A review of this week's Shrinking, "I Will Be Grape" — with spoilers — coming up just as soon as I have 24-hour jazz hands...
Alan Sepinwall
The great thing about Shrinking having developed such a deep roster of characters, and having gotten us to understand them all so well over time, is that it doesn't take much for any given moment to generate either a big laugh or a sniffle or two. The more challenging thing about Shrinking having this sprawling ensemble is that it sometimes tries to pack too much into a single episode, so that the whole feels less than the sum of its parts.
"I Will Be Grape" has both sides of that coin on display. It's a half-hour full of lovely little moments and excellent jokes. Beat to beat, scene to scene, I was engaged for nearly all of it — laughing at key moments, choking up at others. Yet I came away at the end wishing all of these different ideas weren't competing for the same story real estate.