Man With a Plan – Driving Miss Kate

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

Kate (Grace Kaufman) just received her learner’s permit from the DMV. Andi (Liza Snyder) is hopeful that her workload would soon reduce as Kate could run errands and drop the kids off at school. Adam (Matt LeBlanc) is stoked about teaching driving to Kate, but his excitement dwindles down just after their first mortifying whirl. He starts to avoid Andi by hiding out at the garage with Don (Kevin Nealon), Lowell (Matt Cook) and Joe (Stacy Keach). Adam plans to explain that he was simply hanging out with the guys in case he gets busted. While the cobwebs inside the dusty garage scare Lowell, Don is happy to hide as he needs to stay hidden from his wife anyways. Apparently, Marcy (Kali Rocha) is unhappy with his complacency and lack of romance. Lowell shares how he successfully wooed women in the past by cooking them gourmet dinners with his special handmade gnocchi on the menu. Andi knocks at the garage and soon Adam gets busted. Andi makes him confess that he’s avoiding Kate and tries to make him understand that it’s his responsibility to correct Kate. Andi adds that if he isn’t willing, she’d happily substitute for him as she’s a much better driver than him anyways. Adam feels gutted and goes straight to the car where Kate is waiting for him. He advises her not to not to check text messages and rather ensure correct mirror positions before starting the car. Kate remains playful. Adam asks her to hold the steering wheel properly at 10 and 2, like a clock. Kate copies Adam’s regular stance, which is incorrect, and then starts arguing. Irritated, Adam abandons the driving lesson yet again. A few weeks pass by.

Adam, Lowell and Joe are in the living room. Don joins the trio as Marcy is still angry with him. She is upset that he forgot to pick her up from her exercise class. Now, Don is barred him from entering the bedroom and he’s desperate to try out Lowell’s gourmet dinner route. Andi comes in and shares that Kate feels confident about giving the DMV road test now after so many lessons. Adam doesn’t think that she’s ready. Lowell is upset to the point he even contemplate hiding out in that cobwebbed garage again. Joe suggests Adam let the DMV do the talking. Adam loves the idea as he won’t have to do the dirty work. He accompanies Kate to the DMV. They submit the documents and Kate goes in for the road test. Adam learns that his own license expired three months ago and now a written test is needed to get a new one. He suggests other ways to tackle the situation, but ends up getting his old license shredded by the pissed DMV clerk.  Adam is forced to take the written test, but his cockiness makes him fail. Now, he has to wait a week to appear for the retest. Just then, Kate thrillingly informs him that she cleared her road test! After returning home, Andi makes fun of the irony. Already pissed, Adam is even more annoyed to learn that Kate went on a drive around Pittsburgh all alone. Andi, who’s tracking Kate, shares that she’s at the Whitestone Overlook. Adam reveals that it’s the infamous makeout point. He wants Andi to drive him up there so that he could put some sense into Kate, but Andi declines to help. Adam leaves anyways.

Lowell is readying the ingredients at Don’s home. Marcy has gone for a hike and the guys are alone. Lowell wishes to teach Don the gnocchi recipe, but he only wants the ready-made meal as opposed to learning the recipe. Adam finds Kate sitting alone in the car up at Whitestone Overlook. He walks up to her and gives her a lecture on how she’s still too naive for the outside world and why she shouldn’t have gone out on her own. Kate, who’s still clueless about her apparent misdemeanor, gets grounded by Adam. Kate abandons him and goes home. Adam is forced to drive the car back home, but he gets pulled over. When asked for his license Adam furnishes the old licence shreds from the DMV. He gets home and Andi shouts at him for grounding Kate. Adam stresses that Kate is not ready to tackle the outside world, but Andi makes him realize that he’s the one who’s not ready to let her baby girl go and experience life. Andi recollects how she, herself, struggled with the same issue back when Kate was twelve years old, but she soon learned about giving space to kids.

Meanwhile, Marcy gets home early which forces Lowell to hide under the table abandoning his gnocchi preparation and leaving Don alone at the kitchen counter. Marcy finds Don cooking and is turned on. She clears the table and they start to makeout with poor Lowell trapped underneath it. It’s late evening. Adam finds Kate sitting inside the car alone at their driveway. As she has all the doors fastened, Adam talks to her from outside. He reminisces his own days when he used to sit inside the car just like her and how finally getting the license meant being a grown up. He realizes how big a deal this is for Kate and apologizes for his behavior. She lets him in. Adam confesses that it’s been hard to let go of her into adulthood as she is still the same little girl to him. He next gives pointers to Kate on being wary of bad guys. Kate ensures that she’s not going out this late and Adam looks relieved! He lets her know that he loves her and they share an emotional hug. A week later, Adam lets Andi know that he cleared the written test. Thrilled, Andi shows him that she’s making gnocchi. Apparently, Lowell shared the recipe with her. Adam gets turned on, but before they get all hot and heavy Lowell jumps out of the pantry and runs for his life!