Lately I’ve gotten my roommate hooked on Shrinking on Apple TV, and she proceeded to get her family and boyfriend to watch it too. Her mom finished all of Season 1 and what has been released of Season 2 in two days. It was written by Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence, who also wrote for Ted Lasso, as well as Jason Segel.
Shrinking follows therapist Jimmy (Jason Segel), as he “goes rogue” in the wake of his wife, Tia’s, death. He starts telling his patients exactly what he thinks, and pushes them in a way that his boss, Paul (Harrison Ford), thinks is absolutely inappropriate. Season 1 is all about grief; we meet the characters around a year after her death, and everyone is grieving. Gaby, Jimmy’s coworker, was Tia’s best friend. Brian, Jimmy’s gay best friend, was set up with his fiancee by Tia. Alice, Jimmy’s teenage daughter, had to turn to her neighbors for care because of Jimmy’s shutdown after Tia’s death. Season 2 has been about forgiveness- forgiving the drunk driver that killed Tia, forgiving Jimmy for his shortcomings, and forgiving yourself for all of the mistakes that each character has made. While this show sounds like it could be a very heavy show, as it dives into some very complex emotions and experiences, it doesn’t feel heavy (at least not all the time). It has made me and my family laugh so hard that we’re sore the next day, and has also made us cry because the actors are so good at relating to us.
That being said, some critics have called it shapeless, and expressed a distaste with the way the the writers can gloss over heavy topics with humor. However, I think anyone who has been around traumatic experiences knows that sometimes humor is the best coping mechanism, and one of comedy’s big goals is to bring attention to important issues in a way that is easier for people to take. As far as the shapeless comments, they stem from the fact that the characters and focuses have changed, which is a very human thing to do, and in my opinion makes the show feel more relatable.
Overall, Shrinking is definitely worth a watch. The characters are lovable and relatable and the episodes are relatively short (they run around 35 minutes per episode), making it a perfect comfort TV show.