Step by Step (1991–1998): Season 3, Episode 12 - Close Encounters of the Marital Kind - full transcript

Honey, would you hand me
another cookie, please.

I have a better idea.

Why don't we share one?

Man. The geezers
are feeding each other again.

Can't you guys knock
before you come in a room?

Can't you guys eat
a cookie without
getting turned on?

Everybody, I've got
great news.

You are looking at
Wisconsin's newest
licensed driver.

Karen!
I passed my test!

That is great,
congratulations.

Isn't that great, Frank?



Yeah, congratulations.
Way to go. Ha, whoopee.

Aren't you happy for me?

Well, yes, Karen, I am.

But it just means now
we have another
teenage driver

who will be
dinging up the cars.

Man, that is so unfair.

I mean, you take out
one phone booth
and you're branded for life.

JT, the phone booth
was inside a restaurant.

It said, "Drive Thru."

Son, this is not a joke.

Now, Carol and I are tired
of worrying about teenagers
wrecking the cars.

Well, you know, Frank,

the three of us have been
talking about that very issue

and we've come up
with a plan



that's gonna make your life
a whole lot easier.

And, what is this plan?

You and Mom
are gonna buy us a car.

It, it doesn't have
to be a new car.

Hey, we're serious
about this.

I don't think they're
gonna buy us a car.

Hey, Dad. Can I have
the classifieds?
I want to look for a car.

JT, I told you, we're not
buying you guys a car.

I know. So the girls and I
have decided
to pool our money

and, buy one ourselves.

Use your own money?

I like the sound of that.

How much money you got?

Four hundred and eleven bucks.

JT, the only car you can
get for four hundred bucks,
has snakes living in it.

There must be something
in here we can afford.

Let's see here.

Well, here we go.

"1978 Toyota,
air conditioning,
low mileage,

"four hundred bucks."

"Scuba gear required
to locate and salvage."

So maybe it's gonna take
a little more time to find
a car we can afford.

Do you know what?
I know who has got a car
you can afford.

Who?
Fred Flintstone.

Thanks a lot, Dad.

Hi, Frank.
Hi, honey.

1 have got something
that's gonna help
our marriage.

You got the nurse's cap?

No. I bought this book called, Ten Minutes A Day To A Better Marriage

Honey, this is
one of those
self-improvement books.

You read them, and then
I have to improve.

Frank, people who don't
work on their marriages
slowly drift apart.

All I'm asking for
is ten minutes a day.

Doing what?

Just some
simple exercises,

like writing each other
love notes

or expressing our
affection in public.

I've got an exercise
that takes
about ten minutes

and I guarantee you,
we won't drift apart.

Frank?

You do this for me,
and I promise,

I'll bring you
breakfast in bed
every Sunday morning

wearing nothing
but a smile
and that nurse's cap.

I think our marriage
is getting better already.

Hey, Frank, I was,
getting a wrench
out of your toolbox.

I found this.

It's addressed to

"My Little Love Bunny."

That's, from my wife.
Virg, here, I'll take it.

No, no, no, now I think
probably the guys
would like to hear it.

No, I don't think they would.

Yeah.

Sorry, boss. Majority rules.

"My Dearest Darling Frank.

"I'm sitting here
at the kitchen table

"thinking of your
luscious tender lips."

Whoo, hot.

Hey, what's going on?

Virgil's reading
a love note to Frank.

Dude.

"I think of you day and night.

"Dreaming of the moment
when we can melt
into each other's arms.

"Expressing our passion
in the most intimate way.

"You are truly the man
of my dreams.

"I love you
with all my heart."

Hey, Uncle Frank?
Yeah?

I'm no expert
but I think Virgil's got
the Love Jones for you.

Cody, you don't understand.

Hey, come on, Uncle Frank.
"Melt into each other's arms?"

"Expressing our passion
in the most intimate way?"

Face it, he ain't asking you
to go bowling.

Everybody.
Aw geez!

There's something
I want you all to know.

I love Frank Lambert
more than anybody else
in the world.

Yeah, I wouldn't
bet on that, Carol.

Hey, guys.

Hey, Dana, JT called
and left you a message.

What was the message?

Well, I don't know.
After he said it was for you,
I stopped listening.

Yeah, that's what
the message was.

He bought a car.

He bought a car!
That's fantastic!

Well, here she is.

Our new car!

JT, turn that thing off.

I did.

But this baby's so peppy,
she just wants to keep running.

JT, this is not a car,

this is 2,000 pounds
of metal looking
for a place to die.

Believe me, this is
the only car I could find
for four hundred bucks.

It's an eyesore.

So are you,
but we keep you around.

I'll bet it doesn't
even have a radio.

It's got something better.

It's called, "an eight track
tape player".

I even talked the guy
into giving me his tapes.

All right, check it out,
here's one by Glen Campbell

and here's one by Cher
that she made with some
dude named "Sony."

Hey, check this out.

The headlight came right off.

Gimme that,
that's part of the car.

Let's go for a ride. Come on.

Great!

Shotgun.

Hey, I want to sit
in the front seat.

No, I need a shotgun
to kill JT.

Everything's fine.

It's probably just
running a little rich.

I'll check it out.

If it starts up,
hit the gas
and run him down.

My God, the engine fell out.

Dude!
A '62 VW Bug.

The Rolls Royce
of the working man.

What are you doing, cuz?

I'm looking for the engine.

That's right over here.

You weren't looking
in the front, were you?

Nah. I was just playing
a little trick on the girls.

Hey, Cody, you know
a lot about cars.

Maybe you can
fix this hunk of junk.

Sure, have no fear,
the Codeman's here.

I can fix anything.

Dude.

Hope you ain't needing
this thing right away.

What's this?

Did you write me
a little love note?

Well, I said I would
give this book a try.

You are so sweet.

"Dear Carol, you sure
smell good. Love, Frank."

And you do.

Well, that's a good start.

Okay.

Tonight's exercise
is designed
to improve intimacy.

Intimacy.

That's my kind of exercise.

Come on, come on.

No, no, Frank.
Not that kind of intimacy.

See, the book says
to be truly close
with your spouse,

you have to be
truly honest with them.

Okay?

All right, now.
"Exercise number five.

"Tell your mate something
you've been keeping
secret from them

"because you thought
they might get mad at you."

I don't think that's
a very good idea.

Why not?

Because you might
get mad at me.

Frank, I'm not
going to get mad at you.

Now, come on,
give it a try.

Okay.

You know, last month
when I said I lost $10
in my monthly poker game?

Well, the truth is,
it was 30.

Frank, you don't
have to keep things
like that from me.

Really?

Well, in that case,
it was 50.

Okay, so it was 50.

I mean, knowing you've
been honest is more
important than the money.

Honey, this is great.
I love the feeling of not
keeping anything from you.

Okay, my turn.
Okay.

Boy, this is hard,

but the book says
I should do it,
so I'm going to do it.

There's some money
you don't know about.

What do you mean?

Well, I have a little
savings account of my own.

Well, hey, that's all right.

You deserve to have
a little mad money.

Well, actually, it's more than
a little mad money.

It's $3500.

Boy, I feel
so much better.

"$3500?"

Well, actually now
with interest,
it's probably closer to 3600.

Anyway, it was money
I had before we met.

So, I put it aside
to protect my children

because I wasn't 100% sure
our marriage would work out.

I tell you, I've been
holding that inside now
for two and a half years.

Boy, I feel
so much better now.

Don't you?

No!

Well, the book says
you're supposed
to feel better.

Yeah, well,
the book was wrong.

What do you mean you
"weren't sure our marriage
was going to last?"

Well, Frank, be realistic,
we only dated for a week.

Nobody could be
sure in a week.

I was. I was sure
from the first night.

You know, I have an idea.
Why don't we move on

to the hugging
and cuddling exercise?

I don't feel cuddly huggly.

I want to know
why you weren't sure.

Well, what difference
does it make, Frank?
I'm sure now.

You weren't sure
till just now?

Well, no, I was sure
almost right away.

Then why did you wait
until now to tell me
about the money?

Well, I thought that
if I told you, that you'd
get mad at me.

Yeah, well, you were right.

What are you doing?

I'm going out.

Why are you so upset?

Because if you
weren't sure then,

how do I know
you're sure now?

Okay, guys, come on out.
Car's all fixed.

Yeah, buddy.

Cruise mobile is ready
to hit the highway.

What was wrong with it?

Nothing much.
It just needed new points,

plugs, condenser, rotor,
coil, carburetor,

generator and two
new intake valves.

But other than that,
this baby is cherry.

Thanks, Cody

No problem.
You know what?

and there are a couple
of other things you might
want to keep your eye on.

Like what?

Like, the clutch,
the brakes, the rear axle,
the "U" joint and the shocks.

And whatever you do,
don't honk the horn,
might start a fire.

Hey, Dana,

I made some calls
and I got those insurance
quotes you asked for.

Blow away, Blondie.
Insurance is a waste.

Don't listen to him, Blondie.
How much is it?

Well, the best price
I could find

for three teenagers
having their own car

is $4600 a year.

"$4600?" The car only cost 400.

This is just great.

We spent all our money
buying and fixing this thing,

and now we'll never
even be able to drive it.

Yeah, well, you two
can do what you want.

I'm driving the car with
or without insurance.

JT, that's a really bad idea.

What if you have
another accident?

Relax, Barky.

I'm not some bonehead
lady driver, okay.

I'm not gonna have an accident.

See ya later.

Well, it's like they say,

"friends shouldn't let
friends drive stupid."

Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire.

Fire Department. 911.

CO2. Stop, drop and roll.

Hey, Carol.

Hi, Cody.

How's it going?

Well, to tell you the truth,
Cody, not so good

Frank and I had
a little skirmish last night.

Skirmish, say no more.

That Middle Eastern food
is a killer.

Man, I had
skirmish last week,

I spent more time
in the john than
the Tidy Bowl Man.

No, Cody, I meant,
Frank and I had a fight.

I've never seen him so upset.

He spent the night
at his office.

Wow, that sounds bad.

But you guys
love each other.

I mean, don't worry,
you'll work it out.

I'm just going to take
a shower and then
I'm going for a drive.

No, Frank, don't go.
We need to talk.

I don't feel like it.

Please.

Okay. You want to talk?
Fine. Let's talk.

I'll just leave you guys alone.

Yeah, no, Cody,
why don't you stick around.

I'd like to have a witness
while Carol tries to explain

why she didn't think
our marriage was going to last.

All right, you want
Cody here, fine.

I made a mistake, right,

but Frank, here,
is blowing it all
out of proportion.

I had $3500,
I put in a secret account

because I wasn't sure
our marriage
was gonna work out.

Is that such a horrible thing?

Well, to tell you
the truth, yeah.

I mean, when two people
are united in the bondage
of holy matrimony,

they're supposed to
put the past behind them.

You know, and cleave
unto one another.

Yeah.

"Cleave," that's the problem.

There's not enough cleavage.

You know what I mean.

Frank, before we got married,
we'd only dated for a week.

I was scared.

Yeah, I hear you, Carol.

But, I mean, what you did
would be like if Uncle Frank,
I don't know,

kept that little
black book he had

with all his girlfriend's
phone numbers in it.
Right, Uncle Frank?

Well, no, Cody, that's not
exactly the same thing.
But thanks for your help.

Carol and I can
take it from here.

Are you sure? I mean,
I could stay
and help some more.

No, no, no, no, no.

You've done more
than enough, pal.
Thanks a bunch.

You know, honey,

you were right.

I have blown this whole thing
out of proportion.

What do you say we just
let bygones be bygones?

And get into some
serious cleaving?

You still have your
little black book,
don't you?

Well, now, that's a very
complicated question.

Yes or no?

Yes. Well, I guess
it wasn't that complicated.

I don't believe this.

You've been torturing me
because of my savings account

and you've been
walking around holding onto
your little tramp directory?

Carol, it's up in
the attic with my
old tax returns.

I put it there
when we got married.

And I swear,
I haven't looked at it since.

Then why didn't
you throw it away?

Well, because everything
happened so fast.

We got married in a week.

You still haven't
answered the question.

Would you just let it go?

No, I want an answer.

I was scared. I didn't know
if it was going to last either.

I didn't know I was scared

until just now.

Why would I be scared?

Frank, we only knew
each other for a week
before we got married.

I mean, let's face it,
we both had marriages

that didn't work out
the first time.

Yeah.

I guess when you get hurt,

you don't want to take a chance
and get hurt again.

I'm really glad
we took a chance, Frank.

Me, too.

Marrying you was
the best thing I've ever done.

I love you.

I love you, too, Frank.

Okay, here's the change.
Enjoy the door.

Hey, thanks, I will.

Hey, you know,
you might want
to roll up that window,

they say it's going
to rain tonight.

Yeah, right.

I can't believe we had
to sell my car for parts.

Well, face it, dude,

that car was worth
more dead than alive.

Check it out, 425 bucks.

Thanks for getting
my money back.

You know, I'm gonna
miss that old VW.
It was my first car.

Yeah, I knew you'd
feel that way, cuz,

so I saved you
a little something
to remember her by.

Hit it, Sony.