I Have Serious Concerns About TV’s Biggest Toxic Positivity Hit

By TeeJay Small
| Published 1 hour ago

If you’ve got your finger on the pulse, you’ve probably already heard of Apple TV‘s Shrinking. The series, which just wrapped its third season, is the latest venture from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.

It’s packed with star-power, loaded with toxic positivity, and feels like a warm, cozy blanket if you’re spending a night inside, reminiscing about the times your tight-knit group of friends razzed each other over dinner and drinks. Despite some of the show’s major highlights, I’ve got extremely mixed feelings about Shrinking, and I can’t quite place how I’d rank it overall.

Shrinking Should Be Top Tier

For starters, Shrinking has a top-tier premise. A Southern California-based therapist grapples with the death of his wife, all while managing clients, a teenage daughter, and a growing group of supportive pals. Also, his gravelly boss is Indiana Jones.

The show features leading performances from Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller, and Harrison Ford. Rising star Luke Tennie also takes center stage in the series, which might leave you with your jaw agape if you just finished watching him on Abbott Elementary and The Pitt.

A Therapist Jimmying His Clients

Segel’s Jimmy Laird opens the series by coming out of an almost year-long fog. In the immediate aftermath of his wife’s untimely passing, he indulged in alcohol, drugs, and parties with hired women. As he tries to return to the reality of his daily grind, he struggles to reconnect with his daughter before she leaves for college. Meanwhile, Jimmy takes his therapeutic practice to bold new places by ‘Jimmying’ his clients, pushing them to make big choices both inside and outside of his office.

Former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams is my personal highlight of Shrinking, as she brings an undeniable charisma to the show. Harrison Ford is also a major bright spot, serving as Jimmy’s boss, and a reluctant mentor to pretty much every other person on screen at any given time. Some fans have suggested that this role will be Ford’s last, and if that’s the case, I couldn’t ask for a better career send-off.

A Flippant Disregard For Therapist Boundaries

Shrinking has its flaws. The most glaring issue is the show’s flippant view on the relationship between a therapist and their client.

For Jimmy, violating the ethical practices laid out for a shrink is kind of the whole point. But beyond that, the series seems to think therapy functions more like a boozy brunch than a years-long discipline. Throughout the whole series, therapists hang out with clients in social settings, offer straight-up illegal advice in place of coping mechanisms, and bring their personal problems into sessions, taking up valuable time gossiping instead of focusing on the patients.

I understand that a straightforward and realistic show about therapy would be very boring, but it just feels a little too over the top for a show with such deep themes.

The Unbearable Stench Of Wealth

The other major flaw with Shrinking is the unbearable stench of wealth. The main characters live in a very affluent neighborhood in Pasadena, where they seemingly spend every waking moment getting wine drunk, planning spur-of-the-moment vacations, driving pristinely restored classic cars, and never worrying about money at all. The least wealthy character is Luke Tennie’s Sean, and even he gets to live in Jimmy’s pool house for free.

Again, I’m not suggesting that characters on Shrinking need to be hyper-realistic or descend into abject poverty in order to be entertaining. I’m just saying, sometimes I have to grit my teeth as the characters decide on a whim to buy a car they don’t need, or give away a rental property that would cost me $4,500 per month before utilities.

Some weeks, I catch Shrinking the moment that new episodes hit Apple TV. Other times, I have to decide whether to spend my money on groceries or on paying down high-interest debt. When those weeks rear their head, the very last thing I can tolerate is a show about a wealthy man crying in his mansion.

Shrinking Will Never Be A Prestige Show

If you’re in the market for a feel-good show and don’t mind it getting occasionally so saccharine that your blood sugar spikes, Shrinking might be exactly what you need. There’s also a pretty massive How I Met Your Mother reunion couched within the second and third seasons, so it’s worth watching if you’re a longtime fan of that sitcom.

Still, Shrinking will never be a prestige show on the level of Breaking Bad, Severance, or even Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s the kind of show you throw on when you’re homesick and looking for some empty comfort. Shrinking is currently streaming on Apple TV.

SHRINKING SERIES REVIEW SCORE