The miniseries The Patient isn't going to get a second season, but it's not forgotten. Both the show's creators and actors have their very own thoughts about how Sam's story continues.
A prime example for a well-thought-out and shocking miniseries that is destined to be binge-watched is, without question, The Patient, created by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg. Bridging the gap while waiting for other shows to continue (like Outlanders or Wednesday) has been easier with The Patient as another story to get swept up in.
Therapist Dr. Alan Strauss gets a new patient, a mysterious man having a hard time of opening up. After some failed attempts of getting to the bottom of the patient's problems, things take a turn for the worst for Dr. Strauss. His new patient Sam kidnaps him, tells him he's a serial killer and it's the doc's task now to cure him of his dark desire to keep hurting people –good work finally opening up there, Sam!
Go watch it on Hulu if you somehow missed it and come back here when you're done – because from here on out, there are going to be massive spoilers. It should take you about five hours for all ten episodes. See you then!
No Season 2 For The Patient, But Sam's Story Is Thought Out
Weisberg and Fields, sadly, are pretty set on this being it for The Patient. The story was always supposed to be a short one, so after the finale, viewers are left to guess what happens next – how do Ezra and his sister deal with the loss of their father? How's Ezra's therapy going? And how the hell does Sam go on from here?
To be honest, after watching the last episode, there are a bunch of questions left unanswered. That can be quite frustrating, but let's be real here: this ending is probably what would have happened. It's realistic that Dr. Strauss doesn't get to flee back into a normal life. And it's a gut-punch how Weisberg and Fields decided to let that play out.
Steve Carell who plays Dr. Strauss on the show, told USA Today something similar: "It's not the Hollywood ending. It's the ending that would've happened. It's a harder one to digest, but in a weird way, it's more satisfying." Yeah, Happy Ends are for losers. I'll continue digesting, now.
At the end of the day, though, Sam is prevented from killing again. If he stays chained to the bed in his own basement, Dr. Strauss will be his last victim and the therapy has been... kind of a success? In an ironic way? Domhnall Gleeson, Sam in the show, does think of his character having the breakthrough he's been looking for:
I think Strauss gets him to an incredible breakthrough. But without the real Strauss being there to continue helping him to undergo therapy I think the Strauss that Sam would create in his mind — you know the way Strauss went to his own mind to talk to his therapist — I think Sam would do a similar thing and would visit Strauss in his mind, but it would be his version of Strauss, because he doesn’t have Strauss’ expertise.
With so much happening in the show's finale and so much left to explore, audiences are obviously curious about what's next. There's a possible investigation into Strauss' death waiting to happen and Sam is basically at the mercy of his mother right now, chained as he is, maybe still a ticking murder time bomb.
If Sam sticks to his decision to live out the rest of his life in the basement that was once Dr. Strauss' prison is something Gleeson has thought about as well and shared with Decider:
I think slowly, [Sam]’d start convincing himself that he’s probably cured now. I don’t know that it’d last. I don’t know that delusion wouldn’t start taking over. But I do think in that moment he’s learned something really important. I just wonder without the real ongoing gift of therapy how capable he would be of sticking to it.
You know what? I don't think a person who thinks they are cured would commit to a life in their own basement.