What I’m Watching: Shrinking

Shrinking: Season 1, Episode 6 “Imposter Syndrome” (B+)

This show is very funny, but it’s even better when it reaches dramatic territory. Those moments in which Jimmy flashed back to painful memories before his wife died were very powerful, and I like that Gaby was prepared to rub in his face that she had found a photo from just before her death that showed her looking at Jimmy with a clearly loving expression. I did think that they were going to end up sleeping together given how Gaby was obsessing about feeling something for a man and Jimmy was just all-around lost, vomiting profusely while he was supposed to be helping Brian with his proposal. While Brian got very worked up about it and was not at all happy about the unplanned duet with Jimmy, Christopher was very sweet and accepted even when Brian didn’t quite ask him. Paul showing up at just that moment with some unsolicited advice was surprisingly endearing, and I love that he got to bond with Liz over the course of the episode as even Liz acknowledged that Derek wasn’t all that relevant, dismissing him as a waiter rather than remind the many people in her life that he’s actually her husband. Meg’s impending visit is sure to still be difficult, but now at least Paul has found some way of coping with it. Sean was very comforting to Alice when she ran upstairs following Jimmy confronting her about drinking, but now she’s going to be in very bad shape after Sean rejected her kiss. He’s not innocent in all this, clearly flirting with her and leading her on when he knew the whole time that a relationship between the two of them would have been very inappropriate.

What I’m Watching: The Capture

The Capture: Season 2, Episode 5 “Imposter Syndrome” (B+)

I like this episode’s title, which doesn’t even begin to capture the head-spinning nature of its revelations. I can appreciate that, after so much intrigue, we finally get definitive answers not just about who’s behind everything but also about why it’s happening. In an increasingly polarized world, it makes sense that the goal of any political campaign would be to present a candidate who can appeal to just about anyone. You’d think that conflicting stories about someone would mean that a voter would decide to support someone else because of that candidate’s inconsistency, but I suppose that people gravitate towards positive examples they like more than negative ones. Seeing that process work in the country of Georgia underlines its universality, and how a place like the UK is among the most influential testing grounds where Isaac could be positioned into a leadership trajectory that didn’t even need the real him’s buy-in. He’s certainly cut Rachel off as she’s starting to figure out what’s happening, and realizing the Knox connection came sadly too late. I knew she wasn’t going to be killed off but things did not look good when she was hiding in that elevator, and now she’s presumably going to meet whoever it is that’s bankrolling all of this and eager to suppress her potential to expose all of it. The concept of de-correction is also deeply problematic, as evidenced by her seeing the Russian assassin without his mask on, something she knows didn’t happen yet is being put plainly before her eyes as if it should be totally credible.