That’s a retort that is repeated in various forms – some far less polite – throughout this show. Whether as doctor and patient,or friends and family,Shrinking knows that we’re all connected in multiple ways to those around us. It laughingly dismisses the concept that isolation is the modern norm,but acknowledges that we’re sometimes oblivious to these various bonds and that solidifying them is painful and self-incriminating. The characters pinball from one to another,and each collision gives off bracing sparks.
Fresh from a year-long bender following his wife’s death,Jimmy starts to bluntly – and unethically – meddle with his patient’s lives,even as his teenage daughter,Alice (Lukita Maxwell) has found a surrogate parent in next-door neighbour,Liz (Christa Miller). Jimmy is also dodging his best friend,Brian (Michael Urie),while at their Pasadena practice he’s trying to get Paul’s approval and work alongside his late wife’s best friend,Gaby (Jessica Williams). Connections abound – Paul and Alice hang out,for example – and the implications are heartfelt but imperfect.
Shrinking will draw comparison to Apple’s signature comedy,Ted Lasso,because Segel’s co-creators Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein are integral to that show and because there’s a tone of everyday optimism in both series. But the emotional stakes are stark here,pain is more prominent;whenever you think there’s a feel-good moment looming,the narrative has a habit of lopping it off at the knees so the characters have to start again. Somewhere,Sisyphus and that boulder are laughing.
Supporting roles,such as Jimmy’s war veteran patient turned pool house tenant Sean (Luke Tennie),are unfolded in unexpected,involving ways,and the dynamics between different parts are equally amusing and illustrating;Paul and Gaby trading opinions in the office break room is a pleasure. Buoyed by Segel’s gangly,manic enthusiasm,every day in this show oscillates between pain and happiness,but optimism wins out. You can see how they crafted it,butShrinking prevails on a deeper,fundamental level. It’s quite the wonderful show.
That ’90s Show
Netflix