I was luke warm on Shrinking back in early 2023 when it premiered. And now, having watched the final four episodes of season one in preparation for watching the first six of the upcoming second season, I see more of what the series was trying to do in its uneven initial series offering. That’s a long way of saying that Shrinking got significantly better by the end of its first season. Jason Segel’s Jimmy started to see that his “new” way of conducting therapy by telling his patients precisely what to do wasn’t actually helping them – it was, in some cases, hurting these traumatized individuals in potentially dangerous ways. Something that was confirmed with the season one cliffhanger which saw Heidi Gardner’s Grace shove her abusive husband over the side of a cliff – after Jimmy told her to (as a joke but is it really a joke when you’ve told your patients you’re going to tell them precisely what they need to do to fix their lives?).
So, season two has to deal with that seismic situation – something that may have resulted in someone’s death, and potentially made Jimmy culpable. And really, I’m standing by my assessment from season one that Jimmy absolutely shouldn’t be a licensed therapist anymore – or should at least be in therapy himself, as he’s still dealing with the fallout from the tragic death of his wife prior to the start of the series.* But the series isn’t really interested in delving deep within Jimmy’s own psyche (seriously, they have plenty of chances in season one and two, but all we ever get is a surface level look at how this loss has impacted him before Jimmy is right back to where he was, doing the same things). It’s much more interested in looking at the interpersonal relationships of the excellent cast of characters surrounding him that make Shrinking a fun series on the whole.
*Alice (Lukita Maxwell) continues to have “therapy” sessions with Harrison Ford’s Paul throughout season two, although they are less of a focus than in season one and more a fun excuse to let these two actors bounce off each other to interesting results. Alice does have to confront her mother’s death head-on in a very affecting storyline that I won’t spoil here, but I suspect that in the final section of the season (which I haven’t seen) Jimmy will also be forced to take a good long look at his wife’s death and reckon with it once and for all. Which I’m very intrigued to see play out.
Lest you think I didn’t like season two of Shrinking, I did. But it wasn’t because of Segel or Jimmy. In fact, this season, the focus is largely taken off of Jimmy as the central character and the series really morphs into an ensemble comedy. Ford continues to be the series MVP – his comedic chops and sardonic delivery are exceptional and always on point. Paired often with either the great Wendy Mallick as his neurologist girlfriend or Lily Rabe as his daughter (whose character is softened a lot this season, making this relationship feel less confrontational and more familial), it’s hard to overstate just how great Ford continues to be in the series. More often than not he’s also tasked with being the audience surrogate, telling more self-absorbed characters like Liz (Christa Miller), Jimmy, and Gaby (Jessica Williams) how wrong they are. He’s sensational throughout the season.
Given much more to do this time around are William’s Gaby and Miller’s Liz (and, in a delightful twist, Ted McGinley’s Derek gets much more screen time and the writers turn him from a solid joke delivery system to a much more complex and big-hearted character), who form a strong friendship (at the risk of comparing the series once again to Ted Lasso, it’s quite reminiscent of Rebecca and Keeley’s relationship on the series) and really shine. Liz, at the close of episode six, also appears to be heading into a more complex arc as well – although I’m less sold on the set-up for that, so I’ll refrain from judging it until I see how it all plays out.
This season, there aren’t many new characters, save from Brett Goldstein (freshly shaven and playing a character light years away from Roy Kent) whose role I won’t spoil here, save to say it’s a crucial one for several characters’ journeys this season. And the lack of additions to the cast means that the series is better able to focus on and serve the characters it has – something that works greatly in its favor. Yes, it wobbles a bit at the outset. Liz and Derek’s son is lusting after Alice – something the show treats as a joke, but the joke isn’t really funny after the fourth time its trotted out (and it continues to be trotted out after – including becoming a bit of a key point in Alice’s overall growth for the season). The resolution for Grace’s actions at the end of season one feels too tied into flippant comedic hits and not nearly looked at with the depth needed to really deal with the complexities of someone who has lived in an abusive relationship for years – I’d argue this isn’t the right show to really grapple with this storyline at all, but here we are. And the series isn’t quite sure what to do with Michael Urie’s Brian for the first third of the season before pairing him up with Alice for an interesting storyline (the question of whether or not he and his husband should adopt is less successful – they absolutely shouldn’t because Brian definitely isn’t ready for it).
Once the season deals with the Grace story and takes the time to focus on our main cast – Luke Tennie’s Sean gets some interesting stuff to play throughout the season, now that he’s not dealing with Alice’s misplaced romantic attention – things start cooking. Jason Segel and Jimmy remain compelling in smaller doses, and hopefully the latter episodes of the season will finally allow the character to deal with his wife’s death the way he needs to in order to fully move on (there are more stories to be told once Jimmy is finally allowed to start healing – this is a capable cast, with strong writers and interesting characters, so the show needs to start shedding the initial conceit and build for the future). Ford is the star of the series and the more he gets to do, and the more we delve into his life outside of the office (and, even, away from his coworkers), the more interesting Paul gets. There’s a heck of a lot to like in season two of Shrinking once the story sheds the past and starts to focus on the riches it has at hand with its exceptional cast of central characters.
Season two of Shrinking premieres on October 16 on AppleTV+. Six of the ten episodes were provided for review.
-
Writing
-
Acting
-
Direction
