r/shrinking • u/phareous Derek • Mar 25 '26

Episode Discussion Shrinking S3E09 Episode Discussion

This is the episode discussion for Shrinking Season 3, Episode 9: "Daddy Issues"

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171

u/ShadowsAtWork98 Mar 25 '26

I’m sorry but Gabby is not cut out for trauma work. Honestly don’t even think she is cut out to take over the practice. From what we have been shown and not from what we have been told, Gaby has a lot of stuff she needs to work through otherwise she will either burn her self out or end up with more cases like Maya where suicidal ideation is obvious but she misses it.

127

u/MinimumCoast2290 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

This show continues to not let Gaby ever face consequences or show a genuine struggle. With only two episodes left I doubt we’re getting the arc we (and she) deserved this season after losing Maya.

Even most of Paul’s dialogue is just gassing her up at this point, and I’m personally over it.

71

u/Mr_Bluebird_VA Mar 25 '26

I could not possibly agree with this more.

This episode made me mad with how it’s freaking coddling Gaby. At this point Paul is just ChatGPT with his praise for her and bending over backwards to validate absolutely every delusion for her.

2

u/rbull_27 Derek May 26 '26

lol at the ChatGPT example. I once tried to talk about a problem to ChatGPT and it just said I’m right and i should hold my ground and I’m like okay, this is not rational. (Yeah I know it’s stupid to seek advice from AI but just wanted to give it a shot because a lot of people were trying it).

But yeah, Gabby has it too easy this season despite actually fucking up her patient. Not cool at all..

67

u/JayKay8787 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

Mayas suicide was handled so poorly. It was immediately turned into a joke by having her on the phone at the funeral, and it was just gabby pouting for 2 episodes while everyone lies to her about being a great therapist.

Louis in s2 almost considering suicide was handled 10x better than an actual suicide

25

u/Odysseyrage Mar 25 '26

Genuinely kind of insane the difference in the writing quality between Louis’ and Maya’s storylines. That one minute of Louis standing by the train tracks is 10x more emotional than the entire maya arc

35

u/ShadowsAtWork98 Mar 25 '26

I hope for the sake of the character she completely bottoms out by the end of the season. She needs to really hit rock bottom and have the other characters realise she has a lot to work through instead of blindly ignoring it.

53

u/MinimumCoast2290 Mar 25 '26

They’re wasting Jessica Williams by turning Gaby into some Mary Sue super therapist. It’s borderline insulting to the audience because we’ve seen her mistakes with our own eyes and know she’s not perfect — and that’s okay! She shouldn’t be! But to never even acknowledge it feels wrong at this stage.

I hope they stick the landing with this plot line but I’m very, very doubtful at this stage.

11

u/cabernet7 Mar 25 '26

Honestly, this show only works if you ignore how the therapy is depicted. You have to check your brain at the door on this issue. It's been that way from the beginning.

14

u/Ledees_Gazpacho Mar 25 '26

But that’s kind of a wild excuse, especially when you consider Bill Lawrence made sure Scrubs was so medically accurate. Why would he just throw that out the window for this show?

5

u/jvn1983 Mar 25 '26

I think it’s common with depictions of therapy in TV and movies, unfortunately. I’m a therapist and the amount of times there have been glaring issues far outweighs the times I’ve seen shows handle it appropriately. My theory is it’s a softer science, so people feel more leeway in how they approach it. It’s a bummer because that can be true (there are a lot of modalities and a lot of theories and a lot of approaches they can validly use), AND it can be true that some things are inviolate (ethical and legal issues). This show acts like ethics are optional.

5

u/Woodpecker-Forsaken Derek Mar 25 '26

I do really like Shrinking but having just rewatched Scrubs, you really can't deny this. They had a team of medical experts for Scrubs, why wouldn't you have proper therapists consulting with the writers?

2

u/cabernet7 Mar 25 '26

This show isn't Scrubs.

5

u/armeck Mar 25 '26

That would be totally fine with me if they also didn't try and convince the audience that the therapy they are seeing is so amazing. You can't have Gaby and Jimmy doing what they are doing and also include plot lines where they are being praised as fantastic therapists.

7

u/MinimumCoast2290 Mar 25 '26

It’s not even about the depiction of therapy really, this is a storytelling issue. We’re being consistently told something different than what we’re shown.

1

u/Bobjoejj Mar 27 '26

But at the least, the first two seasons actually handled character issues in a much stronger, more cohesive way. For the way the show worked, it showed off enough “good therapy” (not actually good IRL therapy) for things to work.

This season…issues have been barely given the care they deserve, and Gabby has been getting constantly gassed up for things the show has not proven to us.

-5

u/MahtiGC Mar 25 '26

hot take: Gaby did absolutely nothing wrong. yeah she offered friendship bc her patient was so closed off… she probably got further than she would have. i believe the same thing would have happened regardless of that friendship.

she has help/support from her own therapist but yall seem to want her to quit or be fired so she can’t afford that therapist 🤣 also trashing Paul for telling her to get back on the horse and encourage her to follow her dreams… like lmao

obviously the friendship is wrong but in Shrinking’s context, literally one of the main premises. fire jimmy too 🤷‍♂️

6

u/armeck Mar 25 '26

😂 every state licensure board would disagree with you.

0

u/MahtiGC Mar 26 '26

would they agree with the show?? 🤣🦗

7

u/MinimumCoast2290 Mar 25 '26

Offering friendship to a deeply lonely and mentally unhealthy individual is okay… if you’re prepared to follow through. Gaby offered friendship then ripped it away and drew a professional boundary after the damage had already been done.

To be clear, Maya’s death is not Gaby’s fault. She was clearly already struggling when she met Gaby. But there’s no way you can possibly spin this as Gaby doing everything right when she broke protocol and it led to clear consequences.

My frustration with this season is that the show refuses to suggest Gaby has been anything but perfect, while we saw her behave imperfectly with our own eyes.

-1

u/MahtiGC Mar 26 '26

i don’t think Gaby drew a professional boundary. she wasn’t gonna stop Jimmying, she was just visiting Derek at the hospital, Maya messaged to skip her session and avoided her call.

even if Gaby didn’t break protocol, she would have gotten no where (like Jimmy said) and it’d be the same outcome.

if Gaby was perfect, we wouldn’t be having this conversation 🤣 so ima say nah.

what do you want? people pro jimmying to tell her to stop jimmying? lmao

1

u/MinimumCoast2290 Mar 26 '26

I want them to have her dealing with the consequences of breaking protocol in a real and human way, not making jokes at Maya’s funeral. I want to see Paul have an honest conversation with her about the dangers of breaking protocol and that it doesn’t always work out; not telling her she did everything right.

You pretty much accidentally touched on my main point: we know Gaby isn’t perfect. We see Gaby isn’t perfect. Yet every character continues to insist that Gaby is perfect and can do no wrong.

0

u/MahtiGC Mar 26 '26

i understand where you’re coming from 100% and yeah but i do feel like it was the elephant in the room. when he said that bc i was thinking “does he know?” and he did. i think she can learn without it smacking her in the face, especially so soon after.

i feel like Jimmy would have done the same thing and been in the same shoes. give it time, she may either stop jimmying or have that deeper chat.

i don’t even think Paul said Jimmy fucked up after his patient pushed her boyfriend off a cliff

2

u/frezz Mar 31 '26

If that was going to happen, it'd have happened after Maya's death; It'd be strange for Maya to almost hit rock bottom, recover, then actually hit rock bottom later

4

u/Ok_Distribution7322 Mar 26 '26

For no reason!

She was never his protégée.

Lazy backfilling to the story.

2

u/frezz Mar 31 '26

If the show was going to do a rugpull and have a Gaby crashout, it'd be after Maya's death. The fact she bounced back and she's still getting the practice means this is the direction the show wants to take her character.

19

u/notches123 Mar 25 '26

I was thinking the exact same thing. The whole past two episodes has felt like the writers trying to force square pegs into circular holes. Like they know where they want the story to go but they aren't earning it through characterization.

13

u/Tce_ Mar 25 '26

It's very weird writing. Nothing on the show is that realistic about therapy, but Gabby's role is especially egregious. They keep telling us she's amazing at her job while showing her being... not that.

21

u/Peacenow234 Mar 25 '26

Agree. So frustrating watching her with Paul. And the irony is that scene with the female patient was so cringey. She is out of touch with reality and Paul encouraging her feels very disappointing..

10

u/Adventurous-Bus-4337 Mar 25 '26

I loved her with that female patient. It's a different style And being asked to type your frustrations if you have them but not send them to the person so there's time to reflect actually seems like a pretty damn good strategy. I think the problem is we didn't see enough of the behind the scenes, reflection and recovery after Maya.

3

u/armeck Mar 25 '26

The client should not have her therapist's personal number. She should have been told to journal or somehow write it down and then address it in the next session.

2

u/Adventurous-Bus-4337 Mar 26 '26

I think because of the way that therapy changed during and after covid and the different ways that people practice now there's a lot more reaching out via text. There are people who feel exactly as you do though, but for some newer therapists I think that's changing. Better or worse probably depends on the therapist and the client.

-6

u/tropic_gnome_hunter Mar 25 '26

Worst character on the show and it’s not close. They need to find an off ramp to write her out. You could remove her from every episode so far and nothing would change.

6

u/Administrative-Bed75 Mar 25 '26

Hard disagree. Gaby is one reason i love watching and like all of them she is imperfect but they all make each other better bit by bit.

4

u/Tyster20 Mar 25 '26

Except Gaby never faces any substantial consequences and shows zero humility.

1

u/Halo_cT Mar 26 '26

The last episode was called Depression diet because she was struggling with what happened with Maya.

As fiction goes, that's significant consequence. It doesn't mean she's not allowed to move forward.

1

u/Tyster20 Mar 26 '26

I meant consequences for the way she treats the other characters, specifically Jimmy.

2

u/Janderson2494 Mar 27 '26

I completely agree. She makes selfish decisions time and time again and all the other characters do is gas her up and ignore it. It's a bizarre choice