Crippling Season 2 Review — “Appointment Viewing”

Stream on: AppleTV+

Episodes viewed: 11 of 12

Successfully sneaked a weekly dose of therapy into three seasons of a football sitcom Ted LassoApple has cut out the middle man with the first season of Shrink. The show (from Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel) introduced us to psychotherapist Jimmy Laird (Segel). Still grieving the loss of his wife, Jimmy decides to deceive his patients and tell them what he really thinks – much to the chagrin of colleagues Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Paul (Harrison Ford).

In many ways Shrink‘s first outing replicated the experience of therapy quite closely—if not so much in content, then certainly in form. The first throes were a little tense, a little quick to overcompensate for trauma dumping with awkward humor, and a little slow to really open up and let moments of sincerity and vulnerability penetrate its sardonic armor. But by the end of Season 1, it really felt like we were starting to make some progress with Jimmy, with his coworkers and his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell), and with his clients. Now that Lawrence, Goldstein and Segel have done the necessary, if occasionally arduous, foundational work, both their perseverance and our perseverance will be richly rewarded by the greater depths explored – and greater heights reached – in Season 2.

If Shrink“The first block of television therapy was all about grief and Jimmy’s journey back to living in the moment, rogue therapy tactics and all. Then, this second season is consumed with the altogether more opaque idea of ​​forgiveness – of the struggles that come with trying to reconcile with the past when you’ve only just begun to make peace with a new present. It’s a challenging idea to tackle, with Segel adding new textures – of self-doubt, combustible fear, anger, even – to his idiotic, heartbroken father, whose journey takes unexpected, daring turns as this series progresses.

Harrison Ford gets just as much heavy lifting to do the second time around, whose creepy psychiatrist Paul Rhoades was the real revelation of the first season. And the eighty-year-old acting icon continues to play Paul’s struggle with his progressive Parkinson’s disease beautifully and modestly. To call his work here one of the most emotionally visceral and vulnerable works of his career may sound hyperbolic, but it is entirely accurate. His quiet grace and palpable fear as Paul’s tremors worsen, his smoldering chemistry with Wendie Malick’s Julie, and a vulnerable moment shared with Segel in the penultimate episode that would thaw even the coldest of hearts all speak for a performance – and a role – quite unlike anything Ford has played before. At the same time, it’s also a part that continues to emphasize Ford’s comedic qualities – the sight of the man who gave us Indiana Jones and Han Solo and said, “Do you want me to pull down my pants and slap my ass?” is just one of them several instantly iconic new Paul moments in season 2.

It’s worth pointing out that it is a lot of continues here as the show makes the jump from a ten to twelve episode series. Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek’s (Ted McGinley) marriage is on the rocks; Sean’s (Luke Tennie) recovery from post-military PTSD is complicated by the return of his estranged father; and Jimmy’s friends Brian (Michael Urie) and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) have a very strange adoption arc as the series progresses. But even if it can sometimes feel like old habits die hard for the show, with too many disparate plot threads begging to be woven into the otherwise tight 30-minute tapestry, Lawrence and co keep things focused by continuing to invest in the core. characters we’ve already come to know and love (yes, Jessica Williams remains a shining light as the indefatigable Gaby – and yes, expect more carpool karaoke with Paul), seamlessly integrating the series’ newcomers in a way which broadens rather than mud Shrink‘s horizon moves forward.

The most powerful among the newcomers mentioned is Brett Goldstein’s Louis, a figure from Jimmy and Alice’s past who plays a crucial role in their journey to peace with their trauma. Goldstein’s courageous subversion of his Roy Kent persona Ted Lasso sees the actor bringing real nuance and rawness to a figure whose success as a character depends entirely on the empathy he generates.

There’s only so much power you can expect from a show with episodes titled “Psychological Something-isms” and “I Love Pain,” and despite the richer stories told the second time around, the dial is still firmly set to “bright and airy’. last series of episodes. This works very well in the Schitts Creek form of what we might call ‘aspirational realism’ – and viewer mileage will no doubt continue to vary, especially when it comes to the resolutions of certain arcs about Jimmy’s clientele from the first series. But two seasons later, armed with a cadre of relatable characters, consistently sharp writing, and an infectious confidence in our ability to make peace with our shortcomings and overcome our traumas, Shrink has become appointment viewing.