Review: Psi changes course and gets more intense in Season 3

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The HBO held an event for the premiere of the 3rd season of Psi, and screened the first two episodes of this new season for journalists.

During previous seasons, Psi followed the cases of the psychoanalyst Carlo Antonini (Emílio de Mello), always dealing with a controversial subject. In the beginning, interesting psychological disorders, some unknown, were presented as we looked at the basics of Carlo's life, his previous relationships and his quick cases, but always focusing much more on his patients. In the second season there is a change and begins to focus on domestic violence, in addition to reducing the focus of supporting actors.

Crítica: Psi muda o rumo e fica mais intensa na 3ª Temporada 1
Emílio de Mello in Psi Image: HBO

In this third season, the change was drastic. Carlo is finally the real focus of the series and his past and present are extensively analyzed now, along with much more intense cases than previous ones. This made the episodes more complex and to follow it up it was necessary to change the format to double episodes, now each case is resolved – or not – in two parts. That is, the new season arrives with 5 cases, in 10 episodes.

This new structure was the idea of the creator and screenwriter Contardo Calligaris, who confided that he had been thinking about this change for a year and a half, Maria Angela de Jesus, from HBO Originals said that they accepted the idea right away, since the purpose of Psi is to constantly reinvent itself and if the series is renewed, they will continue to follow this formula. It actually seems to work, since Psi has not yet fallen into the sameness that affects procedural works, precisely because it maintains a new focus each year.

The first case already makes it clear how shocking the new season will be. In it, Carlo deals with his personal difficulty in accepting the decision of a sick teenager, with no hope of cure, to commit assisted suicide. The plot, which also begins to present more of Carlo's past and also explores the legal side of this type of suicide, is really deep and moving. It even touched Emílio himself, who watched the episodes for the first time with us in the press screening and confided in the press conference that he felt very emotional at various times, even knowing the outcome.

Perhaps the formula for this case to be so intense is realism. Contardo claims to have been inspired by a patient of his, from when he was a therapist for teenagers, who died of a terminal illness. According to the screenwriter, he would have liked to have had the courage to support the girl to end her suffering to begin with, and that is why he considers these episodes to be compensation for his failure. Emílio also had to delve deeper to capture the sentimentality of this case and confided that the first thing he was shown was a real video of assisted suicide, which he watched 15 times, impressed by the role of the professionals who provided this service. It helped him to better understand the character that does this work on the show and to maintain a relationship between his character and hers.

The third season arrives very original, dealing with very interesting subjects and exploring more the human part of Carlo. From what we could see, it promises to be very exciting and without a doubt it is worth giving this quality Brazilian production a chance.

Season 3 of Psi premieres April 9 on HBO.

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