Another season of Shrinking in the books, another iconic soundtrack. And Shrinking star and music supervisor Christa Miller thinks Season 3 saved the best for last.
From Jason Segel’s “Nightswimming” cover to Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” (and the “I Will Be Grape” Version), Shrinking‘s third season delivered moving, clever, meaningful, genuinely incredible needle drops week after week. But when Decider asked Miller her favorite music moment in all 11 episodes, she shouted out the last song of the season: Brandi Carlile’s “You Without Me.”
The gorgeous song makes an appearance earlier in the episode as Jimmy (Segel) drops his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) off at the airport, then swells again shortly before the end credits roll. After Paul (Harrison Ford) delivers a tear-jerking speech, encouraging Jimmy to “go make some new scars” and rekindle his relationship with Sofi (Cobie Smulders), Carlile’s stunning vocals and soul-stirring instrumentals help set the mood, accompany Jimmy’s long-overdue leap of faith, and mark the end of a Shrinking era.
“I love the all the music that is in this season, and [the songs] were favorites. But I have a Super Favorites list. I think one of the best moments was Brandi Carlile’s song, which my daughter’s fiancé, Andrew Watt, produced,” Miller told Decider over Zoom. “I heard it two years ago, and the second I heard it, I was like, ‘Well, that’s the first song for Shrinking! It has to be! I want it!’ And he’s like, ‘It’s not even finished. It’s being produced, relax.’ So last year I wanted it again. I’m like, ‘It’s for Shrinking!’ He’s like, ‘It’s not ready.’ And it was actually a blessing in disguise. It really should have been for this season.”
During production, Miller finally got the call she’d been waiting for, but the competition was fierce. “Brandi and her wife Catherine called me and said, ‘We have four other shows that want the song.’ And we were in the middle of shooting, and I’ve never done this before, but I was like, ‘We’re buying it! We want it!” Miller recalled. “And because we had it so early, I was able to to bring it Bill and the writers, who loved it. Thank god. So they wrote for it. And that makes it a whole different ballgame.”
After Paul heads to the airport, Jimmy lets his wisdom soak in and silently hypes himself up to face his fears and move forward. He walks over to Sofi’s table, sits down, and says “hi.” She smiles, and says “hi” back. He chuckles. And as the two flash goofy grins, resume effortless banter, and laugh, the music gets louder, the camera pulls back, and Shrinking leaves us with a ridiculously romantic final shot before the end credits roll.
“They, like, brought in a crane. I have goosebumps just telling you about it,” Miller told Decider. “It was everything I wanted. And also for her, for Brandi, I wanted it to be amazing. And I hope she loves it.”
Carlile — who co-wrote the song with Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and Watt — opened up about the inspiration behind it, saying, “I wrote and recorded this one late at night in the studio. It’s about my kids, that first moment where they really truly separate from you…” In Carlile’s case, her eight-year-old daughter, Evangeline, decided not to go to a gig with her for the first time, because she didn’t want to miss her soccer game. And when you listen to her emotional lyrics with that parent/child context, the song placement in Shrinking‘s finale is beyond perfection. I mean, Jimmy sent his daughter off on her own for the first time! And Paul left Jimmy, the man he just said was like a son to him, to move to Connecticut!
When describing the vulnerable feelings at the root of “You Without Me,” Carlile said,”You’re simultaneously devastated and proud.” If we had to sum up the finale’s bittersweet Jimmy/Alice and Paul/Jimmy goodbye scenes — the love and admiration that fuels them, the struggles of letting go, and the thrill and terror of that newfound independence — those five words are spot-on.
Alice is without Jimmy. And Jimmy is without Paul. They’re all moving forward, growing, and finding new parts of themselves on their own, but like Jimmy said, all it takes is one tug on the invisible string between hearts to reconnect.
Bravo, Miller and Carlile. Bravo, Shrinking writers. And bravo, me, for holding back tears long enough to type this article. Now if you need me, I’ll be sobbing listening to “You Without Me” and rewatching Season 3’s final scene through a new lens!
Stay tuned for more Shrinking coverage from Decider.
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