TV Review: The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV+)
Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 6:00PM 
Paul Rudd gets inside Will Ferrell's head and life in Apple TV+'s "The Shrink Next Door."
It’s impossible to resist Paul Rudd, People’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive. Rudd’s charm has aged as gracefully as his skin, which makes him great casting for the titular role in Apple TV+’s The Shrink Next Door. Co-starring comedy giant Will Ferrell, at first glance it would appear Apple has the makings of an enjoyable watercooler miniseries. Unfortunately, the strong relationship between the actors never pays off with a satisfying or cohesive final product. Don’t come in expecting an Anchorman reunion. This shrink has much more sinister tricks in store.
There have been many stories of therapists overstepping their boundaries with patients. Based on a true story (and the Wondery & Bloomberg podcast of the same name), The Shrink Next Door explores a particularly toxic doctor-patient relationship....
This relationship morphs from gaslighting into financial extortion. Marty Markowitz (Ferrell) is a mild-mannered small business owner who works up the courage to attend therapy at the behest of his sister, Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn). All of his apprehensions melt away after he meets the caring and charming Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). After a few sessions, Ike and Marty’s relationship becomes more personal than professional as the two pursue a friendship. Over the course of decades of friendship, Ike inserts himself further and further into Marty’s life to the point in which he takes over Marty’s Hamptons home.
Rudd and Ferrell's chemistry takes them to darker places over the course of the eight episode miniseries.So much of the show rests on the chemistry between Ferrell and Rudd. As they proved in Anchorman, they have chemistry in spades. Both actors also show off impressive range as they tackle the darker, more dramatic notes of the series. In particular, Will Ferrell gives a sincere, sensitive performance as Marty. He plays Marty’s crippling need for acceptance and severe aversion to conflict straight, eliciting empathy rather than laughs. This nebbishness soon turns into misplaced confidence, as he cuts out family and friends until no one is left but Ike. Marty spends so much time worrying about other people’s perceptions of him that it never occurs that he might be taken advantage of by Ike.
On the other side of the relationship, Rudd’s carefree, affable nature helps disguise the sinister intentions of Dr. Ike. We invest in Ike’s relationship with Marty early on because he radiates kindness and warmth, a staple of Rudd’s on-screen persona. As Ike starts to cross boundaries with Marty, Rudd exposes a real talent for passive aggression. Ike always makes Marty feel like he’ll miss out on a good deal if he doesn’t take him up on business ventures, remodel projects or flashy new Manhattan warehouse space. It helps that Marty never questions Ike. He’s too happy being in Ike’s orbit that he would never want to pose any conflict towards his therapist.
Herein lies the central problem with The Shrink Next Door. It’s not interesting to watch someone avoid conflict. Episode after episode, we watch this sweet man get taken advantage of by his therapist, eventually dismantling all his relationships and savings. It gets to the point where it is hard to believe Marty can’t see the manipulation happening in front of his eyes. When empathy turns into eye rolls, you know your show is in trouble.
Even after her Emmy nominated turn in "WandaVision," people are still misusing the great Kathryn Hahn.
Despite good central performances, The Shrink Next Door never develops much outside the central duo. Kathryn Hahn is predictably energetic. Whenever Phyllis, Marty’s stressed and overbearing sister, is on screen, the show comes alive. She may steamroll over Marty, but it’s clear that she loves and cares for him. Once she is gone, her absence is felt and the show slips into a rut. Casey Wilson is completely underused as Bonnie, Ike’s wife. She’s never given a perspective of her own, serving the occasional well-timed reaction shot or heavily-accented reply.
The Shrink Next Door is another great example of a miniseries that could have easily been a movie. There’s enough devilish chemistry between Rudd’s parasitic therapist and Ferrell’s sad sack. Everything that felt unsurprising or repetitive could’ve been solved through a truncated two hour tight plot structure. Directors Michael Showalter and Jesse Peretz never craft a strong enough visual language to make the show interesting or energetic enough to follow along with. Even the grand Hamptons parties feel muted and sad. With episode lengths going between 30 to 60 minutes, The Shrink Next Door switches from comedy to drama rather than mixing them to be a dramedy. In doing so, it’s neither funny enough or dramatic enough to justify watching over the next two months. C
The Shrink Next Door will release the first three episodes of the season on Friday, November 12th. New episodes will be released each Friday, with the eighth and final episode airing on Friday, December 17th.
Reader Comments (2)
What is up with Will Ferrell? It's as if after Anchorman 2 with the exception of The Lego Movie and EuroVision. He seems to just be making shit lately.
I love Paul Rudd, but his last show, Living with Myself, was awful too. And it starred the brilliant Aisling Bea.
Isn't this one based on a true story?