AppleTV+’s hit original series “Shrinking” has finally returned on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The first two episodes of season two have been released along with one new episode every Wednesday until Christmas Day. Season two is also set to have two more episodes than season one, with 12 episodes total instead of 10.
Starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” is a comedy series that features Jimmy (Segel), a therapist who balances grieving over his wife, Tia (Lilan Bowden), who recently passed away, taking care of his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) along with Sean (Luke Tennie) — one of his younger patients who temporarily moves in with them — and conflicts with his friends Liz (Christa Miller) and Brian (Michael Urie), and co-workers Paul (Ford) and Gaby (Jessica Williams). Paul is also a therapist who works with Jimmy and Gaby, but serves as a mentor for all of the characters.
I personally loved the first season. I never watch anything on Apple TV+, but I finally found a series on the streaming service that I wanted to tune into. I was very excited when I heard the release date for the second season, as I missed tuning into a new episode to get a good laugh out of every week. “How I Met Your Mother” happens to be one of my favorite television series, so Segel heavily influenced my decision to give “Shrinking” a try when it first came out.
The first season ended with Jimmy trying to move past Tia’s death by packing some of her things. However, Alice catches him and does not have a positive reaction. This is supposed to reflect the real life stages of grief with a dramatic scene in the comedy series. At Brian’s wedding, Jimmy gives a heartwarming speech about Tia and how he looks forward to his future while moving past his grief. At the wedding, Gaby realized that she actually does have feelings for Jimmy and opens up to him. We also see one of Jimmy’s patients, Grace (Heidi Gardner), attempt to murder her abusive husband. Although that sounds a little out of place for a comedy series, they showed it in a comedic light by making it super random.
The first episode of season two starts where season one left off, without a drastic time jump. We see Jimmy visiting Grace in jail after the murder attempt and we find out that the husband survived. Gaby and Jimmy are continuing to see each other. They are trying to make things private, although Gaby admits to Liz that she wants a relationship with Jimmy. Grace’s murder attempt has been giving Jimmy nightmares, such as Paul attempting to murder him instead.
The episode ends with the man who was involved in Tia’s car crash that killed her, Louis, showing up to Jimmy’s office. Louis, played by co-creator of the show Brett Goldstein, is a new addition to the show this season.
Throughout the second episode, Jimmy seeks advice from his friends on how to deal with Louis showing up to his office. We also see how Alice is dealing with it, as she opens up to Paul about it. Other than that, Gaby ends romantic relations with Jimmy.
Mental health is a very important topic to me. I think the series portrays mental health and grief in a very comedic light which makes the topic easier to hear about or discuss. Season two of “Shrinking” brings back the same humor as it did in season one.
However, I do not think AppleTV+ should have released both of the episodes on the same day, since the first episode ended off on an interesting cliffhanger. Only one day after season two premiered, “Shrinking” has already been renewed for a season three, as it was also number one on AppleTV+’s top chart.
5/5 stars
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @michaelurie, X
