Shrinking season 1 finale recap, review, and ending explained

Open Go TV / March 24, 2023 / Reviews

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In the season finale of Shrinking, Jimmy and Alice face their emotions about Alice, Brian and Charlie have their big day, and Gaby gets ready for the next big thing in her life. The episode is streaming on Apple TV+.

Recap

Sean prepares some treats for Liz and Derek as a thank you for investing in his business. Alice lets out her frustrations about forgetting her mom’s birthday by piling on Jimmy after she finds out that he’s packed up Tia’s stuff.

Liz and Derek love the food and Sean says he has to head out to look at food trucks. After he leaves, Liz says that she wants to be more involved but is scared to ask Sean because she feels she’s not well-liked by everyone.

Paul spends some time with Mason and Meg at breakfast where they explain to Mason that he’ll be seeing his grandfather a lot more often from now on.

Brian and Jimmy go hiking where Jimmy talks about his troubles with Alice lately. He tries to broach the subject of Brian’s dad declining to be his Best Man but Brian doesn’t want to talk about it.

Jimmy is interrupted by a text and tells Brian that he has to leave. Liz calls Gaby to get some reassurance that she’s a likable individual and she should just ask Sean if she can be more involved in his business.

Jimmy is actually with Gaby while she’s on the call and he chimes in on the issue after she hangs up. Liz and Derek sit down with Sean once again and Liz says she would like to be a partner and not just an investor and Sean immediately agrees.

Brian has a party with all of his close friends to decide who gets to be his Best Man and Jimmy sits down with Brian’s father to tell him that he would definitely regret it as a parent if he didn’t do this for his son.

Alice sits forlornly in her corner, remembering the fun times with her mom when Jimmy walks in. She says that she’s starting to forget little things about Tia and beats herself up for not spending more time with her.

Jimmy tells her that she loved Tia a lot and that her mother knew that very well. He offers to talk but she doesn’t want to so he says that he’s around if she ever needs to.

Jimmy tells Paul to keep him updated if Alice reaches out and expresses frustration at the fact that he’s so well-equipped to help her but still cannot. Paul tells him that he just needs to be patient and that he’s got it covered.

He then thanks Jimmy for his part in Paul’s renewed relationship with Meg and offers up a hug. Jimmy is thrilled with this and savors the moment.

Liz says she’s going out to meet Gaby when Derek mentions that Gaby’s been sleeping with Jimmy. When Liz asks him how long he knew, he says he saw them doing it on the night of the engagement party and must have forgotten to tell her.

She sits down with Gaby and offers her one of her rocks, explaining that she only gives it to people she absolutely loves. Before giving it, however, she asks Gaby about her arrangement with Jimmy.

Gaby praises Jimmy’s ability in bed and once again refers to him as “safe dick” before Liz is satisfied and finally gives her the rock. Gaby then asks Liz to read the recommendation letter she wrote on paul’s behalf for herself and Liz is annoyed that he made her do that.

Jimmy has a session with Grace and tells her he’s very proud of her progress. She says that she’s pushing back on his behavior a lot more often now and it feels good. She makes an off-hand comment about pushing him off a cliff if she ever got the chance.

Once she leaves, Liz shows up and tells Jimmy that she needs his support as she gives Paul a piece of her mind. Jimmy says he’s not sure he wants a part of this as he just shared a hug with Paul and doesn’t want to ruin that feeling.

Shrinking season 1 ending explained in detail:

How does Paul help Gaby?

Liz rips into Paul telling him that he needs to make more of an effort with Gaby as he does with Jimmy. Jimmy sheepishly adds that he agrees with the point Liz is trying to make.

Gaby goes in for her interview and while it’s happening, Paul walks in and tells the interviewer that he needs to give her the job. When he learns that Gaby has already got it, he continues his speech to let Gaby know how much he values her.

Do Alice and Jimmy make up?

Jimmy brings all the boxes of Tia’s stuff to Alice’s room and tells her that even though he’s ready to give it up, it doesn’t mean she has to as well. Sean joins them as Alice begins going through all the stuff.

She finds a pair of shoes that remind her of a specific memory of her mother and Jimmy says she can share with Sean. As she’s recounting the story, Jimmy leaves knowing that he did a good job.

How does the wedding go?

Jimmy is a little late to the wedding but he reassures Brian that he’s ready. Brian’s dad ends up being Brian’s Best Man and Jimmy gives a wonderful speech at the ceremony.

He talks about Tia and the part she played in this union and about helping others to help yourself and Paul later says that it was a wonderful sentiment. He brings up the crazy approach Jimmy had adopted with his patients early on and expresses surprise at the fact that he got through it.

Jimmy says that he got extremely lucky with that. During the ceremony, Gaby and Jimmy share a look of admiration with each other and Liz says that Jimmy is no longer “safe” and implies that Gaby is starting to fall for him.

What about Jimmy’s patients?

A montage of Jimmy’s patients shows that they’re all doing quite well and exhibiting real progress. Wally is facing her OCD head on and it is going well, Alan appears to be in a healthy relationship with a woman.

One of his patients is getting along well with the barista he met when he went for coffee with Jimmy, and finally, Grace is more confident in her relationship with Donny.

The two of them are hiking and Grace says that she’s getting tired. Donny brushes her off and belittles her for not being in shape, calling her names. He heads out to the cliff and admires the view as Grace remembers her session with Jimmy and pushes Donny off the edge.

Review

The season finale of Shrinking is a magnificently written episode that wraps up the story of the season quite nicely and sets things up perfectly for the next.
The entire cast is in top form in this episode and there are several heartwarming scenes. Derek and Liz get a lot of exposure as a couple in this episode and it is extremely sweet to watch their interactions.
Jimmy’s speech at Brian and Charlie’s ceremony is gracefully written and provides a perfectly tear-jerking moment.