Shrinking SN2 Ep6

The indomitable Liz gets taken down a peg, Gaby reaches out to her sister, Sean's violent encounter opens up an opportunity with his dad, and Paul is maybe sorta ready to embrace "Jimmying."

Episode 6 of Season 2 of “Shrinking” is about connections that move toward being repaired, plus one or two that seem in danger of becoming frayed. The title, “In a Lonely Place,” seems to refer to Liz (Christa Miller), the indomitable neighbor to Jimmy, the therapist main character played by Jason Segel, also co-creator of the Apple TV+ show.

Liz is just a force of nature. Generally for good, though everyone knows getting on her wrong side is not something advisable. She’s the queen of all nosy Karens and happily revels in bossing everyone around, especially her husband, Derek (Ted McGinley), a happy-go-lucky fellow who seems to be the only one impervious to her icy stare.

She gets taken down a peg or two in this episode, and Miller gets to show a little of the character’s hidden vulnerability. I won’t give away the exact circumstances, but part of it has to do with son Connor (Gavin Lewis), a spineless lad who cheated on his girlfriend with Jimmy’s daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell).

Liz gets a very real taste of what it’s like when nobody is paying her mind, especially Connor and Derek, and she very much doesn’t like it. There’s a suggestion she might act out in a bad way.

Jimmy’s coworker and erstwhile boot-knockin’ partner, Gaby (Jessica Williams), finally comes to the realization she needs to give more grace to her sister, Courtney (Courtney Taylor), a reformed drug addict who has been looking after their mother and clearly needs help carrying the load. Despite her occupation as a therapist, Gaby’s headstrong nature sometimes blinds her to her own foibles.

If you watched episode 5 (spoiler warning if not), you know that Sean (Luke Tennie), a patient Jimmy has befriended while treating him, relapsed into his PTSD anger and got into a fight with some roughneck construction guys. Turns out he just let them beat on him without fighting back, and is now laid up in the hospital with serious injuries.

Oddly, Jimmy sees this as an opportunity to tackle the estrangement Sean has with his father (Kenajuan Bentley). Surprisingly, in this outreach he recruits Paul, his crusty boss played by Harrison Ford, who has criticized Jimmy’s personal, hands-on approach to therapy, aka ‘Jimmying.’ The team up to track dad down on a fishing trip and engage in a little canoe therapy.

We also get to see Brian (Michael Urie), Jimmy’s neurotic gay best friend, deepen his connection with Alice. This is paired with the episode’s biggest narrative jump-ahead, an encounter with the man who killed Alice’s mom in a drunk driving accident, played by Brett Goldstein. He’s lingered about the fringes of the season without even getting so much as a name — it’s Louis — but we learn a lot more about him and his journey.

As usual, I appreciated the show’s hyper-fast assault of quips and one-liners, such as Liz’ brag that despite her age, “I’m still ovulating.” “I’ll spread the word,” is the immediate retort.

Sean gets in several good ones while waking up heavily sedated with painkillers, such as getting an en masse visit from the whole gang and calls out Gaby as the other major Black character in the cast. “It’s Gaby and the white saviors!” he spits.

I understand there are 10 episodes this season, so with four to go it feels like the momentum is shifting to Liz and Alice in terms of storytelling. Gaby and Sean’s respective issues appear on the track to resolution, and my guess is Jimmy will bring things home when his own encounter with Louis comes to the fore.