It’s All Going Wrong In ‘Shrinking’ Season 2, Episode 7

There’s a lot to like about Episode 7 of Shrinking Season 2, though admittedly less so if you’re one of the characters. “Get in the Sea” — which is usually a metaphor for throwing away something undesirable but here means literally getting into the ocean — has a couple of positive developments, but its key dramatic hinges are a terrible decision it’ll be very difficult to bounce back from and a well-intentioned decision with awful timing (that will also be difficult to bounce back from.)

It’s also worth mentioning that “Get in the Sea” feels like a meaningful outgrowth of past episodes — Derrick is back from Episode 4, Alice and Brian are still bonding with Louis, and Brian and Charlie are still having a baby. They’re actually having one much sooner than they expected, which is part of the problem.

Diss Tracks, Expulsions, and BFFs

Let’s start with the positive stuff. Despite the fact that Summer has made a literal diss track about Alice with a catchy hook and a music video, the two of them are able to repair their relationship after they’re both expelled for a fight. It does look like poor Connor is going to pay for the whole situation, but he did cheat on his girlfriend, to be fair.

The point of this is Alice is learning to understand she isn’t the only person going through things, and that her own pain doesn’t give her carte blanche to do whatever she wants. The parallel isn’t explicitly drawn, but this clearly relates to her acceptance of Louis, too, although it isn’t until the end of the episode that we get a glimpse of how their relationship has developed. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Oh, things are going pretty well for Sean, too, but he’s barely present.

The Impossible Date

With Derrick back in town, a lot of Shrinking Season 2, Episode 7 focuses on him and Gaby trying to have a date and being thwarted at every turn. They’re both professionally busy, Gaby is called upon socially, and the stars just can’t seem to align for them.

It’s Brian, in particular, who gets in the way of things. After he and Charlie decided they would go through with the adoption process, they were both quietly expecting their own “nine months” to prepare. But they’re offered a child in record time, literally the next day, and it sends Brian into a psychological tailspin that he needs Gaby’s help navigating.

There’s quite a neat parallel between Brian’s arc and Alice’s here since his is also about realizing that it’s not just him in the situation. At no point did he bother to ask how Charlie was feeling, and when he finally does, he discovers that Charlie is feeling the exact same way. They both decide not to adopt just yet, but at the very least they decide it together.

Brett Goldstein in Shrinking | Image via Apple TV+

Liz Makes A Mistake

Liz is busy making unilateral decisions in “Get in the Sea”. As was revealed at the end of the previous episode, she’s secretly meeting up with Mac, and while it’s ostensibly platonic, her reaction when Paul — who’s out with Ray! — spots them together reveals all. She knows that Mac is trying to get her into bed, and she knows that, on some level, she wants him to. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Despite Paul’s advice, Liz meets with Mac again, and they kiss. Liz cuts it short after a few seconds, but the damage is done. Once again she goes to Paul for advice, and it is, naturally, the most painful approach. She has to tell Derek the truth. Ted McGinley is fantastic when she does, finally showing some depth of emotion that cleverly inverts the recurring gag of Derek’s unflappable demeanor. He feels genuinely betrayed and in a deeply personal way given how clear he had been in his dislike for Mac.

I’d typically be convinced that this would all sort itself out, but we should take Derek’s reaction seriously. In almost two full seasons, he hasn’t had an emotional reaction about anything. It isn’t an accident that this is the thing that has really tipped him over the edge.

Jimmy Makes A Discovery

Speaking of things that are going to be difficult to come back from, let’s talk about the ending of Shrinking Season 2, Episode 7. I alluded to it earlier, but it’s worth addressing in full.

As it turns out, Alice, Brian, and Louis have clearly been getting together regularly and they’re much more comfortable with one another. After the long day she’s had with Summer, Alice invites both of them out to dinner, since she has decided that she should apply the lessons she has learned to this situation. She wants to tell Jimmy about their get-togethers, and Louis agrees it’s a good idea.

Unfortunately, the decision is made for them. Jimmy happens to be dropping off his patient — who, hilariously, has spent the entire day with him, being unwillingly dragged into every personal subplot — outside the restaurant, and sees the three of them through the glass. Even though Alice was planning to tell him, Jimmy is visibly devastated that this has been kept from him. It looks like Jimmy’s run of success is over.