" Hi, Kate." " Hi, Gina." "How are you?" "Okay." "I made us some tea." " Hi." " Hi." "Give me your cell." " Leave, uh..." "leave the ringer on." " That's kind of the point." "We've been waiting for Rosie to check in all day." "She slept over at a friend's house and, uh... she hasn't checked in yet." "Well, at least that's what she said." "But Lord knows it's not the first time in history that a teenager say she's gonna stay at a friend's and then she ends up somewhere else." "So, where is she?" "What, do you think I'm withholding information?" "Are you?" "S01E30:" "Paul and Gina, Week Six" "Anyway, um..." "Sarah's parents are away and... and Rosie's not answering her phone, so it's a little convenient." "Didn't this happen a few weeks ago?" "But this time she's been gone for 24 hours." "I mean, she is at that age, isn't she?" " That makes it okay?" " No, I didn't say that." "Her mother doesn't trust her when she says, she's staying with a friend, that's the cause for concern." "I'm pretty concerned." "Hence, the, uh, two phones laid out." "When did you last talk to her?" "Uh, yesterday, when I was at work." "I don't know if Paul told you, but I, I run a shelter for battered women, and... it's also a center for youths at risk, and Rosie volunteers there about four times a week." "She told me she'd be there and then she's going to Sarah's, but you know what?" "She did say it in her responsible voice, which should've tipped me off." "Anyway, uh, Sarah's parents are in Mexico and..." "I don't know, maybe the girls drove off somewhere after school." "Sarah's got a car." "And, you know, Rosie was probably afraid to tell us" " because you might flip out, and..." " I'd flip out?" "Well... who knows?" "I don't know." "What kind of work does Rosie do at the center?" "Whatever's needed, basically, from writing up schedules to running errands." "She sits in on interviews sometimes just so she can get a sense of how we evaluate people, how much trouble they may be in and how much help they may need, that sort of thing." "Four times a week..." "It's a commitment for a 16-year-old kid." "17-year-old next month." "It's interesting, because, when -- Rosie's volunteering," " all of a sudden she's an adult." " She's a born social worker." "Always has been, ever since she was a kid." "How did she show that when she was younger?" "She was always the mediator with her friends on the playground." "You know, organizing, making it peace, that kind of thing." "Even her teachers remarked on it." "And you heard this where?" "I don't..." "I don't really recall you at too many parent-teacher conferences..." "I was on the PTA board at Arlington, remember?" "Well, Paul, I mean, come on, you went twice." "Did you ever see Rosie take on this mediator role at home?" "What, what she means is, was Rosie our social worker?" "See, Gina can't conceive of a child being born with an intrinsic desire to help other people without it being a coping mechanism for, for something else." "Right?" "Rosie's always been interested in, in being of service, and that's something we encouraged." " Did we?" " I encouraged it." "I think it's great." "I think it's incredible that she, that she volunteers." "I, I talk to her about everything she sees, down at the center, and... it's certainly not her responsibility to deal with any of the hardcore cases or anything like that." "I make sure that she's not in over her head." "I, I tell her who's who and what's going on and..." "Yeah, I do, I agree with you." "I think, four times a week is a little too much." "You know, there might be a little more to it for Rosie than a desire to help." "What Gina is saying is that Rosie might be working around at-risk youths because -- she's distressed herself." "Paul... do you really think Kate and I need an interpreter?" "Sorry." "When did she start volunteering?" "Uh, it was -- what, about six, six months ago?" "And I was thrilled at first because it meant she was spending less time at the mall, with her friends, but... now I'm thinking, she may need more of that." " What, more time at the mall?" " No, you know what I mean, just doing stupid teenager stuff." "I mean, why should she be so concerned with -- the world's problems at her age?" " No, I don't think that's what Gina's saying." " Paul." "She's saying that Rosie is drawn to the place because she's trying to say something to us," " but that we're oblivious, I think that's " " Can I speak for myself?" " It's not what you're trying to get at?" " It's not for you to say what I'm getting at." "Sorry." "You know, even if Rosie has a, has a desire or a vocation... to help other people, I'm wondering, how much of that do you think a 17-year-old kid needs?" "16." "She's still 16." "16." "So, yes, Paul, she may be trying to shine a light on something." "Okay, that's it." "I'm gonna try her again, since... apparently her volunteering is a cry for help." "Oh, thank god." "It's ringing." "Rosie..." "I'm gonna kill you." "Where the hell have " " No, because we have " " Let me talk to her." " Kate..." " Since when does that happen?" "Kate, let me talk to her, please." "When, when you sleep away, you're supposed to call first thing in the morning." "That was the agreement, and you know it." "No, we will discuss this at home." "No, because we're out." "We're talking to someone." "An, an accountant." "No, you don't know him -- her." "Well, he's sitting, no, he's sitting right here, and he is looking none too pleased about any of this." "We'll talk at home, Rosie." "All right." "So, I'm not allowed to speak to her?" "She claimed, she got to Sarah's late last night, and they were late for school this morning, and get this:" "she didn't realize her phone was off, which is a little like me not realizing my head's on fire, but..." "She is not staying there again." "Okay, well, you tell her that." "If I were Gina, I'd ask, "Why now?"" " "Why now" what?" " Well, if a couple came to me with this problem, I'd say "Why is she choosing to act out now?"" "That's what you'd ask?" "Really?" "Well... maybe you should call that couple and ask them and then get back to me." "She's doing this on purpose." "It's obvious." "She senses a conflict between us and she's turning it around, so that she's given us a taste of what it's like to worry about her." "She's a teenager." "There's not some master plan involved here." "This is just how teenage girls are, right?" "I mean, it's just how they think, or don't think, in this case." "No." "Kate, it, it's not conscious, but it's working." "Rosie vanishes, and you become functioning parents." "You're united in your concern for her." "Do you think that Rosie senses the conflict between you?" "Uh..." "I, I think, we've been pretty good about pretending." "We've actually gotten pretty skilled at that." "So, why now?" "As Paul asked, why now?" "Did something happen?" "You know, what do you think she's reacting to?" "Well, I'd say, it's more tense, actually." "More tense?" "Kate " " Kate ran into Laura." "I didn't run into her, I saw her, as she was leaving the house." " The house?" " My office." "His office, the house, my home, whatever." "It's a little blurred, isn't it?" " I thought you said she stopped therapy?" " Yes, he did say that, didn't he?" "Actually, her father was hospitalized, and she asked me if she could come by," " She was... pretty upset." " Please, please don't, don't... do that." " What?" " Describing her like she's this fragile, little thing, like she's some poor lost soul." "She's not." "I saw her." "How did she seem to you?" "She's Tammy Kent." " What?" " Who's Tammy Kent?" "How, how is she Tammy Kent?" "You know exactly what I'm talking about." "May I ask who this is?" "This was a girl that Paul was in love with when we first met." " A long, long time ago." " Well, whatever." " They're exactly the same type " " No, they're not." "Yes, they are." "And he made Laura out to be this fragile little girl, and I'm telling you, what I saw was this highly-sexual woman who was wearing stilettos at ten in the morning." "I did not describe her like that." "If you formed an image of her " "No, no, but you let me think that she was one of your fatherless walking wounded." "No, you rushed to that conclusion yourself." "And what he also forgot to mention is that she's stunningly beautiful." "And very young, but that's no surprise, is it?" "Jesus Christ, it's the goddamn history of the world, leaving your middle-aged wife and f..." "Oh, God." "Is-Isn't it a little embarrassing for you, that you've turned out to be like every third man?" "I mean, you've spent your entire life studying the human condition, and now you're just following your dick around like a caveman." "This woman, Laura, she's got this, um... this spoiled, uh, aloof and calculated look." "And, and, and she has this, uh... this air of self-confidence... that, uh, is quite obviously bullshit, because if anything real ever happened to her, she wouldn't know what the hell to do." "She was so fake." "And all this you saw while you were taking out the trash " "Yes, that's right, just by looking at her." ""Everything is communicated, whether we like it or not."" "Another one of your lines." "And you just happened to be, to be there as she was..." "Don't keep doing that." "You're making me out to look like I'm some loose-cannon, demented wife." "Well, if she is all that, spoiled and a fake, why are you so threatened by her?" "Because my husband is in love with her." "And because she's the kind of woman who always gets her man." "A woman like that has always been his fantasy:" "Gorgeous, self-centered, unattainable." "That's what I want?" "It's, uh... it's good to know that." "You don't see yourself that way?" "So, you're not Paul's fantasy?" "No, I'm not." "Yet he married you." "I guess, he got a raw deal, didn't he?" "He wanted the trophy wife, and he got stuck with a homemaker." "I'm just a good mom." "Pretty boring." "Come on, Kate, listen to yourself." "You're completely invalidating your... your sexuality, for a start." "I think, we both know that you could've done better if you'd wanted to." "I fell in love with you, not just because you're, you're beautiful and sexy, but because... because of your strength." "Her strength?" "Yes." "She was... she was grounded and honest and, and dependable." "I, I needed that." "I, I think we both needed that." "Not anymore." "I don't need you anymore." "Well, I need you." "I've always loved you and wanted you and needed you." "But not like Laura." "You never ever wanted me like that." "How can you say that?" "You keep jumping to these conclusions that make no..." "Kate, you said, you didn't need Paul anymore." "Can you talk about that a little?" "I don't need him like I used to..." "Not like I thought I needed him." "I don't know, maybe I don't even need a partner at all." "I mean, would I like one?" "Yeah, of course." "But it would be awfully nice if that person were a bit more present and available." "But do I need it?" "If that's the question, um..." "No, I think I've, I've learned to live without it." "What kind of partner could you see yourself with?" "I don't know." "I mean, you know, my frame of reference for two and a half decades has been Paul, so..." "Our friends, their husbands, what, what the hell do I know about what they're really like?" "What goes on behind closed doors?" "I mean, do we know... any couple, really?" "It's, it's not like I sit around daydreaming about it, or I have some... fantastic flight of fancy about some perfect man or..." "I could be with a serial killer as long as he told me about his damn day." "And it's not just about being wanted." "I know, I know, that's what I said last week." "And wanted is good." "I mean, of course, everybody wants that, but..." "Yes." "I just want to be a part of something." "It doesn't have to be big... and it doesn't have to be grand." "But I'll tell you something about -- women like Laura." "It..." "They're just, they're just all about sex." "You know, that's their currency, that's... it's, it's not the actual sex itself, it's not what I'm saying." "It's, sex is this thing that controls, that, that determines the distance between her and someone else, and I cannot compete with that." "Kate..." "Laura isn't a sexual object for Paul." "Their relationship isn't based on that." "It's more... chaste." "She's not his sexual fantasy." "It's not about lust." "The real threat is... that he may actually have fallen in love with her." "You know, you said you were drawn to him." "You married him because you admired him..." "Because he paid such deep attention to you." "You were grateful, that you felt you were interesting." "That dynamic of... patient-therapist was satisfying to both of you at that point..." " but I think " " Jesus Christ." "Please let me do my job here." "Your job of what, rushing to conclusions?" "Eventually, Kate, you felt that it wasn't satisfying for you." "You, you've outgrown that dependency." "You've outgrown that part of your marriage." "You said, you don't need Paul anymore, you don't need to be taken care of." "And Paul may have sensed this." "You're drifting away from under his wing, and suddenly, he finds himself confused about his feelings for a patient." "Laura is dependent on Paul." "He's her therapist, her elder, her guide." "Dependency defines that relationship." "Oh, I see." "So, she's not my groupie anymore, so I found somebody to... to replace her." "Is that your theory?" "Nice one, Gina." "See, your problem is, you think it's impossible to fall in love with a patient without some kind of... pathology surrounding the whole thing." "Kate, you're trying to redefine yourself in your marriage, to see yourself not as a dependant, but as an equal." "Do you think, you can do that and stay with Paul?" "Oh, Gina, for fuck's sake." "If I'm this... narcissistic monster that you're talking about who has, who has to be admired and, and, and worshipped and needed, how does that fit with me sitting here, trying to address the problem" " that we've brought to you?" " I'm not saying you're a monster, Paul." "In fact, if you'll listen," "I'm not even saying it's all you." "Kate, Paul may not see you as an equal, but, perhaps, you've contributed to that." "Maybe it's how you wanted to be seen." "It's what was comfortable for you." "Yeah, 25 years, I always felt he could walk out at any minute, yeah." "Was that part of the attraction?" "Would you stop it?" "Would you stop putting these poisonous, fucking words into her mouth?" "You've ignored me in this conversation." "You see what she's doing: she's instructing you on what you should be feeling." "It's fucking reckless." "Why are you speeding this up, Gina?" "Do you want to meddle, is that it?" "To see how fast you can do this?" "Pushing Kate to a place that usually takes months, if not years?" " That's not what I'm doing." " What takes months?" "What she's saying is that you have a predisposition to be rejected, to not be my equal, that you're reacting to your childhood." "That is, that is rushing the process, Gina." "Here's the way I think it works: you're supposed to focus on the couple first, then talk to them about their parents and their childhood." "You do it the other way, they blame each other, they say," ""Well, I knew it." "Your mother fucked you up, and now you take it out on me."" "Do you see how destructive that is?" "Maybe you don't wanna talk about childhoods because we'd end up talking about your childhood." "Oh, so, we're back to where we started." "You saw me after ten years and right away you decided that I'm my father and, like him, I'm in love with my patient and that I'm pushing Kate to having an affair so that I can have an excuse to leave the house." "And now, of course, Kate, an hour and a half with her, and everything fits perfectly." " Game, set and match to you, Gina." " You know what?" "I can't really do this anymore." "I'm sorry." "I know, this was my idea, but..." "I knew, deep down, that if I came here it would turn into this history between you two." "I'm sorry, it's, it's really not helpful to me." " I apologize..." " I'm sorry, Kate." "I'm sorry." " I'll see you next week, okay?" " Good night."