Spoilers are ahead for Shrinking Season 2, Episode 6! If you aren’t caught up, you can stream the comedy with an Apple TV+ subscription.
When the sixth episode of Shrinking dropped on the 2024 TV schedule, I wasn’t expecting Alice to make the move she did. After Jimmy told her about the drunk driver contacting him and her confrontation with him in the coffeehouse, I didn’t think she’d forgive Brett Goldstein’s Louis. However, she did, and Lukita Maxwell told me why her character decided to do that.
As I mentioned, in Episode 6, Alice takes a massive step forward. After finding out that Brian had been in contact with Louis – the driver who killed her mom – she demanded that they go see him. Then, after chatting with Brett Goldstein’s new Shrinking character and telling a story about her mom, Alice concluded that she wanted to forgive the driver.
So, she did, and Lukita Maxwell told me during an interview for CinemaBlend that her character’s mom is the reason why she did it. She explained:
I mean, she says it at the end of it, it's something that her mom would have done. I think that she's a young woman trying to figure out who she is in this world and who she is on the other side of this great grief that has affected her life at this point and will forever. And she wants to be that kind of person that would forgive somebody and is able to move through life with compassion and understanding.
As I’ve gotten to know Louis, I’ve started to forgive him too. Then, hearing Alice’s story about Space Mountain and the Goofy hats really put me in the same place as her. After that, Goldstein’s character apologized for what happened and took fault for it all, noting that “nothing” he could do could “make it better.”
I started to well up as he said he thinks about what happened and the family he impacted every day, and then I was a mess when Maxwell’s character said:
I forgive you. It’s what my mom would have done.
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Knowing how hard Alice is working to be the best version of herself and process her grief is so moving. And seeing her forgive Louis felt like her biggest step forward yet. Plus, in a lot of ways, it also seems like it brought her closer to her late mom.
One of my favorite journeys on this show has been Alice’s. This loss has deeply impacted her, however, she’s extremely empathetic, and she works hard to have good relationships with her loved ones. I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to forgive Louis – I mean what he did seemed unforgivable. However, it was lovely, empowering and emotional to see her do it, and it showed her growth over the last season and a half.
Now, the question becomes: Can Jimmy do that too? We’ll just have to wait to find out as Season 2 of Shrinking continues airing every Wednesday on Apple TV+.
