Shrinking was one of those shows that demonstrated what Apple TV offered as a service. It was emotional, funny and hard not to dive headfirst into. Now Season 3 has just ended, and the cast of characters has come a long way since the series first aired, yet somehow it feels like everyone is more connected, emotionally raw and ready for the next stages than ever before. With a series that was originally only supposed to have a three-season arc, Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, and the rest of the cast have shown there are still plenty of stories to tell, and plenty of healing still to experience as they move on to this next chapter.
On the surface, a show about therapists dealing with their own personal trauma does not sound like a formula that would work so well, or be so enjoyable and heartbreaking in equal measure, but here we are, and I am bought in. Jason Segel’s Jimmy has won me over, and I am rooting for him to grow on his healing journey. That is the hook of the show, and one that feels genuine even as the cast of characters keeps expanding each season. Even as more people join the dysfunctional world of this tight-knit community, they all feel like they have a place and build on their own issues in natural, understandable ways.
Season 3 of Shrinking takes the core concept and expands far beyond just Jimmy, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), Sean (Luke Tennie), Paul (Harrison Ford) and Gaby (Jessica Williams), taking more time to delve into the lives of everyone they care about and hold dear. It is great to have the characters of Liz (Christa Miller), Derek (Ted McGinley) and even Brian (Michael Urie) feel more fleshed out and real this season, with each of them moving beyond the simple one-note characters we first met in Season 1 and actually having wants, dreams and a real connection to the people they love.
Do not get me wrong, Season 3 of Shrinking does retread many of the same notes we have seen in past seasons. Jimmy still regresses plenty of times, Paul still gets stuck in his ways, and, of course, Brian still acts like a narcissistic stereotype from time to time.
But behind the simple moments and jokes, there is a real sense that the writers are working to explore everyone in the series in meaningful ways. The jokes and laughs feel earned, and when the show decides to shift gears and become incredibly raw, it hits just as hard, if not harder, than many dramas I watch.
Shrinking is a series that knows when to play its hand, and it does that incredibly well this season. It was hard to top last season’s finale with Jimmy and Louis (Brett Goldstein), but this season jumped right into it and worked to show how far its many characters have come, and how far they can still fall when things go badly.
“Season 3 of Shrinking left me optimistic.”
This season is full of hard moments that push its characters in ways that feel earned, and that is part of what makes the show so unique. It is not afraid to show real struggle and lets those struggles have meaningful, lasting consequences for its cast. Many comedies reset after dark scenes, but Shrinking is not afraid to let that lasting impact be felt by everyone, even making it so the characters are permanently changed at times.
Season 3 of Shrinking finally lets Jimmy find a meaningful connection with Sofi (Cobie Smulders), gives us a deeper understanding of Brian’s relationships, and finally offers a look at how Liz’s family dynamics work well beyond the quick bursts we have seen in past seasons.
We also get a much more meaningful look at Gaby, her view of love, and what makes her happy despite her many years of issues and the trauma that holds her back daily. This season goes places, giving us a look at how that fun-loving exterior can crack, and what it takes to heal once it faces those hardships. The series is building on the foundation it laid early on, and it is now paying off handsomely.
But as happy as I was overall with what Season 3 of Shrinking managed to do, I cannot help but feel the series could have ended here, and it would have been okay. Do not get me wrong, I like where things left off, do not worry, I am avoiding spoilers here, but as with any series, when it goes on too long, the connective tissue that makes everything work can start to fall apart.
It feels solid this season, but as many characters are now on new journeys, I think this could have been a good place to cap things off and leave the audience with a good sense of accomplishment, that the characters are still broken, but are on a path toward healing.
But as that is not what we got, Season 3 of Shrinking left me optimistic. The way things left off, there is a lot of potential for a very different show going forward. Everyone is now living their own lives, and how Jimmy fits into those lives will forever be changed, but that is part of what makes the series so fun. It can make major adjustments, and that is part of what makes the act of healing so interesting.
I am excited to see where Jimmy and Sofi go from here. I want to know what Paul will do now that he is making a major change in his life, and I cannot wait to see how Gaby, Brian, Liz, Derek and Sean evolve as they slowly find themselves.
Season 3 of Shrinking felt like a major shift for the formula, and coming back next season will be very different, and that works for me. If they are going to keep the series going, it needs to shift what it was doing without losing the core of what made it special, and it seems like Segel and the crew behind the show have done just that.
I am not sure what the future holds for Shrinking and its slowly expanding cast of characters, but I am excited to find out. This is a show that helped cement Apple TV as a destination for amazing TV, and with this latest instalment, it has once again shown it is willing to take risks, all while making sure the core idea of healing is never forgotten.
