Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Dereks Don’t Die

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

Imminent tragedy typically brings out the things too often left unsaid. On Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die,” with Derek 1.0 facing a Widowmaker arterial blockage, everyone in his circle reaches out to their loved ones to hold them close.

“I love you” is spoken a record number of times here. Derek’s bypass surgery is a mortality wake-up call that forces them to consider the brevity of life and the transitory nature of existence.

And for the two characters with the highest walls and deepest defenses — Liz and Maya — whether they allow people to see their vulnerabilities will determine their outcome.

Shrinking, “Dereks Don’t Die”

At the heart of this crisis is Liz and her intimidating façade of competency. She has trademarked “tough love” and piloted a style of transactional rapport that is completely unique to her.

However, she only maintains that frighteningly self-assured demeanor because she has Derek at her side, for balance and support.

He is her emotional pillar. Without Derek, Liz would topple at the first conflict. Or explode. And take bystanders with her.

Her first action here is to bribe, then extort through guilt, Jimmy into taking Matthew on as a client.

When Derek tries to sweet-talk Jimmy, Liz refuses to bend the truth. Instead, she throws her very real care for Alice during Jimmy’s post-Tia spiral in his face.

Derek further amps up that emotional leverage (and the scene’s LOL comedic value) by volunteering that he took Alice to her first gyno appointment. And Liz lets that stand because it is honest.

Alice: For that visit, you did not have to come into the waiting room. You could’ve stayed in the parking lot.

Derek: Okay. I have three sons. I had questions.

So, later, when she goes through a laundry list of everything she’s done in preparation for Derek’s surgery, Jimmy doesn’t let her get away with insisting she’s fine. She’s not comfortable with the lie either.

Christa Miller absolutely nails the two most un-Liz-like scenes ever. With Jimmy, she confesses her fears about Derek dying, admitting she doesn’t believe she’s as strong as Jimmy, and confiding that she wouldn’t survive losing Derek.

In the hospital room with Derek, she gives him the time and space to speak his piece, owning up to the snacks he’s hidden all over the house, and making sure she hears him when he says he loves her. It’s the most patient and positive we’ve ever seen Liz be.

When Jimmy gives Matthew the Jimmy-treatment and jumpstarts the kid’s filial instincts, Liz’s cup overfloweth as she acknowledges how Matthew has learned how to corner medical professionals and bully his brother from her.

Maya’s Minefield

Shrinking’s charm has always lain in its ensemble’s fantasy-level network of support. Tied by overlapping bonds of blood, friendship, and therapist-client relations, it’s a humorous, truthful, and healthy safety net we would kill to be a part of IRL.

And we’ve seen outsiders slide in and enjoy the benefits of the social fellowship. Louis, Summer, Derrick 2.0, and now, Marisol, have been welcomed in.

So, why wouldn’t Maya jump in, too? What could possibly hold her back? At the gym, she recognizes that this is a squad of misfit toys, each carrying and sorting out their personal baggage.

And yet, she holds back. She asks about Alice’s trauma but doesn’t share her own. She plays the role of a willing sparring partner, both verbally and physically, but isn’t ready to let down her defenses.

When she reaches out to Gaby, wine glass in hand and feeling intensely lonely, Gaby senses something’s going on, but Maya reverts to insisting she’s fine. But, unlike Liz and Jimmy’s face-to-face conversation, Gaby lets it slide over the phone.

There’s no way this goes well for Maya. And Gaby’s going to be the one who suffers for that moment of believing the lie.

When Dads Surprise You

It’s a bit mind-blowing when one considers how many plot threads get explored in a single Shrinking outing.

While the Derek-driven Plot A consists of both Liz and Maya’s journeys, over on Plot B, Brian and Meg walk parallel paths of paternal connection.

Like father, like daughter. Meg is Paul’s daughter in so many ways. Where Paul demonstrates a wide range of curmudgeonly yet wise facets, Meg presents as straightforward but turns out to have a plethora of layers beneath that bright smile.

The loving daughter prepared to whisk her ailing father to Connecticut. A world-weary wife filled with anxiety about the future. A woman needing an uncomplicated hook-up and night of… jogging?

She’s also smart, snarky, and sly in unexpected ways.

But when Jimmy convinces her to come clean with Paul about the state of her marriage, she steps into that conversation wholeheartedly. And Paul continues to be a Big Damn Hero, promising to support her no matter what she decides.

Jimmy Cracks the Code

Jimmy’s really batting a thousand on Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die,” with grown-ass kids even after waking up from his booty call with Meg, still wearing black socks.

He not only kicks Matthew in Liz’s direction and guides Meg towards Paul, but he firmly shoves Brian into his father’s orbit to share his Sutton news.

As with most things in Brian’s life, he’s overthought his obstacles, blowing them out of proportion to the solution.

“Every time I told my dad something big about my life, you know, coming out, getting married, that time in high school when I beat Andrew Kushner for Seymour in Little Shop, which was huge, my dad always blew it.

“He’d say, ‘Okay,’ in this, like, completely disapproving way. If he said anything not supportive about our beautiful baby, it would wreck me.” — Brian

Happily, his bolo-wearing good ol’ boy dad is tickled to be a grandfather and loves Sutton every bit as much as could be hoped for.

To give credit where credit’s due, Brian’s plot thread delivers several comedic gems, bedazzling an otherwise somber half-hour.

The “Reverse-Derek-Special” might be my favorite Shrinking device. And Michael Urie‘s impression of Jason Segel‘s Jimmy is nothing short of brilliant.

Moving On Gets Harder

Not that it’s been exactly easy so far, but Shrinking Season 3 Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die,” sets up a lot of big changes. Like, a LOT.

Sean could shut down the food truck so he could get some real culinary experience in a restaurant kitchen. How will that affect his relationship with his father and Jorge?

Derek’s mother is coming to stay with him and Liz for the post-op period. Although we’ve never met her, knowing how Derek grew up and the fact that he married Liz may hint at what sort of woman we can expect.

Alice invited her grandfather to her graduation. That’s a conflict with Jimmy waiting to happen.

And then there’s Gaby. Derrick’s got a ring. The trauma center idea is still hanging in the air. And I’ve got a bad feeling about Maya.

Time to circle the wagons. Gaby’s gonna need that safety net.

How are you doing, Shrinking Fanatics?

Were you — rightfully — prepared to storm the walls if Derek did die? I’ll admit to some high-level anxiety over that possibility.

Hit our comments sections with your thoughts and theories on what comes next!