Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for Shifting Gears, Season 1
Arguably, the best part of a sitcom is getting to see what wacky scenarios our favorite characters will get themselves into. In ABC’sShifting Gears, this kind of chaos takes the form of unwanted therapist appointments and taking marijuana gummies with your grandkids. Thanks to these out-of-the-box moments,Shifting Gearsdoes a great job building the relationship between the self-destructive Riley (Kat Dennings) and her stubborn, out-of-touch father, Matt (Tim Allen). By the end of Season 1, they go from being at each other’s throats to genuinely supporting one another’s decisions, driving into the future in Riley’s restored muscle car full of hope.
However, there are still plenty of challenges that await the duo and their extended family. From navigating relationships and new schools, to discovering one’s true purpose in life, rather than living for everybody else —Season 2means several narratives that could develop and thrive once the show returns in the fall.
Will Gabe and Riley Get Together in Season 2 of ‘Shifting Gears’?
Throughout Season 1, the attention onGabe (Seann William Scott)and Riley’s relationship felt inconsistent, and it wasn’t until the final episode, “Kiss,” that we finally got definitive proof that Gabe does indeed have a crush on Riley when he spoke to his best friend, Stitch (Daryl Mitchell) about her. We knew he didn’t care forJimmy (Lucas Neff), but now we know that comes from a romantic, rather than a Platonic, sense of care. During the Season 1 finale, Gabe takes Riley home after her surprise party, andthey almost kiss, only forGabe to pull away due to a fear of ruining their friendship, though Riley falls asleep as he explains this.
It feels inevitable that these two will get together at some point, though this bumpy start does show that this won’t be the easiest romance due to Gabe’s shyness and Riley’s focus on herself moving forward. This creates far more romantic tension going into the second season, as itfeels far more realistic and can push the characters into awkward situationsin the future, creating more comedy. There was also the fact that Eve (Jenna Elfman), Riley’s boss, wanted to set Gabe up with one of her dancers, so there is no guarantee Gabe will be available whenever Riley decides she wants to give their relationship a go.
How Will Riley’s Daughter Do at Her New School?
A slightly minor aspect of the Season 1 finale was the fact thatRiley’s daughter, Georgia (Barrett Margolis), graduated from what I’m assuming is middle school as valedictorian. We didn’t see the graduation, but it does set up a fascinating potential subplot for Season 2, in which Georgia goes tohigh school, a formative point in most young people’s lives. In Season 1, Georgia was presented as the more socially confident of the two children, mocking her brother, Carter (Maxwell Simkins), for having no friends.
Therefore, it could be interesting to seeif Georgia makes friends at her new school, where there will arguably be a tougher social dynamicdue to kids being typically mean at that age. This could flip the dynamic between the siblings, as Carter was beginning his journey to becoming a young man towards the end of this season, wearing cologne and going on dates, so perhaps he will have a butterfly year when he becomes more popular and has to protect his sister. Either way, this seemingly unimportant aspect of Episode 10 could become more significant moving forward.
Will Eve and Matt Work as a Couple in ‘Shifting Gears’ Season 2?
While Gabe and Riley did not get together in the 10th episode, Eve and Matt did, to the surprise of essentially nobody except Riley. Despite constantly bickering, the two gain more respect for each other throughout the last three episodes, with Eve kissing Matt at the end of the surprise party, and Matt bragging about it to Riley later in the car the next day. However, similarly to how Gabe and Riley are not guaranteed happiness, there isno confirmation that this relationship between Eve and Matt will hold together.
Both of them arehighly emotional people, with feisty energiesthat could conflict as they learn more about each other’s habits as partners. Furthermore, with both of them having had partners who have died, there is a lot of baggage going into this couple, which could mean neither of them can help the other. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen, asthey could become a real power couple since they both own businesses on the same street, though even this could be a source of competition and conflict for them, as it was this season.
What Form Will Riley’s New Drive Take?
In this episode, Riley made the huge decision not to join Jimmy on the road after he was hired as the Foo Fighters' new bass player. Riley’s main motivation for doing this was that she argued this was not her dream they were fulfilling, but Jimmy’s, and that has been the case for most of her life. The scene where she admits that, although she loves her kids,she feels suffocated by having to be there for everyone but herself, was a refreshingly honest look at youngparenthood, where one could feel as if they haven’t had enough life experience yet.
Riley decides that what she needs is a “fresh start,” and we will have to wait and see what that may be. While she is the main character, it is difficult to pick out what Riley wants in her life, as we have only heard of her other jobs via comedic lines that highlight the preposterous nature of her past. This could lead to a season seeing Riley trying different, silly things as she gets more desperate, whichKat Dennings would excel at portraying with her chaotic and dry humor, similar to how Max struggled to embrace being ambitious in2 Broke Girls.
Overall, Season 2 ofShifting Gearscan’t come soon enough, as there are so many plot threads for the writers to pull on. Perhaps the strongest aspect of the show is how they have not attempted to make everything perfect. Yes, the characters are in happier places now than before. But,there are still many conflicts that await them in the future, which will test the bond developedin this first season, and hopefully lead to some hilarious gags.
