Written by Brett Goldstein
Directed by Zach Braff
You know a Goldstein/Braff collab is going to be a doozy. Goldstein writes his own character’s goodbye, continuing with this season’s motif of moving forward. (Presumably it also has something to do with the fact that in addition to being a co-creator on this, he also works on Ted Lasso as a writer, producer and at least guest starring actor, his second stand up hour, and several movies right now, and also somehow finds time to do a podcast.)
It all starts with the fact that the other characters who so far have not met Louis on screen are acknowledging his presence – or rather their irritation about the fact he is there at all. Jimmy and Alice keep hanging out with him, getting coffee, even an outing to the museum. Jimmy is also trying to, well, Jimmy him into moving on from his ex Sarah (Meredith Hagner), who he left after the accident, cause he felt like he didn’t deserve her – something that hasn’t changed much, making him stuck.
The most annoyed by all of this is Gaby, who gets distracted when he stops by the practice, making her week immediately even worse: A couple of her regular clients sent a friend to her who’s clearly depressed but she fucks up their first session.
Meanwhile everyone is taking care of Paul: it turns out that him having a UTI triggered his system into the hallucinations (Fuck Parkinson’s!), so he is off work and Liz is in charge of his schedule while the boys take him to appointments, exercise and everything else he needs. This includes a trip to Brian’s gay gym where we learn he had threesomes with other men in the Seventies – and so did Derek, just a decade later. I, much like Brian, have so many questions.
More importantly, it also leads to Paul seeing Derek and Liz in action coddling their son, and him therapizing Derek into setting firm boundaries. As he argues Derek is ultimately selfish because he’s struggling with his own inner child, a result of emotionally inconsistent parents, and he’s avoiding a necessary conflict. By the end, Derek kicks out Matthew, finally the bad cop instead of Liz (who usually relishes in it).
Louis eventually comes to Jimmy’s house to apologize for overreacting to the Jimmying at the museum. Here he, gets confronted by Gaby (who is there to pick up Alice to go to a basketball game). She says what nobody else would have been able to: that she won’t forgive him, that he should not be here – and more importantly, he should live his life. Because he is alive when Tia isn’t, and it is disrespectful to her, and to her friend, to not actually live it. It spurs him into meeting up with his ex, who is ready to see him – but also now taken. But it is enough for him to move on, and literally so: he needs a fresh start, possibly heading to San Diego, and going back to his old job as a graphic designer. “I guess I’m hoping that if I put myself back out there, maybe good things will happen. And I think I finally realized, I have to be the one to take the first step.”
Speaking of taking first steps: Also back this week is Sofi (Cobie Smulders!), returning to dance around Jimmy without either actually asking the other person out – properly dating someone new will be the big step Jimmy has to take, but he is understandably hesitant. At least Alice seems on board. Sean also has a woman return to his life, his ex Marisol (Isabella Gomez) who dumped him while he was in Afghanistan, but he’s avoiding her until he realizes that to move on, he just needs to finally answer her call. But more on all of that next week.
Funniest line: “I told her I had sex with a bird.”- “Oh well done then.” Also: Not actually a line, but Derek, randomly stuck in a tree.
Biggest woof: “Go live your fucking life!” Jessica Williams’ Emmy FYC, everyone.
P.S. While I have not read all reviews of the third season, trying to stay away from anything that may be too spoilery, I looked at some of them and a few other recaps, and there seems to be a consensus among many critics that Shrinking is a hang out show – or at least should be one. This was already part of the discourse during Season 2, and I frankly, do not get it, particularly as many also complain it is “too sappy.” While early on there was slightly more edge to it when Jimmy was still hanging on by a thread, that tone also mimicked his and many of the other characters’ stage of grief / lack of progress. But what this show was always clearly trying to do was talk about therapy, illness, and death, and then trying to find the funny within that. It’s true that the cast gels so well and is so funny that we’d likely watch them do whatever every week, but Shrinking always had a very clear mission statement, and abandoning that would just hollow it out. This isn’t How I Met Your Mother, or Cougar Town, no matter how many cast and creators it may share with either. And that’s good, actually.
