During the Wednesday, March 19, episode titled “Kiss,” Gabriel (Scott) prepared for Riley (Dennings) to potentially reconcile with her ex. Riley didn’t, but she wasn’t ready for something new either so Gabriel didn’t make a move. Instead, in the final moments of the finale, Eve (Elfman) surprised Matt (Allen) after an entire episode of banter by kissing him.
“I thought it was a really fun twist because it seems like of course it’s going to be Riley and Gabriel,” Dennings, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly. “But it was a real surprise.”
Dennings and Scott, 48, agreed that the romantic finale moment made more sense for Eve and Matt‘s relationship, with her adding, “It’s a surprise kiss for Tim Allen’s character. But I feel like Eve got a little liquid courage in that moment to do that — maybe she wasn’t planning on it. I think it’s a great moment.”
Earlier this season, Elfman, 53, joined the cast in a recurring role as a potential love interest for Allen, 71. The actress told Us that she was excited to see how the hit ABC sitcom would approach a show where Allen wasn’t married on screen after his past projects, including Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, paired the actor with a wife.
“You’re going to see more of the dynamic between Matt and Eve,” Elfman teased in February. “Just more forthright communication, opinions and exchange. You get to see people being their full selves in each other’s face. It’s really fun.”
Elfman went on to praise Allen for being a perfect scene partner. “He’s so confident as a comedic actor. He’s just confident and I’m confident and we don’t care if something [doesn’t land],” she noted to Us at the time. “When you’ve been doing it long enough, you’re not paranoid about a joke not working and you don’t care. There’s no preciousness and there’s enough confidence to support the exploration of the scene of humor.”
While viewers got an idea of what is to come for Eve and Matt, Riley and Gabriel’s future is a bit more unclear for now.
“Riley is literally hours out of her marriage. She should really pull it back a little bit,” Dennings joked to Us about how long it could take for Riley and Gabriel to get together. “She’s been separated for a long time and she hasn’t been emotionally in this relationship. But still, she just got out of a very long relationship.”
She continued: “She also really loves Gabriel as a friend. So I think there’s lots of reasons for the slow burn.”
Riley and Gabriel might not be a couple anytime soon — but Dennings and Scott have been having a blast as scene partners.
“We get along. We instantly really hit it off and got along and we have a lot of things in common and I really help you with your phone a lot,” she quipped, to which Scott added, “When we were shooting, it’s one thing. When we’re not shooting, we became friends right away and I immediately was like, ‘Oh wow, this is a huge gift.’ Not only do I get to do this show but it came with just a really important dear friend for life. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it before where I was like, ‘Oh wow, we do have chemistry.’”
