Plot: Shrinking follows a grieving therapist (Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.
Review: Like Ted Lasso before it, Shrinking is the series we all need when things are at their worst. Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence and stars Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein found the heartfelt center of characters being okay with not being okay in the stellar first and second seasons of the AppleTV series, and, after a year off, the series is back and just as good as before. Picking up where things left off, Jimmy and his friends and family are just as dysfunctional as ever, as Jason Segel and his co-stars bring in new faces, including Michael J. Fox, Jeff Daniels, and Candice Bergen, to add to the therapeutic lessons they impart on one another as the audience absorbs the vibes through their device of choice. Shrinking is back and just in time for us to turn away from the news and check in with one of the best ensembles on the airwaves.
The second season of Shrinking added new wrinkles to the various friendships and relationships among the main cast. Jimmy (Jason Segel) and Gaby (Jessica Williams) had a brief fling, Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley) dealt with a rift in their marriage, Brian (Michael Urie) and his husband decided to adopt a baby. At the same time, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) and Sean (Luke Tennie) began to come to terms with their respective trauma. Paul (Harrison Ford) stayed a steadfast mentor to all as his Parkinson’s disease progressed. Through all of this, Jimmy found peace with Louis (Brett Goldstein), the drunk driver who killed Jimmy’s wife. With so many people in good places (or at least stable ones), where could season three take everyone? Right from the first episode, Shrinking‘s third season begins presenting new obstacles for everyone, with significant life changes and health scares that shake up the dynamics among many of the characters.
While one episode shorter than the prior season, Shrinking makes excellent use of this eleven-episode run. A lot happens over the course of the season that pushes characters in new directions. Jason Segel’s Jimmy has always been the anchor of this story, and his growth in dealing with the trauma of his wife’s death has evolved into acceptance and an attempt to move on. This is clouded by everyone around him exploring new chapters in their lives, including romantic, career, and health changes, while Jimmy remains somewhat stuck. Jimmy does get to experience some romantic moments himself, but the shadow of his late wife looms over everything he does. But we watch this series because the characters are imperfect, and seeing choices that mimic what we would do makes it very easy to invest in them. Harrison Ford continues to shine in his best performance in decades as the new catchphrase “F*ck Parkinson’s” is repeated like a mantra throughout the season. Ford and Segel share a mentor/parental dynamic that gives this series a foundation, but both get to explore outside of their connection. Ford and Wendie Malick get some great moments, as does Lily Rabe, who returns as Paul’s daughter, Meg.
The various patients that Jimmy, Gaby, and Paul treat are not as much at the forefront this season, but there are significant moments from a psychological standpoint that are just as funny and just as poignant as in prior seasons. The professional lives of the therapists in Shrinking have become more of a portal, allowing viewers to see them as human beings who suffer from the same anxieties and foibles as their patients, which helps this series feel a little more accessible than Ted Lasso’s world of professional athletes. I did not find any moment this season across all eleven episodes that felt inauthentic or contrived. If anything, Shrinking rectifies some of the weaker moments from the second season to strengthen all of the connections forged between these actors. There is more this season for Ted McGinley and Damon Wayans Jr, both standouts through the prior seasons as Derek and Derrick, as well as more for Michael Urie to dig into.
Zach Braff, longtime friend of Bill Lawrence and star of Scrubs, returns to direct episodes this season along with Randall Keenan Winston and Rebecca Asher. While Bill Lawrence does not boast any writing credits this season, Brett Goldstein has two, along with Brian Gallivan, Bill Posley, Ashley Nicole Black, Sofi Selig, CJ Hoke, Zack Bornstein, Rachna Fruchbom, Neil Goldman, and Emily Wilson, all of whom wrote for the second season of the series as well. The consistency in how well the writers and directors focus on these characters is amazing, as is the fact that very little is improvised, giving a lot of credit to the scripters. Christa Miller, in addition to being in the cast, serves as music supervisor for Shrinking and once again provides one of the best soundtracks on television with deep cuts of classic songs and contemporary indie hits. There are very few series that fire on all cylinders as consistently as Shrinking does both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
While originally envisioned as a three-season series, Shrinking could easily come back for additional seasons, exploring these characters more fully. Without divulging any spoilers, the finale of this third season wraps up the arcs for every character just enough that we could say goodbye and feel satisfied, but there is plenty of open room to keep going. There is an ambiguity at the end of the eleventh episode that does not detract from this story feeling satisfying and complete, and yet there would be no question that a fourth season could take this story further. Nothing in the marketing has declared this to be the end of the series, but like Ted Lasso taking a multi-year pause before coming back for its upcoming fourth season, this may be a good place to step away from Shrinking to allow the characters to breathe before we check in with them again. Whether the end or the end for now, Shrinking delivers another outstanding season of storytelling that left me feeling a whole range of emotions, and I loved every minute of it.
Shrinking‘s third season premieres with two episodes on January 28th on AppleTV.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
