ACCOMMODATIONS
Riley and Matt go to the school to meet Carter’s teacher which leads to a spat over 504 accommodations. Meanwhile, Riley tries to set the Assistant Principal up with Gabriel before having a meltdown that damages her potential friendship with her former classmates.
Meeting the Teacher
The episode starts with Riley realizing that Carter’s open house is that night and she has to move her meeting with a divorce lawyer so she can go. She really doesn’t want her father and his old school ways to go, but she definitely doesn’t want him to go without her. Once there, she realizes the assistant principal is an old classmate, Caitlin (played by Brenda Song), who used to let her cheat off her tests in three classes. Matt is obviously not thrilled to hear about his daughter’s escapades as a teenager but he’s always kinda grumpy.
(Disney/Raymond Liu)
The discussion covers Carter’s teacher introducing herself and using pronouns. Matt makes it clear he has no issue with her announcement as he hates everyone equally. It’s not an original joke (I’ve been saying it for 20 years), but it’s also an accurate description of the feelings of someone filled with cynicism and sarcasm. (It’s why I’ve been using the saying for 20 years). Afterward the teacher discusses Carter’s 504 plan which is what sets Matt off. The accommodations are for anxiety, but Matt doesn’t like the label for his grandson. It’s clear his heart is in the right place, but he’s going to do the wrong thing.
Calling Out Anxiety
Matt continues his rant when they are back at the car shop with Gabriel, Stitch and Frankie. The problem, as it ends up being in so many of these arguments, is simple. Matt is arguing for equality while the accommodations provide equity. He points out some things that could lead to labels for his workers and why they are wrong: Stitch is in a wheelchair (actor Darryl “Chill” Mitchell has been paralyzed since a motorcycle crash in 2001) and Frankie is a lesbian. While Matt’s ability to see them as people instead of labels is admirable, it’s not really working for Riley when it comes to her son’s school accommodations.
(Disney/Raymond Liu)
Riley points out that everyone battles different levels of anxiety for a variety of reasons and the point of the 504 plan is to head that off before school becomes an unnecessary trigger. She uses Matt’s shop as her testing board as she moves tools from their designated spots would make Matt anxious, because he likes an organized shop. She proves her point, but Matt is still anti-accommodations because of his fear that it will stigmatize his grandson.
The Cheat Sheet
Back at home, Matt is working with Carter to try and help him finish his tests without the extra time accommodations provided in his 504 plan. Carter keeps using the tools he’s been taught from his mother, his therapists and those who have worked with him. Matt comes up with a plan to help Carter learn by writing down the material on index cards. It’s a good method and one I’ve used in the past to help me learn information for a test. Unfortunately, when explaining this to Carter, he calls it a “cheat sheet” which creates issues on test day.
Carter is happy with his test performance and brags about it to his grandfather. Unfortunately, Riley comes home having received a call from the principal. Carter explains that he struggled with anxiety at the beginning of the test like he always does, but once he got his thoughts together he started doing well. Unfortunately, he was running out of time to finish with the other students, but since he had the cheat sheet in his pocket, he used it. A janitor found the index card under his desk and turned him in. He’s now in trouble for cheating and pointed out his grandfather called it a “cheat sheet.”
(Disney/Raymond Liu)
This brings Matt’s and Riley’s differing parenting styles to a head. Matt understands the danger labels can do when kids decide to make fun of someone. He wants the best for his grandson. Of course, Riley also understands that Carter is a good and mostly smart kid, but she also understands why he might be anxious. Both are using their experiences, but it’s causing them to come to verbal blows with each other. It ends with them both recognizing they want what’s best for Carter, and Matt tells Riley she’s an excellent mother and a good person, showing he loves his daughter even when disagrees with her.
Riley’s meltdown
While Matt was helping Carter with his homework, Riley was setting up Gabriel and Caitlin on a date. When Riley and Caitlin are trying to catch up, it keeps getting awkward as Caitlin reveals she’s struggling to date but isn’t on any dating apps. Each sentence becomes more and more awkward until Gabriel arrives. When Gabriel mentions he never went to college, Riley freaks out on Caitlin, because Riley also didn’t go to college, before stomping out.
(Disney/Raymond Liu)
After her discussion with her father about Carter’s cheating, she reveals she’s freaking out because Caitlin’s professional success is making Riley feel like the type of person who peaked in high school. She realizes she pushed away someone who was trying to be friendly. Of course, Gabriel arrives to deliver her sweater that she left at the diner. She continues her rant on Caitlin and the judgmental looks she got (probably more for the rant than her choices), only for Gabriel to step out of the way and reveal Caitlin was right there listening to the rant again. The episode ends with Riley saying, “yeah, that’s the look.”
Rating
he second episode does a better job of conveying Matt’s and Riley’s relationships than the first one did. It’s clear they both love Carter but have different ways of doing it. Matt is stuck in the old ways while Riley is trying to raise her kids in a new way. There’s a balance they have to strike because some things need to change but some methods still need to remain.
As a father of two children on the autism spectrum, I’m a big advocate for accommodations, so I enjoyed Matt’s attempt to circumvent the 504 plan blowing up in his face. Still, his stance that he doesn’t want his grandson to be victimized by an anxiety label is one of love and is easy to understand. These characters shined a little more, although we still know very little about Matt’s coworkers or Riley’s daughter, Georgia. Hopefully, they are fleshed out more as the series continues.
Check out Shifting Gears on ABC and streaming on Hulu.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2025
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