I have serious problems with Shrinking‘s proposal’s lack of ethics, both as a patient and a future therapist, but I continue to follow the series and realize that, in some way, it is also trying to get it right. Since it comes from a part of the team involved in Ted Lasso, my expectations were higher, but it distracts and entertains, which is the goal of any storyteller.

The premise is to follow a psychoanalyst, Jimmy, who is a wreck after the traumatic death of his wife (drinking, using drugs, ignoring his teenage daughter) until one day he decides that he “can’t stand it anymore that his patients are stuck in a moment without changing their lives” – which means that he no longer uses or believes in the analytical process – he starts to interfere in people’s lives in an “unconventional” way that is, in fact, criminal. Among the ups and downs of the first season, we end up with a patient murdering her abusive husband on Jimmy’s own advice. How about it?

Well, since it’s a comedy and supposedly light, when we come back there’s no murder (just injuries) and Jimmy agrees to go back to work within the rules, thankfully, leaving the therapy room and entering his and his best friends’ personal lives. The group is neurotic and pathological, but in California’s light, colorful, and perfect life, everything seems like the sun that constantly shines: peaceful and positive. But it’s not. There are dramas of love, mental health, personal and professional conflicts, etc. Like every series. And here I say: thank goodness we have Gaby!

Gaby is Jimmy’s work partner, his late wife’s best friend, and, after unexpectedly getting involved with him, his romantic interest. Dedicated to work and with a complex but coherent personal life, Gaby is always the best on screen.

Played by Jessica Williams, it’s Gaby who moves between the internal and external groups of Jimmy’s life, always with good jokes and humor. When she’s on screen, the series always gets better.

Jessica made her TV debut as a teenager as a series regular on Nickelodeon’s Just for Kicks in 2006, and at just 22 years old, she was the youngest senior correspondent on The Daily Show. She later found success as a co-host of the podcast 2 Dope Queens and starred in the movies as Professor Lally Hicks in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trilogy, among other highlights. With great comedic timing, everything Shrinking says sounds authentic and funny. So much so that she has already been nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress.

In the series’ shift to a family situation, Shrinking has yet to tease us with a major twist concluding the season, which is on the way. Will Gaby save the day? I would love to have her as a therapist!

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