Summary
Shrinking got off to an impossibly good start in Season 3, one that “Happiness Mission” can’t quite match, but this is nonetheless an important — albeit functional — chapter to get the third season rolling.
I’ll be the first to admit that Shrinking Season 3 started so well that it’s basically impossible for the remaining episodes to consistently hit those heights. But Episode 2, “Happiness Mission”, is a good example of why they don’t need to. This is a lower-key, more functional chapter, one that focuses on isolating some specific issues that certain characters are going through and puts in the groundwork to help them move forward. But it’s necessary, because clearing these small personal roadblocks is what will allow everyone to get into the next big, dramatic storyline, which I’m sure is coming.
Zach Braff directed this episode, and Brett Goldstein wrote it, which is interesting since it feels like a bit of a farewell for his character, Louis. But that’s less dramatic in practice than it sounds when written down. In many ways, Louis’s arc had reached a natural terminus, and his continued presence in the core cast was threatening to become more of a hindrance than a benefit.
Tying Up Loose Ends
Shrinking is clearly heading somewhere in Season 3, so it’s important to do away with any Season 2 dead weight before the season gets going. That’s very much what “Happiness Mission” is doing with Louis. He’s mostly even-keel now, and while he’s reluctant to really start living his life, he’s clearly almost there. It’s Gaby, of all people, who gives him the nudge he needs.
Gaby is the only person who remains hostile to Louis, since she’s unable to get over his involvement in Tia’s death and finds his constant moping insulting to her memory. It’d be easy to take Gaby’s position as unfair here, especially given that Jimmy and Alice are much more amenable to Louis, but it’s what Louis needs to hear. He does need to get on with his life, and that means letting Jimmy and Alice go, since, as kind as they have been to him, they’re tethers to the trauma that he can’t slip.
After an art gallery trip that is clearly intended to justify the show planting the seeds for the arrival of Jimmy’s father, who will be played by Jeff Daniels, Louis goes to see his ex. What looks for a split second like it might be a romantic reconciliation quickly takes a different turn when it’s revealed she’s happily shacked up with another man. But it’s enough for Louis, who is reassured by the fact she’s okay, and is pleased that he’s also okay. He can move on.
First Steps
For Jimmy, moving on isn’t that easy. He’s still grappling with the idea of Alice going off to college, but he’s also, like Louis, content to remain in a kind of stasis rather than entertain the idea of concretely moving on from Tia. And it’s Cobie Smulders’s Sofi who represents an avenue by which he can do that. But he’s hesitant to take the first steps.
Sofi is clearly into Jimmy. But while he’s polite, he’s deliberately not that receptive to her efforts. Liz, Sean, and Louis are all supportive of the idea, but he’s terrified of committing. “Happiness Mission” is bookended by scenes with these two, the first of Sofi contriving a reason to see Jimmy and the second of Jimmy almost plucking up the courage to see her but backing out at the last minute. It helps to give this episode some shape and introduce what will clearly be an ongoing subplot, but it also shows that despite how much time he spends helping others, Jimmy isn’t quite healed himself.
Team Effort
In the meantime, Jimmy does continue to dote on others, and given Paul’s advancing Parkinson’s, he’s a prime candidate. But everyone rallies around Paul in Shrinking Season 3, Episode 2, which he obviously finds off-putting, but comes from a really nice place. This subplot still terrifies me, since I think it’s building towards something terribly painful, but in the meantime, it’s a joy to see everyone come together, even if Paul hates it.
It also makes for fresh character pairings. Brian is brilliant, whoever he’s in a scene with, but his dynamic with Paul is particularly great. It’s the same with Derek, and this pulls double duty in furthering his relationship with Matthew. Paul is technically off work, but he loves his job so much that he keeps trying to sneak therapy sessions into his convalescence. Derek is a good patient, since he’s struggling with what to do about Matthew’s coddling, having hamstrung his potential future.
Eventually, Derek takes the big step of kicking Matthew out, which is the right thing for him. But it comes from Paul, who’s able to deduce Derek’s specific pathology in a matter of moments, showing both how great a therapist he is, but also that even the most jovial of people are often hiding real darkness and trauma. Shrinking is extraordinarily good at sneaking moments of real insight, depth, and warmth into seemingly innocuous conversations.
