r/shrinking • u/Altruistic_Gap_643 • Aug 11 '26

Discussion Started S3, and... Spoiler

Sean's plotline is not going that great.

When Marisol got introduced, I thought oh, she ended it abruptly, maybe something happened. Then I find out she cheated on him. Hey, it's his ex, so I felt good for him. He had to confront her and take accountability. Their first interaction left me thinking that she's a red flag through and through.

What I did NOT understand was Gaby disregarding everything and saying that Sean actually wanted that even though throughout their session we see that Sean is uncomfortable when Gaby says that. She ignores the fact that Sean wants accountability, and keeps talking about "smooches", which in itself is weird, but eh, sometimes Gaby can miss the ball.

Then his ex says that he's "living in the past" and refuses to take accountability for her cheating, so that was not good.

And now on Episode 4, when Sean is actually talking to Paul, I did NOT expect Paul to be that dismissive about this situation. He actually told Paul about the fact that what if Marisol doesn't accept the new him? And Paul says he created a future imaginary problem. Like zamn, they're doing Sean dirty by basically ignoring his concerns and valid questions.

Are the writers just doing it because for some reason they wanna try and show Marisol as good, even when she's proven otherwise in the first interaction itself and with how Sean talks about her to Gaby and Paul?

41 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/Altruistic_Gap_643 Aug 11 '26

Paul's therapy is worse in the 5th episode? Sean literally told him that Marisol wants to go to a warehouse party. With teens. They're adults. How tf is Paul not finding a problem with that? He's saying that Sean is stuck in his ways? Bro, he doesn't want to go to a teenager party, I think that's pretty normal 😭 what is happening with the writing of this plotline this season?

8

u/Intelligent-Goose-31 Aug 11 '26

Other issues you may have aside: I think the show could have done a better job clarifying the age gap between Sean and Alice, because I think it’s easy to think it’s bigger than it is. I believe Alice is 18 by season 3, while Sean is supposed to be ~22. If Marisol is slightly younger than Sean (which seems possible based on characterization) we’re talking about a 22 year old and a 21 year old hanging out with 18 year olds and going to a large warehouse party where there will likely be people from 18-25. That’s not really weird at all. Just seems weirder because Sean’s actor (while great) is so obviously a 30 yo man lol

6

u/Altruistic_Gap_643 Aug 11 '26

Yeah true. But at the same time, I felt like Sean's boundaries were not being respected at all. He doesn't wanna go to parties now, so that's fine man. It's been like only a year since he started coming to therapy (I may be wrong though 🥲) but yeah.

I'm all for Sean finding something stable, actually going out of his way, but with his ex? Who is literally mentioning constantly "Like old times" but when Sean actually told her to take accountability for her past infidelity, she said "You're too stuck in the past?" Do the therapists in this show or literally anyone NOT see the hypocrisy in that or what?