For nearly a decade, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders acted opposite one another in How I Met Your Mother, one of the best sitcoms of all time. While Marshall Eriksen and Robin Scherbatsky never came anywhere close to romantically involved on the CBS series, it seemed like there could have been such a spark between the actors’ characters on Shrinking recently. Smulders guest-starred in a Season 2 episode of the Apple TV+ subscription-exclusive series, and when Segel was asked about if she’ll return, the explanation he gave about Season 3 makes me hopeful this will happen.
Smulders stopped by Shrinking Season 2’s tenth episode, titled “Changing Patterns,” to play Sofi, a divorced mother from whom Segel’s Jimmy Laird purchased a yellow Mini-Cooper for his daughter Alice’s 18th birthday. The two hit it off pretty quickly, leading to speculation that Sofi might come back at some point. Here’s what Segel had to say when Variety inquired about this:
I’m not trying to give any spoilers. But I think it’s all a reflection of if Jimmy can get his shit together.
What started out as Jimmy just looking to buy a car similar to the one his late wife Tia had led to him and Sofi having an amusing conversation about whether it was worse to have a dead wife, yet still have fond memories of her, or having the good memories of your still-alive ex-husband tainted by his cheating. Feel free to watch it for yourself:
While many HIMYM fans surely appreciated this reunion between Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders, it would be even better for them if they saw more of Sofi going into Shrinking Season 3, which was announced last October. I imagine that if Smulders was only doing a one-off appearance, Segel would confirmed as much by now. But the above quote seems to indicate the door is at least open to Sofi’s return, as does what he said below regarding Season 3’s theme:
I’m allowed to say our words for Season 3 are ‘moving forward.’ So that’s all we really know so far. Season 1 was grief, Season 2 was forgiveness, and Season 3 is moving forward.
While the Shrinking Season 2 finale brought the waterworks with Harrison Ford’s emotional speech, it also ended with Jimmy Laird sitting down with Brett Goldstein’s Louis, the drunk driver who killed Tia, at the train station and looking like he was finally ready to forgive the man. So with that important moment now seemingly behind him, Jimmy may finally be ready to find someone knew to live his life with, and maybe that someone will be Sofi. After all, it’s been made abundantly clear that Jimmy and Jessica Williams’ Gaby aren’t meant to be together, so hopefully events unfold in Season 3 that lead to Jimmy and Sofi crossing paths again.
We’re still a ways off from learning when Shrinking Season 3 will premiere, be it on the 2025 TV schedule or not until sometime in 2026. For now, you can keep yourself entertained by checking out the other best Apple TV+ shows.
