Shrinking: Season 3 – TV Review

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

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Liz looking down from her balcony.

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. 

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Shrinking: Season 2 – TV Review

TL;DR – It is rare when a series can both genuinely make me laugh down to my core yet also deliver one of the most potent emotional slaps to the face that I have ever gotten.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Shrinking. Image Credit: AppleTV+.

In today’s binge-streaming culture, it is almost expected that you will sit down and plough through a series in one or two sessions. Television that is almost just on in the background while you are doing other things. Well, today, we look at a series that respects you as a viewer in a way that you can’t watch all of it in one sitting because you need to savour every moment of it.

So, to set the scene, throughout Season One, Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) was trying to find his place in the world as he was still reeling from the tragic death of his wife Tia (Lilan Bowden) in a car crash years earlier. It was in this space that he decided to try a more hands-on type of therapy with his clients called ‘Jimmying’. There were success stories and failures, but it was working right up until one of Jimmy’s patients, Grace (Heidi Gardner), decided to take some advice a touch too literally and pushed her abusive boyfriend off a cliff. Meanwhile, Gaby (Jessica Williams) is dealing with always having to be the support mechanism for her family while starting a new role as professor, Sean (Luke Tennie) is working through having his dad back in his life, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) is still processing her own grief, and Paul’s (Harrison Ford) Parkinson’s is getting worse. Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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