Shrinking Apple TV Series Review
Shrinking Apple TV Series is a great fictional look into what happens when a licensed therapist takes an unusual route to heal his patients. I started watching this thinking it would be a gory look into the state of things in mental health wellness, but ended up pleasantly surprised by the wholesome entertainment it offered.
The Plot of the Shrinking Apple TV Series
When Jimmy Laird, a psychologist undergoes a traumatic event in his life, he and his daughter must pick up the pieces and move on. He begins his healing journey by helping his patients through their mental health issues through unconventional methods that aren't legally or ethically sanctioned. This is the story of Jimmy, his neighbors, colleagues, patients, and the other people whose lives he touches for better or worse.
The series starts out as fresh cereal in a bowl, but with time and more episodes, it does get slightly soggy. But it is enjoyable throughout regardless. The jokes here are really good and spontaneous - in the sense that they are organic and flow well. The episode length is also right with just a little over 30 minutes.
Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein, and Bill Lawrence are the brilliant writers behind this series and it shows. Lawrence and Goldstein have worked together successfully to give us the heartwarming tale of Ted Lasso and Jason Segel, is well, Jason Segel!
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However, the writing does become stale and slightly problematic when they resort to age-old story arcs and stereotypes like the lead sleeping with the best friend, the gay BFF, and the well-intentioned yet abrasive neighbor. If they had gotten more creative with the story elements the series would have been more enjoyable.
Background Score and Visuals
The background music gives the episodes a great narrative feel and drenches the whole series in a pleasantness filter like one of those sepia photo filters.
The series has also a great soundtrack and has introduced me to Ben Abraham with his great track Never Been Better. There are so many other songs that are mellow and pleasant like iced tea on a beautiful day.
The intro sequence is interesting and probably symbolizes the process of therapy where the therapist guides the patient through the maze of their own emotions to reach their real selves - or something like that. You can also see other people dealing with their issues in their own way, with a lady walking on stilts to get to the center of the topiary maze, another person burrowing into the earth to either escape from something or repressing it, and so on.
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What you also see is a person on a lawnmower razing a topiary right to the center with a line of people following him. It probably symbolizes Segel breaking ethics and even laws to help his patients get through their problems. When they zoom out of the topiary it turns out to be an outline of the human brain.
Portrayal of Therapy in Shrinking Series
The psychologist breaks several fundamental rules that therapists need to follow. I have a friend whose psychiatrist is so clear on ethics that she once corrected him on the fact that she isn't a therapist ( or psychologist ) but a psychiatrist. The difference is subtle but it's significant.
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Socializing with patients is a strict no-no, Segel does that in spades. It ruins the sterile environment of a therapy space. Therapy is akin to a lab experiment where the conditions need to be mostly the same so that the variable being monitored can be accurately measured. In therapy, the therapist and patient work together to isolate the mental health issue that is hindering them from leading a full life.
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What's accurate is the patient's issues - one patient has an anger management issue, another one has a problem with her partner and yet another person has a compulsion to hold her breath under certain circumstances. Yet another person is agoraphobic and anti-social, avoiding any human interaction as much as possible.
Cast of Shrinking Apple TV Series
The entire cast consists of great actors who share amazing chemistry with each other and this comes across really well in the series.
Christa Miller as Liz plays the warm neighbor who takes on the responsibility of Segel's daughter. After seeing her on Scrubs and Cougar Town, I am used to seeing her play a feisty personality with a heart of gold.
Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird probably anchors the whole series with his natural quirky comedic chops and probably keeps the whole series from being completely depressing. I don't know why grumpy Harrison Ford is funny, but it is hilarious. He plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a seasoned therapist colleague of Segel.
Jason Segel and Harrison Ford are an unusual combination, but they totally work. It might just be that they both are great actors or just that the casting director is that good. Their dynamic reminds me of the movie I Love You, Man, where Segel shares a similar chemistry with Paul Rudd.
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Jessica Williams as Gaby is a breath of fresh air and helps with the levity of the whole series. One of her most recent projects has been as the owner of the Roadhouse in the Roadhouse (2024) movie.
Lukita Maxwell plays Alice, Laird's estranged daughter whom he's trying to win back gradually, in his own way. She plays the character well and is fun to watch.
Michael Urie as Brian plays the unchallenging role of the gay best friend to Jason Segel in this series. His role only seems to expand to any significance in Season 2 until which he is just ornamental to the series.
Ted McGinley as Derek is likeable right from the start as the patient husband who lovingly puts up with his eccentric wife and minds his own business most of the time.
Season 1 Summary
The first few episodes of this season have Jimmy Laird dealing with some major issues in his life in an unhealthy way. Jimmy is trying to forget something terrible in his life through h@@kers, drugs, and booze while his daughter puts up with it for some reason.
You are then introduced to Dr. Paul Rhodes and Gaby, his colleagues in a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy clinic. Paul is a grumpy old man who is also incredibly entertaining as long as you're not on the receiving end of his passive-aggressive antics, and dry wit. He has a complicated relationship with his colleagues where he puts on a gruff exterior in front of them but is quite attached to and cares for them deep down.
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Jimmy hits a phase in his life and career where he says "eff it! I'm gonna do it" taking life by the horns. In this case, it translates into breaking several ethical and legal rules about a therapist fraternizing with a patient and also being proactive in his everyday life with his daughter.
Slowly but surely Jimmy begins to help his patients with his radical new approach where he makes them confront what is ailing them. This is also called exposure therapy. but never done this way as shown in the series.
Season 2 Summary
The latest season of Shrinking sees the showrunner delve deeper into the trauma that Jimmy is trying to heal from. His daughter is also seen making progress in the same direction. Paul Rhodes is revealed to have a serious medical condition which he is shown to handle gracefully. Paul opens up a bit more this season and reaches out to his colleagues and friends for help, even if it is begrudgingly ( which is adorable might I add ).
You see more of Liz in this series, along with her Derek who after 26 years is facing problems in their marriage that are unexpected to them and might come as a surprise to the audience as well.
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Brett Goldstein as Louis has a fair bit of screen time as well in this season that is linked to Jimmy's trauma in a major way. You get to see his versatility as an actor in this series while still writing himself in as a person of British descent.
There is a lot of feel-good stuff in this season, where character arcs come full circle, lessons are learned and personal growth is had for most characters in the series.
Should You Watch It? Yes!
This is a great series that anyone can watch and walk away feeling good. It has good writing and an amazing cast that delivers great acting, along with pleasant visuals, and music.
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