‘Finding Carter’ Season 1 Spoilers: Carter Meets A Very Bad Boy In Episode 3; Who Is Crash? [RECAP]

“Finding Carter” proved once again during episode 3, “Drive,” just why the MTV series is our new guilty pleasure. The Emily Silver teen drama has everything you could ever want: an original plot, forbidden love, bad boys and even teaching us how to make croutons in this episode!

“Drive” began with Carter’s mother, Elizabeth, worrying about how relentless Lori (Carter’s kidnapper) is. She’s afraid that Lori will stop at nothing until she gets Carter back – and that’s what Carter is banking on. She too misses the woman who abducted her 13 years ago, or at least that’s what she told the officer while apologizing to her mother’s co-workers at the police station.

The officer explains to Carter that finding Lori is a more difficult task than they thought. This both excites and concerns Carter. She’s happy her “mom” won’t be taken away in handcuffs, but this also means she may never reunite with the woman who raised her.

But Carter finds a way to end her police station visit on a positive note when she bumps into what her mother likes to call a “blond-haired, blue-eyed piece of sewage.” Eventually Carter learns that the rebellious teen’s name is Crash when he meets up with the gang of misfits further down the plotline.

It turns out that Crash’s “ratchet molly” was the reason Carter was sent to the hospital. Yep, our protagonist’s newest crush is a drug dealer. Go figure.

Because Carter’s mother has her on a short leash and a 10 o’clock curfew, she’s forced to leave the get-together early. But Crash gives her a good idea. Just because she has to leave doesn’t mean she still can’t enjoy time with her friends. That’s when she brings her buddies over to her house for a little party – and it looks as if the blue-eyed bandit had RSVP’d to the shindig.

Elizabeth isn’t happy that the boy she just zip-tied in the police station is now mingling with her daughter in her home. She asks her husband if they can both play bad cop and remove him from the house. Carter’s dad agrees, and when he goes out to talk some sense into the boy with his “cool dad” ways, he finds Crash teaching their 12-year-old son how to roll joints by using oregano.

Both Carter and her parents freak out and ask Crash to leave -- but not before Carter gives him a big smooch on his rebellious lips.

After her little stunt, Carter and her father have a heart-to-heart. He asks his daughter about who she thought her father was. Carter explains that Lori always told her that her father was a “beautiful stranger” whom she met while backpacking through Europe.

“I never thought I’d get to meet my father, and here you are,” she said. “The only bad thing is that you come with Elizabeth. It’s too bad you didn’t meet my mom. You two would have hit it off.”

Carter continues to insult her real mother by telling her dad that he and Elizabeth are so wrong for each other. And oddly enough, he agrees. He even goes as far as to say that he feels as Carter is the only one who really listens to him. Do you think it’s appropriate for her father to give her ammo like this? We doubt this will help bolster Carter’s relationship with Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, Carter’s friends are spending their free time trying to track down her kidnapper. “We have the source on our side,” Gabe says. They eventually find a match.

As the misfits continue their online hunt, Max takes the time to bond with Carter’s little sister. She teaches him how to make croutons and he’s pretty impressed.

“Carter’s lucky to have such a cool sister,” he says, adding that she’s smart and beautiful. Swoon! That’s when Elizabeth walks in. She wonders why Carter can’t go for someone like Max, which is when he reveals that they did try it out before. But can’t Carter’s mom sense that her younger daughter is into the manbun?

But because Elizabeth is blind, she concocts a plan to manipulate Carter by pretending to kick Max out of their “family dinner.” She’s counting on Carter to rebel, and like clockwork she does.

The shaggy-haired teen is a nice guy, and Elizabeth can see that. But what she can’t see is that her other daughter has been bitten by the Max love bug. Later on, Carter’s sister reveals that Carter had been played – big time – by their mom.

“She likes Max. She wants you to be with Max so you won’t be with Crash,” she explains. Carter is shocked and eventually tells her sister that she’d be a better fit for Max.

By the end of episode 3, Carter and Gabe go to the address where Lori is allegedly living. As it turns out, she had just moved over a month ago “to live with her daughter.” The news leaves Carter ecstatic. But not as happy as the publisher of Carter’s dad, who just found out that profits for “Finding Carter” would double if Carter’s father would be able to get quotes from the kidnapper.

He’s not to fond of that idea, and we doubt Carter will be either when she learns of the “cool dad’s” motives.

Before “Drive” concluded, fans found out why episode 3 was given that specific title. Carter bumps into Crash and he apologizes for what he did at her house. He claims he was just trying to impress her and even calls himself an idiot.

That’s all Carter needs to hear before jumping into his passenger seat. After driving off into the sunset with Crash, she realizes that he had stolen the car they were spending their romantic evening in. She forces Crash to pull over, and he eventually does. Once she gets out, he speeds off as police chase after him. Carter gets then calls her dad to pick her up, and luckily Mommy Dearest isn’t home to scold her bad choices. Carter and her father then share a moment and a hug together, which is seen by Lori who is watching from a distance.

What did you think of episode 3? Sound off in the comments section below and let us know what your predictions for next week of “Finding Carter” are.