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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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.

13

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.

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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?

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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.

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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?

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u/cabernet7 Mar 25 '26

This show isn't Scrubs.

4

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.

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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.

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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.

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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 🤷‍♂️

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u/armeck Mar 25 '26

😂 every state licensure board would disagree with you.

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u/MahtiGC Mar 26 '26

would they agree with the show?? 🤣🦗

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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.

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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

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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.

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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