This second episode of the second season again centers around the everyday life of the Phillips family at home. Something as ordinary as a teenager’s driving exam and the purchase of his first car take on supernatural overtones in Fiona’s corner of the world.
In the opening scene a pretty little blue car is battering determinedly against the inside of a garage door. This would not be an extraordinary event… except that the car doesn’t have a driver and seems to give the impression that it would like to take itself for a drive.
The scene changes to the interior of the Hope Springs Studios where Molly is hard at work on a new recording. "She Sells" is interrupted by Jack and Clu who have come to lay out their plan for buying a car. This joint project gives us the first hint that Carey Bell may be putting in an appearance soon. Clu's unseen older brother has offered to chip in with Clu and Jack to buy the car. Molly seems hesitant about the whole idea and tries to postpone giving her answer. The boys interpret this as inevitable victory. By 5 o’clock the next morning they are combing the newspapers. It doesn’t take a psychic to see that they will set their sights on the car with a mind of its own.
Van Blanchard, owner of the little blue Mustang, appears to have a few guilty twinges about selling his disturbed automobile to a couple of teenagers. It doesn’t take him too long however to accept their thousand bucks and the boys soon have their own set of wheels. Now all that’s left is for Jack to get his driver’s license.
Molly is understandably concerned about the concept of Jack driving. Most parents are worried about their children when they first begin to drive, but Molly's fears are intensified by memories of her husband's fatal car crash ten years earlier. Such fears may also be present in Jack's thoughts as he seems a little edgy behind the wheel. Having three "backseat drivers" in the car with him probably doesn't help either. His first road test under Ned's instruction is rather bumpy. The car jumps and swerves… and tries to make a left-handed turn without Jack’s consent. At least it has more courtesy than most human drivers and Fiona watches in astonishment as the car turns on its own blinker before darting into oncoming traffic.
When Fi tries explaining to her mother that Jack’s "lame driving" may actually be a non-mechanical problem with the car she is impatiently dismissed. Molly has apparently had her quota of paranormal explanations for this lifetime. Undeterred, Fiona heads out to talk with Blanchard. All she learns from her rather unsubtle questioning is that the car had been bought at Big Ed’s and Blanchard had spent two years rebuilding it.
Reporting this conversation to Jack only annoys him further. He is no doubt having visions of the entire town discussing his disastrous first attempt at driving. Adding to Jack’s frustration is a bit of friction between himself and Clu. One car, split three ways, is bound to be a source of conflict sooner or later. It doesn’t seem to help any that Clu already has his license… and a better argument for using the car.
Fiona continues to pursue her line of inquiry and convinces her mother to visit Big Ed’s Auto Shop. Molly is appalled to discover that the car has already been in one deadly accident but seems slightly soothed by Ed’s faith in Blanchard’s mechanical skills. Fi, of course, sees more evidence for her living-machine theory. She researches the Ornest accident in the "Denver Daily Mirror". The article she locates give her enough information to flesh out an entire scenario.
When she offers Clu her theory of a guilty car wanting to complete a trip that it hadn’t been able to finish he seems to track. He then patiently explains to her that she is completely nuts. Although he has previously hunted gremlins, followed ghost lights, and jumped into quantum singularities with Fiona he is reluctant to believe anything supernatural could be affecting "his" car. Eventually he caves, however, and agrees to drive Fi to meet Jack at the DMV.
They realize that Jack’s driving test is already in progress as the out-of-control car flies past them. As Fiona shouts at Jack to "let the car drive" and the examiner yells at him to relinquish control of the wheel the car itself is fighting Jack’s attempts to steer. Harassed beyond his ability to think clearly Jack finally gives up and lets go. Given free rein at last, the car drives itself to the Hope Springs Community Hospital and stops. A very shaken Jack stumbles out of the car in disbelief. The examiner checks himself into the emergency room and has a quiet nervous breakdown.
Jack undoubtedly flunks the exam.
In the closing scene of this episode the groundwork continues to build for Clu’s eventual departure from the show. He and Jack say an "early goodbye" to one another so that they can enjoy their last few months together without the farewell formalities hanging over them. Both seem certain that Clu will be leaving for college soon. Their light banter over who will be looking after the communal car in the future indicates that their earlier tension has been at least temporarily put behind them.
Quote:
Molly: Why can’t you just drive my car?
Jack: Your "Mom Car"? So, you’re serious about me never having a date, falling in love, and getting married? Which means no grandchildren, remember.