Critic Reviews

One of the most insane, unpredictable, and brilliantly executed pieces of television of the year.

Suspenseful and darkly funny, the 10-part limited series supplies a fairly original B-plot as well. ... For all its character depth, the slyly plotted season has no shortage of twists and surprises. ... It’s a more-than-worthy follow-up to one of the best dramas of the past decade.

A tension-filled, character-driven psychological thriller that's a worthy successor to their early 1980s Soviet spies drama [Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg's "The Americans"].

I was riveted throughout the limited series’ mash-up of In Treatment and Mindhunter.

Between the taut plotting and the dark laughs, The Patient is expertly calibrated to lure viewers in. Episode 1 takes just over 19 minutes, and the run times grow slowly from there, along with the need to keep seeing how things will turn out.

It is, pardon the pun, all killer, no filler. ... There are moments of genuine discovery and shock. ... It may not be the most uplifting series you’ll watch this year, but it’s certainly one of the most thought-provoking and absorbing.

[Steve Carell's] career-best performance in The Patient. OK, career-best dramatic performance. ... It’s the best thriller that’s been on TV this year... and it’s about therapy. ... The series, refreshingly, abandons the trope where the serial killer is brooding, charismatic, and sexually mystifying.

Carell gives his best performance yet in "The Patient," a compelling drama that's worth sticking with through all 10 episodes.

No matter how you watch it, The Patient is high-level drama told with admirable efficiency — all killer, no filler.

While The Patient won’t make up for The Americans’ absence (nothing can fill that void, people), it’s nevertheless an astute and compelling follow-up from Fields and Weisberg, with a knockout performance we didn’t see coming.