Review: ‘Shrinking’ Season 3, Episode 11 “And That’s Our Time”

Previously on Shrinking, Alice is now officially a high school graduate! She’s on her way to college leaving Jimmy behind in the house. Jimmy and Paul also had a very big argument right before he moved to Connecticut to be with Meg.

Brian and Jimmy are helping Alice pack for school, Meg is helping Julie and Paul settle in, Derek and Liz are getting ready for their Barcelona trip, and Sean is still trying to find the best time to tell Jimmy that he is moving out of the pool house. Gaby accidentally finds the engagement ring Derrick got for her! She very stereotypically puts it on her finger and can’t get it off. She goes to Liz for help and explains the situation. Liz obviously knew that Derrick was going to pop the question, and Gaby is a bit mad that she didn’t tell her, but she knows that Liz was just trying to be a good friend. Gaby then goes on to explain how the death of Maya is still sitting with her and how she doesn’t want to give up on the trauma center. Liz sits her down and lets her know that she and Derrick are going to be a beautiful married couple, even if it doesn’t seem that way now.    

Jimmy tries to man up and call Paul to apologize, but it obviously is very awkward. Jimmy opens up about how sorry he was for getting angry at Paul, and that Paul was in the right when he said that Jimmy’s feelings get in the way of many conversations. Jimmy is sad with how they ended things. He tries to open up again, but Paul hangs up as Meg steps into the room.

As Liz and Derek are preparing to be grandparents before they take off for Europe, Alice and Summer get into an argument about spending time together before Alice leaves for school. Jimmy rehearses a big speech that he has planned for Alice in front of Sean and Derek; they obviously think he’s trying too hard. Sean had also told Derek that he’s moving out of the pool house, but Jimmy doesn’t know that yet. It’s agonizing to watch. Jimmy takes  Alice out for ice cream, and tricks her by inviting Summer. He has them talk it all out because they’ll regret it if they leave each other in a fight. After talking, they both realize that they’re afraid of losing each other, but they’re onto the next part of their lives, one of the best chapters! They know that they’ve got this.  

Gaby gets her circle group together to talk about the proposal. She even got Paul there on an iPad. She has everyone weigh the pros and cons of marrying Derrick. At the end of the day, everyone, including Gaby, knows that she is scared because she went through an ugly divorce. Gaby gets everyone together in the corn hole bar to surprise Derrick. At first, he thinks it’s a trick as Liz tells him that Gaby found the ring. However, all the friends and family are in on what is about to happen. Fairy lights are everywhere, and music is playing. Gaby sits him down and tells him how thankful she is for him. She’s different, she’s crazy, she’s goofy, and he loves every bit of her. Life got scary for them this past year, but it will be less scarier with the two of them by each other’s sides. Gaby asks Derrick to marry her, and he says yes! Everyone celebrates!

The next day, Jimmy and Summer drop Alice off at the airport. Jimmy tries to say his prepared speech for Alice, but Summer keeps interrupting them. He just lets them go. Alice thanks him for everything, and she gets on that plane! Back at home, Sean finally tells Jimmy that he’s moving out of the pool house. While Jimmy is sad, he is actually pretty happy that Sean got his life together. In Connecticut, Paul tells Alice that Jimmy has been giving him updates on everything. This includes how sad he is about being a complete empty nester. When Alice learns that Paul isn’t really doing anything to help her dad, she gets upset. While Paul isn’t Jimmy’s dad, he could use some fatherly advice. Alice even tells Paul what happened between Jimmy and Sofi, which is a  wake up call for him.

Jimmy scopes the empty office and mopes around his empty home before he gets a call from Paul. Paul is in town, and he’s only going to be there for a couple of hours. Paul asks him to meet for breakfast. Once Jimmy gets there, Paul lets him know that even though life threw him a curveball, he can’t control every last thing in his life, and that he’s very strong. He then reveals Sofi sitting at a nearby table. Jimmy is scared at first, but Paul tells him that if he ever wants to let go of the past, he needs to move forward, starting now. He can’t have his past hold him back anymore. Paul then tells Jimmy that he sees him as a son, and that he loves him. Jimmy has breakfast with Sofi. Cut to black.      

Season 3 of Shrinking has officially come to an end. This episode was a great way to end the season due to all of the life-changing storylines involved. The comedic writing is always spot on as well because it comes at the right times. Alice is moving on with her life as well as Jimmy, and we’re so proud of the both of them because they were really struggling in past seasons. While their grief for Tia will always be there, this episode proved that they will never ever forget her and if anything, she would want them to move on and be happy. Sean moving out of the pool house was a great plot point because he finally got his life together. He isn’t getting into fights, he got the chef job, and he has his own place. He went through so much great character development this season. Gaby and Derrick’s proposal was just so them, very comedic, and very powerful. The choice to bring Sofi back in the very last scene worked tremendously well because Paul and Jimmy had to build each other up for that moment. The scene of Paul telling Jimmy that he loved him was extremely heartwarming because we all know Jimmy has been waiting to hear those words for a very long time. While Paul is obviously still struggling with Parkinson’s, this episode highlighted that as long as he is on this earth, he will do anything for the people he loves. Bravo!  

9/10