Previously on Shrinking, Jimmy’s father Randy was in town for Alice’s graduation, but announced at the last second that he won’t be making it. This makes Jimmy upset and ends things with Sofi!
Everyone is gathered in the backyard, including baby Sutton. Randy is working his charm pretending that he’s going to show up for Alice’s graduation. This makes Jimmy upset and he asks Liz for advice. He also tells her he split with Sofi. At Liz and Derek’s, all three of their sons are visiting. Derek goes on about how short life is and how grateful he is. Out of the three of them, Connor is really struggling as he isn’t doing anything compared to his brothers. He immediately says that Will’s girlfriend is pregnant! Liz and Derek are shocked. Will invites his girlfriend Peyton over. They tell Liz and Derek that they plan on keeping the baby. However, they don’t really have a solid plan. Liz goes on to tell them how hard it’s going to be. They aren’t taking it seriously. However, at the end of the day, Liz and Derek love them and they will get through it. Liz and Derek are going to be grandparents, young grandparents! They are secretly overjoyed.
Jimmy still can’t believe that Paul is leaving the office. Gaby lets Jimmy know that Paul basically gave her the building for her trauma center. Jimmy is extremely shocked, but he puts on a mask for Gaby and says that he only cares about seeing his patients no matter what area he’s in. Plus, he does know that this is her dream. Alice introduces Randy and Paul, and they are able to hit it off. Jimmy walks in and his dad seems fine. He then goes into Paul’s office and explains how his dad is going to bail on Alice. Paul is able to get it out of him that he hasn’t actually confronted Randy about it. He needs to at least talk to him before he can be fully mad.
Jimmy and Randy are at the batting cages when Jimmy confronts him about missing Alice’s graduation. Randy brushes it off like it’s nothing. Even after Jimmy mentions that he and Randy are all Alice has, Randy still refuses. Jimmy has nothing more to say.
Gaby and Brian are having celebratory drinks at Liz and Derek’s. Liz immediately starts baby planning. Derek thinks she’s moving too fast. While Derek is excited to be a grandfather, he wants to enjoy his life right now and go on a journey. Everybody immediately recalls his health scare. He wants to do this all with Liz. But Liz doesn’t agree.
Randy has his bags packed and tells Alice goodbye, but she takes it like a champ. Jimmy drives her to graduation; she’s nervous, but she knows she’s ready. Everyone meets back up at Jimmy’s to celebrate the graduates! Alice and Summer are very thankful for their friends and family. Paul starts saying his final goodbyes to everyone. Jimmy steps outside and Paul follows him. Jimmy reminds him how much he did for Paul in the past couple of months. While he was warned that he would never get a thank you by many, he wanted to prove them wrong. Jimmy eventually lashes out at Paul, feeling betrayed over Gaby getting the office and Paul not telling him he was moving.
This episode was an emotional rollercoaster. So many things happened, but they were all able to intertwine nicely together. The character of Randy is complex because it was expected that he would maybe change his mind about the fishing trip, but nothing. We’re all proud of Jimmy for at least standing up to his dad, even though he had to have that extra push from Paul. The graduation celebration was very heartwarming and proves that Alice does have more than just Jimmy and Randy, she has the whole gang of characters. The fight between Jimmy and Paul was heartbreaking, but it was done so flawlessly by Segel and Ford. They were able to truly convey some comedic elements, but get their feelings across perfectly. Jimmy really left it in a fight, and we can only hope that the next episode will patch things up. The storyline of Liz and Derek becoming grandparents did feel a bit out there because baby Sutton seemed like she would be the star child this season. However, we know they will be the best because they care so much about their sons.
9/10