middle-aged, white-collar criminal with anger issues who is only there because the court has ordered him to be there, and he can barely contain his hostility for the process, even though his freedom – or lack thereof –  will be determined by what Dr. Taylor reports. And there’s the smart but dismissive high school student forced into therapy by her grandmother, who has concerns about the social ramifications of her granddaughter’s sexuality, but Dr. Taylor quickly suspects that there’s much more at play. Back in his years on IN TREATMENT, Byrne used to talk about how difficult the role was, to sit there, actively listen, and respond the way a psychotherapist would, rather than the way a regular human being would when their buttons are being pushed, sometimes aggressively. Aduba now understands that very well. “This is easily one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had in my life, one of the hardest things I’ve ever worked on, in terms of the preparation,” said Aduba, during a virtual panel interview with TV reporters. “But the thing about it is, I can’t say that without absolutely making the statement that everyone in this show is working so hard, so intensely, so ferociously – and delivering, I might add. It is also one of the most satisfying, fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had, more than I could ever say on this Zoom call.” Aduba added that the sense of nervous energy that she would sometimes get in a particular scene, or a particular episode, when she was working on other shows is present at every single moment of IN TREATMENT, because it’s so intense. The simplicity of the setup makes it a real acting showcase. “This project came into my life at a time that was needed, and it has brought excitement, and an energy, there’s a thrill, it’s theatrical when you go to work,” she said. “I’m going to leave you fine people in a little bit and go back to work (filming), and the butterflies are going to come back in my stomach, you know what I mean? It’ll be like, ‘Here we go,’ and I’m going to get that feeling. It’s nice to have that all the time. It stretches you. It’s making me grow, so I’m grateful for it.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv