Shrinking SN2 Ep8

Liz and Derek navigate their new relationship challenges; Jimmy finally faces the specter of his wife's killer; and Paul gets some sobering news about his Parkinson's.

It’s interesting that we’ve gotten two-thirds of the way through the second season of “Shrinking” without a really clear portrait of Jimmy’s dead wife, Tia. She’s loomed like a ghost over the show, a presence but not present.

We’ve seen her in photos and I believe very brief flashbacks, but in SN2 Episode 8, “Last Drink,” we finally get to spend some significant screen time with her. Played by Lilan Bowden, she’s a warmhearted presence and a loving match for show protagonist Jimmy (Jason Segel). They share some of the bantering humor we’ve seen him use with his friends, but with a romantic tinge.

We also get some dynamic between them and their daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), and in a fortunate bit of casting, mother and daughter actually resemble each other quite a bit.

It’s part of a long section to start the episode, that goes back three years to when Tia was alive, takes us again through her death, but also adds some connective tissue of the time between then and the present. We see more of Jimmy’s total emotional abandonment of Alice during his grief.

There is also a section with Brian (Michael Urie) and Gaby (Jessica Williams) in the before-time, as well as some interaction with Paul (Harrison Ford) before he and Jimmy and gone through the rapprochement that’s brought them closer.

Speaking of Paul, the issue of his Parkinson’s Disease has been a bit ignored this season, so when he starts to incur some more serious effects, that leads to a visit with the doctor. She delivers some sobering news that will impact his lifestyle.

Probably the biggest thing to happen narrative-wise in “Long Drink” is Jimmy having a prolonged encounter with Louis, the man who killed Tia in a drunk driving accident, played by Brett Goldstein. If you’ll recall, at the end of episode 7 Jimmy discovered that Alice and Brian had been secretly meeting with Louis, and even built enough of a relationship to share laughs together.

Without giving away too much, Jimmy is not nearly in that place yet, but decides to go visit Louis and hash some things out.

Derek (Ted McGinley) also takes it upon himself and pay a visit to the guy who’s been macking on his wife, Liz (Christa Miller), leading to their recent schism. He goes to the guy’s microbrewery with the intent of giving him a piece of mind and maybe his fists. But in typical Derek mode, he’s such a sweet-natured guy that things take a lighter turn.

I suppose some could argue that SN2 of “Shrinking” has had a bit of an up-and-down feel, with different characters coming to the fore with their issues while others recede. For example, Sean (Luke Tennie), recently released from the hospital, has very little screen time this go-round.

But this freewheeling, organic nature of the plotting also lends the sense of hanging out with a disparate group of people interacting in unplanned, chaotic ways. I really enjoy sitting down with these folks, laughing at and with them, focusing on their problems instead of my own.