‘Couples Therapy’ review: Most reality TV stokes conflict, this Showtime series looks at what it means to do the opposite

After the second season of “Couples Therapy” aired on Showtime last year, a publicist hired by one of the couples reached out to offer an interview. “Couples Therapy” may be a high-minded nonfiction show but it falls into the reality TV space nonetheless and the publicist’s inquiry drove that home. The show depicts real therapy, on camera, for all the world to see, and you have to wonder what motivates people to take part. It’s clear each couple wants to find an exit ramp from their interpersonal misery. But is there some attention-seeking also fueling their participation? That’s certainly the case with any other reality show, why should it be different here? The possibility lurks in the shadows, but it sits alongside your own voyeuristic compulsions as a viewer. It’s all kind of ethically messy and no one comes out pure from this endeavor, but who wants purity anyway?

That said, the idea of two