REVIEW: 'Shrinking' Season 3 Episode 2 Reunites Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders, Then Sees Brett Goldstein Exit the Show as Louis
- Emma Fisher
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
This article contains spoilers for S3E2 of Shrinking.
Continuing from last week’s premiere, which ended with the heartbreaking realisation that Paul (Harrison Ford) was hallucinating Gerry (Michael J. Fox) at his wedding, we learn that Paul has a UTI, which is stressing his body and causing the hallucinations. A plan is quickly put in place to help him recover. Gaby (Jessica Williams) and Jimmy (Jason Segel) will cover his patients; Julie (Wendie Malick) will manage his medication, sleep hygiene, and bedroom activities; and the rest will tag in with exercise, helping him build a routine to get him back on his feet faster. Sean (Luke Tennie) will drive Paul around and clean out the pool house gutters (a task Jimmy adds onto the list for his own benefit).
Cobie Smulders returns this week as Sofi, the woman who sold Jimmy the yellow Mini Cooper for Alice’s 18th birthday in Season 2, arriving at his house with a spare key for the car and prompting a timed conversation about their children. With Jimmy needing to get to work, she offers him 14 minutes, during which she asks how he’s coping with Alice (Lukita Maxwell) heading off to college, sharing that her son is only nine and she already misses him. When the timer goes off, Sofi notes that they now know how to start their next conversation, if there is one, but Jimmy’s silence leads to an awkward but funny goodbye. Naturally, Liz (Christa Miller), Derek (Ted McGinley), and Sean are on hand afterwards to question why he didn’t just ask her out. Segel and Smulders’ chemistry is lived-in, perhaps unsurprising given their shared history across nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother. Still, you’ll find yourself with Liz, Derek, and Sean, eagerly anticipating the moment that Jimmy finally acts on his reciprocated feelings, if he ever will.
Later, Jimmy meets up with Louis (Brett Goldstein), and the pair discuss Sofi. While the idea of moving forward paralyses Jimmy, Louis doesn’t believe he deserves to be happy after he forced Jimmy into this position in the first place. Gaby appears to share that view, even if she never says it outright, unable to look past Louis’s role in Tia’s (Lilan Bowden) death. Paul suggests that shared trauma makes people do wild things. Perhaps Jimmy and Alice believe that if Louis is okay, then they will be too, or maybe they like big eyebrows. Whatever the reason, it seems to be helping, leaving everyone else with little choice but to bite their tongues and deal with it.
Paul, himself, is hiding from Liz and spiraling into an existential crisis without his work. Meanwhile, Sean's ex, Marisol (Isabella Gomez), is back in town and keeps calling him. Noting that Sean seems dysregulated, Paul asks if he wants to talk about it, but Sean says he doesn't get to do that until Paul is better. When Marisol turns up at the food truck, Sean is hiding at a table with Liz and Gaby, eventually revealing that she dumped him while he was in Afghanistan via a Dear John letter. He admits he was an asshole afterwards, and now he can’t face her.
Derek finally agrees with Liz that their son, Matthew (Markus Silbiger), needs to go after he returned home to live with them with nothing to his name, even as he makes him a sandwich. He insists he’ll handle it, only to falter when Matthew admits it often feels like Derek is the only one rooting for him. A conversation with Paul helps Derek understand why he has never been good at setting boundaries, especially with Matthew, having grown up with emotionally inconsistent parents. Paul suggests Derek learned to avoid conflict to protect himself, mistaking coddling for selflessness, when it’s really about his fear of hurting himself.
Thanks to Paul, Derek apologises to Matthew, admitting that his love has held him back rather than setting him up for success. At 25, Matthew needs to figure out his life on his own, and Derek makes it clear this decision is his alone, not Liz’s. Matthew has until tomorrow; this storyline continues throughout future episodes.
Elsewhere, Jimmy, Alice, and Louis spend the day at a museum, where Louis is overwhelmed by thoughts of his ex-fiancée, Sarah (Meredith Hagner). Deciding it's enough joy for one day, he leaves abruptly, later turning up at Jimmy’s to apologise for running off, only to find Gaby there. Left alone together, Gaby admits she is trying to do the right thing for Jimmy and Alice, even though she cannot forgive Louis for killing her best friend. While Jimmy and Alice may have made peace with him, she never will, and she tells Louis that his refusal to live his life feels disrespectful to Tia’s memory. Williams is exceptional here and is the person who finally gets through to Louis, setting up Brett Goldstein's exit from the series, which likely freed him to return to the upcoming fourth season of Ted Lasso.
Louis seeks out Sarah, relieved to see that she’s happy, even though she has moved on with someone else. Feeling unstuck for the first time, he thanks both Jimmy and Alice and says his goodbyes, considering a move to San Diego and a return to graphic design. Before he goes, he reminds Jimmy that it’s his turn now. If he puts himself back out there, maybe good things will happen, but he must be the one to take the next step. Inspired, Jimmy turns up at Sofi’s door, dithering, trying again, then hesitating once more before leaving. While it's frustrating, with Season 3 of Shrinking focusing on moving forward, Jimmy's fear was never going to be solved in a single conversation that occurs in its second episode. Segel remains as convincing as ever in his depiction of a widower, leading Shrinking with enough earnestness to make your heart clench.
About Shrinking
Premiere Date: January 28, 2026
Episode Count: 11
Executive Producers: Bill Lawrence, Jeff Ingold, Liza Katzer, Jason Segel, Neil Goldman, Brett Goldstein, James Ponsoldt, Randall Winston, Annie Mebane, Rachna Fruchbom, Brian Gallivan, Ashley Nicole Black, and Bill Posley
Writers: Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein, Brian Gallivan, Rachna Fruchbom, Bill Posley, Annie Mebane, Wally Baram, Sofi Selig, and Neil Goldman
Directors: James Ponsoldt, Ry Russo-Young, Randall Winston, and Zach Braff
Cast: Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Christa Miller, Lukita Maxwell, and Ted McGinley
Synopsis: “Shrinking” follows a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.
