This article contains spoilers for Shrinking Season 3 Episode 11
Shrinking Season 3 concludes on April 8 with what may be the series’ finest outing yet. In “And That’s Our Time”, the finale serves as both a heartfelt farewell – for now – and a profound exploration of growth, showing how its characters grapple with control, confront grief, and summon the courage to let go while facing the uncertainty of life ahead. Writers Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Neil Goldman craft an episode that balances humour and heart, giving each character a resonant arc while tying together the series’ long-running themes of grief, forgiveness, and the messy but worthwhile process of moving forward.
Everything Shrinking has been building towards comes to a head in the finale. Alice (Lukita Maxwell) packs for college, though she insists she needs more time. She’s ready but believes Jimmy (Jason Segel) is not, facing life on his own. Alice points out that Derek (Ted McGinley) and Liz (Christa Miller) are off to Spain, Brian (Michael Urie) and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) to Tennessee, and that he blew it with Sofi (Cobie Smulders). Jimmy insists he didn’t. He panicked and let his issues with his father drive her away, like a baller.
Brian goes further, suggesting he’s more like a baller who picks a fight with his boss just before moving away, and now they’re icing each other out. Jimmy tells them not to worry. He’ll be fine on his own and is even looking forward to it. You sense that, even if he is, it won’t come easily.
Paul (Harrison Ford) and Julie (Wendie Malick) arrive in Connecticut and stay with Meg (Lily Rabe) and Dave (Ryan Caltagirone). An awkward joke about Elvis’ death prompts Paul to ask Meg why Dave is still around. They’re working on their marriage, effectively closing the door on a Meg and Jimmy romance. Paul wishes Jimmy had “knocked the Dave” out of Meg, revealing that Jimmy had blurted out they’d slept together during last week’s argument. Meg counters that she and Dave were separated, and that Jimmy is such a caring guy, it wasn’t a big deal. Paul labels him “safe dick”, which he defines as no-strings-attached sex. Watching Ford deliver the line is surreal.
Keenly aware of how fragile Jimmy’s current state is, Sean (Luke Tennie) refuses to pile on further change. He’s already moved into his new place, but with Alice about to leave, he chooses not to abandon Jimmy after all he’s done for him. Instead, he pretends he still lives in the pool house until the time feels right. Derek thinks he’s mad and argues Jimmy would be pleased for him.
If anyone deserves happiness, it’s Gaby (Jessica Williams). She discovers Derrick’s (Damon Wayans Jr.) engagement ring in a drawer, puts it on, and promptly gets it stuck. Gaby heads to Liz, who reveals she has known about Derrick’s plans all along as the Dereks tell each other everything. Gaby doesn’t think she’s ready. She’s still reeling after Maya’s (Sherry Cola) passing and is attempting a career jump. Liz explains that this is precisely why Derrick hasn’t asked yet. He’s waiting for the right moment. Gaby counters that it isn’t his moment to choose.
“And That’s Our Time” forces Jimmy and Paul to confront what they cannot control, though that hardly makes it easier. Jimmy calls Paul and, after some awkward small talk, apologises for how things turned out before he left. He admits Paul was right – he had misdirected his feelings.
Paul notes that 90% of his patients lash out, only to wake up the next morning and realise he isn’t their father. Jimmy insists he knows that, but Paul questions whether he truly does. Jimmy pivots, admitting he didn’t want to leave things this way. He had been looking forward to their goodbye breakfast and had a lot he wanted to say. Paul reflects that he often imagines the ideal version of events. Life is messier than that, and it’s okay.
This week, Shrinking delves into how two unlikely characters confront the fear of change and the heartbreak of being left behind. Anyone who has watched a friendship group split after graduation will recognise where both come from. Alice asks Summer (Rachel Stubington) if she’s ready for brows and boba, only for Summer to reveal that Connor (Gavin Lewis) is taking her out to celebrate their anniversary. Frustrated, Alice asks why Summer keeps blowing her off when they were meant to spend as much time together before she leaves. Summer quips that she forgot Alice was going to college, as she hasn’t mentioned it for nearly five minutes. Connor attempts to intervene; both girls snap at him and storm off.
Meanwhile, Jimmy rehearses his airport speech in front of Derek and Sean. He needs to get it right – if Alice breaks down and he doesn’t, she’ll believe he’s fine and won’t worry. When Alice comes downstairs, uninterested in his planned final evening, Derek points out it isn’t about Jimmy, but Summer. Jimmy, nonetheless, takes comfort in having some fatherly duty left to perform.
Jimmy takes Alice out for ice cream, only for Summer to arrive, lured there by Jimmy under the pretence of discussing him asking out her mom. He tells them he recently mishandled a friendship and doesn’t want them to do the same. Change is frightening; Wesleyan is far away. He suspects they’re acting out because they’re scared of losing one another. They will miss each other so much that Summer will now take Alice to Wesleyan.
At the airport, Jimmy asks Alice not to forget what he told her as a child when she felt nervous about sleepaway camp: tug on the invisible string between their hearts, and he’ll feel it wherever he is. If that isn’t enough to break your heart, after Alice and Summer head inside in search of their gate, Jimmy blows a kiss she never sees. Segel is heartbreakingly brilliant in this episode, giving a performance that could easily make him the season’s Emmy frontrunner.
Jessica Williams has done astonishing work throughout Season 3, surely enough to secure consistent awards attention, if not outright wins. The season gives Gaby welcome development, culminating in one of the episode’s most affecting moments. After gathering a circle to discuss Derrick’s ring, she takes matters into her own hands and proposes on her own terms. Derrick says yes, and Gaby gets the happy ending she deserves. Williams and Wayans Jr. share an easy, compelling chemistry that makes the moment celebratory.
Later, Gaby, Derrick, Liz, Derek, Brian, Charlie, Sean, and Jimmy gather. Liz and Derek invite the newly engaged couple to join them in Barcelona as an engagement gift. It’s here that Sean drops the act, admitting he moved out three days earlier. Jimmy takes it well – he’s happy for him, even if he’ll miss him, and sends Sean off to Marisol (Isabella Gomez). Even in its lighter moments, the episode keeps returning to the idea of people moving on, something Jimmy cannot do.
What follows underlines just how isolated Jimmy has become, as he texts Paul to check Alice arrived safely, then adds that Sean has moved out. Paul sends a thumbs-up, and Alice can’t believe that’s all he sends, knowing her dad is alone. Paul pushes back that he isn’t, as he has that girl who is “too cute for him, but when she speaks, you get it.” Alice reminds him that Jimmy and Sofi are no longer together. The room turns on Paul, as Alice, Julie, Meg, and Summer all think he’s being ridiculous. Meg urges him to offer some fatherly advice, but Paul insists he isn’t Jimmy’s father. The women head out for pizza, leaving him behind.
Back home, Jimmy admits to himself that everyone else is moving forward while he stands still. A welcome reprieve comes when Paul calls. He suggests they reschedule the goodbye breakfast for now, as he’s in the area. When they meet, Paul tells Jimmy that life threw him a curveball, so he tries to control things by picturing how he wants them to go. It doesn’t work. Jimmy asks if they can talk it through over waffles, but Paul declines as he’s eating with Sofi. He has “Jimmied” him.
If Jimmy wants to move forward, he must let go of the past. He’ll never forget Tia (Lilan Bowden); he will never forget Paul. Letting go means refusing to let the scars hold him back. Jimmy says he’s covered in them. Good, Paul replies. What a waste to reach 42 without scars – they’re proof of a life fully lived.
Jimmy worries about being a burden, but Paul shuts that down with a line that both Jimmy and viewers have been waiting to hear: “You’re more of a son to me.” He doesn’t know why he hasn’t said it before, perhaps because he assumed Jimmy didn’t need him. As long as he’s around, if Jimmy thinks he does, Paul will be there because he loves him. The choice is simple: stay stuck or go and make new scars. As “You Without Me” by Brandi Carlile plays, Jimmy chooses Sofi.
Given Shrinking was originally set to end with Season 3, before securing a fourth-season renewal ahead of its premiere, the show has delivered a masterclass in long-form storytelling. “And That’s Our Time” plays like a farewell, tying up loose ends and settling its characters in a way the series has rarely allowed itself to do. Whether extending the story ultimately serves it remains to be seen, but Season 3 reaches such consistent highs that continuing feels earned – for now, at least. With Bill Lawrence teasing a time jump and a new direction for Season 4, anything remains possible. Considering this cast, you trust they’ll deliver.
