Shrinking - Episode 2.04 - Made You Look - Review: "Baby steps"

“Made You Look” is a big episode for Paul in a couple of ways.

First, he gets the full Liz experience, and it’s exactly as anyone would expect. Their brief on-screen interaction is great: Harrison Ford’s wandering eyes and trailing off voice undercutting his sincerity over being glad she came in; his suggestion that he should “pull down [his] pants and make [his] ass clap” a hilarious truthful assessment of his feeling towards her; Liz’s lack of surprise at Sean’s therapy being free. The entire thing is hilarious and improved by the bit which gives the episode its title, of Liz having potentially peed in places in his office. It’s very dumb but very funny.

But more seriously, Paul develops a great deal here. It feels notable that, during his therapy with Liz, the camera lingers on his handwriting, which is untidy at best. His Parkinson’s is gradually getting worse and those signs pop up now and again. It’s something he recognises and takes the step to reconcile. His conversation with Jimmy is a big step for him as he admits those vulnerabilities, and it’s a very wholesome and emotional moment when they agree that he’s still the best, and that Jimmy will tell him when he no longer is.

Paul has come a long way. Even when this season started, he was firmly set on doing things the traditional way – the right way, in his view. Since then, he’s made slow and steady progress towards a new way of thinking. It’s not quite Jimmying, but he admits to having taken to Ray as a friend, and begins therapizing Sean outside of his office. It’s in the office kitchen but, as he says, baby steps.

The idea of him and Jimmy working together more closely is a fun one. The Ford-Jason Segel chemistry is, unsurprisingly, superb, and what we’ve seen very clearly over the 14 episodes is that they can learn a lot from each other’s way of doing things. When it comes to Sean, it’s also the smart play. Jimmy was right in the premiere to realise moving his therapy to Paul was the best thing to do, but Sean was also Jimmy’s first and most significant success. The case notes he provided and the experiences he has is invaluable in their shared goal: seeing Sean improve.

Brian and Charlie do not have a shared goal. Brian doesn’t want a child while Charlie really does, and though Liz and Gaby wind up Brian by suggesting it isn’t a real problem, it most definitely is. There’s a massive amount of friction potential here and though Jimmy, Liz, and Derek all make Brian feel better about it, it feels like this will not be a smooth experience for anyone involved.

Speaking of Derek – we have another Derek! This one, played by Damon Wayans Jr., is hot and smells good, according to literally everyone, and there’s a romance potential between him and Gaby. Their attempt at a date is cut short by Gaby’s sister – who she tries to ignore – but between “Bacon, windows, boobs, tell everyone” and him answering her vibrator, there’s a lot of entertainment to be had here.

The original Derek nearly stumbles in on the aftermath of Alice’s bad decision to sleep with Connor in a slapstick opening scene. It’s a quiet episode on that front, but the most significant plot development in Alice’s story – and that of the entire season – comes towards the end, when Winston ponders over the wallet Alice thought she left in Connor’s room.

His decision to try and return the wallet is a continuation of what we saw him try to begin in the previous episode. “Can I ask you something? Are they okay?” is what he asks of Brian. His response – “Are you fucking serious?” – is a lovely mirror of Alice’s explosive anger. That Brian follows up by asking about Winston’s state of mind shows a lot about his compassion, but also his ability to see past simply the emotion of the past. It’s still raw for him too, but one of Brian’s defining and greatest traits is that he cares about people. Whatever comes of him following Winston, it feels like the reckoning between him and the Laird family grows closer.