How does the supervisor's presence in the background of the clinical work alter the mode of participation and mutuality being worked out between patient and analyst? And how much more complex does the picture become when, as often occurs in analytic training, the candidate has more than one supervisor on the same case at various points in the treatment? This article chronicles the experience of the author over the course of treatment with her analytic control case, and describes the impact of having a different supervisor each year, exposing the analyst and patient to a range of theoretical and participatory influences. The evolution of a sadomasochistic dynamic within the treatment is presented, along with possible parallel struggles around submission and the search for authenticity for the candidate within the various supervisory relationships. Implications for the development of the candidate's emerging analytic identity will be highlighted.