As Season Two of ‘Shrinking’ wraps for Apple TV+, the idea of forgiveness has become a central theme for the characters as they have developed this year. “It was always very clear to me and Bill [Lawrence] that this season was going to be about forgiveness and to put the characters in the most difficult situations,” says co-creator, exec producer and Season Two cast member Brett Goldstein. “We had 12 episodes to explore that.”

In Season One, viewers see Jimmy at a low point as he attempted some rather progressive therapy techniques on his patients, which resulted in different degrees of success and failure.

“When we find Jimmy in Season Two, we’re dealing with the aftermath,” says co-creator, exec producer and star Jason Segel of his character. “Some people have done really well like Sean [Luke Tennie], who is living in his house and thriving. But then there is Grace [Jimmy’s patient] who potentially murdered her husband so he’s in this state of trying to figure out, ‘What have I done? Is it good? Is it bad? Do I keep going? Do I revert back to my old traditional ways of therapy, or do I keep pressing forward along this unpaved road?’”

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Bill Lawrence, showrunner, co-creator and exec producer, notes that there are consequences that Jimmy has to face as a result of his behavior and professional choices. “As a therapist, some could argue that Jimmy is trying to heal himself by getting way too involved in other people’s lives and ignoring his own trauma. But I hope that’s what makes for interesting storytelling.”

In Season Two, Jimmy begins to become a much healthier version of himself and his bond with Dr. Paul Rhoades (played by Harrison Ford), his mentor, continues to strengthen as does his close relationship with fellow therapist Dr. Gaby Evans (Jessica Williams). Paul struggles with his advancing Parkinson’s diagnosis, which causes him to confront his own past mistakes as well as embrace a new future with Julie (Wendie Malick).

“I think there is a greater degree of faith that Paul has in Jimmy but it’s still a constant battle with him,” says Ford. “At the same time, he seems to be breaking down my resistance to his style and Paul is seeing it work, somehow. It’s unconventional confrontations and unconventional wisdom, but there seems to be some art to Jimmy that Paul is discovering.”

He continues: “Paul is a character under construction. He’s a guy who doesn’t make friends and now, he’s got a friend, a male friend. He’s been without female companionship and now he has a girlfriend. And his daughter is not so estranged so, in a way, he’s coming into a whole different space. He’s facing one thing that is daunting and immutable, and that is the Parkinson’s. As that develops, we’ve got plenty of room for Paul to absorb the condition and the blows that come with Parkinson’s.”

Meanwhile, Liz (Christa Miller) continues to become entangled in Jimmy’s life. In Season One, viewers watched Liz care for Alice in a way that Jimmy could not as he was so encompassed in grief. In Season Two, Liz realizes she has to put her energy into something else so starts a food truck business with Sean. Her son Connor is home for the summer but is something that irritates her but also comforts her. “She’s trying to figure some things out,” says Miller. “She’s struggling to have something going on in her life, is making some bad decisions and is very remorseful about it. Liz needs forgiveness this season, but she also needs to forgive herself.”

Liz’s relationship with Gaby intensifies in Season Two, with both becoming very dependent on each other for emotional support and companionship. “Everyone’s gotten closer in different ways this season,” says Miller.

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Williams, who was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in Season One, is now juggling being a therapist with a college professor in Season Two. She’s moved house and is confronted with how to care for her aging mother whilst also working on a slightly fractious relationship with her sister.

“She is trying to balance everything,” says Williams. “She just got the job teaching at the university so she’s doing her professorship, but she’s balancing that with her clients, this weird situation with Jimmy while also trying to be there for Liz and still processing her own grief.”

At the end of Season One, Brian (Michael Urie) got married to his partner Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) and is a self-proclaimed DINK (double income, no kids) but when he discovers that Gaby and Jimmy have been sleeping together and he didn’t know about it, he feels disappointed. When Charlie says he wants to start a family and adopt a baby, Brian is forced to confront his own true self. “There’s a lot of back and forth about whether or not Brian is able to take care of somebody that is not himself and whether or not his own self centeredness will allow him to care for a child,” says Urie.

Alice, played by Lukita Maxwell, flourishes in the second season of Shrinking. Having repaired her relationship with her father, she continues to be concerned about his overall wellbeing. She plays a pivotal role in bringing Goldstein’s character, Louis, the drunk driver who killed her mother, into the fold. In a surprising move, Alice is the first one to take the plunge and say she forgives Louis for what he has done, showing immense growth for her young character.

Goldstein, meanwhile, admits he never had any intention of joining the cast of Shrinking. “I was very nervous about joining the cast because they are such a great cast,” he says. “But then we’d written this character of Louis, and we were talking about casting people. Jason called me and Bill into his trailer and asked, ‘Why isn’t Brett doing this? We should have Brett do this.’”

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Tennie’s character Sean sees perhaps the biggest evolution in Season Two. He is thriving with his food truck thanks to the help of Jimmy’s friends and begins to see Paul as a therapist as his relationship with Jimmy has become closer. “There’s no one who he gets to use these new tools with – which therapy has gifted him – to improve who he is as an individual,” says Tennie. But that soon changes when Sean begins to repair his relationship with his father and his family.

Liz’s husband Derek, played by Ted McGinley, was a fan favorite in Season One and his character becomes much more layered in the second season. “We see a lot more of who Derek becomes and what is actually underneath him,” says McGinley. “The big secret is that my character is Bill Lawrence’s alter ego in some ways so the things that he would like to be able to say in real life, my character, on occasion, gets to say. I think that’s why the audience responds to them.”

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