BEST
Adele
Gina
Sunil
April
Sophie
Alex
Jesse
Laura
Oliver
Walter
Jake & Amy
Mia
Frances
WORST

I already finished the first and second seasons and am halfway through the third season. Despite the fact that I haven't finished season 3 yet, I'm almost sure that my final ranking of the sessions will look something like this:
Very interesting/good/engaging
:

1. Laura
2. Jesse
3. Sophie
4. April
5. Alex
6. Sunil
   Interesting/good/engaging
   :
7. Mia
8. Jake and Amy (they left me cold/numb at the beginning, but their storyline got better close to the end)
   Borderline boring
   :
9. Frances
10. Oliver
    Boring
    :
11. Adele
12. Walter
13. Gina (season 1)
14. Gina (season 2)

Alex's review whether actually by the "Department of Defense" or no, officially, was a matter of set, fairly routine administrative steps. Alex actually acknowledged that fact ASAP in his first meeting. Note: I am the daughter of a career US Navy pilot yes, military members would often seek domestic feedback because it would not instantly become a matter of public record.
Meanwhile, you seem confused on Alex consulting Paul "privately." Alex's consultation of Paul is in fact private and specifically noted as being so. It's why he chooses Paul (versus a military advisor). His consultation of Paul is visible but allowable to the military, but he is also given additional privacy that would not have been available to him if he had consulted a Navy therapist.
Thanks for the debate. And FWIW I'm not confusing my feelings with your opinions I simply disagree with your opinions, and have predictable, varying emotional responses to them.
Cheers.

I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

But Alex was under review by the Dept of Defense as to whether he was fit to resume flying or not. I think that process would have been entirely "in house" and not the sort of thing that would have been farmed out to a civilian psychologist even for his professional opinion let alone allowing him to "make the call". From everything I know of Defense practices and attitudes that just doesn't ring true.
Now if Alex had consulted Paul privately that is another matter but the Dept of Defense would unlikely have even wanted to see his "report" on Alex.
As for your general disapproval of my post it seems to me you are confusing your feelings with my opinions.
The players of The Game are the scum of the earth

Alex (7) Blair Underwood was great but the character of Alex was a little cliched and I kept wondering why he wasn't seeing a Navy psychiatrist instead of Paul.
Alex wasn't seeing a Navy psychologist because the sessions and their content would have been on record and reviewable. He mentions it early on with Paul.
Meanwhile, I disagreed with most of your character summations, which seemed cruel and even cliched in some cases. I certainly got a lot more out of them than, "Oh, look, it's the barren women, the aging bitch, or the angst ridden adolescent homosexual cliche."
The entire purpose of the show was to get us to take a second look at these people as more than just their ages or genders or conflicts. I just disagree that they were all so easy to stereotype or overlook.

I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

Sophie (9) Mia Wasikowska was wonderfully complex as Sophie and it was great acting from her and a totally believable story that progressed logically and had a wonderful resolution.
April (8) Alison Pill was fantastic as the angry April but the basic premise of the story seemed a bit of a stretch for the sake of creating the necessary drama.
Paul (7) Consistently great acting. A very complex character who was at times (eg with Sophie and April) quite wonderful and at other times (eg with Alex and Gina) quite despicable. The writers dropped the ball with Paul in season three I thought where he seemed to have lost half of his IQ.
Alex (7) Blair Underwood was great but the character of Alex was a little cliched and I kept wondering why he wasn't seeing a Navy psychiatrist instead of Paul.
Gina (6) Good for Gina! She stuck it up the constantly whining, abusive and self-obsessed Paul with her tell-it-like-it-is book. Priceless! It's such a shame they wimped out on the post-book confrontation between she and Paul though.
Sunil (5) Sunil was an interesting character thanks to the actor playing him. But after a terrific build up his story ended with a whimper rather than a bang (worse luck!).
Amy & Jake (4) Amy and Jake were annoying at first but sympathetic characters by the end. Not surprised they got divorced as they didn't have much in common.
Mia (4) Good acting but Mia was a bit of a "barren woman" cliche. "You owe me a baby" (?).
Walter (4) Good acting and a solid character but not one I could identify with.
Laura (3) Good acting but her character was hard to believe.
Adele (3) Gina-Lite.
Oliver (2) Oliver just struck me as a very ordinary boy who had been neglected in some ways while being over-indulged in other ways.
Frances (2) Getting old is a bitch.
Jesse (2) The usual angst ridden adolescent homosexual cliche.
The players of The Game are the scum of the earth

I don't understand all the love for Sophie from you and others. Not only have many nominated her for the best session, but as the best character.
The actress did a good job, but to me kids aren't that interesting. Their id is still too well developed. Sophie behaved like a mean brat to both the Dr. and her mother. She threw tantrums when anyone dared suggest her father might be at fault.
It was hard to take her seriously as an Olympic-aspiring gymnast because she wasn't muscular and didn't seem to take her sport as seriously as someone on the Olympic track would.
At least the writers didn't add
child sexual abuse from the father
to the root of her problems, I'll give them credit for avoiding that clich.

Best sessions?
Wonderful question about a series I always felt was criminally underrated.
I ultimately loved and cared about all the characters, but definitely had some favorites, both among characters and sessions.
(NOTE: I love that so many responders had favorites who were at the bottom of other lists that's the magic of this series. It dared to look at these characters bravely and closely, warts and all.)
My favorites:
The "big moment sessions" as follows (spoilers!):
Alex's incredible final session
Jake and Amy's final session (I love the wonderful sleight of hand from the show that it is Amy, not Jake, who is more fragile and invested yet she's the one who tanked it)
Mia's final session an often opaque frustrating session, but her final session made me cry. It was lovely and revelatory. Beautiful.
Gina's sessions
Adele's sessions (Almost more than Gina's, because Paul was so awful to Gina yet Adele kept him in check)
Walter's incredible monologue to Paul (I think it was his penultimate session) John Mahoney was amazing.
April's final session with Paul
Sophie's final sweet session
Sunil's electric final session
Jesse's first session
Frances's last session
Oliver's session when Paul made him the sandwich
While Frances and Oliver are at the bottom for me, with Jesse, it really doesn't matter. I adored this entire series and found it quietly riveting, moving, and fascinating.
I think for me the surprises were the best part Paul having an anxiety attack at going to meet Laura, Walter's heartbreaking revelation, Alex's incredible moment of self-honesty, that last sweet moment with Mia (Paul at his best) or with April, etc. The realization that Jake was far more willing to leave than manipulative Amy ever expected, even Paul's petty behavior with Gina (poor Gina, he was always at his worst with her).
This show truly captured the complexity of what it means to be human. It was gorgeously done and I still miss it.

I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

Essential

1. Alex
2. Jake and Amy
3. Gina
   Superlative
4. Sophie
5. April
6. Adele
   Standard
7. Sunil
8. Oliver
9. Mia
10. Jesse
11. Laura
    Subpar
12. Walter
13. Frances

Sunil
Alex
Sophie
Jesse
Laura
Gina
April
Amy and Jake
Walter
Oliver
Mia
Adele
Frances
Aww, poor Frances. Her character was so concerned about what others thought about her. She was constantly doubting herself. Ironically, looking over these boards, it seems like she was one of the least-liked characters of the show.

The important thing is the effort, not what we achieve.
-Persona

Outstanding:
Sophie
Oliver
Mia
Sunhil
April
Jesse
Amy & Jake
Solid:
Alex
Walter
Gina
Adele
Laura
Could barely care:
Frances

Best:
Sophie - Overall, the most emotional and brilliantly written session.
April - Consistently extremely painful, yet I always highly anticipated this one.
Alex - The most thrilling and exciting session in the show's history, and the most surprising.
Sunil - Probably the strongest performance ever on the show besides Gabriel Byrne, and he brought out Byrne's best too.
Adele - Paul has never been more interesting as a character than in these sessions.
Laura - Criminally underrated, I always looked forward to these and the side of Paul they brought out.
Walter - Never quite met my high expectations, but had some beautiful moments.
Oliver - Perhaps the most heartbreaking of anyone's endings.
Gina - Often interesting, sometimes not, they ran out of ideas for these and I never adored them. S1 < S2.
Jesse - Intentionally frustrating, but a well-crafted story that didn't really have a peak for me.
Jake and Amy - Some great moments, but Amy frustrated me a lot. The weak link in season 1.
Mia - Frustrating, and less interesting than most others, but by no means bad.
Worst:
Frances - The only one I just didn't care about at all.

From best to worst . . .
Sunil

• Season 3, Monday
  Alex
• Season 1, Tuesday
  Sophie
• Season 1, Wednesday
  Laura
• Season 1, Monday
  Mia
• Season 2, Monday
  Gina
• Season 2, Friday
  Jake & Amy
• Season 1, Thursday
  Adele
• Season 3, Friday
  Oliver
• Season 2, Wednesday
  Gina
• Season 1, Friday
  April
• Season 2, Tuesday
  Walter
• Season 2, Thursday
  Jesse
• Season 3, Wednesday
  Frances
• Season 3, Tuesday

1. Laura
2. Sunil
3. Oliver
4. Jake & Amy
5. Adele

The best:
Sophie
(the almost best-but-not-the-best-because-sophie-exist)
Laura
Sunil
Jake - Amy
Walter
Gina
(the almost "almost-best-but-not-the-best-because-sophie-exist"-But-they-ruin-it-because-is-not-the-son-of-Jake-and-Amy)
Oliver
The some great moments:
Alex
April
Jesse
The worse:
Frances
Adele
Mia

The most fascinating..
April
Sunil
Adele
Gina
Mia
Oliver
Mildly interesting .
Alex
Laura
Jake and Amy
Meh
To whomever is left.

I agree totally, right on.

1. Exceptional:
   Mia
   Walter
   Sunil
   Adele
2. Great:
   Alex
   Oliver
   Gina
3. Fine:
   Laura
   Sophie
   Jesse
4. Could never really care:
   Jake/Amy
   April
   Frances

1. Exceptional:
   Sophie - the most outstanding storyline of all three seasons
   Laura/Alex
   Gina - especially some episodes in season 2
2. Great:
   Mia
   April
   Sunil
   Adele
3. Fine:
   Walter
4. Could never really care:
   Jake/Amy
   Oliver
   Frances
   Jessie

1. Exceptional
   Adele - from an intellectual standpoint.
   April - from an emotional standpoint. Most heartwrenching piece of TV I've ever seen.
2. Great
   Laura/Alex
   Sunil
   Sophie
3. Fine
   Jake&Amy
   Oliver
   Walter
   Frances
4. Could never really care
   the others
   In my opinion.

1. Sunil
2. Laura
3. Adele
4. Jack and Amy
5. April

Adele
Gina
Laura
Mia
Sunil
Sophie
Alex
Jack & Amy
Oliver
Frances
Jesse
Walter

Of Season 1 From First to Worst
Alex
Sophie
Gina
Jake & Amy
Laura
I actually liked the first 4 equally they were all very well done, But Laura's sessions were pretty boring.
(Have not seen Season 2 yet)
Season 3
Sunil
Jesse
Adele
Frances
The first three are great but Frances' sessions are downright boring.

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