Episode 1.12

THE GIRL DRIVER
by David Wise and Kathleen Barnes

Directed by

Arnold Laven

GUEST CAST
Susan Lawrence (Freddie Charleton)

Steve Doubet (Mac Lennard)

 

SYNOPSIS
Cindy's friend Freddie is a girl who works as a mechanic in her father's shop and is also the first girl in their school to run for Auto Club president. Visiting Freddie in the shop, Andrea offers some words of encouragement and then goes to mail a letter. As Cindy and Freddie talk, Mac Lennard, another student in the election, comes over to pick up his father's station wagon. Mac is a bit of a chauvinist and tells the girls he doesn't think Freddie has any business working as a mechanic.

As he drives away, Mac accidentally hits a can of gasoline, which bursts into flames from the sparks off his muffler! After dropping her letter in the mailbox, Andrea turns around and sees the fire. She changes into Isis, goes to the scene, and puts out the blaze.

Both Mac and Freddie blame each other for the accident and Isis blames both of them for what has happened: Mac for the way he drives and Freddie for not watching what transpires in her shop.

Later in the lab Cindy, Mac and Freddie seek the advice of Miss Thomas: Mac thinks Freddie is not qualified for running for Auto Club president since she is a girl. Dr. Barnes intervenes, stating Mac's way of thinking is too old fashioned. Just then, Rick walks in with cookies he has just baked showing the variety of roles that men and women can play. The group then discusses having a rally to see who the better driver is. The loser will exit the election.

When Rally day arrives, Dr. Barnes explains that it isn't a "race" but a test of accuracy, skill, and reaching checkpoints on time. It is decided that Mac will go first with Freddie taking the course five minutes later.
As Mac is driving along, he comes to a fork in the road. Intent on winning, he takes down the road sign that tells which route to take, hoping to confuse Freddie. Unbeknownst to him, however, one of his tires has picked up a nail!

Mac makes it back to Andrea's checkpoint and then starts on the road to the second checkpoint. Freddie continues driving and gets lost, missing the turn-off and unsure of where she is headed. When she finally gets to Andrea's checkpoint, she wants to forfeit, knowing that she is way behind schedule. Andrea urges her not to give up, so with a little reluctance, Freddie decides to continue.

Sensing something wrong, Andrea changes into Isis and uses her powers to look into the recent past. She sees what Mac did with the road sign and decides to teach him a lesson on cooperation and fair play. She flies further up the course, downing a telephone pole and blocking the road ahead of Mac, allowing Freddie the chance to catch up and giving them a common problem to solve together.

Mac arrives first and sees he cannot move the pole by himself, but when Freddie shows up and offers to help, he refuses.

Just then, Andrea drives by, sees their dilemma, and tells them that unless they help each other, the rally is over and they will both lose. Mac finally decides to cooperate and uses Freddie's chains to move the pole. Andrea leaves them to go to Mr. Mason's checkpoint.

Mac admits to Freddie that he knocked down the road sign, getting her lost. She tells him to forget it and make a fresh start. Mac finally develops respect for Freddie and her "masculine" handling of the situation and wishes her luck.

On the final part of the course, one of Mac's tires blows out and the car goes out of control. He tries to stop the automobile but his efforts are not enough, as the vehicle runs off the road and over the hill.

Witnessing the whole event, Andrea quickly becomes Isis and flies toward the car, which is now free falling. She lands on the hood and brings the car gently to the ground while Mac and the others watch in amazement.

Isis jumps off the car and presents the nail to Mac, who realizes he must've gotten the nail in his tire when he knocked down the sign. He then tells Dr Barnes, Freddie, Rick and Cindy what had happened and how bad he feels about it. He also admits Freddie is a good driver and that she deserve to be the Auto Club's next president. The others happily agree.

Synopsis by Dex Goor

EPISODE TRIVIA