Is Shrinking pushing a “breeder agenda”?

How fitting is it to start off an episode of Shrinking with The Strokes’ “Bad Decisions”? That may as well work as an alternate title to this therapy-focused comedy. Besides, what are Jimmy (Jason Segel), Liz (Christa Miller), and Gaby (Jessica Williams) doing throughout any given episode other than making less than stellar choices? Alice (Lukita Maxwell) does take the cake, though. She’s just slept with her BFF’s current boy. Sure, Connor (Gavin Lewis) was into Alice first, but that still leaves her in quite a tricky spot—namely, getting out of Connor’s room in the morning without either Liz or Derek (Ted McGinley) knowing she stayed the night. 

Elsewhere, we could say that Paul (Harrison Ford) is making his own kind of “bad decisions.” Why else would he allow Sean (Luke Tennie) to bring Liz to his session? It’s a bit unorthodox even if it does give us the most fruitful odd pairing of the entire show: Watching Miller and Ford go toe to toe is kind of fabulous. She needles him as he bristles at her mere presence. And all the while, as it turns out, they manage to mend the tiff between the two regarding Liz selling his share of the food truck to Sean’s dad. It’s a sweet, funny moment that flirts with the concept of “Jimmying” (going out of the bounds of therapy) without losing sight of the purpose of such meetings. Which is to say: Even after all of that, Liz remains unconvinced she needs therapy.

You know which character I wish we got to see in a therapy session? Brian (Michael Urie). The tightly wound lawyer is a stealth scene-stealing wonder, and you know there’s plenty that lies buried under his prim and proper life—one he may be losing when he realizes his husband Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) may want to bring on a third. No, not that kind of a third. A kid! A visit from one of their friends who’s recently adopted brings up a question Brian thought had been settled long before they married: they were both happy being DINKs (double income no kids). Except Charlie says he had admitted he could do without kids (since Brian seems wildly allergic to the very idea of them) but that he’d once considered it. And maybe he is again.

That’s enough to send Brian into a tizzy. He can’t possibly now have to imagine a different life for himself, can he? I mean, he’d make a horrible parent, no? He’s selfish and self-involved. Gaby and Liz do their best at hearing his concerns but mostly they’re basically sold on the idea from the get-go, pushing their breeder agenda on poor unsuspecting Brian.

The question of fatherhood weighs heavy not just on Brian but on Sean, who now has to reckon with mending the relationship with his own father. It’s clear Sean has unresolved issues with his dad, mostly stemming from how aloof and indifferent he was to his own mental-health struggles. In a twist, Sean doesn’t disclose this directly to Paul (who’s clearly growing not just frustrated but overly concerned about Sean’s reticence to speak openly about that rift) but to Jimmy, who, despite his best intentions, cannot stay out of Sean’s life. 

Then again, watching Sean almost go apeshit on a group of construction workers being absolute dicks would be reason enough to get him to once again treat his former client/patient. That white-hot anger needs to be addressed. It cannot be pushed down. The line between therapist and close confidante is intentionally blurred between the two (much to Paul’s chagrin) but, as it happens here following that would-be altercation, it does spark the necessary disclosure Sean needs to begin working through what happened with his dad: “I told him I was struggling!” he yells in between gritted teeth. “Do you know how hard that is for me?” And yet those words had done nothing to keep his dad from ignoring the warning signs of a vet who’s suffering from PTSD and clearly needs more emotional support. It’s a breakthrough moment for them both, and one that’s played quite simply and understatedly by Segel and Tennie.

The B-plot that finds Brian unwittingly being recruited by Liz to help photograph dogs—an activity that is as adorable and as hilarious as it sounds—is neither simple nor understated. But it’s also quite obviously the kind of outing that will bring out Brian’s fatherly side once he gets too attached to a pretty mop-haired dog who sneaks out of his care (and the car) while they’re driving. Classic sitcom hijinks! Which does mean the episode kind of speeds through what is a fascinating issue facing many recently wed gay couples who do have to reckon with whether a life in a picket fenced house and a baby is what inevitably follows their nuptials. For yes, soon enough, apparently, Brian and Charlie are meeting with an adoption agent at their home which again freaks Brian out.

Could I call out Shrinking for pushing its own version of the “breeder agenda” by barely acknowledging Brian’s fears and by insisting fatherhood is some innate thing we should all aspire to? Sure. But such cloying platitudes are baked into the very DNA of the show so it feels like needless criticism, like saying your ice-cream sundae is too sweet. Of course it is. And so, after being coached by the likes of Jimmy, Liz, and most crucially, the ever warmhearted Derek, Brian seems ready to start a new journey with Charlie. 

Speaking of Dereks and new journeys, it seems Gaby’s got herself a new love interest. And yes, it includes a Derek of her own, played by Damon Wayans Jr., who rightly keys into the show’s funny and touching sensibility. A friend of Derek’s, he makes for a great match with Gaby from the beginning, and they would’ve had a perfect first date (maple bacon and Lord Of The Rings trap music in the early morning) were it not for a phone call from Gaby’s sister telling her her mother had been in accident (something Gaby would’ve known about sooner if she hadn’t been ignoring her sister’s calls). But even with their date cut short, their flirty banter is nicely setting up a romance that will hopefully keep Gaby away from Jimmy.

Alas, the episode doesn’t end on such a rosy note. Instead, it closes with Brian (with his new adopted pup on hand) coming into contact with Louis (Brett Goldstein), a.k.a. Double D (“drunk driver”), who’s there to return Alice’s wallet. She’d left it at the coffee shop when they briefly met. Brian knows who he is immediately and reacts with bottled anger, especially when Louis asks if Jimmy and Alice are okay (“Are you fucking serious?”) Only, perhaps because he’s working on that anger, he softens when he realizes it’s a curious and caring question. They’re doing better, he acknowledges, which is as bittersweet a note to end an episode as Shrinking can muster.

Stray observations

• • I cannot believe we now live in a world where Harrison Ford was tasked with uttering the line ““What do you want me to do, pull my pants down and make my ass clap?”
• • Paul’s Parkinson’s is clearly getting worse. (He can barely write notes.) But what will that mean for him going forward? And can the show lean into such heavy stuff without falling into the treacly territory it so obviously prefers?
• • If the Sean/dad storyline resonated with you, may I direct you to the recent film Exhibiting Forgiveness, which tackles similar territory and follows an artist (played by Andre Holland) who is forced to grapple with a father coming back into his life.
• • I may have to steal “I’m cool. I’m LL Cool Cool” as a go-to phrase for when people ask me if I’m cool. 
• • Damon Wayans Jr. really is an underrated comedic actor, isn’t he? Then again, we could say the same for all the Happy Endings folks.
• • In case you’re wondering, that track Gaby played for Derek is titled “Give Us The Precious (Lord Of The Rings Trap)” by 2Padre$. You’re welcome.