Shrinking SN2 Ep11

Things take a slide to the downside as the Apple TV+ show reaches its penultimate episode for season 2, with Jimmy, Gaby and Paul all facing grim tidings.

After a couple of relatively happy-happy episodes, “Shrinking” takes a decided slide to the downside for episode 11, “The Drugs Don’t Work,” the second-to-last of the second season. Main characters/therapist colleagues Jimmy (Jason Segel), Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Paul (Harrison Ford) all receive grim tidings that threaten to toss them into a spiral as the holiday season approaches (both within the show timeline and IRL, aka in real life).

It’s been apparent that Jimmy still hasn’t recovered from the death of his wife two years earlier, even as daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) seems ready to move on emotionally — and physically, as she turned 18 in the last episode and her leaving the next draws closer.

The appearance of Louis (Brett Goldstein), the man whose drunk driving caused the accident that killed his wife, has thrown Jimmy into a confused spin he can’t get out of — due in part to the fact that Alice reconciled with him and has even begun something like a friendship.

Despite his protestations to friend/mentor Paul that he’s OK, Jimmy starts throwing himself into his coping mechanism of “Jimmying” — relentless focusing on helping his clients with sometimes inappropriate personal insertion into their affairs, such as helping an OCD women deal with having sort of accidentally kidnapped her neighbor’s dog. Paul warns him a crash is coming.

“You can't hide from your trauma,” Paul intones.

Gaby, after having finally stuck up for herself and denied her aged mother’s attempt to move in with her, appears to be in a nice place with new beau, Derrick (Damon Wayans Jr.). However, plans for the upcoming holiday feast reveal that he’s maybe not all the way in like he’d hoped, as Gaby’s tendency to push people away rears its ugly head.

As for Paul, last episode he finally came to terms with having lady love Julie (Wendie Malick) move in with him, though now he has to realize that encompasses all that in details, such as having a gaggle of her friends over. As a fellow introvert and budding curmudgeon, I can relate to the challenge of having your space invaded.

There’s also news on the medical front with his battle with Parkinson’s that surely won’t please.

Meanwhile, side characters Brian (Michael Urie) and Sean (Luke Tennie), who have been pretty well shunted aside after having their mid-season story arcs resolved, get a little more time in the sun, and in contrast to the leads are doing pretty well. Sean’s food truck is doing great business and he has a new (somewhat surprising) love interest on the side. And Brian’s dashed hopes to adopt a baby with his husband, Charlie, shows renewed promise.

There’s a bit of a side excursion back to some characters from the start of the season that is started and stopped so quickly, I wonder why they bothered. Unless we’re going to see more of that (I suspect not), it’s a rare misstep by the showrunners.

With “Shrinking” already renewed for season 3, it seems evident the end of this season is not going to contain a lot of resolution, but instead act more as a transition — I even wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big cliffhanger.