When I watched the first season of Shrinking last year, I happily named it among my new favourite shows. Created by Bill Lawrence, the man behind Ted Lasso, along with Brett Goldstein, who stars as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso, and How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segel, the series has striking similarities to Ted Lasso in how beautifully it toes the line between comedy and serious soul-searching.
Centered on topics of mental health, but viewed through a humorous lens, there’s a lot to love about the show. The chemistry among the characters, the relatable stories, and the handling of how personal trauma manifests in different ways is what come together to make this comedy drama arguably one of the best shows on television right now. And the second season solidifies that.
What Is Shrinking About?
Shrinking centers around Jimmy Laird (Segel), a therapist grieving the untimely death of his wife Tia (played by Lila Bowden in flashbacks). When she is killed by a drunk driver in a car accident, Jimmy is left to raise their teenage daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) on his own. Instead, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol, pills, and random women. He neglects his parental duties. And his laisser-faire attitude at work isn’t cutting it either.
When Jimmy says “f**k it” and decides to treat his patients in unorthodox ways, he starts to feel reinvigorated. They seem to be doing better and that, in turn, makes him feel better. But his co-worker and mentor Dr. Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford) warns him that overstepping boundaries could have negative consequences.
In season one, we see this play out with two patients, in particular. Sean (Luke Tennie) is a young man with anger issues, a result of PTSD from his time in the military. Jimmy’s methods seem to be working on Sean and he’s starting to turn his life around. Paul doesn’t agree with the decisions Jimmy is making, ones that would never fly in the real world. But the healing has begun.
But then there’s Grace (Heidi Gardner), an abused woman who lacks self-worth and refuses to leave her abusive husband. When Jimmy makes a seemingly flippant joke, she takes it literally and almost kills her husband, winding up in jail for the crime.
The first season is all about healing. Thanks to Paul, Sean, his co-worker and friend Gaby (Jessica Williams), his nosy neighbors Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley), and estranged best friend Brian (Michael Urie), Jimmy is finally starting to come out of his funk after months of being unable to process his grief. He snaps out of it and realizes the effect this has had on Alice. Jimmy recognizes the need to repair that relationship above all else.
By the end of season one as the group celebrates Brian’s wedding, Jimmy is finally in a good place. The incident with Grace and her boyfriend is about to shake up his life, but that isn’t what’s going to burden him.
Shrinking Season 2 Review
Note: spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of season 2.
The second season starts with a bang in the final moments of the first episode. While Jimmy is strolling happily through his office, he catches a glimpse of a man sitting in the waiting area. He instantly recognizes the man and his face goes pale. It’s Louis (Brett Goldstein), the driver responsible for the accident that killed Tia.
The exchange goes from somber and calm to passionately heated. Seeing Louis dredges up horrifying memories about that fateful night, and intense feelings of anger, blame, and guilt. This overarching story plays out through the season as Jimmy, Alice, and even Louis, seek closure.
What’s so great about the second season overall is that it gives the supporting characters a chance to shine as well, exploring mental health challenges and self-destructive tendencies in various unique situations. Paul’s fractured relationship with his now grown daughter is introduced in the first season and more perspective is offered on this, complete with Ford’s scene-stealing delivery of every gruff line. You also get to see more of Paul’s budding relationship with Dr. Julie Baram (Wendie Malick), a complication since he knows his Parkinson’s is only going to get worse. Woof.
Gaby, meanwhile, is trying to balance her busy schedule now that she works as a professor as well as a therapist. She continues to face issues with her sister, a recovered addict who is now caring for their mother full time. Plus, there’s that situation of falling for her now deceased best friend’s husband, knowing he’s emotionally unavailable and likely will never be. Gaby is the perpetual carer, and in season two, she tries to come to terms with the fact that she needs to shift focus and take care of the most important person in her life: herself.
One of the most interesting journeys through the series is that of Sean’s, a young man with so much potential who has grown leaps and bounds thanks to the help of his therapist and new-found friends. Sean isn’t free of setbacks, however, and the journey to processing his trauma and understanding his emotions is much longer than just a single season. He’s a character a lot of people who have been through similar situations will be able to relate to.
Liz finds a new lease on life working with Sean in the food truck, enjoying every minute of it. But she goes through her own journey of rediscovery, adding much more depth to the previously surface-level, comic relief character. Her husband Derek, meanwhile, who was just the goofy dad in the background in season one, gets compelling storylines of his own this season. This results in him becoming one of the most endearing characters on the show, and allows McGinley to shine.
For everyone and their personal situations, it all comes down to perception. Every situation is viewed in the way you want to see it, not always rooted in reality. Thankfully, with three therapists in the mix, there are a lot of poignant conversations and sessions calling out defense mechanisms that are so often used and issues that are left unresolved. The dynamic solidifies the belief that it really does take a village not just to raise a child, but to lift up adults going through tough times, too.
Should You Watch Shrinking?
If you loved Shrinking season one, you’ll absolutely adore season two. It’s one of those rare instances where the second season is even better than the first. Wonderfully written to give every character their due, it’s the relationship between the collective group that really makes the dialogue, scenes, and challenges shine on screen. Sure, the way Paul, Jimmy, and Gaby behave with their patients at times probably has real-life therapists rolling their eyes and clutching their licenses tight. But that isn’t the point. It’s easy to look past that, because the show has a greater purpose.
Like Ted Lasso, there are moments throughout to make you laugh out loud, others that make you cry. Often, those moments are one in the same. There’s a character or situation to which every viewer can relate. The series tackle topics like grief, parenting, career troubles, and personal identity in such clever, raw, and real ways.
Healing, no matter from what, is not linear. It doesn’t happen overnight, despite what temporary appearances might suggest. As Paul tells Sean in one pivotal scene, “You can’t spend your life hiding from your trauma. If you don’t truly deal with your past, it’ll come back for you. And when that happens…BOOM.”
There are setbacks, tough decisions, and roadblocks in the way. There are difficult situations that need to be faced and uncomfortable conversations that have to be had. The importance of all these elements, and what happens when you don’t face them head on, and sometimes even when you do, are stuffed into this show that also happens to be so darn funny.
If you have been missing Ted Lasso, Shrinking is a no-brainer next show to add to your watch list. But even if you never watched that series, Shrinking will appeal to just about anyone. Chances are, it will make your list of favourite shows for the year. It has already made mine.