The makers of Ted Lasso have blessed us with a new series starring Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, and Jessica Williams as therapists who work in an office together. Segel is Jimmy, a man who lost his wife in the not-too-distant past and has spiraled into a mess of booze, depression, and distraction. His teenage daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), has been cared for by their nosy but loving neighbor, Liz (Christa Miller).
When Gaby (Williams) pawns off a patient—Sean (Luke Tennie), a young veteran in the throes of PTSD who is now prone to violence—something in Jimmy’s brain makes a switch. He decides to change up the way he cares for his patients, and the domino effect happens to his personal life. He’s working through his grief and trying to find forgiveness from Alice for completely checking out on her. He’s working out what it means to lose someone and how to shoulder the fact that not every aspect of their marriage was great when his wife passed.
Funny and heartwarming in all the right ways, Shrinking is feel-good meets the realities of imperfection. I hope for another season of this! (10 33-min. episodes)
—Anna Starkey
This article appears in Mar 16-23, 2023.