Apple TV+’s Shrinking: Why Things Get Worse Before They Get Better

Just before Thanksgiving, my wife and I were looking through the various apps on our TV for something to watch during the upcoming break. Most of the time, this is a frustrating experience for us. While I gravitate toward slow-moving dramas, my wife usually likes to watch light, cheerful movies and shows. The result of this difference in taste usually results in some form of constant scrolling through Netflix and Apple in search of something we can agree on. In most cases, nothing fits the bill.

Given our history of failing to find a suitable show, it was a welcome surprise when Apple TV+ came along Shrink Featured as a recommended viewing. The series stars Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, and the hilarious Jessica Williams as a group of friends and classmates living in upper-middle-class California. While the show is certainly salacious at times and portrays a view of reality that most Christians would find lacking, it is nonetheless a masterpiece of the modern streaming series genre. in ShrinkThroughout their existence, the characters struggle with death, illness, and divorce in a way familiar to all humans. In almost every moment of joy depicted in the show, brokenness and disappointment hover in the background, reminding the characters and viewers that Eden is out of reach in this life.

Painful reality

The most compelling character in the series is Jimmy Laird, played by Jason Segel. The opening scenes show Jimmy as a confused widower struggling to find his way after the death of his wife. His work as a counselor is ineffective, and his teenage daughter Alice functions as an adult at home, even as she grows increasingly resentful and angry toward her father. In one early scene, Jimmy’s neighbor scolds him after he wakes her up in the middle of the night during a loud party at his pool. The shame on his face is heartbreaking as he tries to cover up the drugs and girls he uses to deal with his pain.

beginning Shrink The series is a portrait of what can happen when life is disrupted in an unexpected way. The death of Jimmy’s wife did not come at the end of a long, slow process during which he was able to overcome his grief. Instead, his wife’s death in a sudden car accident came as their relationship was on the rocks. While most viewers may not have lost their spouse, everyone will be able to relate to Jimmy’s condition in some way. Not only is he lost, but he also turns toward anything that might provide comfort, while neglecting the main thing he needs to do to move forward—which is to face his pain and receive grace for his failures.

Redemption pattern

One of my favorite books in recent years is The J Curve: Dying and Resurrection with Jesus in Everyday Life By Paul Miller. The book offers a framework for transformation and an explanation of the often puzzling ways God works in our lives. Following Christ’s example, Miller details how the Christian life is a series of death and resurrection that slowly brings us into the image of Christ. This pattern begins as a “death” caused by some type of life experience leaving us out of balance. In this moment (or more often this season), the Christian experiences a kind of communion with Christ in his death. Like Christ, we often wonder where God is and become disappointed in our lives. We imitate Christ He shouted“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Perhaps the defining characteristic of this experience is that we are unable to rescue ourselves from the hole in which we find ourselves. Sometimes it lasts for weeks; Other times the suffering can last for years.

While the J curve gives us a framework for our suffering, it also explains our salvation. At some point in the pit, something begins to change, and God appears. The result is upward growth that leads us to a more mature faith than we had before. In the process, our illusions about ourselves and our God are stripped away, and we can see more clearly that God has been working in our lives all along. Suffering leads to redemption, just as Christ’s suffering led to ushering in the Kingdom of God through his death. According to Miller, this is how we become holy, and it is an experience that continues throughout our lives.

while Shrink It’s a far cry from a Christian show, where characters freely embrace sexual sin and often celebrate evil things as good, this is an unexpected Christian novel. While the first few episodes show Jimmy in the hole, the first season’s appearance leads to Jimmy’s redemption of sorts as his close comrades surround him and love him through his pain. Unlike many shows in which redemption comes quickly, Jimmy’s recovery is a process of ups and downs. Through many scenes of forgiveness and mercy, Jimmy’s relationship with his daughter is slowly restored and his friendships revived. Even Jimmy’s consulting practice, which had been boring and ineffective, became a means of transformation where he could connect with his clients in a new way. Like the Christian life story, death in Jimmy’s life becomes a means to further growth.

It’s always encouraging to me when a secular pursuit inadvertently reflects the gospel. It reminds me that God has worked out His story in our imaginations more deeply than we realize. Although our culture tells us that life is found in the pursuit of new pleasures, the truth is that life is found in devotion to the beautiful and difficult experiences and relationships God leads us to. Patience is the way forward. Almost every relationship in Jimmy’s life is contentious at times, but through perseverance, both Jimmy and the other characters learn to appreciate each other in deeper ways.

Perhaps the most poignant transformation is Jimmy’s relationship with his daughter, Alice. As Jimmy grows into the father he wants to be, there is a softening in Alice’s behavior as she begins to trust her father in new ways, even if things don’t always go her way. Pain is Jimmy’s way of becoming the father he was meant to be.

During our time watching Shrinkour family has also gone through a bit of a J-curve. Over the past year I’ve had to endure an illness that has often resulted in a bewildering array of symptoms that are simultaneously frustrating and frightening. While moments of salvation have many, we are still waiting for that salvation that will lead us to higher ground. And in our hope, we also understand something fundamental. For Christians, this salvation is not always what we expected or hoped for. Sometimes God does not give us the healing or change in situations that we long for. Although this is true, it is not the only story. We live in a reality where the kingdom of this world is slowly slipping through our fingers, but the kingdom of God patiently appears in our disappointments and joys. In our experience, we realize that the J-curve is actually a process that leads to a deeper, more faithful love for the Kingdom of God, despite the frustrations of the earthly Kingdom.

Reminds us of hope

Shrink It captures the reality of life in a way that few TV shows achieve. The best part of the show is that the characters exist as imperfect people who are slowly changed while remaining broken. Although the show is hilariously funny and often sweet, the reality it presents is sobering. The hardest parts of life are the most transformative.

The work of change and the patience needed to wait for redemption can make us question God’s goodness. However, our suffering leads us to a deeper experience of life. As Paul eloquently says in Romans 5:3-5, we should “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that affliction produces patience, and patience produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God” has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us. ”

If created characters in a secular television series can unwittingly imitate the Bible story, how much hope do we have as a people led by a good and sovereign God? If you can watch ShrinkI hope you get the hope of redemption that God has tied to our creation in a way that even Apple can’t avoid pointing out.