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At first glance, a mid-October release date seems like an odd choice for the sunny second season of Apple TV+‘s feel-good dramedy Shrinking. Indeed, there’s nary a cobweb nor jack-o’-lantern to be found in season 2’s first two episodes that premiered on October 16. As a certain coach in another Apple TV+ feel-good dramedy could tell you, however: it’s not only about how you start, but how you finish. And Shrinking season 2 is scheduled to finish its 12-episode run on Christmas Day, December 25.
“It is not just a happy coincidence,” co-creator Bill Lawrence tells Den of Geek about season 2’s finale date. “Shrinking [season 2] does, in fact, end on a major winter holiday. But it’s not Christmas. A show that’s often about found family ends with Thanksgiving.”
Shrinking actress, music supervisor, and Lawrence’s better half Christa Miller even adds that they have the perfect song picked out for the occasion: “There’s a song in the first episode that we have a reprise of in the finale, which is being written to the song. That’s always great.”
A Thanksgiving episode on Christmas is the perfect way for Shrinking to conclude the second chapter of its ongoing story. Created by Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein (who joins the cast in season 2) alongside comedy star Jason Segel, Shrinking follows grieving therapist Jimmy Laird’s (Segel) road to recovery following his wife’s death. Like many other Lawrence-produced sitcoms – Scrubs, Cougar Town, and the aforementioned Ted Lasso – Shrinking finds both laughter and pathos in the warmth of the communal experience. The show may have begun with Jimmy on an emotional island, just emerging from a lengthy bender, but it doesn’t take long for him to find refuge in his Southern California community of neighbors, friends, co-workers, and even several of his patients.
The series’ ability to balance the acute trauma of its central character with honest-to-goodness sitcom jokes earned it a formidable fanbase in season 1. According to co-creator and star Jason Segel, those fans should appreciate that balance even more in season 2.
“You play all of these things as realistically as possible. But when you see a chance for a joke, or you see a chance for a little spin, you explore that area,” Segel says of Shrinking‘s approach to both comedy and drama. “You’ll edit it out if it’s not right but a lot of times those are the most effective laughs. When someone’s in the middle of a hard conversation and someone says something funny, it’s a big laugh because your guard is down.”
Jimmy is less alone in season 2, for better and worse. His once-strained relationship with his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) has recovered as have his ties with neighbors Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley), best friend Brian (Michael Urie), former patient Sean (Luke Tennie), and senior colleague/father figure Dr. Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford). One rather complicated dynamic remains, however, in the form of his newly sexual relationship with co-worker (and his deceased wife’s dear friend) Gaby (Jessica Williams).
Banging your dead wife’s bestie is obviously an emotionally fraught scenario that Shrinking season 2 finds plenty of drama in. True to the series’ nature though, it also finds plenty of laughs as well – many of which derive from the 6’0″ Jessica Williams being one of the few actors that the 6’4″ Segel hasn’t physically towered over in his career. Early on Gaby jokes that Jimmy is her only sexual partner tall enough to “69” with.
“Sometimes I watch these episodes and I’m like ‘You giant monster,’” Segel jokes about himself. “When I’m doing a scene with Lukita and we’re standing next to each other, I look like Gandalf. When I’m doing scenes with Jessica, it’s really a relief because I feel like a normal human man.”
Another element that continues to help Shrinking maintain a healthy comedic/dramatic equilibrium in its second season is the presence of Harrison Ford as Dr. Paul Rhoades. As both the show’s creators and fans discovered to their delight in season 1, the legendary actor is as good at comedy as he is at seemingly everything else.
“We’re never gonna have another Harrison Ford,” Lawrence says. “A career highlight for me has been earning that guy’s trust. He’s been on enough sets in his life that he is understandably slow to warm. He wants to see if people know what they’re doing and if it’s going to work. He is a gamer, and so damn inspiring, even for me as a guy that’s getting long in the tooth in this business. To watch him go ‘Hey, if you want to grab a drink, I only got 48 hours before I go do this Marvel movie, and then another 48 hours before I go to Austin to do 1923.’ It’s bananas, man.”
When said found family includes literally Harrison Ford, one can see why Shrinking wants to stage a big found family gathering. What better way to do so then with a Thanks-mas/Christ-giving celebration?
The first two episodes of Shrinking season 2 are available to stream on Apple TV+ now. New episodes premiere Wednesdays, culminating with a finale on yes, December 25.
The post Shrinking Season 2 Has Plans For A Holiday Finale With Found Family appeared first on Den of Geek.
