How fitting it is to start an episode of Shrink with The Strokes’ “Bad Decisions”? That could work just as well as an alternate title for this therapy-oriented comedy. Besides, what do Jimmy (Jason Segel), Liz (Christa Miller), and Gaby (Jessica Williams) do during any given episode, besides making less-than-stellar choices? However, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) takes the cake. She just slept with her BFF’s current guy. Sure, Connor (Gavin Lewis) had a crush on Alice first, but that still puts her in a pretty awkward spot, which is leaving Connor’s room in the morning without Liz or Derek (Ted McGinley) knowing she spent the night.

Elsewhere, we might say that Paul (Harrison Ford) makes his own brand of “bad decisions.” Why else would he allow Sean (Luke Tennie) to bring Liz to his session? It’s a bit unorthodox, even if it does give us the most fruitfully odd pairing of the entire show: it’s pretty fantastic to see Miller and Ford go toe-to-toe. They needle him while her mere presence makes him angry. And all the while, as it turns out, they manage to mend the feud between the two over Liz selling his share of the food truck to Sean’s father. It’s a sweet, funny moment that flirts with the concept of ‘Jimmying’ without losing sight of the purpose of such meetings. That is, even after all that, Liz still isn’t convinced she needs therapy.

You know what character I’d love to see in a therapy session? Brian (Michael Urie). The tightly wound lawyer is a stealth scene-stealing wonder, and you know there’s plenty hidden beneath his prim and proper life – a life he may lose when he realizes his husband Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) might want to bring in a third. No, not a third party like that. A child! A visit from one of their friends who was recently adopted raises a question that Brian thought had been resolved long before they got married: they were both happy to be DINKs (dual income, no kids). Except Charlie says that he admitted he could do without children (since Brian seems wildly allergic to the very idea), but that he had once thought about it. And maybe he is again.

That’s enough to send Brian into a panic. He can’t possibly have to imagine another life for himself now, right? I mean, he’d be a terrible parent, right? He is selfish and self-absorbed. Gaby and Liz do their best to listen to his concerns, but usually they’re sold on the idea from the start, forcing their breeder agenda on poor, unsuspecting Brian.

The issue of paternity weighs heavily not only on Brian, but also on Sean, who must now deal with rebuilding his relationship with his own father. It’s clear that Sean has unresolved issues with his father, which mainly stem from how distant and indifferent he was towards his own mental health issues. In a twist, Sean announces this not directly to Paul (who is clearly becoming not only frustrated but overly concerned about Sean’s reluctance to speak openly about that rift), but to Jimmy, who, despite his best intentions, is not out of Sean’s life can stay. .

On the other hand, seeing Sean almost get away with a group of construction workers who are absolute dicks would be reason enough to have him treat his former client/patient again. That white hot anger needs to be addressed. It cannot be pressed down. The line between the therapist and the closest confidant between the two is deliberately blurred (much to Paul’s chagrin), but as happens here after that so-called altercation, it does lead to the necessary revelation that Sean needs to begin processing what happened to his father: “I told I had a hard time with him!” he shouts between gritted teeth. “Do you know how hard that is for me?” And yet those words had done nothing to stop his father from ignoring the warning signs of a vet suffering from PTSD and clearly in need of more emotional support. It is a breakthrough moment for both of them, and one that is played quite simply and understated by Segel and Tennie.

The B-plot in which Brian is unknowingly recruited by Liz to help photograph dogs – an activity that is as cute and hilarious as it sounds – is neither simple nor understated. But it’s also very clearly the kind of outing that will bring out Brian’s fatherly side once he becomes too attached to a beautiful mop-haired dog that sneaks into his care (and the car) while driving. Classic sitcom hijinks! What that does mean is that the episode moves quickly through a fascinating issue faced by many recently married gay couples who must consider whether life in a picket-fenced house with a baby is the inevitable outcome of their marriage. Because hey, apparently Brian and Charlie are meeting with an adoption agent at their house soon enough, which sends Brian into a panic yet again.

I could call Shrink for pushing his own version of the “breeder agenda” by barely acknowledging Brian’s fears and insisting that fatherhood is an innate thing that we should all strive for? Certainly. But such platitudes are ingrained in the show’s DNA, so it feels like unnecessary criticism, like saying your sundae is too sweet. Of course it is. And so, after being coached by the likes of Jimmy, Liz and especially the ever-warm-hearted Derek, Brian seems ready to start a new journey with Charlie.

Speaking of Derek’s and new travels, it looks like Gaby has a new love interest. And yes, it also features its own Derek, played by Damon Wayans Jr., who rightly taps into the show’s funny and moving sensibility. He’s a friend of Derek’s and makes for a great match with Gaby from the start, and they would have had a perfect first date (maple bacon and Lord of the rings trap music in the early morning) if Gaby’s sister had not called that her mother had been in an accident (something Gaby would have known earlier if she had not ignored her sister’s calls). But even with their date cut short, their flirty banter creates a sweet romance that will hopefully keep Gaby away from Jimmy.

Unfortunately, the episode doesn’t end on such a rosy note. Instead, it ends with Brian (with his new adopted pup on hand) coming into contact with Louis (Brett Goldstein), aka Double D (“drunk driver”), who is there to get Alice’s wallet back give. She had left it at the coffee shop when they met briefly. Brian immediately knows who he is and reacts with bottled anger, especially when Louis asks if Jimmy and Alice are okay (“Are you fuck seriously?”) Only, perhaps because he’s working on that anger, he softens when he realizes it’s a curious and caring question. They’re doing better, he acknowledges, and that’s an equally bittersweet note to end an episode on Shrink can afford.

Stray observations

• • I can’t believe we now live in a world where Harrison Ford was instructed to say the line, “What do you want me to do, pull down my pants and pop my ass?”
• • Paul’s Parkinson’s is clearly getting worse. (He can barely take notes.) But what will that mean for him in the future? And can the show lean into such heavy stuff without falling into the syrupy territory it so clearly prefers?
• • If you like the Sean/Dad storyline, may I direct you to the recent movie Show forgivenesswhich covers similar ground and follows an artist (played by Andre Holland) who is forced to grapple with a father coming back into his life.
• • Maybe I should steal. “I’m cool. I’m LL Cool Cool’ as a slogan for when people ask me if I’m cool.
• • Damon Wayans Jr. is really an underrated comedic actor, isn’t he? On the other hand, we can say the same for all Happy endings people.
• • In case you’re wondering, the song Gaby played for Derek is called “Give Us The Precious (Lord Of The Rings Trap)” by 2Padre$. Don’t mention it.