The Shrink Next Door Review: The Family Tree (Season 1 Episode 5)
It’s a big Freudian mess as Dr. Ike inserts himself into Marty’s life more and more on The Shrink Next Door Season 1 Episode 5, “The Family Tree.”
The situation between Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd) and Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell) is getting exceedingly uncomfortable, and much of that feeling is passed on to the viewer.
Marty keeps getting bulldozed by Ike who wants to bulldoze his Hampton house as well including a beautiful tree that has sentimental value to Marty. Ike uses the many manipulations in his arsenal to get the things he wants, not what is best for Marty, his patient and friend.
It’s difficult to watch this narcissistic takedown.
Ike projects his fraught relationship with his father, who we find out has just died at the start of the episode, onto Marty. He creates a Freudian fiction about Marty and his mother and sells it to him. Marty is overly-trusting of Dr. Ike so he buys it, lets Ike guilt him into chopping the tree down.
Ike makes it so Marty has to prove his loyalty, and it is so disappointing to see. Marty being taken for a fool is becoming wearing and tedious. This feeling also extends to Bonnie (Casey Wilson), Ike’s wife.
He sends her home from the Hamptons to care for their children by herself for weeks so Ike can start writing his novel. She is too okay with this arrangement. Like Marty, she allows Ike to call the shots that are only ever in his best interest.
Or maybe she really just wants a break from her husband.
Image is everything to Ike and it sounds like it may stem from trying (and failing) to impress his father. If the realities of his life do not live up to his unrealistic standards, he will present it to the world as he wants it to look, and, furthermore, present it as fact.
And he’s using Marty’s life to do this.
Soon, Marty will have nothing left, as indicated on the first episode, “The Consultation,” where it shows Marty finally retaliating, but years later.
Ike promptly got Marty to cut his sister Phyllis out of his life which is a terrible mistake for Marty personally, of course, but also for the show itself.
Kathryn Hahn as Phyllis has been the standout performance of The Shrink Next Door. On Season 1 Episode 4, “The Foundation,” she only appears in the cold open, but it is, by far, the best part of the episode. Her complete absence here is felt and the show suffers for it.
It’s not easy to slip into this world each week, but it was easier with Phyllis around. Something has got to break up the depressing, advantage-taking hold that Dr. Herschkopf has on Marty’s life, not just for Marty’s sake but for the sake of viewer enjoyment as well.
What did you think of this episode of The Shrink Next Door? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
New episodes of The Shrink Next Door stream Fridays on Apple TV+.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.