I Love Pain – Episode 2 begins with Connor (Connor Lewis) awkwardly asking Alice (Lukita Maxwell) out, which she politely but just as awkwardly refuses. Despite the already awkward situation, things get even more awkward when Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) is caught snooping. Later that morning, Jimmy attempts to tell Alice about Louis’s (Brett Goldstein) surprise visit but is interrupted by Derek (Ted McGinley), who has volunteered to take Alice to her driver’s test.

Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford) and Jimmy are right in the middle of discussing his inability to break the news to Alice when Paul’s next patient, Raymond (Neil Flynn) interrupts. When Raymond’s gone, Paul and Jimmy’s discussion abruptly changes to Paul having to drop Raymond as a patient since he’s now taking on Sean (Luke Tennie). It’s only several seconds later when Paul breaks the news to Ray. Much to Paul’s surprise, Ray appears more hurt by the fact that they can’t remain friends more than anything else.

Brian (Michael Urie) is equally hurt when he learns that Jimmy and Gaby (Jessica Williams) have been sleeping together since his wedding. Jimmy returns home to discover that Alice has passed her driver’s test but ruins the moment by choosing the moment to reveal Louis’s visit. This turns into a brief father/daughter talk with Jimmy promising to be close if she needs to talk but not to the point of hovering.

At the same time, Liz (Christa Miller) tells Sean about an opportunity to have their food truck reviewed by a professional blogger. Although he appears enthused at the time, his later discussion with Paul indicates he isn’t at all happy about it. Sean’s session with Paul suggests that he fears the blogger is more interested in him being a vet than their food truck. This eventually leads to Paul deducing him as someone who avoids hard conversations and recommends using a ‘Reversal of Desire’ technique to conquer this. It appears unsuccessful at the moment.

Gaby finally works up the courage to break off her arrangement with Jimmy and clearly hurts his feelings by citing the reasoning as the relationship not going anywhere. Despite that, he takes it in stride and agrees.

Summer (Rachel Stubington) turns out to be incredibly insightful and helpful in more ways than one when Connor interrupts their discussion about Louis. Alice jumps on the opportunity to pawn Connor off on Summer, who authentically appears interested in him. Elsewhere, Sean attempts to tell Liz about not wanting to do the interview but thinks better of it after seeing her excitement. He later tells Paul about his failure in an extremely long e-mail. So long, that reading it causes Paul to miss out on his own opportunity with Dr. Julie Baram (Wendie Malick).

Jimmy’s persistence with Grace (Heidi Gardner) finally begins to pay off but he is sidetracked for the moment by an urgent e-mail from Paul. After Jimmy leaves Grace under the care of Brian, he races over to Paul’s house where they argue about him sharing Paul’s personal contact information with Sean. They spend several minutes arguing about boundaries but the entire situation is ultimately made worse by Paul missing out on another romantic opportunity with Julie.

Alice is right in the middle of writing her letter to Louis when Jimmy interrupts. He can’t but help admit that Summer’s suggestion was incredibly insightful and even considers writing a letter of his own after Alice shares hers. The following day at the office, Jimmy walks in on Gaby and Courtney (Courtney Taylor) arguing about taking care of their mother. The situation is only made worse when Jimmy offers to be a shoulder to lean on, should Gaby need it.

Left with no one else to turn to, Sean is forced to apply Paul’s ‘Reversal of Desire’ technique. Much to Sean’s surprise, Liz doesn’t think twice about canceling the interview. Elsewhere, Jimmy is equally surprised when Alice finally asks to borrow the vehicle. He turns the entire thing into an ordeal that is eventually interrupted with the triumphant return of Sean.

Jimmy swallows his pride by sharing the news of Sean’s success with Paul. Paul takes the news like a sore winner but after ending the call, he is shown meeting Raymond at a bar. Even later that evening, Jimmy visits Gaby with a care package to help ease the pain of her earlier confrontation with Courtney. Although the encounter begins on a good note, it ends in a huge blowup after she accuses him of only trying to sleep with her. She ultimately makes him leave but only after admitting that she has developed feelings for him.

The episode ends with Alice sitting outside of Louis’s house watching him.

 

Shrinking Review

Not a terrible episode at all. After two episodes, I must say I like where the series is going. There are, of course, plenty of cringe moments but like I’ve said before, the context can be incredibly thought-provoking and insightful at times. I just wish some of the topics weren’t so clichéd, but if it’s necessary, it’s necessary. I felt it was incredibly effective and clever to tie in Alice getting her license with the sudden emergence of Louis. For this, I’d give the episode a 5.7 out of 10.

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