Shrinking – Season 1 Episode 3 “Fifteen Minutes” Recap & Review

Fifteen Minutes

In Shrinking Season 1 Episode 3, Jimmy continues his approach of butting into his patients’ personal lives, even showing up on a client’s date to give him advice.

Alice tries to adapt to Sean’s presence in their lives, but she admits to Paul that little things make her so angry, like when Sean threw away a dead plant. It wasn’t that significant to her mother, but she could just picture her watering it.

Paul can see this stems from her grief, so he gives her a piece of advice that he applies in his own life: Take 15 minutes each day just to grieve, then move on. It’s strangely similar to Jimmy’s approach with Sean’s anger–to let it out in a controlled environment a little each week.

It seems Paul’s grief stems from his Parkinson’s. The disease hasn’t greatly affected him yet, but it eventually will. Gaby and Jimmy start to worry about him when he rear ends Gaby’s new car. Paul insists, however, that he doesn’t need rides to work; he passed his motor skills test.

Jimmy also worries about Gaby. He saw her kissing someone who’s not her husband, but she assures him it’s okay. She and Nico are getting a divorce, and she’s actually happy about it.

Jimmy struggles with the idea of Gaby willingly ending her marriage when he had no choice in the end of his own. It’s Paul who reminds him that her divorce isn’t about him. If it’s a good thing for Gaby, that’s all that matters.

Like with Alice, Paul sees that the heart of Jimmy’s issues is that he hasn’t truly grieved his wife all year. He’s numbed the pain with drugs and alcohol. He gives Jimmy the same advice he gave his daughter. Take 15 minutes a day to let it all out. But be there for Gaby the way she needs him to be there for her.

Jimmy takes his advice to heart. When he shows up to Gaby’s for a small “divorce party,” he’s ready to celebrate on her behalf. But she’s feeling sad about the whole scenario, so he hugs her and grieves with her instead. It’s not that she was lying about being happy. She mostly just wishes Tia were here for her; she was her person. Jimmy may not be the best replacement for his wife, but he promises to be there for Gaby the way Tia was.

Later, Alice apologizes to Sean for being prickly with him. It’s not him; she just feels guilty whenever she feels an ounce of happiness. Sean tries to lighten her mood by joking with her, which leads to Liz seeing them laughing with each other.

When Liz runs into Paul, she asks him if she should be concerned about Sean and Alice being somewhat flirty with each other. But Paul didn’t even know Sean was staying with Jimmy. He chews Jimmy out yet again for jeopardizing Alice’s wellbeing for one of his clients. But Jimmy feels he’s in the right. Everything is going his way, as a matter of fact.

Jimmy continues online therapy with Grace, who reports that she’s doing wonderfully without her husband. And when he gets word that the client whose date he crashed is thriving, he’s feeling on top of the world.

But that feeling comes crashing down when he goes on a jog and sees Grace with her husband. They’ve talked in therapy about how much of a people-pleaser she is. Apparently, that extends so far that she’d lie to her therapist about where she is and who she’s with.

Paul, at least, is able to admit his potential failings. While he passed his driving test, he asks Gaby for rides to work anyway. He wants to go out on his own terms.

The Episode Review

“I know what’s coming.” In this episode, Paul tragically confirms the reason he grieves for 15 minutes a day. While there’s likely more to Paul’s sadness than just this (the man holds his cards close to his chest), he’s particularly allowing himself to feel the pain of his Parkinson’s disease. His short but impactful storyline in this episode shows that grief is often more complicated than mourning the loss of a loved one. There’s also a deep sense of sadness in the loss (or upcoming loss) of who you’ve always been and what you’ve always been able to do.

I was particularly moved by Paul’s story here, but almost all the characters do some heavy lifting in this altogether poignant installment. I have been hoping for Shrinking to show Jimmy wrestle more with the implications of butting into his clients’ personal lives, as that’s a pretty complicated matter. And with the revelation of how poorly Grace has actually been doing, I think we’ll get just that.