Apple TV’s series ‘Shrinking’ an unexpected surprise

By Matt Pascarella

Rated: TV-MA
10 episodes, renewed for Season Two

Co-created by “Ted Lasso’s” Brett Goldstein, ‘Shrinking’ tells the story of Jimmy who is struggling after his wife has died. He works as a cognitive behavioral therapist and is close to snapping. To say he is unprofessional at times is an understatement. He’s stuck and it’s affecting all aspects of his life.

It's having a negative effect on his relationship with his daughter Alice.

“Shrinking” stars Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller, Lilan Bowden, and Ted McGinley.

Jimmy (Segel) works in a small office with two other therapists, Gaby (Williams) and Paul (Ford).

Jimmy’s pushy neighbor, Liz (Miller) asks him if this inattentive version of him is permanent. She tells him how amazing Alice is and before long she’ll be off to college and the relationship between the two of them will be even more strained. He needs to get back in the game.

Alice (Maxwell) reminds Jimmy the death of his wife happened to both of them and she’s had to deal with it all by herself. She hasn’t forgiven him for this.

Paul is a mentor to Alice and tells her nobody gets through life unscathed. He asks her if she’s going to let her grief drown her or face it and come through the other side.

Paul tells Jimmy Alice will run if Jimmy isn’t careful. Paul is speaking from experience.

Paul is estranged from his daughter who he contacts later in the series when he must tell her some serious news.

When Jimmy treats Sean (Tennie), a young soldier who’s worked overseas and has anger issues, Sean is resistant, but Jimmy gets him to open up.

After Jimmy has to bail Sean out of jail, Jimmy must call his best friend, Brian (Urie), who he’s been avoiding, for some legal counsel. Sean later moves in with Jimmy after Sean’s parents kick him out. Alice is less than cool with this, though they bond over time.

Williams is a great addition to this ensemble cast and is a nice contrast to her two grumpy and sad(ish) co-workers.

Ford steals the show as a resistant confidant who is annoyed by people, but offers help anyway, with a bit of sarcasm included. As Jimmy reaches out to Alice more and more, she continues to keep her distance. When he first brings this problem to Paul, and complains it’s not working, Paul tells him it’s understandable – he’s been trying for almost 10 minutes.

The theme of this show is a heavy one, but it’s very well done and combines humor and grief in a way that kept me looking forward to the next episode.

It’s a fun show with a great soundtrack. A positive show with great messages. It’s powerful and heartfelt and at times hard to watch with a few surprises thrown in. It does have some language and sexual content. Jimmy’s unconventional methods, though unethical are sometimes beneficial.

Two water bottles up!

Available on Apple TV+ <