Interview
‘Shrinking’ Stars Tease Jimmy & Gaby’s Relationship Status in Season 2
Are Jimmy and Gaby going to be endgame in Shrinking? Season 1 of the Apple TV+ comedy threw Jason Segel and Jessica Williams‘ characters into an unexpected sexual fling that will be quickly addressed in Season 2, premiering with two episodes on Wednesday, October 16. When you bring two main characters together like that, especially ones with such a long history of friendship like Jimmy and Gaby, you can’t help but wonder if the story has big romantic things planned for their arc. But Segel and Williams aren’t so sure that they’re endgame.
Jimmy and Gaby were brought together by Tia (Lilan Bowden), Gaby’s best friend and Jimmy’s wife. Jimmy and Gaby’s professional relationship at the therapy office with Paul (Harrison Ford) also brought them closer together as friends. Both of them are still grieving Tia’s unexpected death in the second season, and their shared love of Tia is something they’ve always bonded over. Their lives were always intertwined, but then they took things even further when they started to hook up in the second half of the first season. Segel and Williams tell TV Insider that their relationship is a big question mark in the new episodes (there will be 12 this season).
“I think that we’ve all made the mistake, or some of us, of confusing a best friendship with a romantic partnership,” Segel — who’s also an executive producer and co-creator of the series with Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein — says. He adds that in Season 2, they get into the idea that “both Jimmy and Gaby believed that it was a safe hookup, that they could both dip in and dip out without it getting too deep into the emotional space.” They’ll find out that it was never going to be that easy.
“It’s just so complicated and sad because I do think they’re best friends,” Segel admits.
Rather than focus on Jimmy, Williams veers to new guest star Damon Wayans Jr., who was seen in the Season 2 trailer exchanging a very romantically charged look with Gaby (see below). Will this new romantic interest end her relationship with Jimmy?
Apple TV+
“Gaby meets someone new. Damon Wayans Jr.’s in it, and I’m pretty obsessed with him,” Williams says. “So I think you’ll see there’s a really fun situation there as well. Let’s just say a gal’s got options.”
The theme for Season 2 is forgiveness, and the romantic relationships set up in the second season fall directly into that theme. Lawrence previously confirmed to TV Insider that Shrinking Season 3 is already being written, so assuming the series is in fact renewed, the third installment and potentially final season will be all about “moving forward,” according to the Scrubs creator. The relationships viewers see in Season 2 will be a jumping off point for the potential final story.
As Lawrence previously described to TV Insider: “When you say moving forward, even off the top of my head so it’s not a spoiler, I think people are aware that we’ve intentionally made a young woman who’s a senior in high school. We’ve potentially gotten some people in serious relationships. We’ve intentionally been looking at Harrison Ford’s character and how much longer can he do this with the condition he has. And so I think it’s going to be a rich third year too. I say that because we’re already writing it.”
It seems that one of Gaby’s “options” could end up being the love of her life.
Shrinking, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, October 16, Apple TV+
