Summary
Shrinking Season 3 is at its most steadily paced in “The Field”, but it’s still full of wonderfully sweet and profound little character moments.
Paul has been talking about The Field since the start of this season, but he probably never expected to find the solutions to his own problems within the boundless walls of intelligence and energy he seems to trust so much. And yet, of course. As it has been since the beginning of Season 3, Shrinking is about Paul in Episode 4; about the very sad but heartwarming journey he’s on as he navigates what he clearly understands to be the end of his life. That simple fact lends a lot of melancholic weight to all of his scenes here in “The Field”, which finds him finally returning to work… only to realise that he shouldn’t be there.
But the show isn’t just about Paul. There’s plenty more going on besides, including a Gaby-focused plot I’m not too sure about, Jimmy’s love life, Sean’s love life, and Derek on drugs. I thought I couldn’t like Derek any more than I did already, but it turns out if you pump him full of THC, he’s even more fun. But we’ll get to that.
Gaby’s Crisis
Gaby isn’t herself at the moment. It was weird enough that she had that meltdown about Louis that seemed to come out of nowhere, but she has another one here, this one targeting Jimmy. It’s the only thing going on in Shrinking that smacks just a little of inconsistent character writing. It’s almost like Gaby has only just remembered that Tia is dead.
But Gaby is being driven to distraction by her client, Maya, who just won’t open up to her, no matter what she does. It’s an unusual predicament for Gaby, and the stalemate is causing her to question her credentials as a therapist. More than that, it seems to be dredging up some internal issues she thought she’d put to bed, especially around Tia and Jimmy. Problematically, then, it’s Jimmy she turns to for short-notice help, inviting him to be a guest speaker in her class. When he tries to talk her into Jimmying Maya — “Jimmying” being the name he came up with for his unconventional therapy approach — Gaby pushes him to share the concept with her class, who are predictably horrified by his loose approach to boundaries.
This set-up leads to a bit of a falling-out between Jimmy and Gaby, but she eventually listens to his advice, since nothing conventional is getting through to Maya. So, she ambushes her at a bar for a Lord of the Rings trivia quiz, and that seems to work. Maya is lonely. If nothing else, it’s a starting point for their next conversation.
Derek Is On Drugs
In an effort to get Matthew on the straight and narrow, Derek and Liz allow him to move into that apartment Derek bought ages ago, the agreement being that they’ll keep him fed as long as he fixes the place up. At some point during this process, Derek consumes a considerable amount of Matthew’s weed gummies and starts tripping out, bonding with a crotchless mannequin and calling everyone he knows — even Mac! — to say goodbye, since he thinks he’s dying.
Derek’s random calls make for a great comedic throughline to Shrinking Season 3, Episode 4. Ted McGinley rules in “The Field”, but his predicament serves a double purpose. Everyone rallies around him except Matthew, even though it’s his fault Derek’s in the hospital with a heart aberration (probably caused by the weed gummies, but he needs a follow-up — we can’t have two medical calamities this season, surely?).
Later, this causes Liz, who is with Brian, watching Charlie nurse baby Sutton in the nursery through the hidden camera she has in a stuffed bunny, to say some rather unpleasant things about how embarrassed she is about Matthew’s general uselessness. And, of course, he chooses that exact moment to turn up with Derek’s favourite fries, hearing every word. It’s going to take some serious effort to repair this relationship, I feel sure.
Paul Is Back At Work
Ordinarily, it’s Paul whom Liz confides in — it was he who gave her the idea for putting Matthew up in the apartment in the first place — despite not being his patient. But Paul has his hands full at the moment, since he’s given the green light to return to work, ideally to help some other sufferers of Parkinson’s to deal with the emotional difficulties of the condition.
This excuses the return of Michael J. Fox as Gerry, and he delivers a remarkably sincere performance, recounting a moment of weakness and dependency that is almost certainly taken from his real life. Paul tries to introduce him to the Field, but it works better on Paul himself than it does on Gerry. What it shows him is Meg, and Julie, and Sean, who is trying to make things work with Marisol, asking him what better reason there is to do something than to be close to family? And he comes to the inevitable teary-eyed realisation. That’s what he should be doing. His time as a therapist is over.
Sure, it’ll take some time to close things down, which means we’ll probably continue to see Paul working, but the point is made pretty adroitly. In case it wasn’t clear enough, the lingering shot of his empty chair — the most moved I’ve ever been by a chair, I think — solidifies the point. It’s another painful reminder of where we’re heading, and what we’re building towards, and how lovely this show is, almost without even trying.
