‘Shrinking’ Season 3 Review: A Thought-Provoking and Emotional Season
There aren’t many shows that make me rethink most decisions I make in my life. But Shrinking is one of those shows, and season 3 is no exception. When the Apple TV series first came out, I immediately realized that it’s not just a show about funny moments in life or stupid gags. It’s a show about doing what’s best for us, even if we don’t think it’s the right thing to do. Especially when it hurts us more than it should.
For the past 2 seasons, we were following the story of Jimmy (Jason Segel), a therapist grieving his wife’s death, who begins breaking the rules of his profession by telling clients exactly what he thinks instead of sticking to polite therapeutic norms. Showing people struggling with real pain, trying to heal, and often getting it wrong before they get it right is so real that sometimes you may forget you’re watching a TV show.
Shrinking season 3 gets even more emotionally charged than that. All just to show you that people change, but their problems, emotions, and mentality evolve—sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. But it doesn’t mean that we have to stop working and fighting to be better and happier. We just can’t let ourselves down.
[Warning: Spoilers from Shrinking discussed below!]
A more emotional story in Shrinking season 3
The third season’s premiere opens with our favorites and lets us see what changed since we last saw them. We almost immediately feel a shift in tone to better fit with the overall nature of the show. Where the first two seasons were about acceptance and forgiveness, this time the narrative pushes everyone toward something less familiar. They all have to find a way to move forward, relative to their own personal struggles, rather than just understand their past wounds or avoid the unavoidable.
Jimmy, still grieving his wife, now faces questions about his future. His daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) is heading off to college. It is another change in Jimmy’s life that makes it harder for him to hide his constantly changing emotions. It may be something casual, but for him, it is forcing him to confront how much his identity has been tied to his family life. After losing his wife forever, he now feels like his daughter is also abandoning him. Which, overall, causes him to have emotional, negative thoughts.
Sean (Luke Tennie), one of Jimmy’s patients whose anger and insecurity have been a central part of his therapy since season one, starts to evolve and accept what really matters to him. Brian (Michael Urie) and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) are finally ready to raise an adopted kid, which puts many expectations and fears into their lives.
Gaby (Jessica Williams), Jimmy’s colleague, finds herself reevaluating her career and what she wants from relationships. Her past experiences have a big impact on her future and what she wants to do with it. Because of it, she often finds herself in the same place she started, just like in previous seasons.
And then there’s Paul (Harrison Ford). Paul’s story this season is as important as Jimmy’s. From the start, we get to see him struggling even more with his Parkinson’s disease, as it gets worse and worse. His life is changing for the worse with each day, but thanks to the support of his friends, especially Jimmy and Gaby, which he finally accepted, there aren’t as many negative thoughts in his head.
There is the additional help of a supportive character in the form of Michael J. Fox joining the show this season. But he’s not playing a person with a fictional history of Parkinson’s disease. It’s more like he brings his real-life history with Parkinson’s into the story of his character to make it more believable, and it is.
The way Paul’s and Fox’s characters interact and connect is one of the parts of the story that defines this season and makes it even more grounded. All of it is needed to show the real human experience and what it means to accept change, to face limitations, and to find purpose even when life doesn’t look like you expected.
How the characters evolved and psychological themes
One of the strongest parts of Shrinking since the beginning has been how its characters evolve through small and simple moments of self-understanding. Shrinking season 3 doubles down on that.
Jimmy isn’t suddenly healed from his first moment of forgiveness towards Louis (Brett Goldstein). He’s still hurting; he is still angry, but he’s also learning what it really means to show up for people without hiding behind his grief. He tries to be a better person and a better therapist. Which means helping anyone who needs it, no matter who they are or what they did. That’s one of the most important moments of season 3, Jimmy working with Louis so they both can help each other.
Paul’s arc and his character development throughout all those episodes are some of the most important parts of this season. His experiences from past seasons are being used as a way to show how far he’d come, and we get to see his true vulnerability and resilience.
You see Paul struggle with loss of control. Both on the emotional and physical spectrum. Yet he remains a source of wisdom and stubborn humor for the group. Having a character like Paul in the story doesn’t just raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease and how it affects people; it also shows how someone can carry dignity and frustration at the same time.
Gaby’s professional life is just shown as a way to explore her self-worth and to show how she wants to be seen in the world. It’s all about being happy and being who she wishes to be.
All of their experiences are helping to explore the psychological themes of loss, acceptance, identity, and constant change. None of it is forced, just natural. And that’s the biggest strength of Shrinking—showing the real emotions and problems and explaining the pain behind them.
Shrinking season 3 is now streaming on Apple TV
Watching this new season of Shrinking felt like I was spending time with friends who are all at different stages of figuring life out. There are moments filled with laughter, missteps, sadness, and hope. There are moments that explore themes deeper than you might expect.
What season 3 does well is take the foundation and relationships built in earlier seasons and explore them in ways that are unexpected. Some episodes hit harder emotionally than others, and in some, the show goes fully into exploring sentimental territories in ways that might feel heavy.
The entire season is about moving on with your life without forgetting about everything you’ve lost. You don’t have to stop enjoying your life. You have to live it. Even when it feels bad and messy. Sometimes, when you’re hitting rock bottom, all you can do is just climb and get better.
It’s not a surprise that the Apple TV series has already been greenlit for season 4. We need shows like Shrinking in our lives. Shows that will help us get a better understanding of our problems, fight them, and get better.
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