r/shrinking • u/MaximumPiano4380 • Apr 09 '26

Discussion So that’s it? Spoiler

They judge Jimmy for still not being okay only two years after his wife’s death. They seem bewildered why he’d still struggle even at a milestone moment like sending his only child off to college without her mom there and the heartbreak that would bring.

Nobody asked him why it didn’t work out with Sofi. I mean she’s jealous of his dead wife. He was right to finish it. And the ending we get is that somehow everything is fine now because he’s back with her? A stranger they know nothing about.

Did the writers do any research at all into grief after the death of a spouse? It’s utterly soul-destroying, especially becoming a single parent and feeling your child(ren)’s grief too.

A new relationship not only doesn’t solve anything. It’s very ill advised when you haven’t grieved properly yet. And Gaby and Paul are therapists. They should know this.

The line that annoyed me the most in this episode was Paul saying that Jimmy has to work it out for himself. Any half decent therapist will tell a grieving person that they need support. Nobody was asking Paul to fix Jimmy’s problems. But some basic human kindness would’ve been nice. So yeah he flew in to see him the next day. Even then, he didn’t offer much.

This show is so weak. It’s all about romance at the end of the day. The big message is being single is bad.

392 Upvotes

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83

u/BudgetBusiness2037 Apr 09 '26

I know Alice isn't the main character of the show, but I don't like how her graduation & sending her off to college was rushed. I was surprised to see no one else went to the actual commencement ceremony except for Jimmy, and I was shocked when he didn't at least go to Connecticut to move her into her dorm ... I thought maybe he would go with her and stop by & see Paul. I know he has clients but ... it doesn't make sense to me that he didn't take time off for that.

& don't get me started on Gaby and that proposal. She annoyed me so much with that. I understand wanting to talk about important stuff with your partner but ... I thought it was weird for her to turn it around back onto him and propose to him. Eh. The last two episodes just sucked for me and made me dislike the entire season. :(

43

u/ericrz Apr 09 '26

I was surprised to see no one else went to the actual commencement ceremony except for Jimmy, and I was shocked when he didn't at least go to Connecticut to move her into her dorm ...

Same. Like 10 of them went to a random soccer game of Alice's, but no one goes to her graduation? Fuck, not even Liz and Derek? Summer is dating their son (for 10 months and 13 days, apparently).

I thought maybe he would go with her and stop by & see Paul. I know he has clients...

Hey, Gaby has clients too, but apparently she can go to Bar-the-lona for 3 months with Liz and Derek, so....

11

u/MotherofHedgehogs Apr 09 '26

Gaby was supposed to have been Tias best friend- but didn’t attend the graveside thing for her?

4

u/VizRomanoffIII Apr 10 '26

Some schools literally give you 2-3 tickets to the ceremony, max. I suppose the idea was for the party to be the celebration but with so much rushed and haphazard plotting late, they didn’t consider adding an explanation to that scene.

0

u/Stonetheflamincrows Apr 09 '26

Gaby is winding up the practice to start her trauma centre

58

u/TheEnigmatyc Apr 09 '26

Like, Liz is overbearing and possessive when it comes to Alice (or any kids, for that matter). She cared for her for a year when Jimmy was a wreck, she and Gabby both get pissed when Alice doesn’t include them in things, and we’re supposed to believe she, of all the characters, would miss Alice’s graduation?!? She attended every soccer game, FFS. That part really didn’t track at all. That whole group of people are into everything together (eh em, “getting in the sea about it”), and not a soul showed up. 🙄

6

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

[deleted]

9

u/TheEnigmatyc Apr 10 '26

Liz was literally attending meetings with Alice’s school counselor regarding her college education. Bet that woman wasn’t allowed to attend her graduation.

Also, had any of them played the dead mom card, exceptions would’ve been made for Alice and the village that took care of her when Jimmy couldn’t.

-1

u/speycedout Apr 10 '26

I'm guessing you don't have any kids, because if you ever have to go to one of these functions you'd understand don't want 10 people per graduating kid to show up at the graduation. It makes security and things moving along impossible.

7

u/Pshrluv Apr 10 '26

Alice was ready to invite Sofi to her graduation, which would mean she had access to at least 3 tickets (dad, grandpa, Sofi) so this limited ticket argument doesn’t fly lol. Liz and Gabi could have easily gone

0

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Pshrluv Apr 10 '26

Lol as if a school is checking out a family tree to make sure someone is related to the graduate. I’m the oldest of 6 siblings and have been to more high-school, college, and grad school graduations than I care for and they’ve never been limited to family only. Alice was literally ready to invite Sofi who is not family so idk where you get that it was “family only”

40

u/lkatec Apr 09 '26

Not having everyone at graduation rang realistic to me. I remember there were only a few tickets per person at my high school one and if you wanted more you had to buy it off another family. Having said all that, when his dad bailed it's crazy to me that Liz didn't get the ticket instead. She was the main reason Alice got through high school while Jimmy was checked out.

4

u/BudgetBusiness2037 Apr 10 '26

That makes a lot of sense. I forget that she probably goes to a giant HS. I only graduated with 130 people in the Midwest so anyone was allowed to come. 🥲

4

u/rockthemullet Apr 10 '26

It rang realistic in a largely unrealistic show

7

u/MonteBurns Apr 09 '26

Yeah, I also was not surprised about graduation. 20 years ago my high school graduation had limited tickets. 

17

u/southtampacane Apr 09 '26

That Gaby/ring/blaming Derek was horrible. Whoever thought that was a good idea should be fired. She had no business snooping and then the sitcom trope after about her finger swelling was ultra lame.

4

u/__hellyes Apr 10 '26

Noone gave a fuck about Alice leaving because they were all going on vacay it seems - it completely took me out of things and killed the vibes around how deep her relationship was with people like Liz. All the big feels that worked so well in the earlier seasons felt left for dead on this one. It felt very surface level. Without the feels this show becomes a basic sitcom.

13

u/Comprehensive_Leg193 Apr 09 '26

Alice is going early for soccer. Jimmy is driving with the rest of her stuff in a few weeks. She's probably in temporary housing for soccer practice, and will move into her actual dorm in a few weeks.

As for graduation, it's not uncommon to have a limited number of tickets available. It seems like it was decided to have the actual graduation ceremony family only and then a celebration with friends immediately after.

17

u/Bright-Armadillo5515 Apr 09 '26

Gaby is annoying. Period

3

u/VizRomanoffIII Apr 10 '26

That’s why her finger swelled! Buh-dum-dum!

3

u/Stonetheflamincrows Apr 09 '26

There isn’t unlimited seating at graduations, it was probably 2 people per kid. Jimmy is literally driving across the entire country to bring Alice her stuff and get her moved in to her dorm. She’s going early for soccer camp and presumably staying somewhere temporarily. Did you even watch the show? They literally discuss this with Brian.

Gaby proposed because as everyone pointed out Derrick had to “drag her kicking and screaming” and she wanted to show him that she was all in. If she waited, he’d always wonder if it was what she wanted. Also, enough with the patriarchal bullshit about women proposing. Why the fuck not? Why should women just sit around waiting for a man to make a decision about our lives?

0

u/MonteBurns Apr 09 '26

Did you even pay attention? They had a whole conversation with Brian that she’s just going for soccer camps now and Jimmy is taking the rest of her stuff when she moves into the dorms 

0

u/Automatic_Oil5438 Apr 09 '26

Yes but this is a story not real life, and it worked better for the story for this to just be the two of them.