Carter and Taylor celebrate their birthdays together for the first time since they were toddlers. Carter must choose between her new life and her old one.
"Throw Momma From the Train" was the best episode of Finding Carter since the premiere by a considerable margin. It gave a main story to Carter that wasn't about romance. She was faced with a choice: staying with her real family or going on the run with Lori. That's basically what this entire season has been about so far. And now, it's come to a head. She has made her decision. She's sticking with her real family and her new friends and Crash. That was the choice I fully expected her to make but that didn't hinder the uncertainty in this situation. Everyone had an opinion about what she should do. Some wanted her to stay while others - namely Crash - wanted her to go. It was a story that was simple but was also very complex.What helped immensely with the main plot was that it was set against the backdrop of Carter and Taylor's birthday. It's the first time they've celebrated this event together since they were three but there's this threat of Carter possibly leaving again. It's such a happy and extravagant occasion that could be met with disappointment very quickly. Taylor knows what's going on and makes sure Carter knows how leaving would effect everyone. That was probably my favorite Taylor moment that didn't also include Max (who continued having great moments this week like talking to Taylor in front of Carter and telling Gabe he doesn't have to answer "his questionnaire").
Yes, there were still superfluous moments about the stuff happening elsewhere on the show. Grant being the easily forgotten kid has already grown very tiresome. Elizabeth's affair is about to be exposed in a very big way. And yet, the show centered around the kidnapping plot again and was able to get great episodic conflict out of it. Just look at the final few minutes of the episode as Carter approaches David and he then deals with it. That was great. I want more of that type of show. That was an honest emotional connection between a father and his daughter. He doesn't believe she needs to carry this kind of emotional weight even though she's been through so much recently. He takes that burden off of her shoulders and then just slams it into Lori's face. He and Elizabeth could solve their Lori problem once and for all. But they choose not to. That's just further prove that now, they love Carter more than they hate Lori.
Some more thoughts:
- That dress looked great on both girls.
- Lori even used to joke about kidnapping other babies. Seriously, how did Carter not know that something was just off with her? I don't care how sweet the show wants us to think it is that Carter would choose twins. It's just not right.
- On top of that, Carter used to celebrate her birthday on the day that Lori kidnapped her which was May 5.
- The episode faltered whenever it tried to shoehorn in the romantic plots like Crash wanting to go with Carter. Snooze button.
- On the other hand, Bird's parting gift and speech were amazing. Those two have become great friends lately.
- But seriously, who remembers stuff from when they were 3?
