This article contains spoilers for Shrinking S3E4.
No show masters the art of making you laugh while knocking the wind out of your sails quite like Shrinking. In the strongest episode of Season 3 so far, the show leans fully into that duality while laying out a decision that changes the course of the show as we know and love it.
Following Liz’s (Christa Miller) intervention last week, Jimmy (Jason Segel) finally goes on a date with Kimmy (Lisa Gilroy). Their conversation about whether the evening feels like cheating on Tia (Lilan Bowden) encapsulates Jimmy’s unresolved grief. He admits that it does, now that she has said it. Kimmy cannot move past the enormity of his loss, nor the fact that Alice (Lukita Maxwell) lost her mother, too. The date is disastrous, yet Paul (Harrison Ford) remains proud of Jimmy for trying. The storyline continues to underline how tentative and awkward Jimmy’s attempts at moving on remain, though it’s hard not to feel that things might have gone more smoothly had he been ready to date Sofi (Cobie Smulders).
If you have felt that Liz is more involved in Sutton’s life than Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) is, Shrinking addresses her encroaching presence with humour this week. As Liz is at their house so often, Charlie and Brian worry Sutton will grow up thinking Liz is the mother, Charlie is the father, and Brian is the sexy rent boy keeping things fun. Liz dismisses this fantasy, pointing out that no one would believe it given Brian’s age. Still, her eagerness to help proves useful when she steps in via a camera hidden in a teddy bear to advise on how to soothe a crying Sutton. Christa Miller remains a delight to watch, delivering exquisitely timed comebacks with ease.
Gaby’s (Jessica Williams) sessions with Maya (Sherry Cola) continue to suggest that Maya’s guarded persona hides something more serious. When pressed, Maya offers a banal detail that she enjoys bar trivia before declining to extend their session, reinforcing her reluctance to engage in the vulnerability Gaby wants from her. Jimmy suggests that Gaby meet Maya outside the clinical setting, advice Gaby initially rejects, but ultimately proves useful.
Paul’s storyline remains one of the show’s most affecting, while still delivering some of its biggest laughs. Jimmy’s delight at finally being invited to act as Paul’s “appointment buddy” is instantly thwarted when Paul gruffly explains that it took so long because Jimmy insists on calling it that. Their visit brings good news: Paul’s UTI has cleared, and he can return to work. His doctor is also eager to refer patients struggling with the emotional toll of Parkinson’s to someone who understands it. Harrison Ford sauntering into the office, humming the Indiana Jones theme, is as exhilarating as it sounds. Paul is back, yes, but only for now.
Luke introduces Marisol (Isabella Gomez) to Derek (Ted McGinley), Liz, and Alice, triggering his tendency to overthink. In a later conversation, Paul bluntly asks whether Sean and Marisol are in a situationship or planning a soft launch. Sean insists they’re having fun, and Marisol is great. She left Miami to care for her sick father, but she remains as game for anything as ever. The problem, Sean realises, is not her; it’s him. He worries about what will happen when Marisol notices that he is no longer the person he used to be. Paul dismisses this as an imaginary future problem, hoping to put an end to Sean’s spiral.
Weeks of simmering tension between Gaby and Jimmy finally come to a head after he guest lectures for her class. Jimmy outlines why he abandoned traditional CBT in favour of what he calls Jimmying, breaking traditional boundaries to intervene in his clients’ lives. The students are not impressed and feel bad for their clients. Jimmy later accuses Gaby of setting him up, insisting he only agreed to the lecture as a favour. Gaby fires back that he befriended Louis (Brett Goldstein) without once considering how it might affect her.
Jimmy understands why Gaby lost faith in him, but admits he is trying to move forward, hoping she can find a way to trust him again. Gaby counters that she hasn’t trusted him since Tia died. She apologises for how long it has taken her to climb back onto the Jimmy train, listing the damage he caused during that period, including having sex workers in Tia’s house and sleeping with her “hot best friend” (Gaby). He doesn’t want his failures to prevent Gaby from helping Maya.
Gaby reluctantly follows Jimmy’s advice and meets Maya at a Lord of the Rings trivia night. Comfortable, Maya admits she did not always come alone, once sharing these nights with her three best friends. However, one moved for work, one married, and another disappeared into a phone-less cult. Sometimes, she admits, she thinks the universe is conspiring to keep her lonely. Gaby suggests meeting tomorrow to talk properly, but tonight they celebrate their success. Sherry Cola is a wonderful addition to the cast, holding her own against an established ensemble. Cola delivers a performance akin to a gut punch, heightened in future episodes.
Liz and Derek’s issues with Matthew (Markus Silbiger) escalate when they learn that Will (Matt Mitchell) no longer wants him at his place. Seeking reassurance, Liz turns up at Paul’s office. Paul tells her that someone like Matthew will struggle when coddling gives way to independence, before reminding her that he is not her therapist. The moment softens when Liz pressures him into saying he loves her back, threatening to judge him forever if he refuses. Paul dryly notes that he will live, but tells her that he loves her back. Christa Miller and Harrison Ford are delightful to watch, forming a pairing we do not see enough of.
Taking Paul’s advice, Liz and Derek secure Matthew a place of his own, allowing him to live there rent-free if he renovates it himself. The arrangement lasts until he gets a job. The plan backfires almost immediately when Derek mistakes Matthew’s weed gummies for sweets and eats the entire bag. Ted McGinley runs riot in the aftermath, delivering laugh-out-loud moments one after another as Derek spirals into paranoia. Convinced he has been poisoned, he asks a stranger to call an ambulance before phoning Brian to warn him that someone is trying to kill him and Sutton because they’re going for the cute ones. Once hospitalised, a heart arrhythmia is discovered thanks to the 650mg of THC ingested.
Elsewhere, Brian admits he never thought he could love anyone as completely as he does Charlie and Sutton. He thanks Liz for what she has taught them. Liz deflects, insisting she raised a circus troupe of man-boys and that, no matter what you do, you will always mess it up. Liz confesses that Matthew knew Derek was in the hospital and did not show up. Her admission that she somehow raised an arsehole and feels ashamed is made worse when Matthew appears, holding Derek’s favourite fries, having overheard everything. Liz tries to take it back, insisting that it is not what she meant, and they should talk, but Matthew leaves instead.
Harrison Ford and Michael J. Fox in Shrinking Season 3 © Apple TV
Michael J. Fox returns as Gerry, now a patient of Paul’s. Paul guides him through a visualisation exercise, asking Gerry to picture a cloud of intelligence and energy. He must step into its warmth and ask for answers before sitting still and listening. Paul completes the exercise alongside him, visualising slow mornings with Julie (Wendie Malick) and time spent with Meg (Lily Rabe). It’s a future he can no longer outrun as the realities of Parkinson’s disease take over. By the time he tells Jimmy that he thinks it’s time he stops being a therapist, it’s expected, but it hurts, nonetheless.
Despite a fourth season confirmed, it feels as though Shrinking is preparing to say goodbye. Whether to Harrison Ford remains to be seen.
