‘Shrinking’ Ending Explained: A Wedding And…Maybe A Funeral?!

Shrinking‘s Season 1 finale puts the “cliff” in cliffhanger with an ending so unexpected your jaw may still be dropped as the end credits roll.

In the penultimate episode of Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel’s Apple TV+ grief comedy, we saw Brian’s (Michael Urie) dad Kip (Brian Howe) decline an offer to be his Best Man, Gaby (Jessica Williams) set her sights on a professorship, Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley) invest in Sean’s (Luke Tennie) catering business, and Paul (Harrison Ford) take huge steps forward with his daughter Meg (Lily Rabe) and Dr. Julie (Wendie Malick). After spending Tia’s (Lilan Bowden) birthday honoring her memory, Jimmy took a major step as well and removed his wedding ring. But the episode took an emotional turn when Alice (Lukita Maxwell) realized she forgot her mom’s birthday.

Written by Neil Goldman and directed by James Ponsoldt, Shrinking Episode 10, “Closure,” gives us a wedding…and possibly sets up a funeral?! The episode predictably picks up where we left off, but just when everything seems back on track for Jimmy and the group — *BOOP!* — it veers off course in catastrophic fashion.

Wondering how Shrinking Season 1 ends? We’ve got a detailed finale recap below, but be mindful that spoilers lie ahead.

Shrinking Ending Explained: Season 1, Episode 10 “Closure” Recap

The Shrinking finale kicks off with grief at the forefront once again. Still beating herself up over forgetting her mom’s birthday, Alice questions why Jimmy cleared Tia’s closet out and removed his wedding ring. Jimmy explained that after a brutal year, it might be time for him to start moving forward, but Alice hasn’t gotten that closure yet, and the disconnect with her dad clearly frightens her.

Fresh off of their surprise school play appearance, the show’s greatest couple Paul and Julie continue to bond with Meg, and Paul even tells his grandson Mason he has Parkinson’s disease. Back at Liz and Derek’s house, Liz tells Sean she wants to be more involved in his business. And yes, in case you were wondering, Jimmy and Gaby are still safe dicking it up!

With Brian and Charlie’s (Devin Kawaoka) wedding approaching, Brian is on the hunt for a new Best Man, so naturally he holds a Bachelor party and vows to give the gig to the winner of the cornhole tournament. D-Man (Derek) busts out mad cornhole skills in hopes of being the B-Man (Best Man), while Jimmy and Sean sit Kip down and tell him he needs to step up.

The following morning, Jimmy finds Alice sitting in the dark kitchen struggling to remember her mom’s laugh. “I feel myself losing little parts of her,” she admits, and he says he’ll be there for her whenever she wants to talk. At work, Jimmy tells Paul how frustrating it is to have so much professional training but feel helpless when it comes to comforting Alice. He doesn’t stay down for long, though, because Paul proceeds to (drumroll, please!) GIVE HIM A HUG.

Retired Derek, a wealth of information and advice, casually tells Liz that Jimmy and Gaby have been “fucking” for a month, so Liz takes drastic measures. She dangles a special agate rock in front of Gaby’s face and makes her admit she slept with Jimmy. “The best part about it is it’s total safe dick,” she proudly declares. Is it though? Is it really? Either way, Gaby earned her rock, and to christen their newly amplified sisterhood she asks Liz to read the professorship recommendation letter Paul told her to write on his behalf. Liz is appalled that this grown fedora-wearing Dorito’s lover won’t talk Gaby up himself, so she takes matters into her own rock-tumbling hands and heads to see Jimmy, who’s in an eye-opening session with Grace (Heidi Gardner).

“I’m still boop-ing him, because most of the time it stops his bullshit. The only downside is I can see what an emotionally abusive fuck face he’s being,” she says about her husband Donny (Tilky Jones), you know, the guy who punched Jimmy in the face. “If he’s like, ‘Your eggs are too runny I think he’s lucky we’re not eating breakfast on a cliff because I’d push him off and watch his skull crack open and be like, ‘Your brains are too runny, bitch.”

Mr. Radical Therapy doesn’t hesitate to applaud Grace’s enhanced awareness and evolved mindset. “YES, Grace! That’s what I’m talking about! Off the cliff! Bash the brains! Eat them up,” he laughs. Remember when I said the Season 1 finale puts the “cliff” in cliffhanger? We’ll circle back to that. Right now, we’ve got a silver fox to yell at.

After his session wraps, Liz reluctantly drags Jimmy (still high off his kitchen hug) into Paul’s office and tells him 1. He needs to stop saying “raw dog” because it means sex without a condom, and 2. He’s being “a lazy, ungrateful prick” and an “arrogant sexist piece of shit” for not helping Gaby. Paul takes Liz’s words to heart and barges into Gaby’s job interview to advocate for her. “Hire her. She’s a brilliant therapist. The most empathetic clinician I’ve ever crossed paths with and I don’t tell her enough how much I value her as a colleague, because apparently I’m not good with the women I care about,” he says. Yes we’re crying. But just for 15 minutes.

Speaking of small gestures that feel grand, Alice walks into her room to find it filled with boxes of her mom’s belongings. “Just cause I’m ready to put this stuff away doesn’t mean you have to be,” Jimmy tells her. Alice takes a pair of gold heels out of a box, and explains they’re her mom’s “hot as shit shoes” that would make her feel “hot as shit” no matter how bad her day was. Alice joyfully reminisces about Tia to Sean, and Jimmy quietly slips out of the room. The two are at different places in their grieving process now, and that’s OK. They find a touching medium the next day, when Alice wears the “hot as shit shoes” to Brian and Charlie’s wedding.

A bathroom floor panic attack makes Jimmy later to the wedding, but he stands in front of the guests, the grooms, and Brian’s best man — Kip (!!!) — to deliver a poignant, eloquent, love-filled speech that pays tribute to Tia, the person who introduced Brian and Charlie. After the tearjerking testimony, Liz looks at Gaby and says, “I can hear your vagina humming! He’s not safe dick!” 👀Later, Jimmy and Paul meet up at the bar and reflect on their year together. “That crazy shit you did with patients — I’m surprised you didn’t burn the whole practice down,” Paul says, clearly foreshadowing some shit that’s about to meet a fan. “Let’s be honest. I got really lucky,” Jimmy, replies.

A picturesque dance scene set to David Bowie’s “Modern Love” captures a moment of collective closure in Shrinking‘s world. Shots of Alice and Sean, Paul and Julie, and Liz and Derek tearing up the floor are followed by glimpses of Jimmy’s patients thriving. Jimmy and Gaby get their groove on, then he dances with Alice and once again sees Tia in her. His final line of the season, “You look so much like your mom,” brings us full circle back to the end of the pilot. So much growth has happened since then, and just when we think everything’s going to be alright, we’re transported to a hiking trail, where Grace and Donny are fighting.

Grace tells Donny she’s tired. He claims she’s out of shape. She tells him not to talk to her that way. And he snaps. “I’ll talk to you however I want. I’m sick of you acting like you’re better than me. That shit is over,” he tells her. “You’re an idiot, Grace. So shut the fuck up, or I’ll shut you up.” He walks over to the edge of the cliff to admire the view, and Grace, likely flashing back to her session with Jimmy, walks behind him, shoves him off the cliff with a “boop!” and walks away.

Florence + the Machine’s “Free” starts to play, and we’re left to question Donny’s fate. Is he dead? Did Grace bash his brains? Will she eat them up?? We’ll just have to tune in to Shrinking Season 2 to find out.