Shifting Gears Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: Job

Big life changes take the Parker family by storm on Shifting Gears Season 1, Episode 3, “Job.”

On the previous episode, Riley ensures Carter’s new school is a good fit for him and that all his accommodations are in place for a successful experience. Now, it’s finally time for Carter to start classes at his new high school.

Despite being only 15, Carter feels ready for this big change and tells Riley to stop babying him and let him make his own decisions like a “normal” kid. After Carter and Georgia leave the house to take on their new schools, Riley immediately grabs her phone and watches their walk to school through the tracker app she installed on their phones.

Matt, still believing in a more traditional parenting style, tells Riley she’s being overly protective and overbearing. Riley quickly snaps back, saying she might have turned out better if he had been a better parent to her.

Once Riley sees that the kids make it to school safely, she continues her determined search for a job. Not only to pay her bills but also to hire a divorce attorney.

At the shop, Gabriel works on a new project: an old F100 truck. After years of working under Matt, Gabriel feels confident enough to voice his ideas for potential upgrades to the truck. Matt immediately shuts him down, refusing to entertain any new ideas.

The tense atmosphere in the shop shifts when Riley storms in, frustrated after receiving multiple job rejections that day. Fortunately for her, Matt’s bookkeeper has just quit, and although Stitch was supposed to take over the role, he’s more than happy to pass it on to Riley.

What starts as a joke turns serious when Matt decides to offer Riley the job is actually a good idea. Desperate for money, Riley accepts the position as the new shop bookkeeper. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, Riley lasts only one day before quitting via email.

Although she enjoys organizing and managing accounts and convincing Gabriel to follow his own ideas for the truck rather than his dad’s, she cannot handle Matt’s controlling behavior. This is mostly because when Riley creates effective Facebook ads to boost the business, Matt demands she take them down, insisting he’s the only one allowed to handle marketing.

Luckily, Riley doesn’t remain jobless for long. She lands a receptionist position at the dance studio across from her dad’s garage. The bonus to the job is that Matt despises the studio, so she won’t have to deal with him outside their home life.

Back at home, Carter arrives late from school and faces a lecture from Riley when she discovers he turned off the tracker on his phone. Carter tries to explain that he wants the freedom to grow up and earn her trust, but Riley refuses, insisting he’s still only 15 and she’s just being a caring mother.

The next day, Matt shows up at Riley’s new workplace to tell her that, while he’s not happy with her decision to quit, he just wants the family to be stable and safe and make the best choices for themselves. Riley explains to Matt that she doesn’t want to work for him because she’s trying to build a better relationship with him—a relationship that doesn’t end up like the one before when they went years without seeing each other.

She acknowledges his desire to protect her but insists she needs to find her own path. This realization also helps Riley see that she needs to give Carter the same freedom to find his.

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What did you think of this episode of Shifting Gears? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Shifting Gears airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. 

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