Shrinking (Season 1) Episode 7: In a recent interview related to ‘Shrinking,’ its co-creator – Brett Goldstein, said that he finds therapy to be a rich source of comedy. We notice its echo in his previous work for Ted Lasso, whereas this new series makes therapy its primary subject. It presents its healing nature while marrying warmth with amusement.
The previous episode of Shrinking showed its characters opening up to new possibilities of emotional connections. Whether it was Brian finally proposing to Charlie or Paul trying to connect with his daughter, it was all about exploring these untapped possibilities – including a few surprises.
The latest episode shows them dealing with the results of these attempts. It handles the messy nature of emotional growth with compassion. Let’s find out how they figure out their future journeys. Be aware that there are spoilers ahead.
Shrinking (Season 1) Episode 7 Recap:
Episode 7: Apology Tour
After spending a night together, Jimmy (Jason Segel) and Gaby (Jessica Williams) are confused about how they should deal with the fact that they slept together. While Tia (Lilan Bowden) was Jimmy’s wife, she was also Gaby’s best friend. So this sudden sexual desire is not something they expected to emerge, and to some degree, they feel guilty about it. After spending the night together, they both wake up naked in Jimmy’s bed and get dressed, almost like teenagers trying to hide their relationship from their families!
Jimmy walks down the stairs, and Gaby jumps down the window. They both get to the kitchen, where Sean (Luke Tennie) and Alice (Lukita Maxwell) deal with their awkward encounter. While Alice approached Sean for a kiss, she now pretends that he approached her – to mask her embarrassment. Since he is not yet ready to face her as before, he accepts to never talk about that incident. Even Gaby & Jimmy hide their sexual encounter, but Paul (Harrison Ford) manages to make them confess that they slept together.
Now that Jimmy has sobered up, he calls Brian (Michael Urie) to apologize for spoiling his special night. He says that it all worked out for him in the end. Instead of putting Jimmy under a load of guilt, he rather sees the strange night as a story he can tell his kids. Afterward, Jimmy apologizes to Alice for his misbehavior. She maturely handles the subject but does not let him off the hook just then.
Meanwhile, Liz (Christa Miller) speaks with Derek (Ted McGinley) about his recent frequent appearance at home. Due to years of spending her time on her own, she has become used to her personal space in the house. So, she asks him not to be at home as often once he retires from his job. While Derek empathizes with her, he stands up for himself and says that he worked tirelessly for years to enjoy a peaceful time at home after his retirement. So, she needs to adjust just like he does.
On the other hand, Meg (Lily Rabe) arrives at Paul’s place to take care of his health. While he is delighted to have her around, he still cannot get over his guilt of abandoning her in the past. He tries to have an open conversation about it, but she rather wants him to think about their present time together. She later joins him for his neurologist’ appointment and jokes about his crush on her.
Meanwhile, Sean returns from his failed job interview back to Jimmy’s place. Alice approaches him as a friend, asking if he would like to join her on a ride. But he still finds it hard to interact as they did before. So, she begrudgingly leaves him on his own. He then comes across Liz while she is taking her dog on a walk outside. He joins her, and they joke about her dog’s name being a ‘tampon eater.’ He then talks about the interview where the person rejected him just seeing his face, even if it was just for a supermarket. While he feels bad that he couldn’t get it, he has matured enough to give that person the benefit of the doubt, considering his track record as a felon.
Then he opens up about his awkward interaction with Alice. Liz understands that Alice is only looking for a bit of connection from him and confuses it with romantic attraction. She notes that Alice feels a fear of abandonment since she faced it with Tia’s death and then with Jimmy’s lack of responsibility. Sean understands what she must be going through and decides to work on mending their relationship. Alice goes to Paul’s place for their general interactions (the ones that he conducts, like casual counseling sessions). But since Meg is at home, he says that he won’t be able to do it then.
Meanwhile, Gaby and Jimmy continue to struggle with how they should tackle their interest in each other. In the office, Gaby speaks with Tia (Tia’s photo) to process her emotions about it. She tells Jimmy about this heart-to-heart with Tia and mentions that Tia forgave them. But he keeps thinking about how their sexual encounter affects ‘him’ more than it affects her. Later, in his therapy session with OCD patient Wally (Kimberly Condict), he ends up venting out about his issues. While she was earlier attracted to him, she now says that she has gotten over him because of his selfishness!
Gaby understands that Jimmy is worried about how Alice is doing and decides to have a conversation with her. Alice tells her about her embarrassing kiss attempt and awkwardness. Gaby shares her experience of hooking up with an older guy, her dad’s friend since she was angry at her dad. Through that, she lightens up the subject to make Alice not look at hers as a big issue.
Shrinking (Season 1) Episode 7 Ending, Explained:
What happens between Jimmy & Gaby? Do they get honest about their emotions?
Paul keeps making attempts at bonding with Meg due to his persistent guilt. Later, she discusses his current treatment and then asks him to come back with her to her place so that she can take care of him. He tries to avoid this new change and says that he needs to stay in the same town as his patients. He does not realize that she wants to spend at least some time now that he has taken a step to connect with her. She storms out of his place, leaving him to figure out how he should deal with it. Right when she leaves, he sees a sign of Parkinson’s creep up on him.
Meanwhile, back at Jimmy’s place, he speaks with Gaby more openly about their encounter. He apologizes for being selfish about it and for making her feel undesirable through his reaction. Then he thanks her for making him feel hopeful about the future and for making him feel wanted. Besides, he gets honest with Tia and tells her that he did not like how she handled some of the matters in the past. With these new changes, Jimmy seems to be finally ready to move on from his emotional complications.
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Shrinking (Season 1), Episode 7 Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Shrinking (Season 1), Episode 7 Cast: Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie
Where to watch Shrinking
