Accruing Symbolism: SHRINKING pilot
The Way of Water, and What it Means
On the new Draft Zero episode, Stu and Chas and I talked about using clues and signs in your work.
I touched on how Shrinking’s pilot “Coin Flip” uses water imagery throughout. You can listen for the rundown in chronological order, but here’s the preponderance of pictorial evidence of water, character by character.
Jimmy’s Aquatic Journey
Jimmy (Jason Segal) feels like he’s drowning, figuratively, since his wife’s death.
When we meet him, he’s by the pool.
The next scene, as he waves the escorts goodbye, the sprinklers turn on, dousing him.
Jimmy’s daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) forces him to hydrate, clearly both used to and tired of taking on the ‘parental role.’
Once Jimmy gets to work, he tries the time-tested method of “running his head under cold water” to help shake his half-drunk half-hungover headache.
Later, Jimmy mixes it up with Gaby about her security-blanket-water-bottle, takes a bath while watching Home Alone, washes Alice’s soccer jersey in an attempt to get back into her good graces, and drinks pool-blue ICEEs with Sean (Luke Tennie).
The ‘just barely keeping his head above water’ imagery is clear.
But it’s the end of the episode where we really see how far Jimmy has progressed: when he manages to dodge getting soaked by the sprinklers.
Gaby’s Hydration Obsession
We meet Gaby (Jessica Williams) filling a gargantuan water bottle, discussing her yen for hydration with Paul (Harrison Ford).
Soon after, Paul makes a dark joke about Virginia Woolf’s affinity for water, which of course also ties into Jimmy’s mental state.
Not to be dissuaded, Gaby decides Paul needs a regular reminder to hydrate, and gets him a baby version of her water bottle.
The running gag is for more than jokes; it demonstrates how Gaby is not only a ‘fixer’ and does this job to help people do what she knows is good for them, but she’s . . . a little obsessed, perhaps, about the fixing.
Anything can be bad for you if you have too much of it! Whether water or fixing.
Paul’s Healthy Relationship to Water
Meanwhile, Paul has simply accepted his need for water: he drinks when he’s thirsty; shaves and showers regularly, including while holding impromptu advice sessions via phone; and doesn’t dwell on water outside the moments he must.
The man has figured out life.
Sure, life’s going to throw him a few curveballs soon.
But in the pilot episode, he’s the . . . how do you say ‘a calm and powerful teacher’? Jedi Master?
Takeaways
You may not notice all this on a conscious level, especially as Paul’s water interactions are subtle, and Gaby’s are played for laughs.
But the indelible image of Jimmy standing forlorn and Charlie-Brown-under-a-raincloud on his front lawn, added to the weight of the many, many other water images throughout the episode, all soak in.
Oh, also? The water bottle comes back around even seasons later, as Paul hands over some important wisdom to Gabby in 3.09 “Daddy Issues.”
Film Details & Further Reading
Shrinking “Coin Flip” (2023)
Director: James Ponsoldt
Cinematographer: Jim Frohna
Further Reading: how Shrinking used audio to ‘fix it in post’