‘Shrinking’ Star Explains Why the Season 3 Finale’s Surprising Gaby and Derrick Moment Had To Happen That Way

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Jessica Williams as Gaby sitting on a couch next to Damon Wayans Jr. as Derrick in Shrinking Season 3

Published Apr 8, 2026, 9:01 AM EDT

[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 of Shrinking.]

Summary

In the Season 3 finale of the Apple TV series 'Shrinking,' Gaby finds Derrick's ring, gets in her head about it, and then proposes to him herself amid friends, family and laughs.
Season 3 mixes sharp comedy with heavier grief and trauma through Maya's storyline, pushing Gaby forward.
Warm cast camaraderie, playful improvisation and legends like Harrison Ford and Candice Bergen make the series such a hit among fans.

When Gaby (Jessica Williams) found a ring in a drawer while looking for some Tylenol, in the Season 3 finale of the Apple TV series Shrinking, she started to overthink it and needed input from Liz (Christa Miller), Brian (Michael Urie), her mother (Vernee Watson), and even Paul (Harrison Ford) on FaceTime to work out the pros and cons of getting engaged to Derrick (Damon Wayans Jr.). After having a moment of panic about the element of surprise, Gaby ultimately decided to take the leap herself in the most perfectly Gaby way possible, surrounded by their friends, loved ones, and Derrick’s podiatrist.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Williams about Gaby’s journey in Season 3. During the interview, she discussed how she’d love to have Jennifer Lawrence guest star, finding the funny moments with Wayans Jr., the heartbreak of losing Maya (Sherry Cola), singing around the piano, working with legends like Ford and Season 3 guest star Candice Bergen, how much fun she had with Gaby’s proposal, and why Shrinking is one of the best jobs she’s ever had.

Collider: I recently asked Jason Segel what actor or character he would love to get in a therapy session with Jimmy, and he told me that he would love to have Gary Oldman as his Dracula, or just really any character that he’s ever played.

JESSICA WILLIAMS: That’s on brand. That seems right. I could have guessed that.

Jessica Williams Would Love for Jennifer Lawrence To Guest Star on ‘Shrinking’

"I am obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence."

Who would you want to get into a therapy session with Gaby?

WILLIAMS: God, I don’t know. Every time I see Jennifer Lawrence, I am obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence. I love her craft. I love her vibe. I feel like if we met, we would just laugh and laugh. Maybe that’s just the power of Jennifer Lawrence, but I just feel like we’d really get along. It should be Jennifer Lawrence because I’d just want to feel like we’re cool, and we’re hanging.

One of the funniest moments for me this season is in episode five, when Gaby tries to pick up Derrick to put him on the kitchen sink. I love romantic moments that just don’t turn out in reality how we see them in movies. Was that always scripted? How was that to shoot? How did all of that come about?

WILLIAMS: That’s so funny. I think the show really works when you don’t remember, at this point, if it was the writing or if it was us improvising that. But I’m sure that that was improvised, just from having seen it and the way that we were speaking. Damon [Wayans Jr.] is a really strong, “Yes, and” actor where he’s game for anything. He’s down. He’s like, “Let’s go. Let’s do it.” He wants to get it done in a fun way. He’s very like, “Let’s go. Let’s run headfirst into this joke and see if it works.” And I’m like that too. It was just fun. I don’t remember how we came up with that, but he was like, “I’m good. I think I’m okay. I can get up.” And she’s like, “No, let me just lift you.” And he’s like, “No.” What I am really proud of is the jokes per minute in this season of the show. I feel like there are so many. Whether it’s Paul, or Jimmy, or Liz, or Derek, there are just so many jokes this season.

Maya Teaches Gaby a Profound Lesson in Season 3 of 'Shrinking'

"It ultimately ends up pushing her forward."

Jessica Williams sitting at a table with Sherry Cola as Maya in Shrinking Season 3

This season, Gaby has Maya as a patient, and we also get a bit of a heavier overtone with that storyline than the show has had sometimes. Sherry Cola is so great at bringing so much character. What was it like to find that dynamic and explore that with her this season? What do you think she brought to the show and what do you think that character brought to Gaby’s life?

WILLIAMS: Aside from being immensely talented and so warm, Sherry Cola has, for me, that instant likability that you can’t teach. It’s inherent charisma that you’re rooting for. This season is about moving on. That’s what Bill Lawrence said it was. That’s what I was doing. That’s how it was written. And I think Gaby realizes, at the beginning of the season, that she wants to get more into trauma work. This scenario, especially with Sherry’s character, is something that could push her to never doing it, like it did Paul, or it could push her into opening a private practice and/or a grief trauma center. It ultimately ends up pushing her forward. Gaby learned a profound lesson that she’ll never forget, with that situation.

That moment at the end of episode seven, when Gaby finds out that Maya is gone is such a gut punch. The reaction on your face when Gaby realizes just what, “We lost Maya means” is so heartbreaking. What was it like to find that moment?

WILLIAMS: It was so hard because we were just singing, “I have died a thousand times waiting for you.” We were singing [“A Thousand Years”] over and over with the piano. And the singer (Christina Perri) that wrote it was there that day, and she was lovely. But then, I had to do that scene where the line was, “What do you mean, we lost Maya?” I was so scared about doing that line because there were so many words in it that I didn’t want it to feel like it was written. It was really hard to deliver that. But I did it. I figured it out. We got it. There’s a version of it that was [really heightened], and I was really happy that it did not turn out that way. Literally, my job between “Action!” and “Cut!” is believing the circumstances. My only job is to believe the circumstances and portray it. So, in that moment, I was believing the circumstances in my crazy, weird brain and playing it. When I work like that, I don’t remember what happened. Whatever your flow state is, whether you’re driving or painting, it’s that for me and I don’t remember it. When I’m doing great acting, I don’t remember how I did it.

As a viewer, I just felt Gaby’s heart breaking in that moment.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. Oh, my God, that’s what I want. That’s very nice. Thank you.

Christa Miller as Liz standing on the balcony with Ted McGinley as Derek in Shrinking Season 3

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I loved seeing all of you guys singing at the piano and sharing that celebratory moment together. You’re also introducing Cobie Smulders to everybody because she hasn’t really been around all of you at once. What was that like to do? Do you just get so sick of singing the song? Do you never want to hear that song again?

WILLIAMS: Whenever I hear it now, I don’t think of Twilight. I think of Shrinking and just how fun it was just to do this thing a million times. You’re all in this hot room in a warehouse, and you’re like, “This is what I get paid money to do. Okay, Apple, thanks. You’re paying me, so I’m going to do it.” It was fun. We like each other. The actors like each other. When you’re lucky to be on a show like that, and that does not happen all the time, you’re just hanging out and doing bits and doing work with people you really like. I think that comes through on the show. One of the biggest things I get from the show is people wishing they could hang out with those characters, or wishing they had a Derek, or people knowing someone like Brian. It’s a show that makes people want to hang out with these people and maybe be in this found family aspect. That comes from us really liking each other.

And it’s ridiculous that you get to do the show with Harrison Ford.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, that’s dumb. I agree.

Now, you also have Candice Bergen, which I think is just incredible.

WILLIAMS: That’s also dumb.

What was it like to be around her?

WILLIAMS: I was like, “I’m doing what with Candice Bergen?! I get to do what?” It’s exactly how you described it. I’m like, “This is ridiculous. I get to do this really interesting mentor/mentee, surrogate father-daughter arc with Harrison Ford. That’s crazy.” It is not lost on me how blessed and lucky I am to be able to do that. What a gift. And I can pay my mortgage. What more do you want? I can pay to get my dog prescription food right now as a millennial. He gets his fancy prescription food. What a blessing.

Jessica Williams Had a Lot of Fun Shooting Gaby’s Proposal in ‘Shrinking’ Season 3

"The writers wrote a beautiful scene."

Damon Wayans Jr. as Derrick holding the left arm of Jessica Williams as Gaby in Shrinking Season 3

I loved how, in the finale, after Gaby reacted the way she did to finding Derek’s ring, she’s the one that proposed surrounded by their friends and family. It’s such a sweet, fun moment. What was that like to shoot, with the speech that she gives him? Was it important to you that she be the one to take that step?

WILLIAMS: Gaby has been married before, and you’re a lot cooler when you get remarried. It’s like having your second kid, where you’re like, “We don’t need to do this weird, heteronormative version of this. Let’s just have Gaby do it.” The writers wrote a beautiful scene. It was super easy to memorize, which means the writing is good. When you can take a monologue and you get it after just a few passes, that’s because the writing is amazing. The writer was writing it stream of consciousness, and they got it. It was really easy. It was one of the last days of filming. It was super fun. Everybody’s in that scene. It was one of those things where we all got to hang out with each other. A lot of times, we shoot in these different silos. It will just be Jimmy and Brian, and then I’ll do one with Brian, and then Christa will do one with Brian. We get to rotate. And then, those group scenes are always fun days. They’re fun, hectic days. It was good. It was easy. It was fun. It was a joy to shoot. The show is a joy to make. It’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. It’s top two, maybe top one. We like each other. There’s something really nice about that. We want each other to succeed, and we want the show to do really well. We are all here making this one thing. It just doesn’t get better than that.

You know something is a big moment when even Derrick’s podiatrist is there.

WILLIAMS: That’s right. “Is that your podiatrist? Is that your horny student from your college class?” It’s so funny. That was good.