Jimmy is a broken psychotherapist whose wife died a year ago. This event has completely thrown him off balance and forced him to go to all sorts of trouble: destructive behavior, the services of sex workers, and most importantly, problems at work.
Tired of self-pity, he takes a strong-willed, but rather dangerous decision – now he prefers to tell his clients only the truth and nothing but it.
No streamlined formulations in the vein of “your husband beats you, you should change your attitude to the situation” – only specifics: “pack your things and leave him immediately. Suddenly, this leads to some success, but the effect is temporary – at least until the moment when the angry husband of the same patient does not come to hit the face of a damned psychotherapist.
If this story interests you and you do not want any spoilers, download the series on pirate proxy, and we go on to discuss the plot in more detail. We should start by taking apart the structure of the series.
Series Structure
It feels like a big bet on Shrinking Apple TV – after all, it’s a new show from the creators of their biggest hit, the soccer comedy Ted Lasso) and, therefore, inevitably attracts a lot of attention.
These features are felt from the very first frames:
- Combining drama with comedy.
- An eccentric and highly emotional protagonist (comedian Jason Segel overplays at times, but quite appropriately)
- A zest for life that shines through even the darkest corners of human existence.
Truth be told, if you’re expecting as armor-piercing humor as Ted Lasso’s, you’re in for a disappointment: Less funny in a show about overcoming inner tragedy, and Shrinking truly reveals itself in its “serious” moments.
Cast and Сharacters
The main star here, of course, is veteran movie actor (and almost TV debutant) Harrison Ford as the main character’s mentor, the somber and dry psychotherapist Paul, struggling with the progressive Parkinson’s disease.
He shamelessly steals scenes from everyone: with his charisma, his ability to stay in the frame without breaking into acting tantrums like Jason Segel’s character, and his wide range of emotions – the case when a character’s smile sometimes gives away more information about him than thousands of words.
In general it’s not Jimmy who should be the protagonist here – he’s not the most interesting character, at least according to the first episodes.
Too straightforward – yes, that’s the essence of the plot, but there should be intrigue in the character himself. And if there isn’t, you need outstanding charisma, which Jimmy especially does not have: he is not revealed either as a therapist, as a spouse in the past, or as a father (the relationship with the teenage daughter before the series began went down the drain).
Related Movies
The curious concept of “tell only the truth” doesn’t seem all that new either.
There was, for example, the antipode movie The Invention of Lying with another comedian, Ricky Gervais, only there the hero, on the contrary, lived in a world where the ability to lie was a superpower; with him also came out a dark series After life where the hero did what he wanted to do. In short, Shrinking doesn’t have a lot of winning sides, and yet it’s a pleasure to watch in its way.
Just don’t expect anything special, and then a session of serial brainwashing will pass quickly, without tension or much disappointment.
