Shrinking – Season 2 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Made You Look

Episode 4 of Shrinking begins with the theme of making mistakes as Alice wakes up in Conner’s bed and climbs down the balcony to avoid being caught by anybody else. At the same time, Liz and Sean both express regret over their decisions.

Now, while Jimmy is at Brian’s, the topic of having kids unfolds, and while Brian’s partner is interested in adopting a child, Brian isn’t. Meanwhile, Sean has Liz come over for his session with Paul, and both of them apologize for their actions. Liz irritates Paul with her pranks before leaving, while Paul expresses his worry about Sean hiding his trauma with his father. He does warn Jimmy against getting too involved with Sean as a therapist.

Now, while at Liz’s house, Gaby meets Derek’s friend, Derek, and expresses an interest in him but decides against it until Liz’s husband, the original Derek, convinces her to give the new Derek a shot. So, Gaby invites him over but needs to rush out when her sister calls her urgently.

Meanwhile, Sean spending more time with his father is sending him back to his old ways. While driving with Jimmy, he barely controls himself and finally reveals to Jimmy how his father had been negligent toward him when he returned from Afghanistan and even turned him out of the house for some “tough love” when Sean began fighting. Jimmy visits Paul with this information. But since he knows Paul’s too rigid and has a big ego, Jimmy ends up lecturing him that they need to be worrying about what’s best for Sean instead of to whom Sean revealed his painful history.

Elsewhere, Brian’s partner finally reveals that he wants to be a dad with Brian, and seeing how happy Charlie is talking about a child, Brian gives in. He does express that he’d make a terrible father, but Jimmy reminds him how good a person he is, so much so that he reaches out to those who need his help. This encourages Brian, and he feels better.

Later, Paul comes into Jimmy’s office and confesses that he does take Jimmy’s perspectives into account and shows him a picture of himself and Ray. He reveals he’s scared about his disease catching up to him, so Jimmy helps him feel better and cheers him up by telling him that he’s still the best.

Now, while this is happening, Brian is helping out Liz at the dog shelter and ends up bringing one of the dogs back to Jimmy’s house, but on his way, he finds the drunk driver, Louis, lurking outside to give Alice back her wallet. Louis, who is shown to have a family himself, asks Brian whether Alice and Jimmy are well, and Brian tells him that they are doing better. Sensing Louis needs help, the episode ends with Brian reaching out to him as he leaves.

The Episode Review

In this episode, the major theme is about making mistakes, mostly highlighted in Alice, Sean, and Liz’s arcs. However, the theme runs deeper than this, with Jimmy possibly being the iconic example since the show’s beginning. The ending, though, especially with Brian’s involvement with Louis, might indicate a mistake, as his empathy toward Louis might not be taken well by either Jimmy or Alice.

Overall, though, the plot progression seems to be at a standstill in this episode, with Sean and Alice’s ongoing issues taking up center stage as and when possible at a slower pace. The usual comic elements are a delight as always, with snappy comebacks that invite a chuckle every now and then!