Shrink
In a lonely place
Season 2 Episode 6
Editor’s rating: 4 stars****
Image: Apple TV+
Well, the entire first half of this season was built around this moment: the first real conversation between Alice and the man who killed her mother while driving under the influence. It’s refreshing to see it get to this point at the halfway mark, though I suspect it will take Jimmy a lot longer to warm to the idea of chatting with Louis.
Brian is the one facilitating the meeting, of course. He’s been hanging out with Louis a lot lately, and he seems to be in desperate need of an emotional outlet during the stress of the adoption process. I would like more information on Brian’s point here; Seeking endless confirmation from the man responsible for the death of one of your close friends is pretty wild, even if you’re sympathetic enough to acknowledge his remorse and forgiveness. What does Charlie think of this unconventional friendship, if he knows about it?
Brian breaks the news to Alice after seeing the “sorry” sticky note Louis left in Alice’s wallet, though it takes a lot of willpower to get the words out. Some of the comedy in the monologue about Lewis isn’t quite for me, frankly – a slightly maniacal Michael Urie goes a long way in this role – but I’ll give him props for his dedication to all this anxious contortion and contortion. Throughout this episode. I imagine it’s very funny to some people!
After hearing about Louis’s supposedly “requiem for a dismal dream”, Alice demands to see him immediately. The conversation in Lewis’ apartment serves as an early emotional climax of the season, though I wish the episode had stuck to it as one extended scene rather than jumping into multiple other characters’ stories. Alice is in the lead: She doesn’t know exactly what she’s looking for here. Louis guides her to the answer, pointing to the letter she wrote to him. This gets the ball rolling for the feelings you need to express. Even putting aside the overwhelming sadness, this man completely changed her life, and changed the way people treated her.
Louis then surprised Alice by asking to hear a story about her mother. He thought about this moment for a long time – how he was going to try to apologize or explain his actions – but nothing could undo what he had done. All he can do is make an effort to understand the people he hurt and try to keep Tia’s memory alive. In a strange way, he has something in common with Alice and Jimmy. They are all part of this same tragedy – Lewis may have been on the other end, but it has had as disastrous an impact on his mental health as anyone else’s.
Alice shares a story about how her mother bought three Goofy hats on a trip to Disneyland, one to cheer up the kid whose ice cream she knocked over earlier that day. She thanks Louis for reminding her of that memory, and in doing so forgives him. It’s somewhat unbelievable that Alice could move so quickly, but keep in mind that she had been thinking about this for a while, ever since she first heard the news from her father that Lewis had shown up at the office. I really liked when Alice said, “That’s what my mother would do.” Tia is her biggest inspiration and the person who pushes her to become a better person.
The other main story in “In a Lonely Place” is a more traditional comedic one: Paul gives in and tries to get treatment in the Jimmy way when it comes to Sean’s father. Again, it’s easier to enjoy this kind of story when you abandon any expectation of realism and treat Shrinking as a weird, intense sitcom about unconventional therapists. Overall, I think Paul’s by-thebooks approach is pretty essential to the series, and I’m still dismissive of the idea that most of Jimmy’s methods are actually useful or ethical. But putting him in a scenario like this is fun and new.
Shawn getting beaten up at the end of the last episode was a dark moment, but the deflation never allows the story to stay serious for too long. When we next see him, he’s bereft and idiotic in the hospital, distributing harsh truths to all his friends during their visit. (Most amusing and mean is his reaction to Brian’s arrival: “You shouldn’t have a baby. You’d be a terrible father.”) But his father hasn’t been seen since Sean woke up. Jimmy and Paul’s mission is to make Tim understand what’s going on with his son or at least get back to the hospital and confront him.
Jimmying takes place at Lake Balboa, where our individual healers canoe to Tim’s usual fishing spot and ambush him with their pro-healing agenda. However, they only succeed in reaching Tim by eventually putting aside their therapist identities (which is not difficult, considering the unprofessional behavior) and talking father to father with him. Paul opens up about his breakup with Meg; Jimmy talks about his absence in the year following Tia’s death; Tim finally admits that he didn’t know how to help Sean when he returned from Afghanistan. His final apology to Shawn for his defensiveness is a sweet moment, and it feels like the two are finally making some serious progress for the first time.
This episode resolves many of the season’s conflicts, and addresses many complex relationships: Sean and his father, Gabe and her sister, and Alice and the man who killed my mother. Of all the cast members now, Liz’s problems are the hardest to pinpoint, and I don’t mean that as a knock on the show. From the beginning, Liz’s biggest struggle was finding ways to occupy her time as an empty-nester, with little hobbies and passion projects to satisfy her desires. Starting a business with Shawn really gave her the purpose she was lacking, but now that she’s no longer involved in it, her life is emptier than ever. At least he got Connor around the house, gave her someone else to take care of, but now he’s back at school, so there are fewer distractions. The shelter wouldn’t even let her hang up pictures of her dog.
Liz has a lot to be grateful for, of course, from her extraordinarily supportive extended friend group to her happy family to her money and privileges – but there’s a lot of guilt that comes with feeling miserable despite having everything you need. “My problems aren’t real,” she told Gabi. Derek didn’t seem to get it. They talk briefly and he’s off to run an errand, but he doesn’t feel like she wants him to stay longer and talk things over. Maybe that’s why she turns to her ex-husband, Mac, who takes the time to look at pictures of her dog and compliment her. If Derek continues to ignore that something is wrong, who knows how far Liz could go? They are running out of ways to fill the void.
• Gabby would always attend her mother’s cataract surgery, come on. But it’s a big growth moment to see her freeing Courtney from her obligations and encouraging her to find something for herself — as long as it’s three months from now, just to give Gabby enough time to figure out her mommy game plan.
• “It hit me, then it hit me.”
• “Thanks for the long, silent ride.”
• I know Louis didn’t feel the need to explain much about his past, but I hope (and assume) we get a greater sense of his life outside of the general guilt and depression. We learn that he has a fiancée and they broke up, most likely after the accident.
• High school senior Jimmy flipped while rafting on the lazy river at Mandalay Bay.
• Jimmy should be fired for kissing Paul’s hand like that.
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