With Alice’s high school graduation as the backdrop, the future becomes the present on Shrinking Season 3, Episode 10, “The Bodyguard of Sadness.” This episode, written by Brett Goldstein & Neil Goldman and directed by Randall Keenan Winston, feels and plays out a lot like a season finale. So much resolves or comes to a head. “The Bodyguard of Sadness” instills a nervous anticipation of what Shrinking Season 3’s finale will look like in a week.
Considering the comedy series had a three-season arc (Season 1 is grief; Season 2 is forgiveness; Season 3 is moving on), it tracks that this penultimate episode should feel like the end of a chapter. There is an overwhelming amount of closure for the characters, and where there isn’t, it’s evident that it’s a story for the season finale. Even so, “The Bodyguard of Sadness” doesn’t feel like Shrinking is setting up another season but barrelling towards a series finale.
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Liz, Brian, and Making Sacrifices
Earlier in the season, Liz says that she wants Alice to have a baby with one of her sons. “The Bodyguard of Sadness” responds to that comment with a very different reality. Derek and Liz’s son Will is expecting a baby with his girlfriend, Peyton. If that feels sudden, it is; Peyton hasn’t even been over for “coffee and toilet.” The scene where Liz, Derek, Brian, and Gaby unpack the news and its potential impact on the couple’s future is so smart. The cast’s chemistry always shines in these sequences. The tiniest comedic beats sing – the butt fruit bit and the quickness with which Brian and Liz turn on Gaby is hilarious.
Regardless, it’s natural for Will and Peyton’s baby to add to Derek’s newfound perspective on life, brought on by his surgery. That level of reflection supports the feelings of finality looming over these episodes. Even Brian’s making an unselfish decision to go to Tennessee with Charlie and Sutton (and Kellie) lands as a beautiful closure for his arc. Perhaps this season was written with the belief that Shrinking – or at least this version of it – would end with Season 3.
Relatedly, “The Bodyguard of Sadness” also forecasts where the characters will be, at least for the next few months. Series finales often provide that closure. With that, it’ll be curious to see if the characters land somewhere more satisfying than where this episode leaves them. Maybe there’s a twist up Shrinking’s sleeve, which is nerve-racking to imagine.
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Alice, Sean, and New Chapters
With how the narrative earns so many of these endings, it makes it ring truer that I wish this season had more of Alice and Sean. Alice’s graduation is a huge moment. That scene between Jason Segel and Lukita Maxwell in the car is one of my favorite scenes from the season. It’s great to see how ready Alice is for what’s ahead. I wish we could have seen more of her hopes and plans for the future after seeing her make that choice. Everything, even Alice’s grandpa multiverse, feels so final in “The Bodyguard of Sadness.” The overnight oats bit confirms the same sentiment. A quick one-on-one scene with Summer or another session with Gaby would help. Maybe that exists in the season finale.
Similarly, the sporadic on-screen representation of Sean’s arc becomes more frustrating because of the episode’s finality. Essentially, Shrinking is too good and has too many great characters. It makes me want to see more from everyone all of the time. For example, I wish we could have seen more of the support group because that also ties into Gaby’s intentions with trauma work.
“The Bodyguard of Sadness” presents that setting as a healthier option (to fighting each other until Jorge loses a tooth) for Sean and Jorge to communicate. Seeing more scenes like that may make the friends’ argument and subsequent reconciliation stronger. Shrinking presents their friendship as integral. Sean tells Jorge, “But there is no way I would’ve ever made it this far without you.” I wish we could’ve seen more interactions between the characters to support that.
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Jimmy and Uncomfortable Conversations
Meanwhile, everything between Paul, Jimmy, and Randy (Is this the first time we learn his name?) works. The presence of Paul and the absence of Randy support that the conflict is meaty and heartwrenching. Jimmy’s defense of Alice so that she doesn’t experience the same sadness is painfully honest. It’s tough to watch Jimmy turn in on himself every time Randy and Paul mention his sensitivity – with different tones and in different contexts. Nevertheless, it adds up.
Staging Jimmy and Randy’s conversation in a place tied to their past, but having them communicate through the fence is simply rich symbolism. They’re never going to see eye to eye, and Randy is never going to be who Jimmy wants him to be. It’s rough but somewhat healing to watch Jimmy realize and accept that. Then, “The Bodyguard of Sadness” flips that. The setting of Jimmy and Paul’s conversation supports an open and honest dialogue. It’s refreshing that Shrinking lets the scene go on for as long as it does; these characters need that.
The scene also takes these great detours to defuse the tension, like Jimmy blurting out that he slept with Meg and Derek appearing on the deck. Then, Jason Segel and Harrison Ford tap right back into the heart of the scene – the relationship between their characters. Jimmy opens up with more Paul; it’s a safer and more receptive relationship than with his own father, which is saying a lot because Paul isn’t always the most emotionally available. Jimmy’s “I’m not as important to you as you are to me” and Paul’s “I don’t want to leave with you having regrets” are enough to break anyone’s heart. Even with Paul tying a bow on the finality of “The Bodyguard of Sadness” with his house being packed up, there’s still one episode left for Shrinking Season 3 to address any regrets.
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