Why Did Alan Arkin Leave ‘The Kominsky Method’?

The Kominsky Method is back with Season 3 on Netflix—but it’s missing a certain something. Rather, the new season is missing a certain someone. Alan Arkin, the series’ co-lead, is M.I.A. in Season 3, leaving Michael Douglas as the sole lead character on what was once a buddy comedy. Arkin’s departure was announced back in September 2020, just a few months after Netflix renewed the show for a third and final season. What gives? Why did Arkin leave the show that earned him two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations in two years? And how does The Kominsky Method move ahead without Norm Newlander, the best-dressed man on Netflix?

Why did Alan Arkin leave The Kominsky Method?

As was reported back in fall 2020, it sounded like it was always Arkin’s plan to leave the show after Season 2. It didn’t hurt that Netflix hadn’t renewed the show for Season 3 yet, so the show didn’t need to figure out how to potentially write Norm out of the show in the Season 2 finale. For all creator Chuck Lorre knew, that was the series finale. That’s why Season 2 ends with Norm alive and well, helping his grandson Robbie (Haley Joel Osment) make good with the Church of Scientology before they make his life a nightmare.

In the months since leaving the show, Arkin released a book—Out of My Mind (Not Quite a Memoir)—and talked about his current state of mind during the following book tour. As he told the Guardian in October 2020, it sounds like he’s more or less retired: “Acting is so ingrained in my physiognomy and the channels of my brain that I find myself missing aspects of the business. But I don’t need it any more. I should probably get over it.” However, in an interview from May 2021 with The Independent, Arkin’s manager said that the actor would start working again as soon as it’s totally safe to do so. Either way, both interviews indicate that Arkin is perfectly content to just chill right now.

What happens to Norm Newlander on The Kominsky Method Season 3?

He’s dead. And that’s not even a spoiler, because the literal first shot of Season 3 is of Arkin’s photo next to his casket at his funeral, with Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas) giving a eulogy. It’s not immediately clear how he died other than old age, but do you really need more of an explanation than that? The Kominsky Method has been about aging, mortality, grief, and death from the very beginning. This ain’t coming out of nowhere. Norm gets a truly epic funeral with a sequence of increasingly inappropriate—but sincere!—eulogies from his best friend, his grandson, his daughter, his lover, and his assistant.

We do get a bit of Arkin in the episode via a few flashbacks to Season 1. And then Sandy goes to their old booth at their favorite restaurant and toasts his friend one last time.

The Kominsky Method Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.

Stream The Kominsky Method on Netflix