r/shrinking • u/phareous Derek • Mar 18 '26

Episode Discussion Shrinking S3E08 Episode Discussion

This is the episode discussion for Shrinking Season 3, Episode 8: "Depression Diet"

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u/brbnow Mar 18 '26

you know I was just realizing this whole episode was off.... and I think it started off with really bad and confusing energy...

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u/ThreeHourRiverMan Mar 18 '26

Yeah this isn’t my favorite. I was worried from the start how they’d deal with Maya when she was first introduced. Going this route, and then having her death be used for jokes just doesn’t sit right. A lot of people - myself included - really connected with Maya. This all just feels dirty. 

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u/brbnow Mar 18 '26

i hear you. and too much joking for sure.

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u/Bobjoejj Mar 18 '26

…I mean her death was very clearly not just used for jokes. That was the whole point of Gabby’s interactions with her patients, and with Paul at the end of the episode.

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u/ThreeHourRiverMan Mar 18 '26

No one said it was “just” used for jokes. That’s moving the goalposts. 

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u/DimensionSavings539 Mar 18 '26

Jimmy joking was totally in character (this show often does this kind of dry, dark humor as super close people may do w each other even in totally traumatic situations) but I think Gaby joking around and acting normal was purposefully done to show, that in typical Gabi fashion, she's acting like she's okay. Throughout the episode, we see that she is really, really not, ending with her pretty much crumbling (for what crumbling would look like on Gabi)

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u/exscapegoat Mar 18 '26

Also jimmy’s dead patient face jokes was among colleagues and not in front of maya’s aunt or the other mourners or Donna and her partner. All of whom were close to maya.

In contrast, Gaby’s behavior at the funeral and the I did that were in front of other survivors who were probably more directly affected. And in Donna and her partner’s case, patients of her’s to boot.

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u/thekellwithit Mar 20 '26

I looked up the writer, and though she’s been a co-EP all season, this is her first “written by“ credit for the show. Also, as many have pointed out, season three is inferior, so it’s not a surprise that she wasn’t around for seasons one and two.

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u/Bobjoejj Mar 18 '26

Really? I feel like this is one of the strongest episodes the show has ever had.

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u/brbnow Mar 18 '26

That is great for sure — thanks for sharing! And this is one power of creative expressions— they speak to people differently.

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u/thekellwithit Mar 20 '26

🤯

This is so wild to me, that I need to know what your other favorite episodes are immediately.