"Oh my God": Shifting Gears finale kiss completely shocked Kat Dennings despite being somewhat aware of it

Kat Dennings and Tim Allen starring in Shifting Gears concluded its first season on March 19, 2025, and the final episode, Kiss, did give the viewers an unexpected kiss, which took almost everyone by surprise.

While talking to Screen Rant, about that expected kiss, Kat Dennings, who besides starring in the show as Riley also serves as a producer, mentioned,

“I was like, "Oh my God!" I couldn't believe it even though I knew it was going to happen. It was very well done.”

Shifting Gears follows Matt,

“a stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop; when Matt's estranged daughter and her kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.”

Let us now explore in detail what conspired between that kiss in the finale of Shifting Gears and how it came to be.

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Matt and Eve share a kiss in Shifting Gears finale

The season finale of Shifting Gears tied up several plotlines. In the finale episode, Jimmy, Roley’s ex, turns up at her door in hopes for them to reunite. However, Riley seems somewhat confused about her feelings but eventually asks Jimmy to sign the divorce papers, which would end their marriage officially.

In the same episode, Riley gets drunk and tries to kiss Gabriel, who is also trying to deal with his feelings for her. Gabriel however, does not reciprocate to Riley’s kiss as he thinks that might ruin their friendship.

While all these events are major plot points, the main kiss happens toward the end of the episode when Matt and Eve unexpectedly kiss each other. When asked if she knew what exactly was going to happen in the episode, Dennings said to ScreenRant,

“I knew a little bit. Michelle Nader, our incredible showrunner, gave me a little sneak peek, and I was also asking just incessantly what was going to happen. So I knew the overview of it, but I did not know the more fun details of it. So I was very excited.”

When asked if she knew in what way the finale was going to honor its title, she said,

“No. They had pitched me a different sort of version of the finale. I guess there's no point in talking about that because it's not what we did. But they went through some different iterations of it and this was definitely unexpected. Everyone was so shocked when it was the Tim Allen and Jenna Elfman kiss.”

She further added,

“And, in fact, when I watched them do the run-through, I actually squealed out loud watching it, like I was an audience member.”

Since another attempted kiss happened in the same episode when Riley tried to kiss Gabriel in her drunken state, Dennings talked about the same, saying,

“I think it was 80% alcohol and 20% realizing in that moment that maybe she does have feelings for him. I was afraid of it seeming like she was just doing a rebound thing. I definitely didn't want that seeming like what was happening. So I think she was just tipsy, and she loves Gabriel as a friend, and I think it just intersected for a moment there.”

While a second season of Shifting Gears has not yet been officially announced, the chances seem pretty solid, per various reports. In case it does get a second season, the aftermath of these kisses can be expected to be explored in depth.

Shifting Gears can be streamed on Hulu.

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