'Shrinking' Season 2 review: Apple's hilarious, poignant comedy gets in our heads again
One of the best and most surprising shows of 2023 is back for a second season, and it's honestly (and thankfully) like we never left it.
Created by Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein, Shrinking Season 1 hilariously and unabashedly harnessed the everyday pain and absurdity of grief, and left most of its characters in a pretty solid place, emotionally, in the finale. In Season 2, Segel's rule-breaking therapist and widowed father Jimmy is understandably still haunted by the past, but it's different this time — with the sudden arrival of the man responsible for his wife's death (a welcome cast addition in Shrinking writer and Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein). How the hell would you react?
The show's brilliant cast all return for a second round, taking the characters through new challenges and delivering the show's very funny, genuinely moving script to perfection. With just two episodes out on Apple TV+, Shrinking picks up where we left off with these now ingrained characters and wisely doesn't reinvent the wheel.
Shrinking's superpower remains its superb cast and sharp writing.
Once again a brilliant lead, Segel steps back into the role of Jimmy with relatable finesse, with the actor's signature earnestness and weary sense of optimism being put to the test with the arrival of Goldstein's character this season. Segel is still at his comedic best here, defying the insistence of his revered colleague Paul (an excellent-as-ever Harrison Ford) that he quit it with the "Jimmying" (his tendency to take the therapy sessions out of the office). Some of the outrageous lines that come out of Jimmy's mouth can't be swallowed again ("Speaking of cars…"), despite his attempts. Plus, Segel's awkward banter with the talented Lukita Maxwell as Jimmy's daughter, Alice, really makes the show, with Maxwell giving Alice genuine depth and deadpan hilarity at every turn.
Now a professor, having gained a recommendation from Paul last season, Gaby (the superb Jessica Williams) is struggling with the guilt of sleeping with her dead best friend's husband, while trying to resist their natural chemistry — a chemistry Williams and Segel flawlessly convey, with Williams' speedy retorts one of the show's best elements. But one of the unsung reasons to watch Shrinking is Williams and Christa Miller as Jimmy's neighbour Liz, as the pair craft one of the most satisfying best friendships on TV. They're a duo who say exactly what they think to each other. It's deeply refreshing, and not always the right move, but it's a delight to watch their unpretentious, no-holds-barred connection.
Meanwhile, Paul privately struggles with sharing his deeper feelings for Julie (Wendie Malick) and publicly grumbles through contemporary phrases like "Good news if true" and "I never say beep-boop" with all the open, eloquent disdain we've come to expect from Paul. Thanks to what Paul calls Jimmy's "textbook dual relationship" with his patient-turned-friend Sean (an expertly understated Luke Tennie), Paul takes over Sean's treatment. However, never fear, Segel's Jimmy continues his fine-tuned Holt/Perolta energy with Ford's Paul, hoping for his approval at every turn and finally seeing his house.
As Jimmy's best friend, Brian, Michael Urie is audacious as ever, shining in moments of utter rage — when Brian screams on a hiking trail after hearing some news he wasn't privy to, "Fuck rescue dogs! That's right. Fuck hiking! Fuck that headband! Actually I like that headband … Fuck this whole mountain!" you feel it in your bones.
It's a truly ensemble affair, with this season allowing the characters more room to branch out into anxieties and challenges — with one big one in particular.
Jason Segel's Jimmy is haunted by the past again — but it's different this time.
For the entirety of Season 1, Segel navigated Jimmy through the complexities and pain of losing a loved one, with the grief of his wife's death in a car accident the driving force in his and his daughter's growth. Though grief is by no means ever "done," Jimmy found himself on pretty solid footing at the end of the season. However, he's faced with a darker side of the past in Season 2, one that's played by Shrinking writer Brett Goldstein.
Though an accomplished, Emmy-winning comedy actor, Goldstein remained strictly behind the page for Season 1. This season, Goldstein takes on an unenviable role in a cast full of now-beloved characters, showing up as the man responsible for Jimmy's wife's death in a car accident. While the first two episodes don't give us much to go on, Goldstein's few moments on screen have enabled Jimmy's rage to come out, so expect much more here.
Shrinking still gives actually good advice.
Being a show about therapists, Shrinking often gives some excellent advice (check with your own therapist, of course, before implementing anything you see). Season 1 explored the real "15 minutes of sadness" technique and discussions around compassion fatigue, and this season, Paul leans on a tool called "reversal of desire." In episode 2, Alice's friend Summer suggests she write a letter to the man responsible for her mother's death and not send it, an age-old processing technique. (It's a letter Alice finds difficult to put into words that aren't simply "You ruined my life ... eat my ass.")
Whether its characters are learning to understand their triggers or trying to process their frustrations with one another, Shrinking arms you with a collection of common sense, usable advice for your own complicated stuff. Honestly, it feels great to be reconnected with such flawed, vulnerable, hilarious characters, all of whom are simply trying to figure it out day by day.
Shrinking, one of TV's best-written comedies, returns to cut to the deep shit among the regular shit, without judgment and with a lot of laughs. Consider us prescribed.