Wednesday, February 15, 2023

What I’m Watching: Shrinking

Shrinking: Season 1, Episode 4 “Potatoes” (B+)

I love the investment in the supporting characters on this show and those who can’t even be considered supporting but still get some fun moments. Derek is a great example, peeing in the bushes in the morning and then offering to kick Jimmy’s ass for his wife, only to express gratitude that he doesn’t have to since he loves that guy. It was fun to meet Connor, Liz’s son who’s home from college and apparently slept with Alice, something that Jimmy had trouble being a “cool dad” about and which wasn’t made any better by Connor concluding that he should have asked Jimmy’s permission. Gaby and Liz hating each other is a great subplot, and I’m glad that they had the chance to drink together and share sex stories that made them feel much closer. Brian also being ignored by Paul makes some sense, and it was great to meet Paul’s daughter Meg, played by the lovely Lily Rabe (one of the first actresses I interviewed over Zoom just over two years ago for her role in “The Undoing”), who doesn’t know that he has Parkinson’s. Paul and Gaby singing along to the music in the car on the way to work was a highlight, as was the look on Jimmy’s face when he woke up in the guest house after hearing Alice call Sean beautiful. That therapy situation is already very complicated and not working all that well, and Alice having an attraction to him, even if it’s not reciprocated, is going to drive Jimmy crazy.

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