Five minutes into the season 2 premiere of Shrinkgrumpy octogenarian therapist Paul (Harrison Ford) tries to avoid a difficult conversation with his colleague Gaby (Jessica Williams) by turning on the car radio and singing along to The Outfield’s 1985 smash ‘Your Love’. It’s a direct throwback to the most talked-about moment in season 1: Harrison Ford singing Sugar Ray! – But Shrink wants us to know that it is evolving.

“Unfortunately not! We’re not doing that today,” Gaby scolds, as she turns off the radio and returns to the subject that Paul so desperately wanted to avoid.

In season 2 of the feel-good comedy – starring Jason Segel as a therapist who attempts radical honesty with his patients – everyone is forced to face some hard truths in the hopes of moving past them. Based on the seven episodes (out of 12) made available for review, Shrink is ready to let its characters wander beyond the boundaries of its original, high-minded premise, resulting in a satisfying (and funny) self-actualization.

The new episodes pick up shortly after we left off 18 months ago. Therapist and widowed father Jimmy Laird (Segel) is finally in a good place with his teenage daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell), but his new style of therapy has not been without consequences. After pushing her abusive husband, Donny (Tilky Jones), off a cliff last season, Jimmy’s patient Grace (Heidi Gardner) languishes in prison. And Jimmy realizes that he has blurred the lines between friendship and therapy with his patient Sean (Luke Tennie) – a young veteran with PTSD and anger issues – and that this is keeping him from making real progress.

Jimmy’s officemates have their own problems. Paul worries he’ll be a burden to his neurologist-turned-girlfriend, Julie (Wendie Malick), as his Parkinson’s progresses, while Gaby is forced to admit she wants more from her no-strings-attached relationship with Jimmy.

Created by Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, Shrink spent most of the first season letting Jimmy’s adventures (and misadventures) in therapy without a filter define the story. It’s a nice hook, but not particularly lasting, and in the new episodes Lawrence and co. the confidence to delve deeper into the problems of all the core characters. Jimmy’s best friend, Brian (Michael Urie), panics about his fears about parenthood after his husband, Charlie (Devin Kawaoka), suggests the idea of ​​adopting a baby. Gaby gets into an argument with her sister (Courtney Taylor) over the best way to deal with their elderly mother (Vernee Watson) and her poor eyesight. Alice has a lapse in judgment that upsets her best friend, Summer (Rachel Stubington, in a striking twist). And Sean has no idea how to deal with the long-simmering grudge against his father (Kenajuan Bentley) after the two unexpectedly reconnect.

The writers have a little more trouble deciding on Liz (Christa Miller), Jimmy’s bossy, mute neighbor. Her story begins to revolve around an idea, an idea that, halfway through the season, I would tentatively describe as “unwise.” So far the biggest problem with Shrink season 2 is how much time it spends on the Jimmy-Gabby situationship, which in season 1 felt more like a plot device thrown against the wall than something worth exploring further. This time, the consequences of their friends-with-benefits hookups seem designed to generate conflict rather than character growth. “I’m so bored with this shit,” Paul groans, after another tense interaction between Jimmy and Gaby in the office. “That’s everyone.” Correct.

Otherwise, the new episodes deliver many of the dynamics that worked so well in Season 1: the deepening friendship between Gaby and Liz, based on telling the truth and making fun of Jimmy; Paul and Jimmy’s reason versus emotion antics; and Ted McGinley – as Liz’s affable Zen husband, Derek – with whomever. The scene-stealing actor has a bigger presence in season 2 (including an all-too-brief moment with Ford), but honestly, that’s not enough.

Shrink occasionally aims straight for the tear ducts, but the series excels at imbuing heavy moments with ridiculous humor. (See: Jimmy feuds with Paul after losing two of his front teeth. ‘I didn’t argue with Thean. He’s my biggest success story!’) Segel can make the pronunciation of a single word funny (his spin on “undergarments ” is a hoot), and his excellent costars thrive on their extended screen time. No one throws a tantrum quite like Urie, and Williams has perfect comedic and romantic chemistry with Damon Wayans Jr., who joins the cast as Derek’s friend, also named Derek. And yes, co-creator/writer Brett Goldstein also appears several times this season, but Apple TV+ would prefer that I not tell you who he plays. (The role is about as far from Roy Kent as he could get.)

“Listen man, triggers are everywhere,” Jimmy tells Sean in the season premiere. “You can’t hide from your past forever.” It’s foreshadowing, of course – for Jimmy and pretty much everyone around him. This season though Shrink reminds us that hard truths are usually no match for hope. Grade: B+

Shrink Season 2 premieres with two episodes on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, October 16.