If you’ve already watched Shrinking on Apple TV, there’s not much that’s going to be surprising for you in a review for Season 3 of the series. It’s still laugh-out-loud funny, it’s still enormously cozy and warm, it will still make you sob without warning, and it still boasts one of the best comedic ensembles on TV. But if you’ve never watched Shrinking before? It’s the most mental healing you can get outside of going to therapy.
To be clear, watching the TV show Shrinking is not a substitute for therapy. But after watching the third season – all 11 episodes, including the premiere, which is technically two episodes stitched together, were provided for review – you’ll find yourself going on a journey with the characters as they strive to be better than they are, help those around them, and you’ll pick up a shocking amount of mental health tips along the way. Heck, I still use the “Grieving Playlist” technique they floated in Season 2, and it really works.
The broad concept of the show is that Jason Segel plays Jimmy Laird, a therapist who has coined “Jimmying,” aka a technique where he radically interferes with his patients’ lives in order to shake them out of their bad habits and confront their issues. But Jimmying is merely an excuse to spend time with Jimmy, his fellow therapists Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Paul (Harrison Ford), and their extended group of family, friends, and neighbors. Where Season 1 got stronger the more it veered away from the high concept, and Season 2 became one of the best hang-out comedies on TV, Season 3 strikes the right balance between the two… These are characters who constantly interfere with each other’s lives, usually for the right reasons. So basically whether they realize it or not, they’re all Jimmying, all the time.
For Gaby, that takes the form of bonding with a patient who has abandonment issues while exploring the possibility of a new direction for her therapy, all while continuing her romance with the effortlessly hilarious Damon Wayans Jr. as Derrick #2. There’s a scene early in the season where in a fit of attraction Williams tries to lift Wayans onto the kitchen counter, and this simple bit of physical business made me laugh harder than most comedies do all season long.
While Williams is ridiculously funny, she is also the dramatic stand-out this season to a jaw-dropping level. A monologue she gives in one episode where the camera hangs on her, allowing her to express everything from rage to sadness and all the emotions in between is a stunner. And a conversation late in the season between Gaby and Paul made me outright sob. Williams has been nominated twice for her role in the Emmys, and whether a purposeful push on the writers part or not, this season should help her clinch the win. She’s just that good.
Meanwhile, Harrison Ford continues to give a career best as Paul, as his Parkinson’s worsens while the crusty, remote doctor finds his emotional walls breaking down further thanks to the people around him who just will not leave him alone. And while the appearances are relatively brief, he also gets to work opposite real-life Parkinson’s survivor Michael J. Fox, in a lovely return to comedy for the actor.
It would be easy to list every member of the cast, because they all have fantastic arcs and are delightful to watch… From Luke Tennie’s Sean finally breaking out on his own thanks to his career at a food truck, to Michael Urie’s Brian wrestling with responsibility thanks to a potential new baby. Lukita Maxwell is charming as Jimmy’s daughter Alice, but gets less to do this season than previously as she has one foot out the door, ready to go to college.
That leaves Christa Miller as Liz and Ted McGinley as Derek, Jimmy’s next door neighbors. Both went through the wringer last season with a few large hiccups in their otherwise stable marriage. This year, thanks to another comedy legend stopping by (Candice Bergen as McGinley’s mom, despite the only 12-year age difference) as well as some health issues, tensions get heightened even more. But both are pros, and while Miller deftly navigates the difficult task of somehow being the most caustic character on the show while still being endearing, McGinley once again proves why he – and therefore Derek – is America’s sitcom dad, the sort of guy you just know gives hugs that make everything okay.
As for guest stars, Lily Rabe stands out as Paul’s daughter Meg, who steps more into the spotlight in Season 3 and gets at least one shocking twist. Show co-creator Brett Goldstein, always great, returns as Louis, the man who accidentally killed Jimmy’s wife, and has beyond all reason become friends with the family… Goldstein is the diametric opposite of Ted Lasso breakout Roy Kent, showing off his quietly sweet and romantic side. And Sherry Cola is also wonderful as Williams’ lonely patient, balancing stand-offishness with yearning and humor.
And then there’s Segel as Jimmy. Despite the show being a wide ensemble, as noted, Jimmy, and his process of healing from the grief of his wife’s car accident, is the center of the series. It’s one the folks behind the show (Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, and Segel himself) have been very open about when it comes to the path he’ll take. In interviews, Lawrence has explained that they pitched the show with a three season arc: season 1 was grief, season 2 forgiveness, and season 3 moving forward. And indeed, that’s what we get here as Jimmy both tries – and shies away from – moving past his wife’s demise.
Segel, like the rest of the cast, gives a powerfully touching and more often hilarious performance. Like with Miller as Liz, he walks a thin line: Jimmy is an annoying dork, but an adorable one at the same time. The people around him love him and support him as he makes mistake after mistake, and as he owns those mistakes and tries to do better. That includes dating, including some hilarious mishaps, one that certainly made this reviewer scream at the TV. Meanwhile, the overall arc either proves or disproves that Jimmy is meant to move on with Segel’s How I Met Your Mother co-star Cobie Smulders as Sofi, who uproariously and lovably emerges as even more of a female Jimmy in Season 3.
Without delving too far into spoilers, though there is a plan in place to continue the show with a Season 4 if Apple decides to renew it, Shrinking Season 3 sticks the landing on this three season arc in a satisfying and surprising way, cementing its place in the annals of TV history. If they do decide to do more, since healing from grief is a lifelong journey? Great. If not, just know that we’ve got three near perfect seasons of comedy TV that had beautiful, profound things to say about how we connect to others, find our individual purpose, and why the two are more linked than we often imagine. Either way? We’ll be lying here on our couch, listening to fifteen minutes of music and crying, every day until Shrinking comes back for Season 4.
Shrinking Season 3 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of Shrinking Season 3 technically premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV, though given time zones in the United States new episodes will hit the service at 9pm ET / 6pm PT on Tuesdays. We’ve listed the Wednesday dates below, just for posterity.
Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in Shrinking Season 3, with premiere dates.
- Wednesday, January 28, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 1, “My Bad”
- Wednesday, February 4, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 2, “Happiness Mission”
- Wednesday, February 11, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 3, “D-Day”
- Wednesday, February 18, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 4, “The Field”
- Wednesday, February 25, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 5, “Hold Your Horsies”
- Wednesday, March 4, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die”
- Wednesday, March 11, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 7, “I Will Be Grape”
- Wednesday, March 18, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 8, “Depression Diet”
- Wednesday, March 25, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 9, “TBA”
- Wednesday, April 1, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 10, “TBA”
- Wednesday, April 8, 2026: Shrinking, Season 3, Episode 11, “TBA” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch Shrinking Season 3
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