Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: Is Derek Going to Die?

Life is too short is the central message that echoes loud and clear on the latest episode of Shrinking. The hit comedy-drama streaming now on Apple TV is now firmly on the back-end of its Season 3. 

When we catch up with Jimmy Laird, the beloved widowed therapist, played by Jason Segel, is coming to terms with his unexpected night with Meg, his mentor’s daughter, played by Lily Rabe. Though they are two consenting adults, Meg is still very much in a committed relationship to the husband she left back on the east coast. A fact that Jimmy is having a decidedly difficult time overlooking.

To add fuel to his morning fire, Jimmy’s quirky neighbors have come with a smile and a bribe of baked goods for him to agree to be their son’s therapist. Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek’s (Ted McGinley) estranged third child, Matthew, is still avoiding his parents’ calls. When Liz reminds Jimmy of how she raised his daughter for a year after his wife’s death, he reluctantly agrees.

At the office, Gaby is working with her new fav patient, Maya, who is still trying to make a friend connection. Gaby workshops an idea to assist. She takes Maya to a local gym to do some bonding over boxing with members of Gaby’s own friend group — Alice (Lukita Maxwell) and Sean (Luke Tennie). It seems Gaby has taken up some of Jimmy’s unconventional therapy habits.

Speaking of Jimmy, when he arrives to the office to find Meg sharing a morning cup of joe with her father, Paul (Harrison Ford), Jimmy is visibly uncomfortable knowing that he has committed the cardinal sin of the workplace — sleeping with the boss’ daughter. 

With dad out of earshot, Meg cops to Jimmy that she and her husband are actually on the road to divorce. Though the thought does not fully put his mind at ease, Jimmy admits their time together made him hopeful for future relationahips; for Meg, it felt freeing from her current one.

Across town, Brian, still giddy from the arrival of his baby girl, is holding a photo shoot for his daughter’s birth announcement. Jackie-of-all-trades Liz is assisting with the camera work. When Brian lets it slip he is using the announcement to let his homophobic father know that he is now a dad, himself, Liz rightfully chastises Brian for not letting his father know sooner. Yet, another issue to push Brian’s anxiety button to have to start that conversation.

Brian immediately rushes to see his friend, Jimmy, for a second opinion, and busts in on Jimmy with patient. When Brian wants to role play the conversation, Jimmy forces Brian to call his dad with the baby news by dialing ahead for him. In return, Brian receives an unexpected response from his father.

Michael Urie remains a standout in the series as the neurotic, often narcissistic attorney and best friend to Jimmy. Urie’s blend of humor, warmth, and vulnerability with the character of Brian balances his comedic timing with authenticity of the emotional depth. His expressive facial gestures and even vocal inflections truly sell the comedy, while his sincere delivery during the more poignant scenes highlights the Brian’s self-inflicted struggles and growth. He makes us feel everything he feels in the most relatable ways.

At Sean’s food truck, Maya is nursing a facial wound suffered in her boxing therapy sesh with Alice and Sean. As the young ladies share their backstories over ice packs, Sean gets an unexpected, yet welcomed visitor sampling his good eats —an impressive gentleman with an offer of culinary training for the former vet.

Later, in his regular therapy talk with Paul, Sean is intrigued about the offer, but fearful when thinking about his future and the “what ifs” of moving forward. In his no-nonsense, get-to-the-point way, Paul tells the young vet to stop the worry and live in the moment. 

When Meg returns to pick up her father from work, she runs into Jimmy again in the office break room. Jimmy has still not found an acceptable comfort level with their little secret, made all the more suspect with his word vomit in Paul’s presence. When Paul excuses himself from the room again, Jimmy tells Meg that she should tell her dad about the divorce, before heading to his office to see his newest patient, Liz and Derek’s son Matthew.

It does not take long for Jimmy to realize that Matthew is truly NOT receptive to therapy. Matthew puts the nail in the coffin on sharing his feelings when he tells Jimmy his parents paid him to be there.

When Jimmy drops in on Matthew’s parent later to chastise them for essentially bribing their son to get his own mental help, Jimmy discovers Derek getting an at-home heart test. Just as he is about to lay into them about also continuing to guilt him with how much they helped his daughter post-wife’s death, the medical tech interrupts to give Derek some shocking news on his test results. 

Cut to the ER and Derek is back in a hospital bed, again with friends and family at his bedside. Only this time, he’s traded recreational drugs for anesthesia ones as he prepares for surgery. As Liz tries to undersell her husband’s heart diagnosis, she sends everyone home.

When the room is cleared, she and Derek have a rare tender moment expressing their love to one another. It was nice to see the vulnerability, once again, of the often stoic Liz. As Derek is wheeled away for surgery, we are treated to a montage of sentimental moments in his wake. As the couple’s friends recognize Derek’s dire diagnosis as the push they need to overcome the mental and emotional blocks keeping them from moving forward with their lives, we see the unfolding of the “time is precious…don’t wait” message that underscores the imagery. 

The beautifully crafted sequence of scenes will have you reaching for the Kleenex as we watch each characters’ breakthroughs.

Nevertheless, what will keep you on the hook for episode 7 has got to be the fade-to-black closer, when Gaby’s patient reaches out for companionship at inopportune time for the therapist. The music and movements as the episode comes to an end hints at something not being quiet right for Maya — where are those friends when you need them most? 

Just five more episodes remain in season 3 of Shrinking. The Apple TV series streams weekly on Wednesdays until April 8. 

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