‘Shrinking’: 9 Burning Questions We Need Answered in Season 2
Shrinking Season 1 ended on a literal cliffhanger that we’ve been waiting to see addressed for over a year. Thankfully, the charming Apple TV+ comedy is coming back soon; Season 2 will premiere on October 16 with its first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly after that.
Created by Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, Shrinking follows a grieving therapist, Jimmy (Jason Segel), who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives including his own.
Jimmy’s radical therapy advice emboldened one of his clients, Heidi Gardner‘s Grace, to go to extreme measures with her emotionally abusive partner. That’s the top of our list of Shrinking burning questions we need answered in Season 2. Below, see them all.
Shrinking, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, October 16, Apple TV+
1. Did Grace kill Donny?
Jimmy tried gently encouraging Grace to leave her emotionally abusive partner, Donny (Tilky Jones), for the whole season, a man who also attacked Jimmy at Alice’s (Lukita Maxwell) soccer game. Jimmy cut to the chase by the end and bluntly told her to leave him, but Grace took a radical route by literally pushing Donny off a cliff on a hike in the finale.
The first question is, did Donny survive the fall? And the second: how will Jimmy be implicated in the aftermath? Whether Grace faces legal troubles in Season 2 or if she’s trying to keep the push a secret, Jimmy’s bold therapy methods connects him to the crime.
Given the fact that Gardner and Jones have not yet been confirmed cast members for the new season, we really need a trailer to give us a hint at what happened after that cliffhanger!
2. Are Jimmy and Gaby still having a fling?
It seemed that Gaby might get back with her ex near the season’s end, but we got the shocking and fun twist that she hooked up with Jimmy instead! We need a relationship status update on these two friends with benefits, especially after Liz (Christa Miller) argued she has feelings for him. Jimmy and Gaby are blushing in the new photo from Season 2 above, so that’s a good sign!
3. Who is Brett Goldstein playing?
Series cocreator, writer, and EP Goldstein is confirmed to be appearing in a guest-star role in Season 2. Nothing has been shared about his character, so we’re eager to know who he’ll be playing.
Harrison Ford‘s Paul is loosely based on Goldstein’s own father, who also has Parkinson’s. Could Goldstein be playing a family member of Paul’s? Or perhaps he’s playing another therapist, or maybe even a client at Jimmy, Paul, and Gaby’s practice?
4. Will Lily Rabe be back as Meg?
Speaking of Paul’s family members, will Lily Rabe be reprising her role as Paul’s daughter, Meg? The pair has a strained relationship that Paul was eager to mend in Season 1, though they hit some serious roadblocks. We’re hoping to see them continue to heal familial wounds in Season 2.
5. How will Paul and Gaby react to Grace's actions?
Could Jimmy’s job be on the line because of what Grace did to Donny? We doubt that Paul, who’s a father figure to Jimmy and grandfather figure to Alice, would fire Jimmy, but his hands may be tied in this scenario. We’re more inclined to believe that Paul and Gaby would try to help Jimmy out of whatever sticky situation he finds himself in because of his client.
The Season 2 photo above shows Jimmy and Paul on an outdoor excursion (of course, Paul doesn’t look too thrilled about it). Is it a company retreat or a family outing?
6. How are Jimmy and Alice coping with their grief?
The whole point of the series is to track the grieving father and daughter after the sudden loss of wife/mother Tia (Lilan Bowden). They each grieved in their own unique ways last season, which caused a distance that Jimmy eventually tried to close. But where do they stand now that Alice has been in a bit of a rebellious phase? And how will Alice feel if Jimmy and Gaby’s fling evolves into something more serious? Gaby was Tia’s best friend, after all.
Above, Jimmy and Alice are seen having a serious moment in an episode from Season 2.
7. What's up with Sean?
Part of Alice’s exploration of her feelings last season included a crush on Sean (Luke Tennie), Jimmy’s client that he welcomed into their home when he didn’t have a place to stay. Sean rightfully rejected Alice’s flirtatious advances, as he sees her as a little sister because of their age gap.
Elsewhere in Sean’s life, the traumatized military veteran had been cast out by his parents because of his anger issues. Jimmy has helped Sean turn over a new leaf, and he was eager to start a business with Liz’s help last season. Is he living on his own now? Is his business thriving?
Sean is all smiles in the above photo from Season 2, at least!
8. Is Paul still seeing Julie?
Paul got into a romantic entanglement with his doctor, Julie (Wendie Malick), last season. We’re eager to know if they’re still seeing each other in Season 2.
9. How's married life going for Brian and Charlie?
Jimmy officiated best friend Brian’s (Michael Urie) wedding with Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) in the Season 1 finale. Brian’s still wearing a wedding ring in the photo from Season 2 above, so we’re assuming they’re still hitched! But how has married life been for this charming couple?
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