TL;DR – Shrinking is the kind of show that has cornered the market in laugh-crying your way through an episode, and this final but not final season captured that beautifully

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV service that I used to view this series.

Shrinking Review introduction –

Today, we are looking at a very odd sort of ending. Because in one sense, we have reached the end of a story, three planned-out seasons careening towards a goal. However, because of the impact of the cast and characters, we know there will be another season with another story. It is like wondering if you are saying goodbye to characters you love or see you later. It is in that space that we explore the final season today.  

So, to set the scene, things are looking up for the group of friends working their way around life, love, and finding themselves. However, while everyone is growing and changing, life finds its way to throw curveballs everywhere. Jimmy (Jason Segel) wants Alice (Lukita Maxwell) to get into Wesleyan, but he is very much not ready for his daughter to move across the country for college in Connecticut. Paul’s (Harrison Ford) Parkinson’s is progressing, and he can’t hold a pencil anymore. But nothing prepares you for the reason someone says, “My bad”. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

It’s the Characters, Stupid

There are a lot of factors that connect you to a show, but at the core of that connection is the characters. If you don’t care about them and their plight, you will not be checking in each week. It is in this space that Shrinking might work better than most shows currently airing. Every character has flaws, sometimes debilitating issues. There are times when you hate them, there are times when they shock you, and there are times when you can’t understand them. But if you care, you care warts and all, and this is a show that reveals the warts and all.

Thinking all the way back to the start of Season One, if you were telling me that Liz (Christa Miller) giving someone a rock would be a profound act of trust that would reverberate throughout the show, I would think you were lying to me. But the growth of Liz, while not changing what makes her character work, is one of the many factors that make this show as good as it is. You absolutely care when Liz gives someone a rock. You yell “Fuck Parkinson’s” in unison with the character, because of course, F Parkinson’s. You live for the Council of Dereks and cried when you didn’t know if Derek 1 (Ted McGinley) made it through heart surgery. You wouldn’t spend half your time laughing or crying if you didn’t care about those characters.  

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy

If there has been one throughline throughout this season, it has been Jimmy coping with, or better not coping with, the fact that everyone around him, almost his entire support network, is in the process of leaving. Paul and Julie (Wendie Malick) are going back to Connecticut, Brian (Michael Urie) and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) are off to Tennessee, Liz and Derek are going to Barcelona, Gaby (Jessica Williams) might be going off to start a new practice, and most importantly, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) about to head off across the country for college. It is an almost overwhelming level of absence, which absolutely homes in on his issues with abandonment.

Which is the perfect time for his father, Randy (Jeff Daniels), to pop back into his life and throw a bunch of spanners in multiple works. I have already cursed once in this review, so I shan’t do it again, but also screw you, Jeff Daniels, and your perfect personification of a delinquently charismatic father figure. Coming into this finale episode, I had profound concerns about where Jimmy would end up because he spent much of the back end of the season pushing people away before they could abandon him. But somehow, they pull him back from the brink and still make it feel narratively satisfying.

It’s The End of the World as we Know It

Which brings us to that season and once series finale: And That’s Our Time. Look, I have seen shows with a two-hour series finale fail to pull off what this show did in 35 minutes. Every character gets a swan note to their story. Jimmy gets Jimmyed by Paul, Gaby finally accepts how good Derek 2 (Damon Wayans Jr.) is, but in her own way, Alice goes off to college, and Liz and Derek take a new step in their relationship. We get marriage proposals, council committees, explosive last-minute fights that get resolved, and a satisfyingly wonderful end to it all.  

This finale episode also feels like a complete tonal swerve compared to where the rest of the season was heading. However, it somehow pulled that off without feeling saccharin or contrite. All of those flaws are still there in people; this is not a dreaded reset button that they pull so everyone can go off and have their happily ever after. Yet also, I walked away from that finale episode knowing that if we didn’t get anything else, that all the characters would continue to live fulfilled lives, for as long as they can, and I don’t think I can say that about many shows that I know.   

Recomendation

In the end, do we recommend Shrinking Season 3? Yes, yes, I do. If you have watched Season One and Season Two, then you need to finish that third act, because they make it work. Now, am I slightly concerned that we are about to head into a Scrubs season nine world with whatever contrivance they use to bring back Harrison Ford? Sure. But given the strength of the writing so far, I am ready and willing to give them that chance to shine again.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Shrinking
Directed by – James Ponsoldt, Zach Braff, Rebecca Asher, Anu Valia, & Randall Keenan Winston
Written by – Zack Bornstein, CJ Hoke, Sofi Selig, Brian Gallivan, Brett Goldstein, Bill Posley, Ashley Nicole Black, Emily Wilson, Rachna Fruchbom, Neil Goldman, & Bill Lawrence 
Created by – Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel & Brett Goldstein
Production/Distribution Companies – 3 Chance Productions, Corporate Mandate, Doozer Productions, Warner Bros. Television & AppleTV
Starring – Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Ted McGinley, Christa Miller, & Harrison Ford
With – Jeff Daniels, Damon Wayans Jr., Cobie Smulders, Michael J. Fox, Wendie Malick, Lily Rabe, Rachel Stubington, Isabella Gomez, Courtney Taylor, Gavin Lewis, Devin Kawaoka, Vernée Watson, Mike C. Nelson, Ryan Caltagirone, Nora Kirkpatrick, Meg DeLancy, Lilan Bowden, Matt Jones, Claudia Sulewski, Jill Knox, Keith Powell, Brett Goldstein, Candice Bergen, Neil Flynn, Sherry Cola, Brian Howe, Josh Hopkins, Lisa Gilroy, Kimberly Condict, Meredith Hagner, Sam Page, & Miriam Flynn
And – Trey Santiago-Hudson, Aleah Quiñones, Markus Silbiger, Adrienne Lewis, Sawyer Jones, Jack Stuart, Matt Mitchell, Kyrsten V. Williams, Dash McCloud, Christopher May, Kenajuan Bentley, Ashley Nicole Black, Herve Clermont, Michael Shen, Amy Rosoff, Matthew Rocheleau, Eric Chavez, Martin Garcia, Brian Gallivan, Bobbie Lee Jr., Mo Welch, Erin Matthews, & Terry Lee Fradet
Episodes Covered – My Bad, Happiness Mission, D-Day, The Field, Hold Your Horses, Dereks Don’t Die, I Will Be Grape, Depression Diet, Daddy Issues, & And That’s Our Time