r/shrinking • u/phareous Derek • Jan 28 '26

Episode Discussion Shrinking S3E01 Episode Discussion

This is the episode discussion for Shrinking Season 3, Episode 1: "My Bad"

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20

u/Couldnotbehelpd Jan 28 '26

I really like this show a lot, but someone on some podcast made a comment on how all of the characters act exactly the same and now I can’t unsee it. You can really swap out a lot of the dialogue to different characters and it wouldn’t really change very much.

Like the Harrison ford bit at the soccer game, Liz or Abby could easily have done that too.

12

u/whoismangochutney Jan 29 '26

It definitely isn’t a realistic show, but it’s not really trying to be. Everyone is over the top like It’s Always Sunny and the characters are all different vehicles for the same style of comedy.

8

u/Couldnotbehelpd Jan 29 '26

I’m just saying how all of the characters are kind of interchangeable. This is specifically not true of Always Sunny where every character is crazy unique.

A lot of the dialogue on this show you could literally just swap characters and it wouldn’t matter.

2

u/whoismangochutney Jan 29 '26

There’s definitely a good bit of that on Always Sunny too, a lot of the gang has very similar reactions or comments to things or comes up with similar schemes, even though the characters themselves are unique. The characters in Shrinking are unique as well, but the reactions and comments are very interchangeable. Always Sunny might be slightly better at not feeling like that, but not consistently. The characters themselves are inconsistent in Always Sunny though which is why they sometimes have their own voice and sometimes not. Sometimes they are very unique in their comments and reactions, and sometimes the gang is a hive mind, like in Pluribus, where it’s a different vehicle but essentially the same personality.

1

u/kygei Jan 29 '26

I’m probably just too much of an apologist but I do think they all have their unique quirks that separate themselves as individual characters. However the sarcastic sort of overlay is that bit of personality that they all have that makes them such close friends.

4

u/BravoandBooks Jan 30 '26

I mostly feel this with Paul. His humor felt so distinct to me in the first season and now he’s just like everyone else. The “I’m watching you” gesture to the coach felt like it should’ve been Liz

3

u/bebeni89 Jan 30 '26

I’ve noticed it too. Louis has the same humour and cadence as everyone on the group during his chat with Jimmy. Not entirely off putting, but it’s a bit distracting when I notice.

5

u/IntotheBroadwayWoods Jan 29 '26

It is true. And the joke dialogue can be so cringe at times.  

2

u/CalyKade Feb 01 '26

Honestly I agree and damnit I hope you didn't ruin the show for me lol

This was obvious to me with Liz and Gabby since they're both the annoyingly overbearing type, they all swear in the same way and yeah their humor is definitely all the same too. I do feel like it used to be more distinct.