‘Shrinking’ Hasn’t Lost A Step In Its Season 2 Premiere

Shrinking is a fantastic comedy that is sometimes so funny its depth sneaks up on you. This was true in Season 1 and it’s immediately true here in Season 2, which debuts with Episodes 1 & 2 and is a reminder of just how good this series is.

“Jimmying”, opens with what is essentially a reassurance that we are indeed following on very directly from the Season 1 finale. In case you need a reminder, there are a couple of things we need to be paying very close attention to. One is Grace’s legal status after pushing her husband, Donny, down a hill, ostensibly at Jimmy’s behest. Another is the burgeoning relationship between Jimmy and Gaby, which Liz is trying to talk the latter out of with daily affirmations reminding her that Jimmy isn’t ready for anything serious. And then there’s Paul and Julie, who are so happy they’re spending their mornings dancing.

Despite Brian having agreed to represent Grace pro bono, she blames Jimmy for her current predicament, which is understandable since he also blames himself for his unconventional therapy methods. Since he’s waking up all the time with terrible nightmares wherein Paul boops him off a hill, it’s recommended he focuses on more conventional ways of doing his job — at least until Grace’s trial is over.

Jimmying

Sean calls Jimmy’s unusual techniques “Jimmying”, which Jimmy likes and tries to float among all his patients in the hope it becomes some kind of minor movement. But Sean, who’s worried about an old buddy from his military unit coming to town and dredging up old memories, could clearly benefit from the approach.

So, too, could Alice, who having seen Jimmy’s recent behavior is hyper-fixating on him in the fear that he’s going to internally collapse again, as he did after Tia died. Jimmying might be legally ill-advised, but it’s the thing that helped Jimmy rediscover himself, so he promises Alice he’ll keep doing it.

His efforts with Sean lose him a couple of teeth but don’t lead to any major breakthroughs, which kind of proves Paul’s point. He’s forced to confess that Jimmy did fail with one of his patients, and Sean, who now lives with him and works for his neighbor, is it. Jimmy has created an entire life for him to hide from his trauma in. And the fact he doesn’t go to see his old Army buddy proves that, despite his progress, he isn’t really getting better.

Ted McGinley in Shrinking | Image via Apple TV+

The Drunk Driver

And that means Jimmy isn’t either. This idea comes to fruition at the end of Episode 1 when the drunk driver who killed Tia comes to the office to apologize to Jimmy personally, and he just loses it. When he returns home, Alice once again recognizes the tell-tale signs of a man on the brink. Having been forced to give up Sean as a patient and been reminded that he is not quite over the trauma he pretends to have dealt with, the main person who needs Jimmying now is himself.

This continues in Shrinking Season 2, Episode 2, “I Love Pain”, but it takes different forms. Jimmy initially keeps his visit from the drunk driver from Alice because he can’t think of how to tell her, and when he finally gets around to it he makes a giant, hilarious mess at first until he’s able to get the words out.

But Alice dwells on it. Her friend Summer advises that she write a letter to the man, with no intention of sending it, and this is a good enough idea that Jimmy indulges in the practice as well. But it doesn’t make much difference. At the end of Episode 2, when Alice finally decides to take the car out after getting her license, she parks outside the drunk driver’s house and just watches him through the window.

Paul Is (Almost) Always Right

There’s plenty more going on in the first two episodes of Shrinking Season 2, but they do a really good job of weaving the subplots together very organically. One of the areas we see the most early development is in Paul, who is not only getting along swimmingly with Julie but has, to his horror, realized that he loves her.

Luke Tennie | Image via Apple TV+

Paul is used to being right, and Jimmy is used to Paul being right, which allows for a very nice moment (again, towards the end of Episode 2) when Paul acknowledges that he isn’t always the smartest person in the room, even if he doesn’t confess it to Jimmy. Having taken on Sean as a client, Paul is forced to drop his “favorite”, Raymond, an older guy who has long since processed all of his trauma and at this point just pays Paul to hang out with him. When Paul ended their professional relationship, he refused to strike up a personal one because it would be unethical. Jimmy reminds him that he doesn’t always need to adhere to every letter of the rulebook. At the end of “I Love Pain”, Paul meets Ray for a drink.

But, to be fair, Paul was right about Sean. When he finds himself reluctantly agreeing to take part in an interview with a food blogger Liz met, Paul reminds Sean that he’s running away from his problems rather than meeting them head-on. Sean can’t pluck up the courage to tell Liz the truth — that he’s uncomfortable making the food truck’s success about him being a veteran — and tries to treat Paul like he does Jimmy, bothering him outside of office hours in the hope of a magical solution. Paul keeps things professional and leaves him to rely on the coping mechanisms he taught him, which leads to a nice moment between Sean and Liz and the most meaningful progress Sean has made on his therapy journey thus far.

Jimmy and Gaby Hit A Rough Patch

The only real downbeat subplot of the first two episodes is Jimmy and Gaby. Despite their friends-with-benefits arrangement going swimmingly enough, Gaby is much more emotionally invested than she believes Jimmy is capable of, and her efforts to call things off finally manifest in Episode 2.

But despite the initial parting being amicable, the confusion only intensifies after. A lot of the stress revolves around Jimmy’s underwear, but it’s more complicated than that. Jimmy doesn’t seem to know what he wants. His turning up at Gaby’s place with a care package under the guise of a friendly gesture is undermined when Gaby discovers he’s wearing the pants he knows she likes. It’s manipulative, and the lines are blurred still further.

I’m not thrilled about these developments because I love these characters, but I am thrilled that Shrinking is back with us. It was one of Apple TV+’s most slept-on shows in its first season and, if this premiere is anything to go by, it’s only getting better.