Shifting Gears Season 1 Episode 4 Recap: Grief

Things are finally settling down in the Parker house on Shifting Gears Season 1 Episode 4, “Grief.” Carter has started at his new school and is loving it so far; he even goes out of his way to join the robotics club.

Meanwhile, Georgia enjoys her life with the popular girls at school. Wanting to step up her fashion game, Georgia digs through some old clothes and decides to style a bedazzled blazer she finds.

Proud of her new look, she shows it off to her mother and grandpa. While Riley loves the outfit, Matt immediately recognizes the blazer as his late wife’s favorite.

Matt loses his cool, yelling at Georgia to take it off and stay out of her grandmother’s things. Upset by his reaction, Georgia runs upstairs. Watching her go, Matt quickly realizes he was way too harsh.

At the same time, Riley notices something deeper: her dad has never truly processed or grieved the loss of his wife. Everything belonging to her mom is still in the same place, untouched.

She tells Matt that he needs help working through his grief. Before he can protest, she explains that she’s already found a grief counselor for them to see together.

To Riley’s surprise, Matt agrees, not because he wants therapy, but because he regrets how he treated Georgia and wants to be a better grandfather. Accepting his fate, Matt leaves Gabriel in charge of the shop while he’s gone.

Having never been in a leadership role, Gabriel is honored that Matt trusts him. But with power comes responsibility, and it quickly becomes clear that decision-making isn’t his strong suit.

Unable to settle on a final design choice for a car in the shop, he causes a ripple effect; no one can do their job. Overwhelmed, Gabriel spirals into a panic attack and stress-eats an entire box of donuts. Finally, Stitch steps in, giving him a much-needed pep talk.

He reminds Gabriel that he’s good at what he does and that if Matt trusted him with the shop, it was for a reason. Encouraged, Gabriel pulls himself together, makes the final decision, and realizes that despite the rough start, he can be a capable leader.

This realization sparks a new thought—maybe it’s time to leave Parker Custom Cars and start his own custom shop.

Meanwhile, at the therapist’s office, Matt and Riley meet their counselor, a young woman still in school. Matt is immediately skeptical, ready to make snide remarks, but he doesn’t get the chance.

Before the session even begins, Riley gets up and leaves, casually stating that she never agreed to therapy just to bring him there. Stuck alone, Matt has no choice but to face his emotions.

After a long session, Matt comes home in a foul mood, heading straight to his room and angrily throwing out his wife’s things. He explains that the therapist made him talk about his feelings, which he hates, but also forced him to confront something he’s been holding onto: anger at how unfair life is.

He rants about how good people die too soon while bad people live long, happy lives. He compares it to drunk driving accidents, how the sober person is the one who dies or suffers, while the impaired driver walks away with barely a scratch.

His wife dedicated her life to charity, yet she’s gone, while criminals and thieves get to keep on living.

Convinced that therapy has broken her father, Riley storms back to the office, demanding to know what the therapist did to him. But as she yells, she unexpectedly comes to a realization that she hasn’t processed her mother’s death either.

After her own emotional session, Riley returns home to find Matt still going through her mother’s things.

Exhausted, they both collapse onto the couch, finally opening up about their grief. Matt admits that he always feels sad, while Riley confesses that she doesn’t know how to be a good mom without her own mother’s guidance.

At that moment, they realize they still have each other to lean on. Their relationship isn’t perfect, but they are still family.

Wanting to make amends with Georgia, Matt gifts her the blazer she loves and shares stories of all the happy memories her grandmother had while wearing it. 

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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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