‘The Patient’ Creators Made up a Special Dish for the Series
The Patient tells the story of a serial killer named Sam who kidnaps his therapist Alan, but what might surprise fans is the important role food plays in the Hulu series. Sam brings Alan elaborate takeout dishes and describes them with mouth-watering detail. The Patient’s co-creators even made up a special dish just for the show.
Sam is a food lover and restaurant inspector in ‘The Patient’
Unlike some serial killer shows, The Patient explores Sam’s interests besides committing heinous crimes. Sam works as a food safety inspector and is passionate about culinary delights. In the series, he shows this by bringing his prisoner Alan elaborate takeout dishes and describing them with great enthusiasm.
“We’re always hesitant to talk about what our intent is in terms of meaning. But in building any characters . . . you want there to be dimensions, and you want it to feel real. And part of what’s fun about real people is they have these specific passions,” co-showrunner Joel Fields said in an interview with Popsugar.
Co-showrunner Joe Weisberg added that he doesn’t remember whether they decided to make Sam a foodie first, then chose his career or vice versa.
“I think that’s because they became so wrapped up with each other that it’s not as if he became a food inspector because he was a fastidious guy and then happened to get into food. He clearly has a passion for this, and it was the right choice for him,” Weisberg stated.
‘The Patient’ co-creators made up a dish for the series
Sam’s interest in food creates some mouthwatering scenes. He brings Alan various elaborate takeout dishes such as chana palak, pork buns, Khanom moa gang, and Vietnamese pho. One dish, in particular, was designed specifically for the series.
“Most of the dishes are real dishes, but we made up the dish with the udon noodles,” Weisberg said while speaking with Collider. “One of the things I love about Hollywood is that we made it up, we got somebody to make it, and then she brought it to a props meeting, and we ate it.”
“By the way, you’re not really supposed to eat the props, even when they’re food. There was the thought that we would just look at it in the props meeting, but we were not having it,” he continued. “We ate that prop and had everybody taste it. That was a high point of the show, from a producing perspective. Don’t be fooled about producing TV. It’s hard, but it’s got certain benefits.”
Food also plays an important role in Alan’s life in the outside world
Food also plays an important role in Alan’s relationship with his son Ezra, or rather the rift that formed between them. Alan and his late wife Beth struggled to adjust when Ezra converted from Reform to Orthodox Judaism. Ezra’s family keeps kosher, while his sister Shoshona does not.
In one scene, Beth brings Shoshona’s children ice cream sundaes, while Ezra serves his own children kosher food brought from home. He glares at Alan for the apparent favoritism Beth shows.
“We wanted to explore both the specifics of the Orthodox religion and also the specifics of reform Judaism and how that’s a meaningful pursuit, and how even what from the outside may appear to be small differences within a religion can be chasms within families,” Fields told Popsugar.
“The kosher food, it seemed like a great expression of that in this family because those choices and how they’re made became so important to them.”
Watch new episodes of The Patient every Tuesday exclusively on Hulu.
