Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10: Recap & Ending Explained

Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10: The grieving therapist tale on Apple TV+ has reached the end of its first season. During this time, the writing for ‘Shrinking’ spent ample time exploring its characters’ psyches and their emotional struggles. It also dealt with the aspect of growth and how these characters choose to deal with their unpleasant feelings maturely.

Previously, it showed Jimmy reconnecting with Alice after grounding her for her mistake. Gaby controlled her urge to get back with Nico and instead continued sleeping with Jimmy. Sean got a business deal from Liz, who funded his new venture. Thanks to Alice’s support, he could take this step.

Now the new episode tries to find a much-expected closure for all their lives while being aware that growth is a journey than a destination. Before delving into what happens, be mindful that there are spoilers ahead.

Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Recap:

Episode 10: Closure

The previous episode ended with Alice (Lukita Maxwell) getting angry at herself for forgetting Tia’s birthday. She regrets it more because Jimmy (Jason Segel) had asked her to tag along to the cemetery to meet her. However, Alice was unaware that Jimmy also decided to get rid of Tia’s memories. Alice had not yet found her closure with Tia. For the same reason, she now gets mad at Jimmy.

Jimmy tells her how he has finally gotten over the past and decided to move on with this gesture. Alice is not ready yet, so she calls him out for his selfish behavior. He thought only of himself while taking away all of her mother’s stuff. So, Jimmy needs to figure out how to make peace with her.

Before speaking with her, Jimmy had a sandwich made by Sean (Luke Tennie) as a trial of his new business. Jimmy gives it high praise. Sean feels grateful that Liz (Christa Miller) is investing in his venture. Jimmy points out that she and Derek (Ted McGinley) have so much money that it wouldn’t matter to them. On the other hand, Liz does not want to be just an investor but a part of its daily business matters. She speaks with Derek about it and talks about having a reputation for being an unpleasant person to hang around. He says that she should ask Sean for his permission to see if that is fine for him.

Paul (Harrison Ford) stays at Meg’s (Lily Rabe) with his girlfriend, Dr. Julie (Wendie Malick). Mason (Sawyer Jones) notices Paul’s tremors and asks him about it. He explains how such involuntary movements are a part of Parkinson’s. In his usual style of humor, he also blurts out that he & Dr. Julie slept together. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on a morning walk with Brian (Michael Urie), who has now started the ritual of doing it shirtless. Jimmy talks about Alice being angry at him and how he will be patient to let her have the time she wants to speak with him.

Brian talks about his big plans for the wedding. However, his father, Kip (Brian Howe), is not going to be the best man the way he wants. Jimmy realizes how much he despises this but continues with it because he is used to being rejected by others. Previously, we also sensed Kip’s awkwardness around the wedding preparations. As a result, Jimmy tasks himself to make things right for Brian.

Liz speaks about her anxieties with Gaby while she continues to enjoy having sex with Jimmy. After their talk, Liz has a chat with Sean, and it goes well for her. He agrees to let her be a part of further decisions in his business. She feels awkward seeing him being nice to her. It is clear that she does not deal with niceness so well. So, Derek comforts her.

During Brian & Charlie’s pre-wedding party, Brian puts on a game to decide his best man/person for the wedding. Jimmy notices that he is reluctantly doing it. So, along with Sean, he goes to meet Kip. They both tell him how frequently Brian assisted them and how much it matters to him for his father to be his best man. Jimmy also talks about his regrets about being absent from his fatherly duties. So eventually, Kip agrees to be Brian’s best man.

Alice dwells upon her fond memories with Liz of sneaking into the refrigerator and pulling out the ice cream that Jimmy had kept hidden inside. While lost in those thoughts, Jimmy finds her sitting by herself in her room. Alice confesses feeling as if she is losing little parts of Tia. She feels guilty for that and for not spending enough time with her before her death. Jimmy soothes her pain but does not force her to have a talk about it right then.

Paul returns to the office and thanks Jimmy for suggesting mending his relationship with Meg. He feels grateful and invites Jimmy for a hug. Although awkwardly, Paul starts to let people into his otherwise solitary life. Meanwhile, Liz ends up learning that Gaby has been sleeping with Jimmy. She gets angry at Derek for keeping it a secret from her. Then she meets Gaby and offers one of her rocks in exchange for her honesty. The guilt of not being truthful to her makes Gaby confess that she has been sleeping with Jimmy.

That’s when Liz learns about Gaby’s anxiousness about her upcoming interview for a lectureship job. Despite knowing the interviewer as a past colleague, Paul did not even offer to write a recommendation for Gaby. It annoyed Liz, who walked up to Jimmy’s office. Liz pulls Paul aside after one of his meetings to confront him. She makes Paul see his selfishness. Then she makes him tell his friend himself to get Gaby hired. She riles him, which makes him introspect.

Eventually, Paul decides to go to Gaby’s interview himself. While Gaby was anxiously answering her interview questions, Paul opened the door to their room and confronted his smug, old friend to get her hired without bickering. He says that he has already hired her. Still, Paul makes a case for Gaby’s passion for helping others and is the perfect choice for this role. Alas, Gaby gets to teach others as she wants and to inspire other black people to pursue a career in therapy.

Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Ending, Explained:

After years of waiting, followed by Brian’s jitters about asking Charlie for marriage, he and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) finally get on their wedding stage. Jimmy comes in to officiate the wedding and, once again, gets stuck at the word ‘marriage.’ However, after getting stuck for a few seconds, he becomes honest about the reason. He recalls his marriage with Tia, who was the reason Brian & Charlie met. He shares how neither liked the other but eventually got around to appreciating each other’s company.

Jimmy shares what Tia always used to say to him about helping others. Then he speaks about the importance of friends, who got him out of his misery. He wants the couple to know the people who will always have their back. Brian & Charlie get married among their friends and family. Jimmy also dances with Alice, who learns to live with her difficult feelings while still having fun. Paul talks about the strange experiments Jimmy did and is surprised that they got away with it. Jimmy feels the same.

However, on the flip side, we see one of Jimmy’s patients, Grace (Heidi Gardner), running to the hill with her misogynist husband, Donny. He continues to disrespect her intelligence and does not give her any respect. This annoys Grace, and she expresses it. But he retaliates and tries to show her ‘her place’ as gym-bros like him usually do. They eventually reach the cliff. By that time, she gets so angry that she throws him off that cliff.

While it does look like an extreme reaction, the reason is her bottled-up emotions for years. Besides that, in her last session with Jimmy, he joked about ‘pushing him down a cliff.’ Maybe Grace did not understand that it was just meant to convey her current state of confidence & resilience and ended up taking it seriously. It would be interesting to see how the writing maps out the way Jimmy handles this conflict, especially since it has to deal with his rebel therapy techniques.

Will there be a season 2 of Shrinking?

Yes, there will be season 2 of Shrinking. Apple TV+ has confirmed that the Jason Segel starrer show will return to the platform with another season after seeing its increasing popularity among viewers. The series, created by Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, and Jason Segel, has been renewed for another season. However, Apple TV+ has not yet announced a release date for Shrinking season 2.

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Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Shrinking (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Cast: Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie

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