This review contains spoilers for Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6.
Suppose last week’s episode was more light-hearted in tone, this week’s episode of Shrinking returns to upset. ‘Dereks Don’t Die’ balances hope and heartbreak, showing how its characters confront fears, navigate change, and are forced to face truths they have long avoided. Writer CJ Hoke makes the best use of the series’s ensemble to deliver the strongest episode of Season 3 so far.
‘Dereks Don’t Die’ begins with Jimmy waking up in bed alone, Meg long gone following their kiss. Alice (Lukita Maxwell), fresh from partying with Marisol (Isabella Gomez), Sean (Luke Tennie), Summer (Rachel Stubington), and Jorge (Troy Santiago-Hudson), barrels into his room to recount her night. She insists she would do it all again – but also regrets it. Alice asks Jimmy if he understands, which he does, more than she will ever know. After all, there is not much you could regret more than sleeping with the married daughter of your father figure, especially when that father figure is Harrison Ford’s grumpy but lovable Paul.
Jimmy, meanwhile, cannot handle the fallout and acts painfully awkward around Meg and Paul. It only gets worse when Meg reveals that she and Dave (Ryan Caltagirone) have been separated for a few months. He wants everyone to believe he knew about the separation the night before and that it took serious convincing to get him to sleep with her. Meg claims she had to beg; Jimmy concludes that no one will find that remotely believable. Jason Segel is at the top of his game here, drawing every ounce of humour from Jimmy’s spiralling self-preservation.
Meg, for her part, proves far more composed. She asks Jimmy not to mention the separation to Paul, joking that he might injure himself jumping for joy. When Jimmy finally admits that the kiss was complicated yet still gave him hope, Meg agrees.
In each episode, there is a Harrison Ford pairing worth praising. This week, Ford and Lily Rabe deliver perhaps the most heartwarming exploration of Paul and Meg’s father-daughter dynamic since her introduction to Shrinking. Later, Meg tells Paul that she and Dave are separated. He admits he joked about Dave because it was easy, not because he wishes either of them unhappy. Whatever she decides, he will stand by her. It’s a largely simple exchange, but all the more beautiful for the strength of the performances.
A lighter plot arrives through Brian (Michael Urie). He decides to make a birth announcement for Sutton so his father can discover he is a grandfather. Brian knows he will disapprove, and the idea of him speaking ill of Sutton clearly worries him.
Jimmy, Jimmying, pushes him towards the inevitable and makes him call. Brian explains that he and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) decided to adopt a baby and have signed paperwork to make it official. His dad, responding better than Brian originally thought, asks when the baby is due. Brian, flustered, replies that you can never really guess how many trimesters there will be. At this point, Jimmy (thankfully) cannot stop himself. He cuts in and blurts out that Sutton is already here, and Brian was too scared to tell him. His dad cannot wait for a photo.
Elsewhere, Sean continues to reach for his happily ever after. Popular restaurant owner Dre Thibodeaux (Herve Clermont) is impressed by a sandwich from Sean’s truck and invites him to interview for a sous chef position. It’s the kind of opportunity that once felt impossible for Sean, so, naturally, he begins to sabotage it in his head. He fixates on the fact that he never went to culinary school, going so far as to worry about what happens to Jorge if he gets the job and whether he will still have time for Marisol.
Success, in Sean’s world, arrives hand in hand with the fear of losing the stability he has built. However, Paul (once again) refuses to indulge the spiral. He isn’t worried that Sean will get in his own way because he has already done the work to prevent it. It’s time to live in the moment, so Sean does, confirming the interview.
Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Maya’s (Sherry Cola) storyline takes an ironic turn. Maya admits that it’s difficult to make friends as an adult and wonders if she must accept that her fate is to be alone. Gaby quickly reminds her that she is not alone, as she has her. Hoping to expand her circle, Gaby takes Maya to box with Alice, Sean and Jorge. They meet twice a week, and Gaby thinks she might like to join. Sherry Cola continues to feel like a perfect addition to the ensemble.
However, after scrolling through her friends’ seemingly perfect lives on social media while drinking, Maya calls Gaby and asks if she would like to grab froyo. When Gaby asks whether she needs to talk now or if it can wait until their next session, Maya agrees it can wait, but it’s evident she needs her. Given Gaby’s insistence that Maya reach out, and Maya’s tendency to omit how she really feels, you cannot help but wonder whether Gaby has missed something vital here.
Given the episode title is ‘Dereks Don’t Die,’ this week Shrinking returns its focus to Derek (Ted McGinley), Liz (Christa Miller), and Matthew (Markus Silbiger). Liz hopes Matthew will at least talk to Jimmy, as he still refuses to talk to her, and she misses her son. When Matthew finally sits down with Jimmy, he makes it clear he would rather skip the feelings altogether. He fails to understand why everyone is on his case, as he is 25. It’s Jimmy who says it best: you cannot help somebody who does not want to be helped.
The episode then takes a devastating turn. Derek’s cath test reveals a blockage in his left anterior descending artery, and he is rushed in for emergency bypass surgery. Shrinking boasts one of television’s strongest ensembles; just as you settle on a favourite, another performance takes the spotlight. Ted McGinley and Christa Miller deliver exceptional work that cements the pairing as the series’s best.
Faced with the possibility of not coming back from surgery, Derek wants to tell Liz he loves her for the last time. Liz insists he will be fine, but her fear is written all over her face. It’s gutwrenching to see her so lost, especially when she is usually steadfast amid the chaos. Despite having Scrubs and Cougar Town under her belt, Miller continues to deliver a career-defining character and performance here. Later, she confesses to Jimmy that she doesn’t know what she will do if she loses him. Jimmy reassures her, but for Liz (and Shrinking as a whole), Derek brings the joy. She does not believe she would survive losing him.
Jimmy, recognising what is at stake, confronts Matthew. He asks whether he intends to remain oblivious forever. If he fails to show up for his parents now, he will regret it for the rest of his life. It’s the push that Matthew needs, and he arrives at the hospital, immediately stepping up. Liz says she would have called; he brushes that aside, admitting he rang Will (Matt Mitchell) to get himself there.
After a close call, Derek pulls through. ‘Dereks don’t die,’ the episode insists, which is something we should hold Shrinking to.
