WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Shrinking, “In a Lonely Place.”
Apology may seem like the hardest word, but forgiveness is even harder.
In Season 2 of Shrinking, each character faces this challenge — and in Episode 6, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) faced the prospect of meeting Louis (Brett Goldstein), the drunk driver responsible for her mother’s death.
After Alice asks Brian (Michael Urie) to take her to meet Louis, the two visit Louis at his home. At first, Alice attacks him, cursing him and detailing all the things he has ruined in her life. But as they talk more, she tells the story of a special day at Disneyland with her mother, and then makes a surprising choice—she forgives Louis. “That’s what my mom would do,” she says.
Lukita Maxwell for “The Deflation.”
Beth Dauber/Apple TV+
But is this just talk while Alice tries to force herself to feel like she’s not ready for it? Or is it real? Maxwell believes it is the latter. “Walking into Louis’ apartment, I started to piece together bits and pieces of who he was as a person,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s never been able to embody him before. This is the first time she’s encountered his humanity.”
“This is a moment of true tolerance,” she continues. “She takes into account his environment, the way he speaks. He brings up a memory she thought she had forgotten. He has given her this gift of another memory of her mother that she must keep in the precious box of memories in her mind. In the end, I think this is true forgiveness because she sees “Humanity is in someone else who made mistakes.”
We caught up with Maxwell to talk about Alice’s pivot to teen behavior this season, why she slept with Connor (Gavin Lewis), and whether she’s really ready to move on.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: From the moment Alice found out about Louis’ existence and his visit to her father, she had this morbid curiosity about him. What do you think is the motivation for that for her?
Lucetta Maxwell: She’s at the part of her grief journey where she’s drawn to him. She doesn’t know why she’s drawn to him, but she’s searching for some closure for herself that ultimately only becomes bigger than herself.
She slept with Connor, and just, why, girl, why?
In Season 2, Alice steps out of the parental role in her dynamic with Jimmy and becomes a teenager. We see her make mistakes and learn how to ask for forgiveness. Jason [Segel] And Brett [Goldstein] And Bill [Lawrence] Talk about how the village raised Alice. We see her make these mistakes, but we also see her learn how to maturely be there for others and ask them if they’re okay and offer support and become an equal to these characters that she was caring for in the first season.
As soon as she heard that Brian was talking to Lewis, she immediately said: “I want to talk to him.” Is this a motivated choice? Is this something that you might not have done if you had thought about it a little longer?
Was it an impulse choice? I think so, but it was an instinctive choice and she has very good instincts. Alice is very empathetic and very intuitive, and as Brian gives this huge monologue about meeting Louis, she takes that time to digest and figure out what she wants to do. This monologue represents enough time for her to come to a conclusion about “I need to see this person and I don’t know why.”
Brett Goldstein on “Deflation.”
Beth Dauber/Apple TV+
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When she gets there, she truly lets go of Lois, letting go of all her thoughts about ruining her life and losing her friendships and her relationship with her father. How healing is it for her to be able to say all that?
Everyone experiences a different journey and path with grief. Because Alice is surrounded by all these mental health mentors, Paul and Jamie, she expects catharsis, and that’s what she’s looking for. But I don’t think it satisfies her at the moment as she expects. Catharsis comes when you forgive him. You can see that in the scene. You can see Alice unleashing on Louis, and we feel the collective pain, but we don’t feel catharsis as an audience or lightness until that forgiveness is granted.
We get glimpses into Lewis’ life, as with a photo of his ex-fiancée Irene. Will we learn more about his past this season? Is this something Alice wants to know more about?
I don’t know if she necessarily wants to learn about his past as much as she wants to just be there for him. There’s this devastating bond they share that no one else can understand but him, her, and Jimmy. It’s easier to share sadness and pain. She can find comfort in him. She just wants to be there for him and knows that he is there for her.
This is what she did without telling her father. How might that impact a relationship that has gained a bit of positive ground in the first half of this season?
This is one of Alice’s integral story arcs – this relationship that she develops with Louis and how that impacts her relationship with Jimmy. It brings out the maturity that she embodies, and we see her learn how to deal with that and ask for forgiveness, but also give forgiveness. It’s part of her grief journey.
Aside from Jamie and Louis, will she be looking to date or expand her friend group further?
At the end of Season 2, we’ll start to see Alice moving forward. For her, this means returning to a larger community outside of her family and chosen family. In that greater world, we might see some romantic interests, yes. By the same token, she’s starting to open up to a bigger world, and thus potentially more friends. But the relationships she has with these key people in her life are priceless to her. She really cherishes these relationships and does not necessarily seek to make new friends. She moves cautiously into this larger world, aware of outside perceptions of her. She wants to go into this world and not be seen as this young woman with so much sadness. She wants to get through it all, and hopefully make friends along the way, but I don’t think she’s necessarily seeking that. The primary relationships in her life achieve a lot for her.
New episodes of Shrinking air every Wednesday on Apple TV+.
