If you have been watching Shrinking on Apple TV+ and wondering what on earth is going to happen in Shrinking Season 4, you are not alone. Show creator Bill Lawrence caused quite a stir when he took to social media just before the season three finale dropped and said something that had fans spiralling a little. He posted that the show had wrapped up its original three-season story, and added that he was “excited to start completely new story next year,” describing it as “scary, risky, and fun.”
That one post was enough to send people into a mild panic, with many wondering whether the show they had fallen in love with was about to become something completely unrecognisable, or whether their favourite characters were going to be replaced in Shrinking Season 4.
Lawrence quickly cleared things up. The same cast is coming back for Shrinking Season 4. Every single one of them. He confirmed on social media that there is a Shrinking Season 4 with the exact same cast, saying that the reason they are doing it is because “we love each other.” So, we have got Jason Segel coming back as Jimmy and Harrison Ford returning as Paul and all the other main cast members. Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, and Ted McGinley are all also coming back for Season 4.
What actually is changing is the story. And that is when things become really exciting. Shrinking was developed with the first three seasons having a full arc of one story, which is of Jimmy dealing with the death of his wife Tia as he mourns her loss and slowly finds his way back to himself and his daughter Alice. That story is now finished. Shrinking Season 4 is going to be something new, set with the same people but at a different point in all of their lives.
What Bill Lawrence said about the new direction in Shrinking Season 4?
Lawrence talked more about the thought process behind the big decision at the Scrubs red carpet premiere. He said that after Apple said they were going to let the show continue after season 3, the team had to talk about what the right thing to do was.
Alternatively, the writers might have prolonged the ending previously arranged, thus saving it for Shrinking Season 4 and extending the sorrow plot line as well. However, they opted not to do so because of the fact that Lawrence, himself, pointed out, if season four began with Jason Segel’s character saying to anyone that he still felt pretty sad about his wife, that would be a story that viewers feel they have seen before and heard about. They did not want to basically replicate anything.
So basically, they are tying up all of the remaining loose ends in a responsible way so that they can start anew and clean. According to Lawrence, all of the cast members will be in a wholly new situation at the commencement of Shrinking Season 4 . Similarly, Lawrence has indicated that the time gap will probably be beyond a year or two, which he acknowledged will result in all the cast members experiencing a considerable amount of real-time gap in their fictional existence, whether it is Jimmy, Alice, Paul, Gaby, Liz or the others.
What does all this meanfo r the characters going forward in Shrinking Season 4?
Based on where season three left everyone, the time jump sets up some really interesting possibilities. Jimmy, at the end of season three, is finally moving forward and takes a leap in pursuing something with Sofi, played by Cobie Smulders.
Lawrence has already hinted at Sofi being part of Shrinking Season 4 too, and has teased the question of what it looks like for someone like Jimmy to try and build a second serious relationship after everything he went through. Jason Segel himself has said publicly that he hopes Jimmy gets to have some actual fun in season four, after spending three seasons in very heavy emotional territory.
For Paul, even though he moved across the country to Connecticut at the end of season three, Lawrence has confirmed he is still going to be a central character, not just a side presence. His Parkinson’s disease, which has been a running thread through the show, will continue to be part of his story. Michael J. Fox, who guest starred in season three as a fellow Parkinson’s patient of Paul’s, has also said he would love to come back for Shrinking Season 4 if asked.
At the same time, the season 3 finale ended with Gaby and Derrick being engaged. So, by the time season 4 starts, they will likely be married. At the same time, Alice is leaving home to attend college in Connecticut. That basically puts her close to Paul, which opens up new opportunities for both, in the new season of the show. Both Brian and Charlie are raising a kid, while Liz and Derek are now grandparents, and Sean is currently in a totally different place in his own personal story.
There has not been an official release date for Shrinking Season 4 yet, and the writers are currently still in the process of creating the new storyline.
Edited by Sohini Biswas