I seriously cannot wait for season 2 of Shrinking. I watched the rest of the season with my family today, and I thought I was just going to watch one episode and ration out my TV time, but we ended up watching the rest of the season. And there were quite a few surprises. I had to close my eyes during episode 6, “Imposter Syndrome,” because I have an irrational fear of vomit scenes in movies and TV shows, and in this episode, Jimmy gets drunk at his friend Brian’s engagement party, and he ends up vomiting all over the piano. But I understand why Jimmy got drunk, because so many people at the engagement party kept bringing up memories of him and his late wife, Tia, who died in a car accident. He tells his co-worker and friend, Gaby, that everyone thinks that him and Tia had this beautiful life together, but when Tia was alive, their marriage was far from perfect, and we see flashbacks of them arguing.
I really kind of feel for Liz’s character, though. She really goes above and beyond for people, even when they don’t appreciate what she is doing for them. She really misses her sons, and when she takes Alice under her wing, she really looks after her, so of course it was hurtful when Liz made a big taco dinner for her and Alice to enjoy together, only to have Alice not come to the dinner. There have definitely been times in my life when someone has gone above and beyond to do a favor for me, but I don’t reciprocate, or they make plans and I bail out. I have learned that this isn’t exactly cool and I’m trying to do better. I remember my mom bought me these expensive pants because I needed more work slacks, but I didn’t want her to go out of her way to get them for me, and I remember telling her, “Oh, you didn’t have to buy these for me.” And she had also picked out a dress for me to try on at a department store, and she had gone shopping for a really long time, and yet I told her when I got to the department store that I didn’t want the dress. Looking back, I could tell she was trying to help, and to be honest, if I spent hours looking for a dress to wear to someone’s bridal shower while she was at work, only to have the person I was trying to help not want the dress, I would feel kind of crushed. There is another scene where Sean is going to start his own catering business, and Liz wants to be as involved as she possibly can, to the point where she runs everything about the business, so it hurts her when Sean tells her that he is going to handle everything because she really wants to help. However, he ends up accepting her help and lets her go with him to find a food truck, which he needs for the business.
There was one scene that was really touching, and that is when Alice and Jimmy are going through Tia’s old belongings and making memories of her. It was sad when Jimmy decided to let go of his wife’s belongings, and it was painful when Alice found out that Jimmy decided to get rid of Tia’s belongings in an attempt to move forward. To Alice, Tia’s belongings hold memories of her and her mom, and to throw them away would be throwing away the memories Alice had of her mom, so Jimmy, with the help of Sean, brings them back, and Alice is able to wear her mom’s heels to Brian’s wedding. Brian’s wedding was also a really sweet moment, and I wasn’t sure how Jimmy was going to be able to make his speech while officiating their wedding, because while rehearsing it he cried because he thought about him and Tia. Brian was also not sure about Jimmy officiating the wedding after Jimmy vomited at his engagement party, but he ends up letting Jimmy officiate at their wedding and Jimmy gives a very beautiful and emotional speech.
I really appreciate how this movie grapples with illness and death. Paul is struggling to tell his daughter, Meg, about his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but he finally tells her, and she decides to get him on a strict health regimen. She is a vegan and she plans to make him all these healthy meals, and he is reluctant, but the thing that really sets him off is when Meg tells him he should move in with her and their family. Paul doesn’t want to go, however, because he has a lot of patients to see. Meg is upset because her dad was always putting work first and never made time for her, so she leaves. Paul tries to call the house and Meg’s son, Mason, picks up. Paul tries to get Meg on the phone, but Meg’s husband tells him that Meg isn’t available. However, they make up and when Paul goes over to Meg’s to visit Mason, Mason asks Paul why his hands are shaking, and Paul finally tells Mason that he has Parkinson’s. He is worried about telling Mason since he is so young, but it’s important that Mason knew, even though it is hard to talk about illness. Paul tried to keep it a secret from his daughter because he thought that she would treat him like he had no more autonomy and couldn’t take care of himself because of his illness. He wanted to be able to live in his own home and still go to work, and he doesn’t want to depend on Meg all the time. Growing up, facing death and illness was a scary prospect, but as I got older, it became a very serious reality when many of my close friends and family members passed away. Whenever someone I loved passed away, I wanted to deny my grief or escape it, but the more I tried to push it down, the worse my grief got, so I finally had to just let myself go through the grief process, even though it was physically, mentally and emotionally painful. However, at some point, I am going to have to grapple with my own mortality.
I really appreciate for some reason Paul suggesting to Alice that she set aside time each day to grieve. Paul sets aside time each day to feel his sadness while listening to music that makes him sad, and he sets a timer on his phone, so he knows when to start and stop. He inspires Alice to do this, and I think it helps her navigate the process of grief. I think I should do this because I am still learning how to navigate the process of grief, and so I think doing this will help. Celine Dion songs always bring me to tears, so I might need to put together a grief playlist. And find a grief therapist.
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