Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1: How does the premiere deal with the fallout from last season? Details revealed

Shrinking Season 3 dropped on January 28, 2026, pulling us right back into Jimmy Laird’s world and the people he leans on. Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein’s Apple TV comedy-drama is back, kicking things off with an episode called My Bad.

The story picks up after the Thanksgiving finale from Season 2, where forgiveness took center stage. This time around, we are getting 11 episodes, rolling out weekly until April 8. Apple TV renewed the show for a fourth season before this one even started.

Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 dives into the fallout from last season’s dramatic ending. Jimmy had to race to a train station to stop Louis, the same guy who killed Jimmy’s wife, Tia, in a drunk driving crash, from taking his own life. That huge act of forgiveness set the tone for what’s next. Now, the show shifts gears. It’s not just about forgiving anymore; it’s about figuring out how to move forward, even when life throws the worst at you.

Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1: How does the premiere deal with the fallout from last season?

Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 sets the stage for how the characters are struggling with the next step after forgiveness. Paul has more issues with Parkinson’s at home and at work, which form the plot during the premiere. He visits his specialist, where he meets a new friend, Gerry, played by Michael J. Fox.

Following a visit to the doctor, Paul has a heart-to-heart talk with Jimmy about how difficult the end of his life will be, but he has a new passion to live life to the fullest. He requests that Jimmy hold him accountable so that he will not sink into despair. It is a reversal of roles, which reveals how friendship between them has changed, whereby Paul, who had been Jimmy’s mentor and voice of reason in most of the series, now requires Jimmy to pay him back. Even though Jimmy is ready to assist, he is not very excited when Paul asks them to go to the race track together as a way of living life to the fullest.

Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 also addresses the greatest personal issue that Jimmy faces, which is the release of his daughter Alice. Jimmy resigns himself to move beyond his urge to keep Alice at home and assist her pursue her dreams to go to Wesleyan. This is a big development for a character who has spent two seasons to learn to be there again as a father after his wife died and grief paralyzed him.

The Episode depicts that Alice first lies to Jimmy regarding her rejection by Wesleyan, and she is not ready to go out of the house. But Sean points out to her the duplicity and challenges both the father and the daughter to a truthful discussion. It is the type of breakthrough that Shrinking does so effectively: characters invested enough in each other to overcome the troubling facts.

At the end of Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1, Alice is ready to attend Wesleyan, establishing what will presumably be a significant plot in the show, involving Jimmy getting used to having an empty nest.

Gaby, in the meantime, is also facing some crisis at work. Gaby has an issue with treating patients who have low-stakes issues because she joined the profession of a therapist to assist people with serious problems. It is a compelling conflict that addresses burnout and purpose, which seems especially accurate. Having taken Season 2 to explore forgiveness with her mother and romantic partner Derek, she now finds herself wondering whether her daily job is her calling.

The Brian and Charlie plot also progresses in Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1. Liz helps Brian to realize that he and Charlie need to have limits with Ava, the birth mother of the baby they are about to adopt. This discussion is triggered by the interior design display that Liz gave Ava about the nursery, not simply because Ava did not like Liz’s choices, but because it presents a bigger question of how much Ava should be involved in their lives going forward.

After discussing with Stuart what they should do, Brian and Charlie decide on the difficult move that they will be most comfortable with, without Ava being involved with the baby after the adoption. It is a decision that demonstrates the willingness of the show to address real situations with no clear solutions. There is no simple process about adoption, and Shrinking is not interested in acting as though there is.

Sean also has his growth moment when he opens up to Paul and tells him that Dr. Sykes had broken up with him. Paul makes Sean see that he is missing something in life and drags him to follow something known as “the field.” Although Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 does not explicitly tell us what happens in the field, it is evidently an important element that will signify a new direction for the character of Sean.

The thing that is especially noteworthy about this premiere is that it does not allow the emotional situations of the previous season to fade into the background. The connection between Jimmy and Louis, which had such a strong ending in Season 2, with its forgiveness, is not discarded. Although Louis does not feature as prominently in the premiere, the emotional labour that Jimmy undertook to forgive him, and more importantly, forgive himself, still guides his decision and relationships.

Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 does not even avoid the fact of Paul’s degrading health. Harrison Ford, who was nominated in the Emmy category due to his performance in Season 2, remains a source of depth and vulnerability to a dying character.

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Shrinking Season 3 Episode 1 is now streaming on Apple TV.

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