What I’m Watching: Shrinking

Shrinking: Season 1, Episode 5 “Woof” (B+)

I love the character dynamics on this show and how everything is so complicated by other factors. Gaby could barely contain her excitement at Paul coming in to talk to her about his patients but quickly realized that he was only there because he wasn’t talking to Jimmy, and she wasn’t about to be anyone’s sloppy seconds. Alice was the one who got him to show up and be there for Jimmy, albeit in a way that still found him calling him a schmuck and helping Sean to open up in the process. Opening up about not telling his daughter about his Parkinson’s was very vulnerable, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more of Meg in the near future as she grapples with this bombshell news about her father’s health. Brian has plenty to work out also, apparently always on the verge of proposing to Charlie but never going through with it, and Gaby didn’t bother to pretend not to be ecstatic and overjoyed when he came in to be her patient. These friends and colleagues definitely have some serious boundary issues related to their personal and professional lives, but it’s a lot of fun to watch. The newfound friendship between Liz and Gaby is terrific especially because they still don’t see eye to eye on certain things, like Liz’s obsession with rocks. I enjoy Alice’s park bench meetings with Paul most, and I loved Paul’s insistence that he’s always mad and he’s always sitting, two things that are very possible to do at the same time.