JOB
Matt hires Riley for a job but it leads to more bickering between the father and daughter. Meanwhile, Riley has a similar head to head battle with Carter but also encourages Gabriel to stand up to Matt.
Matt Hires Riley
Riley is still looking for a job, so she can afford to pay a divorce lawyer and hopefully move out of Matt’s house. She stops by Matt’s auto shop right after an unsuccessful morning of job hunting, when Gabriel and Stitch enjoy how she talks to her dad the same way he talks to them. They discuss a receptionist job at the shop and Matt realizes he can hire Riley after learning Stitch had not been working the books like he thought.
Disney/Raymond Liu
Matt who had been caught smiling earlier when talking about a truck they were working on also smiles after officially hiring Riley. It’s clear that Matt wants a better relationship with Riley and this may be a way for that to happen. Unfortunately, Matt is still stuck in his ways and a poor communicator. When Riley uses targeted Facebook ads to bring in new customers, Matt tells her to let him handle the marketing. She sees his reaction as undercutting her work while he’s just not accepting of change. This leads to the latest issue between the pair.
Riley Quits
Riley and Matt continue butting heads until Riley is ready to quit. Riley discusses the issue with Gabriel and Stitch. Gabriel doesn’t want her to quit, because her attitude inspired him to stand up for what he wants to do to fix the engine of the truck mentioned earlier. However, Riley points out her style is causing problems with her family. Stitch shows them an email he drafted years previously when he planned to quit. Riley, refusing to be stuck in a role for years, decides to send an email quitting and leaving the building.
Disney/Raymond Liu
Riley doesn’t stay unemployed for long. Stitch told her about a receptionist opening at the dance studio across the street, the one that causes Matt so many headaches. Riley gets a job there and this causes more frustrations between the pair as Matt had a hard time showing he loved having his daughter around more.
Gabriel Stands up to Matt
Despite this battle between Matt and Riley, her presence proves to be beneficial to Gabriel. He moves ahead with his planned upgrades to the truck despite the fact that Matt shot them down. At first, Matt lashes out about his directions not being followed. But he accepts that Gabriel knows what he’s doing and that his decision will work out for the truck.
Disney/Raymond Liu
Gabriel praises Matt for his teachings that allowed him to learn how to work on cars but also praises Riley for giving him the courage to pursue what he wanted. This helps Matt realize he needs to talk to Riley and he goes to the dance studio to talk to her. They have a heartfelt discussion where Riley admits she quit the job because she feared the butting heads at work would damage the home relationship that she also wants to repair.
Riley and Carter
In the B plot, Riley is keeping close track of Carter’s movements. Carter and Georgia have moved to a new school, and Riley is being a protective parent. Of course, this leads to another dispute between Matt and Riley. Matt insists she’s being overprotective and overbearing. She points out if he had been more involved, she might not have gotten pregnant and married a bass player like he hated.
Disney/Raymond Liu
Throughout the episode, Riley reveals that she knows when Carter stops by the store for chips and that Matt took the kids for ice cream. It comes back around when Matt claims he’s also tracking Carter and tells Riley about a liquor store and tattoo shop. It’s revealed that he and Carter are working together to pick on Riley, but Georgia wants money to not tattle.
Rating
The show improves with each episode but is still nowhere near great. Tim Allen still nails his cranky, everyman with a heart of gold role well. He even made a good reference to some of his other Disney work when he said it took forever to convince Riley he wasn’t Santa Claus. It’s a nice callback to his work as Santa Claus in the film series and the Disney Plus Original Series. (Check out my reviews of that series here.)
The relationship with Matt and Riley shines, however more work needs to be done to grow the characters of Carter, Georgia, Gabriel and Stitch. Three of the four of them have some character growth but they still aren’t fully formed. And a lot of work still needs to be put into Georgia.
Check out Shifting Gears on ABC and Hulu.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2025
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