The Shrink Next Door
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Presented with a shiny new father figurefriendmentor, Marty has decided to follow Ike wherever he leads.
And this episode illustrates exactly how Ike snuck his way in.
At the top of the episode, we see that Martys life is actually improving somewhat under Ikes guidance.
Hes going to therapy regularly, but hes still afraid to talk about his emotions.
From personal experience as a therapist (and as a therapygoer), I 100 percent know this mood.
And Ike sees that its happening with Marty.
Hes a trained psychiatrist, after all.
But the way he goes about rectifying this issue is really justnot great, Bob.
But Ike keeps steering him back to his grief over his fathers death.
Marty finally starts to really open up and get into the meat of his issues.
When Marty recalls his disastrous bar mitzvah, Ike gets an idea.
At this moment, Rudd finally lets the inner Ike shine through for just a moment.
His eager smile falters and his whole face falls, determination and want glimmering behind his eyes.
Marty is taken aback by this transformation.
He would never do anything to disappoint his new idol.
So he agrees to the (terrible) idea.
But one person thankfully still has her wits about her, and thats Martys sister Phyllis.
Throughout the process of Marty getting ready for the bar mitzvah, Phyllis pushes backhard.
She tells Marty to celebrate his midlife crisis like the normals do.
No judgment here, she says.
But really, there is judgment.
She cant stand by as her brother does this ridiculous thing.
And shes right about everything.
Hahns glorious wig bobs with confused frustration as Phyllis heads to see Martys rabbi.
She finds out that Marty isnt having his bar mitzvah at their temple; hes having it at Ikes.
But its too late.
Phylliss well-intentioned snooping leads to a full-on meltdown from Ike.
When Ikes rabbi questions him about the situation, something snaps in Ike.
He realizes that to have a functioning Marty puppet, he needs to cut some external strings.
And the key string is Martys connection to his sister.
As an unsuspecting Marty heads out, Ike pounces.
Remember that glimmer from earlier in the episode?
Ferrell truly has the best hangdog look in the game, and he deploys it perfectly here.
Martys big, shiny saucer eyes stare in disbelief as his beloved psychiatrist throws a legit tantrum.
Ike sets to the task of planting seeds of doubt in Martys brain, turning him against Phyllis.
Methinks the (bad) doctor doth protest too much.
But Marty buys it.
Ike gets what he wants as Marty heads over to Phylliss place and confronts her about the snooping.
They squabble, hurling half-formed insults at one another and gesturing wildly.
The crackling sibling dynamic here makes everything thats about to happen even sadder.
Shes got an entire punch card full of red flags, but Marty is already in too deep.
He says that shes uninvited to his bar mitzvah, even if she changes her mind.
Even the videographer seems wholly uninterested in talking to Marty.
No one is there for him; theyre all there for Ike.
Every time Will Ferrell sings onscreen, it is a true gift to the world.
And every time he acts like hecantsing, a comedy angel gets its wings.
However, its always funnier when he botches it on purpose like he does in this episode.
The images of the giddy men are interspersed with short clips of Phyllis talking to her kids about family.
She says, Sometimes the people we love do things that we dont agree with.
And sometimes they act like fucking douchebags.
Homemade cake and family »»» bar mitzvah thrown by your psychiatrist.
Remember that, friends.
Our time is up for now, but until next episode.
Big personal feelings surfacing as a result of work with patients is called countertransference.
Marty check-in:While Marty believes he is beginning to stand up for himself with others (a.k.a.
Phyllis), hes really just self-sabotaging due to Ikes poor advice.
Ike and Marty check-in:Ike does seem to get more out of helping Marty than just a checkbook.
This is our first hint that Marty isnt Ikes only victim.
The New York accents in this show are all over the place, and I love them dearly.
