Harrison Ford and Jeff Daniels return for Season 4’s new story

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “Shrinking,” now streaming on Apple TV.

Harrison Ford is still ‘shrinking’. The Apple TV series wrapped its third season on Wednesday with a gripping episode that creator Bill Lawrence has repeatedly framed in interviews and on social media as a finale of sorts. That got him into trouble, as fans began to assume that Lawrence planned to reinvent “Shrinking” next season as something completely different.

But rest assured, like Variety I told you on Monday that the same stars will play the same characters next season. And that includes Ford, who does the best work of his entire career as Dr. Paul Rhoades has done it and signed to return. During a “Shrinking” PaleyFest LA panel Tuesday in Hollywood, Ford said his work on “Shrinking” has been “one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.”

Also back for season 4 is the rest of the cast: Jason Segel (as Jimmy Laird), Jessica Williams (Gaby), Lukita Maxwell (Alice), Luke Tennie (Sean), Christa Miller (Liz), Michael Urie (Brian) and Ted McGinley (Derek), for starters. And yes, they will play the same characters, but on new journeys.

“I think people will feel when they come back to this show that it’s a completely different story,” Lawrence said. “And the reason we agreed to do this was because we feel like the cast and characters of this show have enough things going on in their lives that we’re interested to see what a new story for these characters looks like.”

Apple TV renewed the show so early that Lawrence said the “Shrinking” writers found ways to leave Easter eggs throughout Season 3 that hinted at what’s to come — so while next year may feel different because the characters are in a different place, it will also feel earned because you’ve already seen some of those new stories begin.

“There are some things in the third year that are left unresolved, and it indicates that the next year will be different because of what the characters do and where they go,” Lawrence said. “People shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a time jump and it feels like we’re telling a completely different story.”

And that begins with the growth of Jimmy, whose journey from grief in season 1 (the loss of his wife Tia) to forgiveness in season 2 (bonding with the man who accidentally killed her) and then continuing in season 3 (his beginning and ending to find new love) now seems to have resolved itself. At the end of season 3, episode 11, “And That’s Our Time,” Paul – who has just moved to Connecticut – makes a quick flight back to LA to help Jimmy on his new path, starting by taking him to breakfast with Cobie Smulders’ Sofi.

“If the fourth season of this show happened and Jimmy said, ‘I’ve been thinking about it. I’m still super sad about my wife,’ I would say, ‘turn off the TV.’ You can’t do that again,” Lawrence said. “So we hope people find it an incredibly optimistic and happy ending.”

Lawrence praised Segel for his work in the final two episodes of season 3, as his character struggled with sending his daughter to school and being home alone, while also feeling abandoned by his father figure Paul. And then it all came down to that moment when Paul made the terrible gesture of turning back to reassure Jimmy that it was okay to move on. “I just loved him, watching him and feeling as a fan of the show that his kind of suffering was finally over,” Lawrence said.

But not everything is resolved with Jimmy, as viewers saw this season that he’s still harboring daddy issues. Lawrence said this means Jeff Daniels will likely return as his father, Randy Laird.

“I guarantee you that some people who watch the show know that they will probably see Jeff Daniels again,” he said. “And Cobie too. What does that look like for someone starting a second relationship?”

Now that we know Ford is back (and presumably Wendie Malick as his new wife Julie), one suspects that part of his new storyline will still intersect with Alice, who long relied on Paul as her therapist and will now live just an hour away.

“It is clearly with great intentions that Harrison’s character moves to a state where Alice goes to college,” Lawrence said.

Paul, of course, continues to face the reality of his Parkinson’s disease – and that will remain an important part of that character’s journey. In season 3, Paul bonded with fellow Parkinson’s patient Gerry, played by guest star Michael J. Fox. Lawrence said he hoped to bring Fox back in some capacity for Season 4, and at PaleyFest, Fox said he was ready: “I’d love to do it — it would be an honor,” he said.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Gaby will take over Paul’s practice and facilities to build a new crisis therapy clinic. But she’s still mourning the loss of her patient Maya (Sherry Cola), who died by suicide in season 3.

“What does it look like for a character like Gaby to have lost a patient in a fairly simple practice, and then, for whatever reason, throw herself into treating people who only deal with that kind of thing?” said Laurens. “There’s the trauma of losing a patient, where you may have crossed some boundaries and gotten too close to go straight into that world. Also, there’s still some tension between Gaby, her mother and her sister.”

Among other main characters, empty nesters Liz and Derek discovered in season 3 that one of their sons is about to have a child, which gives the show a lot to offer as they adjust to being grandparents. (Guest star Candice Bergen may also return as Derek’s mother – and Liz’s nemesis.) Sean has left Jimmy’s pool house, reunited with his girlfriend Marisol (Isabella Gomez) and is on his way to becoming a chef. Brian is still adjusting to parenthood, a role he was initially reluctant to take on.

“Sometimes people feel like Brian was someone who, at least reluctantly, started building and starting a family, and what does that look like? We know Brian’s childhood was tumultuous in terms of where he grew up and their attitudes toward his sexuality, but we still haven’t met his mother,” Lawrence said. “That is with great intention.”

When asked if he still has a three-season structure in mind for the next “Shrinking” chapter, Lawrence said he had not yet hammered out a long-term plan with Apple TV or series producers Warner Bros. TV. But he added, “We’re not going into this new season feeling like it’s the last. There’s always going to be material. You want to feel like people are changing and evolving. So as long as we feel like we’re not treading water and that we’re telling a new kind of cool story, we’ll continue with it. And who’s to say where a show like this could go.”

But as he geared up for another “Shrinking” in Season 4, Lawrence also promised some consistency: “People will still live where they live. This is still a found family show where people think they spend way too much time together. And people will still recognize sets and locations, and even if they’ve changed superficially or have a new look. I don’t want the show to suddenly say, ‘oh, so they work in a downtown corporate office!’ Hopefully it feels the same, but different in the story we’re telling.”

Season 4 is already being written about, and Lawrence said he thought fans “will find it. We wouldn’t be doing this show if all the actors and actresses didn’t want to continue. The main motivation to continue and create a different story is, yes, we’re lucky that Apple wants us to continue. But all the artists are having a blast. I feel like there’s plenty of stories to be told with these characters. We just can’t tell anymore.”