Shrinking Season 3, Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die” Spoilers Ahead
Written by CJ Hoke and directed by Randall Keenan Winston, Shrinking‘s “Dereks Don’t Die”effortlessly reminds us of why it’s important to do the right thing now, and how most people are more aware of their choices after any sort of scare or tragedy. It’s fitting given last week’s “Hold Your Horsies” touched on the detail that we don’t know whether our choice is right or wrong until we actually make it, and the cohesive turning point is excellent here.
“Dereks Don’t Die” naturally focuses on the titular character and his brief emergency surgery, but it’s also a big episode for Brian, Gaby, Sean, and Paul. The small character moments in the end do the best job of reminding us why a show like this continues to hit in all the right ways. And more importantly, they provide indescribable joy in trying times, which I’ll never stop giving the show credit for.
Dereks Don’t Die – They’re the Joy
Derek has been a fan favorite character since Season 1, and the fact that we continue to get exceptional development with him is incredible because it also gives Ted McGinley ample room to shine as an actor. Liz says it best, and there’s no other way of putting it, Derek is the joy. Losing him on this show would’ve been prodigiously horrifying, so the fact that the writers are aware of that and would never do so is why I’ll always trust the team behind Shrinking.
Still, it’s also vital that we get the reminder to step back and acknowledge someone’s value, and sadly, the most human way this happens is when something terrifying forces our minds to focus on the present and count our blessings. Derek’s health scare is not only what brings Matthew back, but it reminds everyone that their lives here on earth are precious. On the whole, Shrinking naturally does the best job of exploring this revelation because of Tia’s death, but as days go by and these characters start to live again, the lesson is an easy one to forget as humans.
We know not to sleep on our anger, but how many of us do it anyway? How many of us forget to tell our people we love them when we get busy, and life starts to become too much? We forget to slow down and recognize how lucky we are if we’re surrounded by people who are a phone call away or who’d run to the hospital if God forbid something happened. Shrinking Season 3, Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die,” reminds us to slow down and take a step back. It nudges us to recognize that we don’t have to wait until something happens to remember these crucial things. It’s even more revealing because Alice says it best when she questions why people need something bad to happen to do the thing they should’ve done all along. These words coming from her hit twice as hard for countless reasons.
It’s fitting considering Liz and Derek basically took care of her when Jimmy lost himself in his grief. It’s fitting considering how much she’s grown to understand the importance of cherishing those around you to stay afloat when the waves try to drown you. The question matters when we look at why a show like Shrinking continues to have such an impact with the ordinary moments it presents us with.
Shrinking Season 3, Episode 6 Is a Gorgeous Reminder to Spend Time With Our People
Derek’s surgery takes up most of the attention in the back half of the episode, but it’s everything that we get in between that works so well. It’s how Brian is so uncomfortably nervous to tell his dad that he and Charlie are now fathers, and it’s Gaby making a breakthrough with Maya before she can’t be there in the end. It’s the understanding that sometimes, the things we’re most scared of are the ones that end up being the most rewarding, like Brian’s dad being fully excited as opposed to hesitant in the way he would’ve been in the past.
Even Paul surprises us in Shrinking’s “Dereks Don’t Die,” when Meg tells him that she and Dave are having marriage troubles. It’s not so much that he’s happy because he’s never liked Dave, but the fact that teasing him is easy, and he actually wants the two of them to work things out. The quiet montage of everyone spending time with their loved ones in the episode makes it achingly sweeter while simultaneously acting as a reminder that Shrinking is first and foremost a show about a found family. It’s about the people who show up for each other, come hell or high water, and it’s about the people who go out of their way when someone needs them. It’s about the people who are unapologetically loyal to each other.
More than anything, and I keep saying it, but it’s a significant reminder to not only cherish those around us, but the fictional characters, too. The characters who bring joy and laughter when the world is literally burning, and no one even knows what’s happening anymore. Nothing is predictable in the world, and we’re all going through something, but I’m so grateful that Shrinking exists, and episodes like this are why. I say it every week, but this show is special.
Stray Thoughts
- “I didn’t drink any. I just rolled around in it.” Alice, my girl.
- “It’s just so hard to make friends as an adult.” Maya is right and she should say it.
- “We raised your daughter for a year.” Guilting Jimmy will always be so hilarious.
- “What are you doing?” “I never really know.” Honestly, Jimmy. Same.
- “Is she too young to eat cabbage?” Never change, Brian.
- Derek’s reverse special would also get to me.
- “Don’t be afraid, Dan. He’s a narcissist,” took me out.
- “You guys are freaks.” But is she wrong? I love my freaks.
- “They can never guess how many trimesters there will be.”
- “Stop trying to make friends with my daughter. She’s too cool for you.” Oh, Paul. If only you know.
- “You paid Matthew for therapy.” I’M YELLING. THIS SHOW.
- “Difficult work. Make it better.”
- TED MCGINLEY DON’T YOU DARE MAKE ME CRY
- I really want to know that you heard it. Do you hear me sobbing? I’m so glad I got to talk to Ted McGinley about Derek and this episode.
- Jimmy patting Alice’s head. 😂 “You picked the only one I hate.”
- LIZ!!!!
- “He brings the joy. I don’t think I would survive.” OKAY, CHRISTA MILLER, JUST STAB ME. IT’D HURT LESS.
- “Marriage is tough.” Word.
- Maya 😔
Now streaming on Apple TV+: What are your thoughts on Shrinking Season 3, Episode 6, “Dereks Don’t Die?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Apple TV+