Genre: TV Series
Grade: A++
Notable People: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson, Linda Emond, David Alan Grier, Created by: Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg
Title: Astrid
Review: I don’t give this rating lightly. In one of the more remarkable performances in recent memory, Steve Carrel transforms himself into the symbolic ghost of famed analyst and Auschwitz survivor, Viktor Frankl (“don’t wake me up if I am having a nightmare- the reality is much worse”), to treat a serial killer patient how is holding him hostage. Intrigued? You should be. This is a 20-minute show (until the last cataclysmic episode)- that feels like you have watched it for two hours. Darkness and intensity do not come close to describe it. This show was suggested to me by my old friend, Bruce, a renowned analytic practitioner in his own right, and I’m deeply grateful to him for the experience. Both carrel and Gleeson, as the tormented serial killer who wants to get better, are riveting. Their relationship is riveting; the mother living upstairs is riveting. Pure art. A one and done unfortunately, but the ten episodes are transformative. The end music of Leonard singing “You Want it Darker” (his last recording) with an orthodox Jewish choral backing and a Cantor is beyond fitting.