Shrinking season 1 episode 3 recap & review: 15 Minutes

Open Go TV / February 3, 2023 / Reviews

In episode 3 of Shrinking, Jimmy continues his new approach with his parents while Gaby goes through a significant change in her life, and Paul accepts a huge part of his. The episode is streaming on Apple TV+.

Recap

Jimmy interrupts one of his patients while he’s on a date to tell him that he’s behaving out of character and needs to be himself to have a better chance of forming a connection with the woman he’s meeting.

Alice is still getting used to the fact that Sean is staying at their place and there’s an awkward interaction with the neighbors when Sean is seen outside their house.

Jimmy goes for a trek with Brian and Brian says he wants to hang out with Gaby once again. They also run into Grace’s husband, Donny, who treks along the same path.

Paul is at a doctor’s appointment and she says that his reflexes and motor skills are still good given his Parkinson’s. She asks him about his mental health and he says that he gives himself 15 minutes every day to listen to his favorite sad song and let out all his grief.

Gaby is getting ready to leave home but she has a frosty goodbye with her husband, Nico. As soon as she pulls into her parking space at work, Paul drives in and hits her bumper.

He insists that he’s just a bad driver but Gaby and Jimmy are worried that it is because of Parkinson’s. Gaby even offers to give him a ride to work since they live close by. She also tells Jimmy that he’ll need to give her a ride after she leaves her car at the shop.

Alice meets with Paul to discuss her feelings toward her father and about giving him the chance to connect. Paul tells her about his 15-minute routine and that she should give it a shot to deal with her own grief.

Jimmy gets a text from Gaby saying she doesn’t need a ride anymore but when he goes to fill up gas, he sees her making out with another guy at the gas station.

Jimmy is struggling to comprehend what he saw Gaby do and when he gets home, Liz apologizes to him and promises to not butt into his life as much anymore. Jimmy is curt with her and tells her that she has a problem and won’t be able to resist butting into his life.

Paul meets his doctor, Julie, so that he can take the driving assessment test again to make sure his fender bender was avoidable. Jimmy and Brian are out for dinner with Gaby and Jimmy brings up what he saw.

Gaby says that she isn’t cheating because she and Nico are getting divorced. Jimmy says he feels sorry for her but she says she is happy about the whole thing. He gets home to find Alice doing her 15 minutes of grief.

After checking up on her, he heats up a pizza for dinner and she joins him a little later for a nice quiet dinner together. The next day, Jimmy has a video session with Grace and he commends her on the improvement she’s shown.

Gaby invites Jimmy to her house later that day for a party to celebrate her divorce and Jimmy meets Paul to talk about it. He feels that Gaby isn’t honest about her feelings about the divorce and Paul tells him that he needs to let people process grief in their own way.

He also advises Jimmy to face his grief rather than numb himself as he’s been doing the past year. He tells him about the 15-minute routine and Jimmy gives it a shot as he cycles back home.

Alice is chilling at home with her friend and she has a rare moment of laughter before immediately feeling guilty about being happy. Sean notices that Liz is always around and he asks Alice about it. They end up having a conversation about her feelings.

Jimmy gets to Gaby’s house and sees her looking miserable. Gaby realizes that this is not a good time and she’s worried about it so much. She also says that she misses Tia, Jimmy’s wife, and the two of them console each other over their shared loss.

Liz meets Paul outside somewhere and she tells him about Sean living with Jimmy. Paul calls Jimmy and scolds him for doing something so ridiculous and Jimmy counters his argument by revealing that he knows Paul has been meeting Alice behind his back.

However, rather than get angry, he thanks Paul but Paul is too angry at that moment to reply and hangs up. He sees Sean and Alice chilling in the kitchen and joins them.

The next morning, Gaby finds Paul sitting in her car as he tells her that he wants to go out on his own terms. Jimmy is leaving a voicemail for Paul while going on a trek but this time he notices that Donny is with Grace, meaning that she was lying and hasn’t improved.

Review

There is a clear formula coming into shape as Jimmy will be focusing on Sean primarily, Grace will be a secondary and he will have a tertiary focus in each episode as he helps a different patient of his.
There are multiple people’s troubles covered in a very efficient manner and the episode doesn’t feel overstuffed. This episode progressed the stories of Jimmy, Alice, Gaby, Paul, Grace, and Liz and will continue in the same vein.
They have already shown examples of how Jimmy’s aggressive approach doesn’t always work out for the better and it’s good that he faces some accountability for his actions. The way he rebounds from this development will be interesting to see.