Arguably, Apple TV+’s best comedy, Shrinking, returned this week, and despite the year-and-a-half gap, it picked up right where it left off. Over the years, Bill Lawrence has perfected the “hangout” show, from Scrubs to Cougar Town and Ted Lasso, blending casual hangouts with workplace comedy.
My biggest fear from the season one finale—that Grace (Heidi Gardner) pushing her husband off a cliff would alter the show’s tone—thankfully proved unfounded. Grace’s husband survived, and while she awaits trial in jail, Jimmy (Jason Segel) continues their therapy sessions in the visitor’s room. This also allows Jimmy’s best friend, Brian (Michael Urie), to take on a larger role as Grace’s lawyer.
Meanwhile, Paul (Harrison Ford) is falling in love with his doctor, Julie (Wendie Malick), which they both hilariously treat as a problem that needs solving (love! gasp! What a hassle!). Gaby (Jessica Williams) has complicated feelings for her casual fling, Jimmy, which proves challenging. Liz (Christa Miller) reprises a role she’s honed across three Lawrence series: the loyal but sharp-tongued best friend, now mainly to Gaby and Sean (Luke Tennie), her food truck partner.
Jimmy also faces a dual challenge: figuring out how to preserve his friendship with Gaby despite her feelings and dealing with Sean, who represents both his biggest therapeutic success and his greatest failure. While Jimmy has helped Sean rebuild his life and career, he’s also unwittingly positioned Sean to rely heavily on Jimmy and his circle.
Spoilers
After the first season left Jimmy in a good place, the second season needed fresh psychological hurdles for both Jimmy and his daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell). Early in the premiere, while recounting his own triggers, Jimmy recalls the accident that killed his wife, Tia, and the shadowed image of the drunk driver being handcuffed.
Only at the episode’s end—when the driver who killed Tia visits Jimmy to apologize—do we see the man’s face. My heart dropped when I saw who it was. I knew Brett Goldstein—who plays Roy Kent in Ted Lasso and co-created Shrinking—would appear this season, but I didn’t expect to see him here.
The casting hit hard. Even my wife was dismayed, remarking on the uncomfortable irony of casting someone so appealing as the driver. How can one root against Roy Kent? And sure enough, by the end of the second episode, as Alice spies on the lonely man through his window, it was hard not to feel the stirrings of empathy.
No one wants to empathize with a drunk driver responsible for a death. And yet, here we are, anticipating the moral complexities if Goldstein’s character becomes part of the hangout crew. Damn you, Bill Lawrence!