“Tell Me You Love Me” — Episode 4
I know no one but me watches this show, but dammit, this is my blog so when something particularly amazing strikes me on television, I’m going to write about it, even if I’m ultimately just writing about it for myself. Seems like a fair trade off, right? More after the jump…
I’ll admit it, of the three couples on this show I find one of them to be completely unwatchable, one to be watchable though utterly hatable, and one endlessly fascinating and completely engrossing on screen. David and Katie, the married couple with kids, are so strikingly lifelike I find their every action to be a thing of beauty. So when the two finally get on the couch together at the therapy session I was expecting nothing short of brilliance. I was not disappointed.
If you have even a remote interest in this series, do youself the favor of pulling up the episode On-Demand and just skipping right to the therapy scene. It feels real in a way few fictional characters or scenes have ever achieved. It’s awkward, a little funny, and ultimately heartbreaking. There are no big “this changes everything” revelations, but after watching it becomes very clear why half of all marriages fail.
Pure, unmitigated truth seems a lot to ask from a series, but the faintest glimmers are worthy of note. Tell Me You Love Me may ultimately be remembered as minor HBO (or perhaps not remembered at all), but I suspect time and DVD will be a good thing for the series when all is said and done. I can’t say future episodes will be even remotely as gripping, but for this viewer, there is certainly enough to hold my interest.
