Analyze this: Jason Segel takes grief to the next stage in season two of dramedy 'Shrinking'

Jimmy Laird’s journey in the Apple TV+ series, “Shrinking,” is one that has Jason Segel appreciative.

In season one, Laird, a widowed psychiatrist, began to redefine his life after the sudden death of his wife.

His colleagues, mentor Dr. Paul Rhodes, played by Harrison Ford, and fellow therapist Dr. Gaby Evans, played by Jessica Williams, become even more instrumental to him by providing guidance and support both inside and outside the office.

Analyze this: Jason Segel takes grief to the next stage in season two of dramedy 'Shrinking'

“When we find Jimmy in season two, we’re dealing with the aftermath,” said Segel, who is also the co-creator, executive producer and star. “Some people have done really well, like Sean, who’s living in his house and thriving. But then there’s Grace 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?’ ”

Season two of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated series begins on Wednesday, Oct. 16, on Apple TV+. A new episode will air each Wednesday for 12 weeks.

In addition to Segel and Ford, “Shrinking” stars Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley.

Segel says there are consequences that Jimmy must come to terms with, too.

“As a therapist, some could argue that Jimmy’s trying to heal himself by getting way too involved in other people’s lives and ignoring his own trauma,” said Bill Lawrence, showrunner, co-creator and executive producer. “But I hope that’s what makes for interesting storytelling.”

In season one, the writers consulted with therapists and psychiatrists and utilized their input for the show, featuring stories taken directly from their accounts.

“What was so interesting about the first year is the amount of people who weren’t therapists who came out of the woodwork to point out that what Jimmy was doing was wrong and should have consequences,” Lawrence said. “That’s what TV storytelling is about, and I think what people will find fascinating is that we obviously exaggerate stories for television, but all of these stories are vetted first. There’s a therapist having PTSD patients get into cage fighting as a way to release anger and help control their own violent tendencies. We didn’t make that up. We took it from actual case reports and there are a bunch of occurrences like that in the show. Jimmy is definitely dealing with the ramifications of his patient, Grace, and what she did, but he’s also forced to take a hard look at himself and why he’s burying himself so deeply in all these people.”

Segel said with the new season, Jimmy is a much healthier version of himself.

He begins to come out of the dark space he was inhabiting and returns to living, something he was too grief stricken to do before.

As he navigates his new life as a widower, he is able to look back at the aftermath of the last year and see where he made mistakes.

“We did a lot of thinking about what is as powerful a theme as grief, the next stage of how someone deals with loss in their life and what else these characters are going through,” Segel said. “With forgiveness, there’s also a secondary idea of accountability and taking responsibility for yourself and for your mistakes. It seems there’s a wealth of material there for all of the characters to dig into.”

Segel said Jimmy is watching his daughter Alice flourish and is proud that he was able to pull himself together and be there for her, given that she’s what matters most to him.

He said Paul notices that Jimmy is in a much better place and even begins to warm up to some of his “Jimmying,” a term coined to describe his off-book therapies.

This season also sees Jimmy and Paul on a more level playing field.

“We’re dealing with this really beautiful and heartbreaking storyline of Paul progressing with his Parkinson’s and Jimmy trying to be there for him and dealing with mortality,” Segel explained. “It’s what I love about the show. It really has everything.”

For two seasons, Segel has enjoyed the series’ journey and credits its success to the formula of laughing through heartbreak.

“One of the things I’ve always loved about comedy is that it actually lowers the defenses to come in and talk about some real subjects,” Segel said. “It’s something ‘Shrinking’ does really well. As opposed to a drama about grief where you go in knowing it’s going to be heavy, and you have your walls up, ‘Shrinking’ has big laughs and is super fun. It feels like your friends and your family, and it lets us do some dramatic work about grieving.”