Written by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Neil Goldman
Directed by Randall Keenan Winston
This time, I don’t have to write some long tearful goodbye to a Bill Lawrence show after three seasons only for it to be renewed for a surprise Season 4 later, because we already know Shrinking will be back. And crucially, compared to Ted Lasso, it will keep all of its cast, that much has been confirmed – if it will be same old Shrinking, now that this arc is concluded, only time will tell. But let’s take a look how that wrapped up first.
Alice is packing her bags for college (Jimmy is helping, Brian isn’t). It’s only for soccer preseason now, but she’s leaving. And Summer is mad, but they make up quickly when Jimmy gets to do one last Dad thing and forces them to talk it out. Which also means they plot for Summer to tag along to Wesleyan for a few weeks before classes start.
Paul and Julie are in Connecticut, staying with Meg for now. We confirm that Jimmy was just “safe dick” for Meg, who is still trying to patch it up with her terrible husband (I will continue to root for Meg/Jimmy in Season 4, they will jump in time, a lot can happen). Alice and Summer conveniently visit them on their way to Wesleyan, already showing us how some of the characters can easily reconnect in the future.
Meanwhile, Derek and Liz are preparing for Barcelona, which Derek thinks should entail setting an alarm … earlier? Those time zones aren’t mathing are they? But Liz will murder him anyway if this continues. And that would be a shame cause after all, once they return, they will become grandparents.
Gaby and Derrick’s storyline is going down the tropiest route to wrap it up: Gaby finds the engagement ring while looking for Tylenol, then gets it stuck on her finger when she tries it on. She calls in the inner circle, with Paul on Facetime, who all tell her not to be a big flapping pussy. Off screen, she then sets up a surprise proposal for him at the cornhole bar with all their loved ones (and his pediatrist) in attendance – and finally, they’re engaged. They also head off to Spain with the other two, potentially getting into some White Lotus shit. This still leaves stories about Gaby and Derrick’s married life (although Damon Wayans Jr. just booked an NBC Pilot, but he’s also just recurring here). And of course, Gaby’s trauma center – which Jimmy may or may not be a part of.
Jimmy meanwhile still pretends he will be fine on his own, because he can just walk around his house in his underwear and do shots of soy sauce. And hey, Sean still lives with him… except, he doesn’t. When he wants to watch the Dodgers game in the pool house, he sacks up and tells him. Jimmy is happy for him, after all, this was never going to be permanent, and he only lives three blocks away now. Which means Luke Tennie could pop in and out in Season 4, given he’s now on Abbott Elementary and The Pitt, collecting TV shows filmed on the Warner Lot like Infinity Stones.
Jimmy is also owning up to his shit enough to call Paul and try to patch things up, but Paul is his usual gruff self and goes right into therapy mode, telling him he can’t plan a “perfect goodbye” for his daughter. Which of course comes true when Summer ruins it for him. Life just doesn’t work this way. But Paul, egged on by the gang on the East coast, then flies back for a few hours to at least give the two of them a better goodbye: he finally tells him he loves him and that he is, after all, like a son to him. And to come even more full circle, he jimmys him: he has set him up for breakfast with Sofi. Which is then finally, where we leave him.
Jimmy may not be able to plan a perfect goodbye, but the Shrinking writers sure can. The episode is chock full of callbacks to past episodes and jokes (Cornhole! Big flapping pussy! Fuck Parkinson’s!) and everyone’s storyline is all wrapped up – for the moment. The episode’s title is “And That’s Our Time”, a nod to both the end of every therapy session and many a stand up set. But after either, you’re usually not done for good, you’re done for now.
So, you’ll be back. Shit will go down. But as this episode also tells us, the fear of things going wrong can’t make you stop living it altogether. Setbacks will happen. Scars will happen. And you’ll move forward. And so will Shrinking.
Funniest line: “Please don’t teach our son that women are crazy, let them find out on his own.” / “Papa pimp.”
Biggest woof: “What a shame to be 42 years of age and not completely covered in scars. They’re the evidence of a life fully lived.” Bawled watching it, bawled typing it. Also with bonus Indy nod! (“You chose wisely.”)
P.S. Before this season aired I was already prepared for this to eerily mirror my own mental state, and what can I say, they did it again. These past couple months I’ve had setbacks I haven’t had in a while – tried to stop my antidepressants, didn’t work, back on my old dose. Got confronted with some past trauma, but moved through it. 36 and covered in scars. It really speaks to the writers’ brilliance that they know trauma and grief so well that this was just the natural course for Jimmy’s narrative. There’s comfort in how universal this is. Woof.
One more thing: if you enjoyed these recaps, I will do a one off podcast/online panel discussion with two big name historians™, Eric Rauchway and Kevin Kruse, on the whole show this June. We’ll probably throw it on YouTube and share it on our socials. And hey, if any Shrinking writers are reading this, there’s always room for one more…?
