Finding Carter “Now You See Me” 

David hasn’t been pulling his weight for a while. Even though he’s excited about a big book advance – which he keeps telling Elizabeth is going to come through soon – it’s hard for her to believe him. He doesn’t consult her when he offers to buy the girls a car. In fact, he doesn’t even consult Carter and Taylor. Of course they’re not gonna be picky, but because of David’s impulse purchase Elizabeth tells him they can’t pay any of their bills. She has to ask her mother for money, something that’s clearly happened before.

Even though Elizabeth told Kyle she wanted to give her family a chance when she broke things off with him, she doesn’t stay resolved for very long. He can tell she’s upset when she’s at work on her day off and reminds her they were friends before they were anything else. If she needs to talk, he’s here for her. When talking turns to making out, Kyle has to know that it’s over with David. He can’t do this unless it is. She tells him it is. She swears it is.

Max feels like he doesn’t belong with the Wilsons anymore. He’s cute with Grant, and little awkward with Taylor and can’t even bring himself to say goodbye to Carter in person. He runs into Lori on his way out of town, but it’s not by accident. She admits to following him from the house. Sam thinks she’s being reckless, but Lori doesn’t care. At least she can be close to Carter while she’s working on getting them new identities. That’s still a few weeks away though and in the meantime Lori makes Sam promise not to mention any of it – including that he saw her – to Carter.

Carter can’t seem to get away from being in the spotlight. Quite a few guys have shown interest in her and now she’s Bird’s muse. The problem? Carter isn’t exactly flattered by Bird’s painting and when Bird papers what seems like the entire school with a reproduction of the painting, they have a bit of a falling out. It turns out to be extremely short-lived and Carter soon discovers why Bird made that painting with Carter’s face and not her own. Bird (usually) doesn’t talk about what happened to her, but she hasn’t been able to paint for over a year. And the reason for her creative block is drawn in the pages of Bird’s sketchbook. Since Bird’s parents are never home, this seems like this is the first chance Bird’s had to talk about the attack to anyone. I’m glad she has a friend as nosy as Carter because if Carter hadn’t gone snooping, she wouldn’t have known.

I think the most surprising moment of the episode comes at the end when Sam says Lori’s name and for that split second Carter doesn’t know who he’s talking about. I understand Carter’s desire to be with the woman who raised her, but there’s still so many things we don’t know – and Lori even admitted that much to Carter. I can’t imagine a story or scenario in which Lori can truly justify her actions all those years ago. But I want her to try. I want to know what made her kidnap Carter in the first place.

Finding Carter airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on MTV.