Shrinking Season 3 Episode 3 Recap: A Baby, A Goodbye, and a Turning Point

As Shrinking settles into its third season, fresh starts, personal growth, and moving on emerge as central themes for the popular streaming series’ anticipated 11-episode run.

This week, it’s D-Day! Brian and Charlie’s baby surrogate is on the brink of delivering the couple’s first child, and, as expected, the often angst-ridden Brian (Michael Urie) is bouncing off the walls with anticipation. Never fear, everyone’s fav no-nonsense neighbor Liz (Christa Miller) has, once again, stepped in as ring leader, doling out orders to tie up last minute needs for the baby before Ava goes into labor.

But, before the guys start handing out cigars, the third episode in as many seasons for the hit drama-comedy, opens with Jimmy Laird, the widowed therapist played by lead Jason Segel, and his teenage daughter Alice, played by Lukita Maxwell, hosting Jimmy’s dad for dinner. Joining the Lairds for the meal is Alice’s best friend, Summer. Though the latter character has appeared in the Apple TV+ series since its 2023 debut, it has been a minute since we have seen Alice’s quirky, free-spirited friend, played by Rachel Stubington, on screen. With her well-placed comic relief and irreverent one-liners, Summer’s presence returns to lighten the mood in any scene. And, she can hold her own, too, playing opposite the likes of Segel and veteran actor Jeff Daniels, who joins the cast this season in a recurring role as the grand patriarch of the Laird family.

True to form, Daniels brings his trademark grounded and relatable acting to Randy, delivering his lines with a deadpan naturalness that makes you feel like you know someone just like him. And, in only two scenes this episode, it does not take long to recognize Jimmy’s father as that familiar archetype that pushes his son’s buttons in all the wrong ways. With his contrarian demeanor, it is quickly established that Randy has been an irritant, on and off, in Jimmy’s life. The sentiment is incredibly subtle in the conversation around the dinner table of the opening scene, but ultimately driven home when Jimmy later pulls his daughter aside to put a damper on Alice’s eagerness around her grandfather. 

Given Daniels stature and the series’ promise of a slew of guest appearances this go-round, no doubt, we should see more of the father-son history and dynamic play out as the season progresses. On a group walk the following day with fellow therapists Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Paul (Harrison Ford), Jimmy dishes details on his relationship with his father, while Paul counsels Gaby to make things right with a patient she blasted with displaced anger in episode 2. The conversation brings the therapists back on track to do what they do best, help others work through their respective issues mired in mental health, including their own.

Across town, Liz’s husband, Derek (Ted McGinley) has been tasked with accompanying Brian to purchase a much-needed car seat to bring home baby. It’s a perfect setup for Brian to receive THE call that Ava has gone into labor. 

Frantic, Brian calls his bestie Jimmy to meet him at the hospital, but not before he confesses to Derek his added anxiety that Ava has yet to sign away her parental rights, clearing the way for him and Charlie to adopt her baby. Struggling with his own recent tough-love decision to put his adult son out of the house, Derek tells Brian that sometimes you have to accept things as they are.

While the grown-ups navigate the arrival of new life at the hospital, Alice spends time with Paul working with him on his Parkinson’s brain exercises. Though she is  there to help Paul, Alice confides in him her desire to involve her grandfather in her upcoming high school graduation and asks Paul what to do about the situation, given the elder Laird’s strained relationship with her father. Sensing an opportunity to get out of the house and engage as a therapist, Paul asks Alice to secretly meet at their special bench in the park to discuss, and bring suitable snacks.

The first of multiple heartfelt moments for the episode comes in the follow-up scene on said bench when Alice shares her appreciation to Paul for his counsel since her mother’s death. Unbeknownst to Alice, in her love and gratitude, the senior therapist recognizes there is a forthcoming expiration date to his capability to work. Ford’s penchant for conveying that loss with mere facial expressions is a testament to the Emmy-nominee’s skill as a brilliant character actor. We see what Alice does not in the moment, Paul’s pain of losing his life’s purpose in the slow motion of a debilitating disease. 

Keep the Kleenex handy. The powerful and poignant emotion of this journey only deepens later in the episode when the reality of not being able to do what he loves moves Paul to bring Gaby in to take over as Alice’s therapist. While the two young women agree to the transition in another of Paul’s bench meetings, Gaby recognizes the quiet pain of her mentor coming to terms with letting go of his work, but only as he walks away.

Back at the hospital, amidst Brian’s growing anxiety with Ava not having signed the papers; Charlie being away on business at a critical time; and the hurry-up-and-wait of labor and delivery; Jimmy and friends hover around the young mother’s bedside with general nervousness about life-altering childbirth and their own emotional baggage.

Well-intentioned Liz storms in like a hurricane that has the nursing staff running scared, taking charge, barking orders, checking monitors, of course, all as one who has her own three-part history with giving birth. Though she’s not a doctor, you’d think she has played one on TV. Where are those SCRUBS when you need them?

In an all-about-me moment, Jimmy remains hung up on the idea that he is not ready for new love in his life, so much so he is oblivious to the flirting by Ava’s nurse towards him. Seriously, Jimmy, catch a clue, your jokes were not THAT funny.

On a run to get snacks, Jimmy comes clean with Liz that he’s still clinging to an older version of his life, for fear a new one will only end up with another bad ending. Hence, his recent failure to launch with a neighbor, Sofi (Cobie Smulders). 

Known for her brutal candor and wit, frequently delivering sharp observations, Miller’s Liz proves yet again why she IS the alpha and grounding presence among her friends. With a well-timed anecdotal walk down memory lane to take a chance in life, she sets Jimmy up to ask nurse Kimmy out for coffee. And, yes, it’s already been decided that Jimmy + Kimmy is a bit too much for couple goals.

And, for those of us who have been locked into the group dynamics of this series since Day One, it has also become more apparent each week that, although it was Jimmy and his trauma who first brought these cast of characters together, it is often Liz who serves as the glue that keeps them connected.

Running a close second in that regard is Liz’s wonder twin, Dr. Gaby, who finds Dr. Paul sad-sacking on his couch later that evening, still bemoaning what his health diagnosis means for his work. In a rare turn when Paul expresses his vulnerability with the role his work serves in his life, Gaby refuses to let him wallow in self-pity. Instead, she brings him to the hospital to join their friends and to meet the newest member of their tribe. Cue those Kleenex.

Also starring Luke Tennie, Wendy Malik, and Devin Kawaoka, with recurring appearances by Michael J. Fox, Shrinking, season 3, streams each Wednesday on Apple TV until April 2026.

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