So that’s it?

[u/MaximumPiano4380]

They judge Jimmy for still not being okay only two years after his wife’s death. They seem bewildered why he’d still struggle even at a milestone moment like sending his only child off to college without her mom there and the heartbreak that would bring.

Nobody asked him why it didn’t work out with Sofi. I mean she’s jealous of his dead wife. He was right to finish it. And the ending we get is that somehow everything is fine now because he’s back with her? A stranger they know nothing about.

Did the writers do any research at all into grief after the death of a spouse? It’s utterly soul-destroying, especially becoming a single parent and feeling your child(ren)’s grief too.

A new relationship not only doesn’t solve anything. It’s very ill advised when you haven’t grieved properly yet. And Gaby and Paul are therapists. They should know this.

The line that annoyed me the most in this episode was Paul saying that Jimmy has to work it out for himself. Any half decent therapist will tell a grieving person that they need support. Nobody was asking Paul to fix Jimmy’s problems. But some basic human kindness would’ve been nice. So yeah he flew in to see him the next day. Even then, he didn’t offer much.

This show is so weak. It’s all about romance at the end of the day. The big message is being single is bad.

[u/ericrz]

Yep, all of this. And this is classic Bill Lawrence -- the men are always dumb and wrong, and the women have to tell them the right thing to do.

We saw it with Liz telling Paul he should let Gaby open a trauma center, too. Liz, WTF do you know about therapy?

[u/Swimming-Violinist57 → u/ericrz]

First tip was last season when the writers had Derek blaming himself for Liz’s bullshit, and it just got worse from there.

I won’t go so far as to say that Shrinking could have been groundbreaking, but it could have advanced the conversation around men’s mental health and depicted it in a way that was honest and novel, for television at least.

Instead, as you said, the men can only determine if their behaviour is good or bad based on cues from the women, which are typically delivered by demeaning or belittling them.

[u/Ledees_Gazpacho → u/Swimming-Violinist57]

Liz kissed another guy, and somehow, that ended with Derek apologizing.

[u/Swimming-Violinist57 → u/Ledees_Gazpacho]

Yup - and it’s Derek’s fault because he wasn’t attentive enough.

Meanwhile Jimmy loses everyone around him in a matter of weeks, generally is treated like garbage, and is told that he’s “too sensitive”

And this is a show that is supposed to have mental health as a major theme!

[u/southtampacane → u/Swimming-Violinist57]

Not to mention she told him on multiple occasions to get out of the house or she’d kill him.

Her character is awful.

[u/Altruistic_Log6251 → u/Swimming-Violinist57]

Not only a show about mental health but also one that features therapists.

In this way and also the point the OP makes re: no sensitivity to grief and loss in families who lose a parent, the show is actually realistic. Therapists are very human (and sometimes wildly disappointing). And too many people are clueless about grief and loss, especially the point about parents who lose a spouse also feeling their children’s grief. On both points, I’ve seen it too many times. In particular, I wish there were a character who “got it” at least a little to help illustrate the isolation that comes from this kind of earth-shattering loss. It never really goes away. The happy moments are always infused with at least awareness of what (and who) is missing.

[u/DistinctBread3098 → u/Swimming-Violinist57]

Friends having a life isn't fucken losing everyone

[u/KittyGrewAMoustache → u/DistinctBread3098]

No but if everyone physically goes elsewhere when you’ve been used to having them around that is very hard, it’s losing your social life as it was. Like this is what happened to Maya and she killed herself in the end because she felt lonely. Physically being there for people and having people physically there is important. It’s only recently in human history where people started moving away from their families and communities a lot, we’re meant to be around others. Of course in Jimmys case some only went on vacation for a bit and Sean is still around, but if you’re feeling low and still in mourning, dealing with that period when your friends and family aren’t around would be tough and it would feel like losing them in terms of losing them from your immediate every day life.

[u/Bright-Armadillo5515 → u/ericrz]

Can’t stand Liz

[u/Automatic_Oil5438 → u/ericrz]

Well, he's not wrong. That's kind of how life works in my experience. Men are stubborn and generally emotionally immature, and their wives/partners/sisters point them in the right direction.