Review: ‘Shrinking’ Season 3, Episode 5 “Hold Your Horsies”

Liz is constantly trying to call Matthew to apologize for what she said about being embarrassed by him, but straight to voicemail. Derek tries to comfort her by pointing out new couple Sean and Marisol below them in Jimmy’s yard. The couple makes her smile.

Marisol begs Sean to take the day off from work to spend time with her, but Sean has to make money in order to get out of the poolhouse. 

Maya is seeing Gaby again, and she is opening up more. However, Gaby learns that she’s taking very intense medications together that could be very dangerous if mixed. Maya also loves alcohol, so Gaby is very concerned. Gaby goes home and consults with Derrick about how worried she is, but he knows that she will pull through.

Meg is going to be in town visiting and helping Paul. Paul needs help picking her up from the airport, and Jimmy, of course, volunteers because he’s trying to get approval from Paul. Brian joins them, and in the car ride, he and Jimmy make up an entire song from scratch and sing the entire way. Paul definitely loves them more for it. 

Alice explains to Gaby (the new Paul) that she feels really scared for this next chapter of her life.  Gaby encourages her to get out more and find herself; every version of herself is okay! Later, Summer tells Alice, Marisol, Jorge, and Sean that there is this hot new spot in town; it’s time to party! At a warehouse! What do you even wear to a warehouse party? Everyone basically has to beg Sean to go, as he is married to his job at this point. It takes a lot of convincing, but he agrees and is ready to get the night started.

Liz shows everyone the texts that she’s been getting from Matthew. They try to cheer her up and tell her that time will heal this situation. Everybody immediately changes the subject and tells Derrick and Gaby to have a baby! Both of them immediately say that they are holding off on marriage or baby talk until 2027 — operation “Hold Your Horises.” Then, Derek randomly asks Derrick if he wants to get ice cream.  Gaby decides to join the suspicious exit. 

However, Gaby, Brian and Liz  don’t arrive at an ice cream shop, but  at a fixer-upper: a possible trauma center for Gaby. Gaby immediately has a mini-meltdown saying how she isn’t ready for all of these new steps in her relationship. She feels that they ironically need to “get in the sea” or just be in a circle at her house. Nobody attacks operation “Hold Your Horises.” They all go through the pros and cons of Derrick, and they come down to the conclusion that she’s scared because of the divorce that she went through. She’s afraid to make that choice for herself. However, she does feel confident in Derrick, and she tells him that. 

Back at the office, Meg asks Paul if she can go through his storage unit to look for old family photos that Mason needs for a school project. Paul volunteers Jimmy to go with her and look for old files on a patient. At the unit, Meg and Jimmy go through a lot of Paul’s belongings. Jimmy can tell stories just by looking at the items. That’s when Meg realizes that Jimmy knows more about her dad than she does. After learning that Jimmy is terrified of Alice going to college, she tells Jimmy that one of the reasons why she’s here is because Paul had agreed to move to Connecticut with her after she asked. She’s worried that Jimmy won’t be fine with both him and Alice gone. Jimmy tells her that he’s trying to put himself back out there. Meg is a bit flirtatious with Jimmy, but he doesn’t pick up on it. 

At the warehouse party, Marisol tells the group that it’s $40 a person for them to get in. None of them have cash on them. However, they coincidentally decided to take the truck to the party, so they start serving food and earning cash. Once they earn enough they go in! Everyone except Sean. He insists on staying. Alice stays with him. He tells her that he wants to stay in control, and everyone around him just doesn’t understand him. He’s scared of changing and not being safe. Alice tells him that it’s time to stop hiding and to face their fears; they have to live. They go into the party and have the time of their lives.

Jimmy and Meg return the files to Paul. Paul just brushes Jimmy off. Paul will never ever say thank you, and Jimmy knows that. Later in the night, Meg goes over to Jimmy’s house. Meg says how sorry she is about her dad and that he really deserved a thank you. Meg then kisses Jimmy! Cut to black.

This episode had so many elements that blended so flawlessly together. Sean gets more of his spotlight in this episode and we learn why he and Marisol aren’t really working together. He’s fighting so hard to make it compatible as it is clear that he does love her. His friendship with Alice is very strong, as they’ve both gone through very traumatic events in their lives. They’re able to create an unbreakable bond over it and help each other through the next phases of their lives. This is also one of the first episodes in a while where Gaby’s divorce is brought up again. Everyone is rooting for her and Derrick, and she needs that extra push from the people that she loves, and it’s beautiful that they care so much about her. The twist with Meg and Jimmy was very out there. There were some little hints in the storage unit, but a full kiss between Paul’s daughter and his employee! Maybe some characters will have to “Hold Their Horsies” in episodes to come.   

9/10