The Buzz: ‘The Shrink Next Door’ I Must First Do No Harm…
How far can a manipulative person in a position of power go when controlling someone? The Shrink Next Door tells a fascinating real-life story, intelligently written by the writers Sas Goldberg and Georgia Pritchet, of how a therapist crosses personal boundaries to gain trust and control over a patient’s life. The story is both captivating and sad at times, with a few comedic scenes that make the show interesting. Behind the series is also a talented production team that is able to seamlessly show transitions between multiple decades in the show. The acting by Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell could be seen as a career highlight. The Shrink Next Door is not just entertaining, but eye opening on the fragile relationship that is built on trust between therapist and patient.
The limited series is about Marty Markowitz (Ferrell), a wealthy Jewish man who lives in New York City and has recently been put in charge of his family’s cloth business after both of his parents pass away. While running the business on his own, personal and family problems increase his social anxiety, causing him to have panic attacks. His sister, Phyllis Shapiro (Kathryn Hahn), wants to help and suggests he tries therapy. Marty begrudgingly agrees and goes to see Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Rudd). During their first meeting, Marty starts to open up more about his problems and Ike immediately finds ways to solve them (although in very unconventional ways). As their relationship between therapist and patient grows, Ike becomes ever present in Marty’s everyday life. It becomes very clear that Ike is trying to control Marty because he is wealthy. After many years, Marty is finally faced with reality and has to decide whether to stay under the control of Ike, which makes him feel safe, or to leave Ike and start fresh without him in his life. The series is based off of the real-life story that was originally told through a podcast of the same name by ‘Wondery’ released in 2019 on Apple. The series was incredibly popular and won the 2020 Webby award for Best Documentary Podcast. The success is more than deserved because it is incredible to believe that this actually happened. The story is supported by its strongest aspect, the settings.
In modern cinema and television, there have been excellent period pieces that really evoke the times they are set in through costume design, set design and cinematography. The Shrink Next Door is a special case that sets it apart from other shows and movies because it tackles the complicated task of telling a story over the span of three different decades. The show handles these time jumps by using intertitles such as, “one year later”, “ten years later”, “1982” or “2010”. These titles alone announce the period that a scene is set, but what makes the time jump cohesive is that the cinematography by Michelle Lawler, costume design by Helen Huang and production design by John Paino represent each decade as distinctly different periods of time. In scenes set in the early 1980’s, the cinematography is cool and evenly lit, the outfits have classic browns and neutral colors, the homes look especially tacky with colorful wallpaper and cheap particle board trim on walls. The scenes set in the 2000’s have a much cleaner look that represents the time as well. The cinematography is digitally clean with no film grain and the outfits are more restrained like suits and white collared shirts. When a period piece does a great job of showing a time period it is called, “impressive”. The Shrink Next Door is more than impressive because it stylistically separates each decade and is a clear visual aid to represent the setting to the viewer. The setting is not distracting, it melts into the background seamlessly. While this sense of cohesiveness is present within the show’s setting, the tone struggles to do the same.
The series is branded as a Comedy/Drama but at times, it has an inability to decide the right tone. The best way to view why the show doesn’t get tone right is to view the story on a spectrum of funny and serious. On one side of the spectrum, there are scenes that are funny. One example being a time when Marty hits it off with Hannah (Christina Vidal), a girl who works at a picture framing store. His excitement after their flirtatious interaction prompts him to begin running down the street. As Marty runs down the street, Ike follows him and asks, “Why are we running?''. Marty responds, “I don’t know!” The series also has very serious scenes, like when Marty’s sister Phyllis begins yelling at him about how Ike is manipulating him and crossing boundaries. Both of these scenes aim for a certain tone and they hit with dead on accuracy. The problem with the series is the middle of the spectrum, which is what makes up the majority of each episode, where tone is not communicated properly. For example, when Marty talks lovingly to his koi fish in his backyard, is this funny or serious? Impossible to tell. When Ike bids $20,000 of Marty’s money on a Mickey Mantle signed baseball at a fundraiser, Marty desperately tries to take back the bet. He is terrified of spending the money, but is it being played for laughs? This middle of the spectrum is what makes the show tonally confusing.
What does not help this middle spectrum is the choice of two lead actors. Will Ferrell is mainly a comedic actor but he has done serious films before such as Everything Must Go and Winter Passing. Paul Rudd is mainly a comedic actor as well, but has also done serious roles such as The Catcher was A Spy and Diggers. They are both comedic actors who have dramatic range. The problem is that most people know them from comedic films and television shows, so there is an association between the two lead actors and comedy. The comedic scenes land really well and the serious scenes show their abilities to play dramatic roles. However, the middle ground with these comedic actors feels like a comedic scene, but it is played like a serious one. That is where the middle ground tone can confuse the viewer. This is the only pitfall in a series that still has an intriguing and captivating story to tell.
The Shrink Next Door is an interesting real-life story about toxic relationships and the basic need to have someone to rely on for happiness. The way the story slowly unfolds to show just how far Ike goes in controlling Marty makes the series feel very realistic. There is no rising climax, but a slow descent into dependence. Also, the character of Ike is written very intelligently. There is no “scheming” to take Marty’s money, he is just a sociopath that doesn’t care about other people. The story plays manipulation by Ike in a very straightforward nonchalant way that makes him seem even more terrifying. He never seems evil, he always “just wants to help”. When Marty responds to Ike’s kindness, he feels indebted to him and jumps through hoops in order to repay him. The story never ceases to show the toxicity of their relationship and the viewer cannot help but empathize with how Marty has come to rely on Ike so much. This is a well told story about manipulation and it makes the show nerve wracking to watch.
The show's wonky middle ground tone is merely a small problem in an otherwise enjoyable show to watch on Apple TV+. The set design, costume design and cinematography illustrate different time periods masterfully and creates a smooth transition in the show from one decade to the next. The acting from Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell during more dramatic scenes are some of the best in their careers and showcases their abilities to act in more serious roles. In the end, the story is a cautionary tale about power dynamics and how someone in a place of trust and power can take advantage of someone who just needs help.