Shrinking SN2 Ep 1-2

The second outing of the therapist dramedy picks up right where it left off, with sharp comedic timing and a cast & crew that knows how to get in and out of a scene with puckish efficiency.

I didn’t catch up with “Shrinking” on Apple TV+ until well after it aired. Movies take up the vast majority of my watch time, whether professionally or personally, and I just have to resign myself to missing out on a lot of good shows or seeing them at a very delayed remove.

(Example: my wife and I are still working our way through season 3 of Apple’s excellent “Ted Lasso.”)

I admit part of my intrigue was the cast, including Jason Segel in the more-or-less lead role and Harrison Ford as the curmudgeonly sidekick. It seemed an eclectic pairing of talents, especially for two actors known mostly for film roles.

Ford, a legend of action and dramatic roles, has often shown a sly comedic timing that I wondered if he could pull off for a whole show. And Segel, who broke out big in movies with “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” has struggled since to find his niche in Hollywood with his quirky beta-male charm.

They make for a winning duo, with Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist who embraces a unconventional approach to his patients while struggling with the death of his wife, and Ford as Paul Rhoades, Jimmy’s mentor and the head of their practice, who favors traditional methods while facing his own challenges with Parkinson’s.

But it’s not a two-hander show.

What really makes it work is the terrific all-around cast and the way they interact so seamlessly. Creators Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, who created the show along with Segel, combine modern sensibilities about self-identity and seeking help from others while relying on old-school storytelling techniques, with whip-smart dialogue delivered at a breakneck pace worthy of “His Girl Friday.”

One of the things that impresses me about the show is its zippy pace. Episodes are generally around 30 minutes (no commercials) with little to no fat. The cast and crew know how to get in and out of a scene with puckish efficiency, hit the comedic and/or weightier beats square-on, and move on.

Often I’ll pause after a scene — one of the blessings of streaming — and realize the whole thing was less than a minute start to finish. In a show that features grim topics like death, suicidal feelings, domestic abuse, traumatic stress and infidelity, this speedy approach allows “Shrinking” to not get too bogged down in dreariness.

The first two episodes of season 2, “Jimmying” and “I Love Pain,” pick up right where we left off after season 1. Grace (Heidi Gardner), a patient Jimmy had vehemently encouraged to confront her abusive husband, pushed him off a cliff — literally — and is now in jail, wallowing in self-hate. Of course, as Jimmy is a guy who can’t help getting personally involved with his clients’ problems, he takes to visiting her in prison. He brings along best friend/lawyer/narcissist Brian (Michael Urie), who’s dealing with some issues on the domestic front with his husband, and gets plenty of great one-liners.

Jimmy’s teen daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), struggles to get her dad to maintain boundaries, but their relationship is on a healthier track than it was last season. She has an unwanted love interest in the boy next door, which she manages to redirect.

Speaking of the neighbors, Liz (Christa Miller) is still the nosiest of busybodies, sort of a benevolent Mother of All Karens, sticking her nose into places it doesn’t belong and somehow actually making a positive difference (usually). I love Ted McGinley in the role of her husband, Derek, a happily whipped dude who’s just around to spread cheer and seems impossible to insult.

Liz has gone into the food truck business with Sean (Luke Tennie), a military veteran with serious PTSD who is a patient of Jimmy’s, but has actually moved in with him and become a friend. This leads to much consternation from Paul, who insists a change needs to be made.

The other therapist at their practice, Gaby (Jessica Williams), is a one-woman parade of ebullient self-actualization. She and Jimmy started up a fling at the end of last season, a purely sexual release for both of them that is going to start getting more complicated quickly in season two.

Paul has to weigh whether to let a longtime client go, and what — if anything — their relationship should be after. He also has to weigh the consequences of his relationship with Julie (Wendie Malick), the neurologist who first diagnosed him and has come to mean a lot more to the ol’ codger than he’d planned.

It’s a wonderful portrait, seen in glimpses, of a truly mature romance.

A new figure emerges, played by co-creator Goldstein, best known for his turn as snarly ex-footballer Roy Kent in “Ted Lasso.” I don’t want to give too much away, other than to say he will force Jimmy and Alice to face new/old trauma. It’s a lovely performance, and a complete 180 from Roy — the strapping Goldstein seems to physically implode.

As much as I liked season 1 of “Shrinking,” so far season 2 is even better. It’s a funny and smart show that brings us interesting and complex characters, and then has them rub off on each other in ways that produces sparks both comedic and a little sad. Sign me up for more sessions.