The Shrink Next Door

Though the performances are uniformly terrific – Ferrell has to walk the highest tightrope, making Marty believable but not too pathetic — “The Shrink Next Door” is Exhibit A in streaming series bloat. There’s not enough story to justify eight episodes.

It's a slow burn (too slow, but hey, limited series tend to do that).

“The Shrink Next Door” is tonally confused and often misjudged, putting Rudd and Ferrell in an untenable position where they are tasked with being simultaneously earnest while also winking at the audience, which has a way of putting their performances in air quotes. Actually, everything here feels set off by air quotes.

“Shrink” is not really funny, or apparently trying to be, apart from in the sense of “something’s not right.” It’s a comedy in that it’s not a tragedy, and that, in spite of the dark themes, it has been mounted with some buoyancy. There are, of course, odd moments when Ferrell gets to clown. But again the series is restricted by the facts of the case. A good comedy could be built on the foundation, but it would need to be rebuilt from the ground up and probably be over in a couple of hours.

It all results in a show I found more effective in the final few episodes than the first couple of installments, but one whose tone and themes are never fully convincing. That uncertainty is reflected even in the episodes’ running times, which range from 35 minutes to a draggy 50 minutes. Mainly what held my interest in The Shrink Next Door was the myriad reasons it doesn’t quite work.

“The Shrink Next Door” conveys such a bizarre true story that it’s never boring (even though it’s surprisingly unfunny given the comedic talent involved), but it’s such a tragic, depressing tale that it’s a hard show to live with for eight episodes. Viewers may need therapy after watching.

There are aspects of The Shrink Next Door that are much too easy to get used to, as the show feels content to repeatedly hit certain notes. But on the whole, the series’ inability to decide whether to play things straight or lean into the Ferrell and Rudd reunion makes it hard to get used to anything that’s happening.

Mixing tragedy, comedy, and drama is an extremely difficult balance to achieve, something that, for example, fellow Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso managed to do deftly in its first season. Unfortunately, despite tremendous theatrical performances from all involved, it’s an equilibrium The Shrink Next Door fails to reach.

“The Shrink Next Door” simply lacks the vibrant give-and-take that its subject matter suggests. Its characters feel unknowable, a problem for a show that concerns the emotional and intellectual tug-of-war in the therapist’s office.