Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The Shrinking,” now streaming on Apple TV.
Harrison Ford is still “shrinking.” The Apple TV series ended its third season Wednesday with a poignant episode that creator Bill Lawrence has reiterated in interviews and on social media, framing as a finale of sorts. That got him into a bit of trouble, as fans began to believe that Lawrence was going to reinvent “Shrinking” as something completely different next season.
But rest assured, as Variety reported on Monday, the same stars will be playing the same characters next season. That includes Ford, who signed on to return after doing the best work of his entire career as Dr. Paul Rose. Ford said Tuesday at the “Shrinking” panel at PaleyFest LA in Hollywood that his work on “Shrinking” was “one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.”
The rest of the cast will also return for Season 4: Jason Segel (Jimmy Laird), Jessica Williams (Gaby), Lukita Maxwell (Alice), Luke Tenney (Sean), Christa Miller (Liz), Michael Urie (Brian), and Ted McGinley (Derek) will first appear. And yes, they will be playing the same characters but embarking on a new journey.
“When people come back to this show, they’ll feel like it’s a completely different story,” Lawrence said. “And the reason we agreed to do that is because we felt like the cast and characters on this show had enough going on in their lives that we were interested in seeing what new stories would be for these characters.”
Because Apple TV renewed the show fairly quickly, Lawrence said the writers of “Shrinking” found a way to leave easter eggs throughout Season 3 that hinted at what was to come. So next year might feel different because the characters are in different places, but you’ll feel like you’ve earned it because you’ve already seen a new story begin.
“There are some things left unresolved in the third year, and it’s implied that next year will be different depending on what the characters do and where they go,” Lawrence said. “People shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a time jump and it feels like we’re telling a completely different story.”
And it starts with Jimmy’s growth, with Jimmy’s journey from grief in Season 1 (losing his wife Tia) to forgiveness in Season 2 (bonding with the man who accidentally killed her) to moving on in Season 3 (a beginning and an end to finding new love) now seeming to have resolved itself. At the end of Season 3, Episode 11, “And That Was Our Time,” Paul, who has just moved to Connecticut, immediately returns to Los Angeles to help set Jimmy on a new path, starting by tricking him into having breakfast with Sophie, played by Cobie Smulders.
“If Season 4 of this show started and Jimmy said, ‘I’ve been thinking about it. I’m still so sad about my wife,’ I’d be like, ‘Turn off the TV.’ I’ll never be able to do that again,” Lawrence said. “So I hope people find this an incredibly optimistic and happy ending.”
Lawrence praised Siegel’s work in the final two episodes of season 3, in which Siegel sends his daughter to school, struggles with being home alone, and feels abandoned by Paul, a father figure to him. And it all came down to that moment when Paul made the scary gesture of going back to reassure Jimmy that it was okay to move on. “I looked at him and thought, as a fan of the show, that his kind of suffering is finally over, he’s really amazing,” Lawrence said.
However, not everything was resolved with Jimmy this season, as viewers saw that Jimmy still had daddy issues. Lawrence said that means Jeff Daniels will likely return as his father, Randy Laird.
“I guarantee you, some of you who watch the show know that you’re probably going to see Jeff Daniels again,” he said. “Coby, too. What’s it like to be a man in a second relationship?”
Now that we know that Ford is back (and that Wendi Malick will likely appear as his new wife Julie), we can assume that part of his new storyline will intersect with Alice, who has relied on Paul as her therapist for years and will now live just an hour away.
“There’s obviously a lot of purpose in having Harrison’s character move to the state where Alice goes to college,” Lawrence said.
Of course, Paul will continue to face the reality of Parkinson’s disease, and that will continue to be an important part of this character’s journey. In season 3, Paul bonded with fellow Parkinson’s sufferer Jerry, played by guest star Michael J. Fox. Lawrence said he would like to have Fox return in some way for Season 4, and at PaleyFest, Fox said he was willing to do that, saying, “I would love to do it. It would be an honor.”
Luke Tenney, Jessica Williams, Lukita Maxwell, Harrison Ford, Michael J. Fox, Jason Segel, Christa Miller, Bill Lawrence, Ted McGinley and Michael Urie attend the “Shrinking” panel at PaleyFest LA on April 7th.
Meanwhile, Gabby returns to Los Angeles and plans to take over Paul’s practice and facility, building a new crisis treatment clinic. However, she is still grieving the death of her patient Maya (Shelly Cora), who died by suicide in season three.
“What is it like for a character like Gaby to lose patients in a very simple practice and then jump into treating people who, for whatever reason, only deal with issues like that?” Lawrence said. “The trauma of losing a patient may have pushed her over the edge and pushed her way too directly into that world. Also, there’s still some tension between Gabby, her mother, and her sister.”
Among the main characters, Empty Nesters Liz and Derek gave the show a lot to watch as they discovered in season 3 that one of their sons was having a baby and adjusted to becoming grandparents. (Guest star Candice Bergen may also return as Derek’s mother and Liz’s nemesis.) Sean moves out of Jimmy’s pool house, reunites with his girlfriend Marisol (Isabela Gomez), and is on his way to becoming a chef. Brian was still adjusting to his role as a parent and was initially hesitant to take on the role.
“Sometimes people feel like Brian is someone who, at least reluctantly, stepped out to start a family and start a family, but what does that look like? We know Brian’s childhood was rocky in terms of where he grew up and people’s attitudes towards his sexuality, but we haven’t met his mother yet,” Lawrence said. “It has great intentions.”
Asked if he had a new three-season structure in mind for the next chapter of “The Shrinking,” Lawrence said he hasn’t yet made any long-term plans with Apple TV or series producer Warner Bros. TV. However, he added, “We’re not going to go into the next season feeling like it’s the last season. There’s always material. People want to feel like they’re changing and evolving. So as long as we feel like we’re telling new kinds of cool stories instead of being stuck, we’re going to live with it. And who’s to say where a show like this is going to go?”
But as Season 4 embarks on another installment of Shrinking, Lawrence also promises some consistency, saying, “People still live where they live. This is still a family drama about people who think they spend too much time together.” No. And people will still recognize the set and the location, even if it’s cosmetically changed or has a new look. I don’t want this show to suddenly be like, ‘Oh, they’re working in a corporate office downtown!’ With the stories we’re telling, we hope it feels the same, but it’s going to be different. ”
Writing for Season 4 has already begun, and Lawrence said fans “are going to love it. I wouldn’t be doing this show if all the actors and actresses didn’t want to continue. The main driving force behind continuing and coming up with other stories is, yeah, we’re lucky that Apple wants to continue. But everyone in the cast is having so much fun. I feel like there’s a lot of stories to tell with these characters. This one can’t be told anymore.”
