Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6, “In a Lonely Place” Spoilers Ahead
We’re halfway into the season, and Shrinking’s “In a Lonely Place” thoughtfully explores how profound loneliness and pain manifest in various ways. Written by Brett Goldstein and directed by Randall Keenan Winston, the episode closes the binds on one wound while leaving the door open to true healing in other areas. Progress isn’t linear nor immediate, but the commitment to forgive leads to more healthy means of coping, and that’s what we’re effectively watching unfold this season.
This week, Alice and Brian confront Louis, Jimmy and Paul talk to Sean’s father, Gaby comes to an agreement with her sister, and Liz doesn’t know how to vocalize what she’s feeling. It’s a riveting episode right from the start that makes it seem like things are good, but with six more episodes to go, we can reasonably predict that there are countless steps to take still.
Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6 Emphasizes the Importance of Forgiveness
What would Tia do? It’s a question more people in the story should be asking because it tremendously matters in order to honor her character. However, grief doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes, our headspaces are too muddied for us to look beyond our pain and into someone else’s mindset. Yet in “In a Lonely Place,” Alice puts her mom first and chooses to examine the situation the way she would. When she finds another apology note from Louis in her wallet, she talks to Brian, who admits that he’s been communicating with him since the night in “Made You Look.” He then accompanies Alice to Louis’ house, where she chooses to hear him out again, and there, she even shares a memory of Tia, giving the audience a bit more insight into her character and how giving she was.
The show continues to be a phenomenal breath of fresh air because how we could laugh one minute and cry the next is no small feat. It’s a testament to the writing and the performances, which expertly layer the characters while telling deeply human stories. Guilt undoubtedly eats Louis alive, and that much is evident from the moment we see him in “Jimmying.” We know he’s suffering, and we know he regrets getting behind the wheel. There’s clearly a reason why he did it, yet I imagine that will come out in his eventual conversation with Jimmy, but here, it’s all about remembering Tia and placing her at the center of the narrative. It’s about recognizing the kind of woman she was and how Alice could choose to walk in her mother’s shoes for a beat.
We could see the weight and pain physically lift from Alice’s body as she utters those three crucial words (“I forgive you”), brought on by such a sensational performance from Lukita Maxwell that I will seriously be pissed if she isn’t acknowledged during awards season. It takes a plethora of strength to do what’s hard and unimaginable, yet she does it anyway. Forgiveness can be a touchy subject because the truth of the matter is that not everyone deserves it. Except in Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6, “In a Lonely Place,” we can see that Louis is doing everything he possibly can to atone. It’s worse for him to get to know Tia more. Those memories can (and likely will) continue to haunt him with guilt, but his willingness to hear Alice out and to understand more about the woman he killed shows us that his actions caused him indescribable trauma, too.
It’s also incredibly fascinating that we see all of this with Brian, of all people, because he’s a) being a godfather for once and b) he’s proving that he can be a good father. He might be deeply uncomfortable and embarrassingly awkward, but sometimes, sitting beside someone while they do the unimaginable is enough to reveal how much you love them. And Brian loves Alice a whole lot—he’d be there for her at every turn, trying more and more every day despite his inability to grasp his own capacity for love.
Fathers and Sons
As far as conversations go, Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6, “In a Lonely Place,” does an exceptional job of following up from “Honesty Era.” As it turns out, Sean didn’t let his anger consume him; he gave into pain and guilt instead by allowing the construction workers to beat him. When we see him at the hospital, he’s high as a kite from the drugs, but Luke Tennie does an impeccable job of wearing the puncturing sadness in his eyes still. It’s up to Paul and Jimmy to get his father, Tim, to talk to him, and it shouldn’t be as shocking that they succeed, but it is a little bit.
At the lake, they both open up about how they abandoned their kids when they needed them the most and in the end, Sean’s father takes those words to heart, reminding his kid that he’s going to keep trying. Sean’s road to recovery might be the toughest because PTSD is so deeply rooted that controlling all the pain simply isn’t an easy fix. Yet, his persistence to overcome it continues to be one of the more admirable details in the show.
On that front, the father and sons dynamic interestingly parallels Paul and Jimmy because as hard as he tries, we know that Paul cares about him like he is his own. There’s a riveting rapport that continues to be so hilarious, yet achingly heartbreaking at times because the men really do work best as a pair. They bring out each other’s best and worst, but more importantly, they’ve established a working dynamic that shouldn’t succeed as well as it does, and yet… it’s pretty close to perfect.
Liz’s Quiet Sadness
Rejections hurt. There’s no sugarcoating that. Sometimes, we take them and move forward, but other times, the most minor thing might haunt us for days or months on end. The adoption center’s choice not to use Liz’s photos undoubtedly hurts her, and as much as she’s good at brushing things off, she can’t shake this one away with rocks or a relaxing bath. It doesn’t help that Connor left without saying goodbye to her, but the choice to hang out with Mac is making me nervous. Does Derek know? How is he going to react? What does this mean for her character, and how will she address the loneliness she’s been feeling for years? I’m thrilled we’re getting more of Liz’s character, but I’m scared of where it might lead.
Gaby is now fully back thanks to the conversation with Jimmy, so at least Liz has her friend back, but the root of this heartache is clearly more extensive than we know. The rejection isn’t simply tied to the adoption center not using her photos, but I imagine that for Liz, she feels disposable when she isn’t useful, and that’s a fracture I hope the upcoming episodes continue to address because it can be profoundly relatable to countless viewers.
Gaby Is Figuring Things Out
After Liz also inadvertently tells Gaby that she should take some of the weight off her sister, Gaby decides that she will try to figure out a way to make a real change. She’s asking for three months, which seems like a good chunk of time for her character to find a way to balance her two jobs while simultaneously figuring out stuff for her personal life to move forward. Last week, I mentioned that I’d love to see Gaby talk to someone because she’s juggling so much, and I was hoping it’d be Paul or another therapist we don’t know about. It could still happen, but this is still a solid step in making a decision that will be good for her character journey.
Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6, “In a Lonely Place,” dives us toward understanding characters without pointing fingers. No one wants to know how badly they’ve messed up even when they do know, yet the chance to make situations right can be enormously impactful, no matter how big or small the act might be. For this reason, we get something truly gripping that’s going to continue unraveling in undeniably heartwarming ways.
Stray Thoughts
- I might think about Tia buying the extra hat for a long, long time.
- Jimmy kissing Paul’s hand took me out. I love these two so much.
- Who is Sara and where is she?
- Michael Urie is SO GOOD in this episode.
- Harrison Ford remains iconic. I simply cannot.
- High Sean in the hospital room was gold.
- I really am so nervous about Liz and Mac.
Now streaming on Apple TV+: What are your thoughts on Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6, “In a Lonely Place?” Let us know in the comments below.
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