Previously on "Finding Carter."

The woman you think is your mother...

She's your kidnapper.

My daughter is alive.

You have a $500,000 book advance that has to be repaid.

I asked him not write that book, and he's not.

You ain't even heard our family therapy session.

I can't even say your name without Taylor going "blech" and walking out the room.

I get it, we're broken up, but we're still friends.

Yeah. Always.

Max! What're you doing here?

I invited Max to stay for a couple of days.

What about school... You go to school, don't you?

Gabe's dad is the guy who followed me the day I came to visit you in Virginia.

Nobody will be following Carter after my little FBI sting.

Molly?

You ever tried it?

No.

We get it from this guy, Crash.

I liked you better when I thought you were dead.

She's having a seizure.

I really don't like him.

(Kids laughing)

Damn it!

(Kyle) You knew the FBI was gonna take the case, come on.

Lori Stevens has not left the state.

So whatever happened to that alias list that you were putting together?

I passed it along with the file.

Liz, you have to let this go.

I know, I know.

You don't have one piece of solid information on Lori Stevens.

And the only lead you have is your gut.

Well, I know this, she thinks that Carter is her daughter, and there's no way that she's going to leave her daughter behind.

I agree with you. And I know Lori could be very close.

As a mother, I know this, and as a cop, I know this.

She's going to go to any length to make sure that they're back together.

Holy crap.

Lori's aliases.

Kyle...

I have no idea what this woman is capable of.

All right, all right, look, we can talk about this at work, okay?

I'll talk to you soon.

♪ There you go ♪
♪ there you stay ♪
♪ keeping low ♪
♪ never wanna play ♪
♪ you've been up and down, down ♪
♪ you've been low, low, low ♪
♪ pretending to not ♪
♪ feel alone ♪
♪ pretending to not feel alone ♪

(Carter) I just wanna apologize for the gag me and my friends pulled at the food court, I'm really sorry.

I am truly sorry.

We good?

Excuse me?

I just wanna apologize.

Officer "Be jerky?"

It's "Be jerky."

Oh, come on, I can't be the first person who's made that mistake.

Hey, how's it going?

I'm learning the actual names of the people who hate me.

And the correct way to pronounce them, so that's good.

Well, they prefer to set you and your friends with an obstruction of justice charge.

Consider yourself lucky.

Do these hurt?

Yeah.

Good.

Who's that?

That is a blond-haired, blue-eyed piece of raw sewage.

Carter?

Just finish up here, okay?

There's a lot more that we need to discuss.

Oh, I do hope it's another list of things I've done wrong.

(Chuckles)

I'm sorry, it wasn't my idea.

I don't envy you...

Having her for a mother?

She's not my mom.

She is the woman I have to live with until I find my real mom.

Which is hopefully before you guys find her.

Well, to be honest, that's turned out to be a lot harder than we expected.

Really?

Besides you, all we've got is a tip line with sightings from 50 different countries.

Who even knows what she looks like now.

Or what her name is.

Really, you have absolutely no idea?

Neither does the FBI.

That makes me really happy.

Also, really sad.

But thank you.

♪

Hey, Carter, Carter.

What?

Don't you remember I said we had some other things to discuss?

Yes but does it have to be right now?

My friends are waiting for me.

Look, I know that you've had to make some huge adjustments in your life, and your dad and I have tried to give you a long leash.

I'm on a leash?

Well, you chewed through it.

I am loving this dog analogy.

The point is, clearly we need to set some boundaries.

Such as?

Such as a curfew.

Okay, pass, next.

No, you don't get to pass.

So, it's not enough that you're a cop, now you wanna throw in old-time parent, as well?

Fine.

What? You want me to check in with you if I pass midnight?

I want you home by 10:00 p.m.

(scoffing)

Okay, you have a sense of humor.

Didn't know that about you.

And one minute later, I discontinue your phone service.

You can't do that.

Don't you need that to monitor my every move?

I don't enjoy being this person, but you've been making some really bad decisions lately, one that landed you in the hospital.

Fine.

But look, I am capable of learning from my mistakes.

All I want is to be a good parent.

Okay, well, I had one of those so I know what it looks like. This isn't it.

Do you know any of those cops, Gabe?

They all seem like jerks.

Oh, you met "Be jerky." (Laughing)

I apologized to each of them individually.

But is Elizabeth happy? Nope.

No.

Because Elizabeth is only happy, when she's got a gun pointed at your head, telling you to kiss the wall.

Crash, hey!

Hey, hey, baby Bird.

I'm sorry I missed your party the other night, but I, uh, I heard it was pretty eventful.

Yeah, it was fun, you missed out.

Hey, I'm Crash.

Hey.

You were at the police station earlier.

Yeah.

I would've come over and introduced myself but I wasn't exactly mobile Ofe, Gabe.

And I didn't get your name.

Oh, it's Carter.

Here we go.

Hey, Carter just got out of the hospital.

She had a blackout seizure from some of your Ratchet Molly.

Sorry to hear you were in the hospital.

It's fine, it's not like I have a perfect attendance record or anything.

It could not have been from me. Who told you it was from me?

Was that you, Ofe?

Dude, I've got so many little baggies in here.

I'm gonna start labeling them.

I don't want you putting my name on some baggy, man.

Course not, everybody else.

And the blank one's will be yours.

All right, so... What's on tap for tonight?

(Snickering)

Are we going somewhere or are we staying in, I'm good for both.

I have to leave because I...

Have a curfew now.

It's not even 10:00.

Yeah, well, thank God 'cause I really can't stay any later.

Bye guys, have fun.

Sorry I can't stay.

Hey, hey, yes, you can.

For like five minutes.

Okay, you know how Elizabeth was with you in the police station?

Well, she's also like that at home.

Then yeah, yeah, you should go.

I wouldn't want you to have to go through that.

I'm sure the last thing you wanna do is make that woman angry.

See, there you go, nothing to worry about.

Now just act casual like... not like that.

I'm very glad that you decided not to challenge me on this.

What she's trying to say is, hello.

Who's this?

Ah, this is Bird.

Nice to meet you.

Hi, I'm David, this is Elizabeth.

That's Ofe.

Thank you for having me.

David, Elizabeth.

Hi, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Wilson.

Uh, it's... yeah, the kitchen is just through there.

Gabe, you can show them.

Thanks.

What, you said I had to be home by 10:00.

You didn't say I couldn't have friends over.

I think it's great, I'm glad you have friends.

I can't wait to get to know them.

We can't wait to get to know them.

Great.

Well, uh, this one you already know.

Well, huh, I don't think we've met, I'm David...

Crash, thanks for having me.

♪

Hmm, not a lot here.

A slice of cheddar cheese...

Oh, yes, sold.

Dude with the food.

Yes.

Perfect timing, man.

That is the first time you've been happy to see me.

Oh, now you're talking.

Anyone want coco spheres? American cheese spread?

Hum, salsa.

Do you want anything?

I'm good.

How does she get away with it?

Get away with what?

Well... bringing people over.

Having a party.

Are we not allowed to do that?

Hm.

You guys... You got to check this out.

You think these might be aliases?

Dude, will you keep it down?

Aliases for Carter's mom?

I don't know, I need to do a thorough search.

But I can't do it at home with sgt. Medeiros looking over my shoulder.

Okay, we can do it at my place tomorrow.

You gonna say anything to Carter?

Not unless we find anything.

I don't wanna get her hopes up.

To the mall.

What?

No, is that not our rallying cry?

I really think it worked last time.

You know what, never mind.

It was a metaphor.

Your place is so nice.

I don't really think of it as it is my place.

I mean, the FBI does, but I don't.

FBI?

What, you never heard of a girl who came home safe and sound after being abducted 13 years ago?

That was you?

Yeah, um-Hmm.

So, you're famous.

Yep, well...

The only thing I really want is to be at home with my real mom.

It's funny you should say that.

That's all I want too.

It seems harmless.

They're playing music, they're eating food.

All of that would be fine if one of them wasn't a criminal I had just arrested.

Then wouldn't the smartest move be to avoid him completely?

He's in my home.

That jeopardizes my case and my career, David.

I know that this isn't your style, that you prefer to be the cool dad.

I can't have this conversation if you're gonna mock me.

I'm not mocking you.

Using air quotes is mocking.

I'm sorry, I guess I just didn't know.

I never again will use air quotes.

No, you can use air quotes, just not when you're talking about me.

Now go on, you were saying...

I don't even remember what I was saying.

You arrested one of these kids.

Which one was it? I bet he had a toothpick...

No, Crash, the good-looking, taller one?

Not the surfer dude, the surfer dude?

What's he done?

You name it, arsed, assault, burglary, possession of a deadly weapon, all before 18.

He's been in juvenile lock-up most of his life.

Now he thinks that he's a model citizen because he's just dealing drugs.

Where did Carter meet him?

At the police station today as I was handcuffing him to the chair.

David, she can't, get sucked into this guy's life, she can't, he is a drug dealer.

I get it, he has to leave.

But I don't wanna go out there as the cop.

I wanna go out there together...

As Carter's parents.

Well, let me talk to him. Maybe he'll respond at my "cool dash dig."

Thank you.

Come on.

♪

Uh... it was almost empty.

It's fine, Gabe.

This all looks fine.

What the...

Grant! Go to your room!

I'd call the police, but I don't have to because she's already here.

What's going on?

This animal was teaching your brother how to roll a joint.

Hey, hey, it's all good.

That wasn't weed, we were using oregano.

Oh man, did I just buy a bag of oregano?

Did you really do that?

I'm sorry, the kid said he was 12.

He is 12!

Out there in the real world, this is considered a basic life skill.

He's a sociopath, you didn't tell me he was a sociopath.

Just 'cause we come from different backgrounds doesn't mean I'm a socio...

Get out of our house.

Yeah, he's right, you gotta go.

Okay.

And you can never have anything to do with him again, ever!

Do you understand me?

Yeah, yeah, I understand you.

Well, it was really nice meeting you.

Bye.

Do you understand me?

After last night, this is nice.

Yeah, it is.

Can I ask you a potentially awkward question?

Are there any other kind?

(Chuckling)

Who did you think your father was?

I mean, what had you been told growing up?

What... am I not gonna like this?

No, it's just um...

Well, I was always told that my father was this beautiful stranger who my mom had a wild fling with when she was backpacking through Europe, after college.

Huh, I feel like I must be a letdown.

(Chuckling)

No.

It's just kind of weird, I guess.

I mean, I never thought I'd get to meet my father. And, here you are.

The only bad thing about you, of course, is that you come with Elizabeth.

You know, it's too bad you didn't get to meet my mom.

I really think you two would've hit it off.

Well, maybe in a parallel universe.

I just...

I don't get you and Elizabeth.

I'm sorry, you just... you seem so wrong for each other.

She's definitely not the person I married.

What happened to her?

Oh, what, so this is my fault?

Oh, God, no, no, not at all.

Well... in some ways.

How, exactly?

You notice how slow we are going home because I don't wanna go.

It feels less like a home and more like a war zone.

And you're negotiating a peace treaty?

At least a ceasefire?

Well, has Elizabeth signed on?

She's trying.

I know it doesn't seem like she is, but...

It's harder for her.

Your heart's still beating, hers stopped 13 years ago.

And scene. (Chuckling)

What did you do, write this conversation out in advance?

"Your heart's still beating, "hers stopped 13 years ago," seriously?

What... I thought that was pretty good.

Ha-ha.

I don't think I realized till just now how long it's been since I felt like anybody was listening to me.

It's great having you home.

Except when I'm blowing the place up, right?

Yeah, even then.

All right, these are the websites the police use for background checks.

If she's applied for credit card, drivers license, even a change of address, it'll turn up on one of these.

All the things that violate a person's privacy.

Isn't there a chance the cops have already done this?

I'm sure they've already done it.

Then why are we even doing it?

Aren't we just wasting our time?

'Cause we're all so busy studying 24/7.

We have inside information that the police don't have.

Maybe one of these aliases was Carter's mom's best friend from when she was five, and that could give us a clue about Lori Stevens.

We can do things that the police could never do because we have a source on our side.

And ultimately, we wanna help her find her mom.

You are just determined to be her knight in shining armor, aren't you?

She seemed to have a different knight in mind yesterday.

That thing with Crash?

That was nothing, it was Carter making a point.

It didn't mean anything.

I hate to pull the wool off your eyes, but I'm pretty sure Carter's into the bad boy.

Who's the bad boy?

Me.

Hi.

Hey.

♪

(Soda can hisses)

Is this okay?

What?

I just sit here and watch you?

Yeah, sure.

It's not that interesting, I'm just making croutons.

Croutons?

Are you serious I love croutons.

The first salad I ever made was a big bowl of croutons.

Had some blue-cheese dressing on it.

I still make it sometimes.

Do you wanna learn how?

It's pretty easy.

Yeah... of course.

I got one.

So you just put these in the bowl.

Okay.

Little bit of oil.

Little bit more.

Stop!

Okay.

Now mix 'em until they're all coated.

Is this right?

There's not really a wrong way to mix.

(Chuckling)

Can't believe I'm making croutons.

Carter's lucky to have such a cool sister.

No, you've got it backwards, Carter's the cool sister.

Well, you're... you're smart and you're nice and...

Beautiful and...

No, you're just as cool as her.

Uh... then spread 'em out on this.

Good, really good.

(Elizabeth) Hey.

Wow, this is nice.

I'd forgotten how peaceful it can be around here.

Now, just throw spices all over it.

Max, how come Carter can't go out with someone like you?

We did go out.

We just...

Work better as friends with occasional benefi...

They were very occasional.

All right.

Good.

Does that look good?

I think you have a future in spicing croutons.

(Chuckling)

That's not a real job.

Is that a real job?

Come back in 30, and you can help me make a salad.

Cool.

All right.

I really like Max.

Me too.

Wonder if there's a way I can get them back together, Max and Carter.

As I think you know, Carter pretty much does what she wants and only what she wants.

No question, she's a willful teenager.

I used to be one too, believe it or not.

But you, my little girl, were never one, thank God.

You know, it's funny, when my mom would get really angry with me, she'd yell this thing at me, like it was an ancient gypsy curse.

"I hope one day you have a child just like you."

Well, it worked, I do.

I don't think Carter is gonna care what you were like when you were a teenager.

And I don't think she's gonna listen to you.

That's what I'm counting on.

My eyes...

You guys, this is not fun.

Seriously?

I didn't want to get your hopes up, but I'm glad you came by.

Do you recognize any of these names as friends or family?

We didn't have any other family.

I was told.

Find anything, Ofe?

Yes.

My father's been donating to libertarian candidates for the past three elections.

That's it, I'm taking over.

Okay, what name are we on?

Catherine Reilly.

Wait, Catherine Reilly, oh, my God.

That's a mailing address.

That's a brand-new mailing address.

Fredericksburg, that's not far, that's maybe an hour.

We can go first thing tomorrow.

(Whispering) Man, you've got it made in the shade.

Welcome home.

You set the whole thing up, didn't you?

The burner-phone texts, the coded message?

Look, I'm sorry, dad.

I knew it was you, playing cat and mouse with the police had your name written all over it.

Gabriel Medeiros, 12 years old.

Food court thing was dumb.

It was lame.

And you can add to that stupid, rude, and expensive.

What can I do to make it up to you?

I get that you're sorry, and I appreciate that.

But I also get that you did it for Carter, right?

Look, son...

I don't want to be the type of dad to tell you who your friends should be.

But I would also think twice before hanging out with Carter.

I mean, she has a lot of problems.

She's not a mental case if that's what you're saying.

Well, she just got out of the hospital.

She almost overdosed, okay, she just can't be trusted.

She just lost her mom.

Everyone suffers losses.

It's how we handle them that says everything about a person.

Look at this, cloth napkins, what's the occasion?

I just wanted to have a really nice family dinner.

Don't you think it's time to have a really nice family dinner?

Yes.

Can you go get everyone?

Guys, dinner!

Is there something going on?

Totally in the dark.

Best behavior, I promise.

You know, I think it's because I'm using the bad controller.

It won't let me jump.

(Max) We'll trade after dinner.

This looks amazing.

It really does.

I'd be so excited if I ate red meat.

Hey, you eat croutons, though, right?

Yes, Max, I eat croutons.

(Elizabeth) Okay, guys, sit.

Um, Max, I'm sorry, I wanted this to be a family dinner.

You understand.

Yeah.

It's been really great having you, but...

All your stuff is in the living room, and Carter has all these new friends now, so...

Why is she doing this?

He helped me cook.

Elizabeth, he can at least stay for dinner.

Sure, you can stay for dinner.

No, you are right, I should go, thank you guys for everything.

I'll get my stuff.

I'm sorry, I can't... I can't do it.

Stop throwing my friends out of the house.

Isn't this supposed to be my house, too?

He stays.

And, you can have your precious living room back.

He's staying with me, in my room.

Come on Max, it's fine, just ignore her, that's what you do.

I'll save you supper.

So much for family dinner.

We can still enjoy it.

I know I'm going to.

Pass the corn.

Boy, you really gave it to mom last night.

You should've been there with me standing up for Max, but you were too chicken to stand up to her.

Is that what I am?

Uh, you were.

Well, I think we are watching two different plays.

See from your perspective, she was throwing Max out, but from mine, she was pretending to throw Max out.

What are you talking about, that makes no sense.

She likes Max.

She wants you to be with Max. If you're with Max, then you won't be with Crash.

She played me?

Like a kazoo.

Wow, I underestimated her.

Kind of didn't work, though.

No?

He's sweet.

(Whispering) You like him.

No!

We've been through this.

I'm not going through it again. When it comes to boys, you win.

Hi, we're looking for someone who we think lives here?

She looks like this?

Do you know her?

Cat, yeah... 2-3-4.

She lives in the building?

Not anymore. She moved. A month or so ago.

Said she was gonna go live with her daughter.

She did?

She did.

She was here.

She's gonna go live with her daughter.

She's not giving up.

Then neither are we.

Thank you, Gabe.

You've been such an amazing friend.

If you bump that up a notch, it gets a little better.

Thank you.

I mean that.

What's this big news that's so important we had to talk about it in person?

Is this about "Finding Carter"?

Yes, it's about "Finding Carter."

Okay, before you go on, I have some news.

A bid just came in from a publisher. Are you ready?

Double... I'm gonna say it again, it's my new favorite word.

Double the highest offer if...

You can get the kidnapper to talk.

Is there a world in which that is a possibility?

Well... yes.

You just said yes.

Yes, it would work with the idea I'm about to pitch you.

Okay, I'm all ears.

What if I wrote "Finding Carter" as a novel?

I've heard enough, no.

Now, just a second.

The fictional story of a family reunited with their long-lost child.

And I, of course, would change the names...

Still no, and it's a bigger no.

All this money that's being offered is great, but I don't need that much.

Fiction is what I've always wanted to write.

This would be the perfect way in.

David, do you remember how much you loved your book tour?

People lined up to get a signed book, huh?

Would you want to be the man, sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring, knowing when it finally does, it's just gonna be bad news.

You remember those calls?

Pass, pass, pass, pass.

Because those are your two choices, so pick one.

And in the second one, you owe half a million dollars to Random House.

See you tomorrow.

You're mad at me.

Yup.

Can I apologize?

Go ahead.

Standing still.

I was an idiot.

I was trying to impress you.

I don't know why I thought I had to do that but I did.

And how exactly would teaching my 12-year-old brother how to roll a joint impress me?

I don't know.

Guess if I liked to play video games, I don't get a lot of chances to do that, but he's such a cool kid, I wanted someone in your family to like me...

Like I said, I'm an idiot, but I'm sorry.

Truly, I'm sorry.

It's ok, I'm not mad.

Good.

Thank you.

Look, I know I blew my chance to get to know you.

At least my record's clean.

Who said you blew it?

Elizabeth.

Exactly.

Dude, I'm sorry.

You know Crash.

This was inevitable.

No, I'm inevitable.

I'm just not what she wants right now.

(Carter) "I'm going to die."

Why would you put something like that on your body?

(Rain pattering)

Because it's true.

It's the only really true thing I've ever heard in my life.

I've been told a lot of lies. Only lies, actually.

None of that matters.

Come on, it's my whole life, how can that not matter?

It's not your whole life.

All that matters is what you do from this moment on.

At least, that's what they told me when I aged out of my last detention center.

(Police sirens)

God, I hate that sound.

Always sounds like Elizabeth's calling me home for dinner or something.

Yeah, I'm not crazy about it either.

I got it! I got it!

Oh! What?

I told you, dude, it wasn't the controller.

You know, I'm glad you didn't leave.

But pretty soon, I'm... I am gonna have to.

Why, are your parents worried about you?

I'm worried about me.

What do you mean?

I mean, I'm not in school, I'm not working, I'm sleeping on my ex-girlfriend's bedroom floor.

So pretty much all I got going for me right now is whooping your zombie ass.

So, uh, I mean, if you're not Carter's boyfriend, who is?

I'm not sure.

Seems like there's a lot of guys filling out that application though.

It's not that guy Crash, is it?

You don't like him?

No.

'Cause he got you in trouble with your dad?

No because he told me, by the time he was my age, he killed a guy.

You know that's not true.

Something like that, you'd be in jail forever.

He was just showing off for you.

For me?

Why would anybody wanna show off for me?

Are you kidding me, man? You hear me, you're cool.

I am?

Well, pretty close.

But you gotta let those bangs grow out.

(Video game beeps)

Oh, that's not cool, man.

Just because we feel like they're coming after us, doesn't mean like we have to drive like they are.

(Passing car honking)

Unless they are coming after us?

Are they?

Maybe.

Okay, I probably should've asked you this before, but is this your car, Crash?

Can you tell which direction the sirens are coming from?

Oh, my God.

All right, I'm gonna take that as a no.

I need you to pull over.

I can't.

Crash, pull over.

Car must have a LoJack system.

Pull over!

Let me out of this car, Crash, now!

(Police siren blaring)

(Tires squealing)

Hi. It's me.

I screwed up.

Oh my God! I was just seconds away from being caught in a stolen car which, I swear to God, you have to believe me, I would never have gotten into in the first place if I had any idea, but why would you believe me?

I don't even believe I did something so stupid.

I am such an idiot, I'm such an idiot.

Carter...

No, I know.

I know, I know, I know, I know.

I'm so sorry.

That's like the least useful sentence in the whole entire English language, but it's the only one I can think of right now.

Gosh, she's just gonna kill me.

She's just gonna kill me, and I don't blame her, she should.

She's not home.

What?

She's at work.

You don't have to say a thing.

She never has to know.

Thank God.

Thank God.

Dad?

Wow, it feels so weird saying that.

Dad.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm a dad. That's what we do.

You know, I think this is our first hug.

I think you're right.

Next time on "Finding Carter".

(Carter) Bird, I thought you were my friend.

I thought you were mine.

[Indistinct].

Let me explain myself.

You said that I would never have to make this call.

If you could just trust me.

Come back.

I will.

I can't, I can't do this. Not unless you tell me it's over with David.

Hi, Max.