Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Shifting Gears Season 2 episode "Nutcracker." Stream the episode with a Hulu subscription and read at your own risk!
Shifting Gears was one of the few brand new network TV shows cranking out new episodes on the fall 2025 TV schedule, but now it too will take a break before returning in January. The ABC sitcom went out with a Christmas special and a surprisingly sad ending that I didn't see coming.
Tim Allen and Kat Dennings' sitcom hasn't shied away from heavy moments, having tackled divorce and Matt being a widower in Season 1. That said, I'm shocked we actually saw a storyline that led to a character's exit, and one that I quite liked as well.
Matt Broke Up With Eve
Shifting Gears' fall finale started off with a hint that Matt and Eve's relationship could hit the next level. Matt told Eve that he loved her, and when he tried to explain the spectrum of what his love meant, she dropped a bombshell of her own. She got a job offer to be a choreographer on a tour for a K-Pop band overseas in Korea for at least five months. Then the tour would go to Europe, and the gist was that she would be gone for quite a while.
While Eve was willing to try to make a long-distance relationship work, Matt felt he had to be true to himself. A long-distance relationship wasn't something that he wanted, and because of that, he chose to break up with her. The two shared a warm hug, and before Eve left, she told Matt that she loved him as well. Someone grab the tissues!
I Hope Matt And Eve Get Back Together
I'll give Shifting Gears credit for how it threw a curveball, but man, do I hate the takeaway that Jenna Elfman is gone from the series for the forseeable future. The show has written her off for at least the length of the K-Pop tour, however long that may last in the timeline of the series.
Eve did say she would be back between the tour stint, so I think we could see her again when the show returns to the 2026 TV schedule for the rest of Season 2. Her business is still right next to Matt's auto shop, so she'll likely drop by at some point, assuming their relationship doesn't deteriorate any further between this fall finale and whenever she returns.
As a fan of Shifting Gears, I do have to say I'm upset Matt and Eve broke up. Riley breaking off on her own and no longer working for Eve fixed my one problem with the relationship. Now it feels like Matt is going to return to square one with moving on from the death of his wife, but maybe he'll surprise me.
I'm eager to see what happens on Shifting Gears when it returns to ABC on Wednesday, January 8th. In the meantime, I have a healthy lineup of the best Christmas movies to watch, and will set aside my sad feelings about Eve potentially being gone for a bit.
