In season 3 of Shrinking on Apple TV, the writers lean hard into the theme of moving on in what feels like a final season of the show.
Showrunners: Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel
Number of Episodes: 12
Release Date: Season Premiere on January 28, 2026, followed by weekly episodes
Where to watch: Apple TV
When everything feels terrible, television can be a great escape. When I’m looking for a good laugh and maybe a good cry, I like to turn on a Bill Lawrence show. Season 3 of Shrinking on Apple TV is adept at providing both the laughter and the tears, while also giving you some tools to help you navigate life when things get tough.
Like the first two seasons of Shrinking, season 3 has a very distinct theme. Season 1 dealt with grief, season 2 with forgiveness and self-love, and season 3 is now heavily focused on the topic of moving on. As the series progresses, we see the various ways that the characters take the lessons they have learned and apply them to what comes next for each of them. While there is no official statement that the show is finished, this season definitely feels like an end.
As this season of Shrinking kicks off, one of the driving plot points is Alice (Lukita Maxwell) heading to college. Her move is a significant one for Jimmy (Jason Segel) as he continues to process the loss of his wife, the changes that he has made to his therapy practice, and the continued progression of Paul’s (Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) Parkinson’s.
Gaby (Jessica Williams, Road House) is in her own moving-on phase. Her relationship with Derrick (Damon Wayans Jr.) is solid, but she is feeling a bit stuck professionally. She wants to dive into trauma work, but worries that she doesn’t have what it takes to work in a field that is much more emotionally demanding.
Sean (Luke Tennie) has made significant progress from where he started in season 1. In season 2, he realized that he wasn’t quite ready to move away from the safety of Jimmy’s pool house, but as we go through season 3 and Sean learns to better use the tools that he learned from Jimmy and Paul, we see him preparing to step out into some new adventures.
We also see changes happening with Brian (Michael Urie) as well as with Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley). Brian and Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) are awaiting their new baby and all of the changes that come with that. Meanwhile, Liz and Derek are on the other side, figuring out how to help their grown sons find success as they enter adulthood.
What Shrinking does well is to attack a single idea from multiple angles. The cast represents a wide range of characters with seemingly different issues, but the series is able to cut through those differences to find the common theme that plagues them and build on it. I will grant that at times it can feel a little bit neat and tidy – it’s a lot easier to make progress on your trauma if you have access to free therapy and inexpensive housing or a salary that doesn’t require you to worry about those things – but overall, it is an effective way to drive home the idea that the issues that we find ourselves facing are fairly universal.
As in the previous seasons, season 3 of Shrinking includes a number of great cameos. The two that have been publicized, Jeff Daniels as Jimmy’s father and Michael J. Fox as another Parkinson’s patient, are both fantastic in their small but impactful roles. There are some others that have not been mentioned, so I won’t in this review, but all are genuinely wonderful. I hate it when cameos exist just as a kind of name-dropping device, but in this show, they feel like real characters who matter.
The primary cast continues to shine, providing the perfect blend of levity and gravitas to what the scenes call for. The sense of friendship has grown over the three seasons, and it is a joy to watch them all interact in various ways. While season 3 isn’t nearly as intense as last season (I only cried after most episodes instead of all of them), there are still plenty of opportunities for the cast to tug on your heartstrings. Still, I must give a special shout-out to Jessica Williams, who has some really tough scenes this season, and Harrison Ford, who I truly hope is able to win an Emmy for his exceptional turn as Paul.
Overall, season 3 of Shrinking is yet another satisfying season of television. An impressive adherence to themes, beautiful storytelling, and phenomenal performances. And if this is, in fact, the end of the series, Jimmy and the gang have given us some great tools to move on.
Shrinking Season 3 (Apple TV): Series Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
In what feels like the final season of the show, each member of the cast learns more about what it takes to move on with their lives.
Pros:
- Exceptional performances, especially from Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams
- Fun and thoughtful cameos
- Excellent use of thematic elements to drive home the point of the show
Cons:
- It might feel a little too neat and tidy
- I wish it acknowledged how much easier it is to achieve results if your material needs are met
The Season 3 Premiere of Shrinking will be available to stream globally on Apple TV from January 28, 2026, with new episodes released weekly and the finale on April 15.
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