Original air date: November 13, 1999

Written by: Andrew Dettmann & Daniel Truly

Directed by: Fred K. Keller

Jarod sends Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots on a “Wizard Of Oz” odyssey while he tries to help a young woman he has fallen in love with deal with the fact that she has cancer.

Jarod’s Discoveries:

Jarod’s Occupations: Warington Police Officer, Stock Analyst, Husband, Aerospace Engineer

Jarod’s Aliases: Jarod Malloy

Behind the scenes insights and the Creator’s Take

Official Synopsis

Jarod falls in love with a cancer-stricken young woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend.

At a roadside diner, Jarod quietly finishes his lunch.  Suddenly, Zoe, a fearful young woman, races into the diner with a rough looking male, who we will come to know as Vince, in hot pursuit.  Jarod runs to the pretty woman’s defense.  To fool Vince, Zoe brusquely pushes Jarod against the wall and passionately kisses him until the unsuspecting Vince rushes by.  Zoe makes a quick retreat to her convertible automobile.  But before she can escape, Jarod jumps into the car and offers his assistance.  Zoe, however, is very unreceptive.  When Vince storms out of the diner, Zoe aims the car right at him.  As the pair speeds down the road, Zoe explains to a suspicious Jarod that Vince is an ex-boyfriend who happens to be a cop—not a police officer pursing a criminal.

Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots stand in the middle of a Kansas cornfield with a scarecrow.  Parker is not amused with the “Wizard of Oz” odyssey that Jarod has created for the threesome.  Parker picks up a yellow brick laying by the scarecrow, which bears the Jarod message, “Follow the yellow brick road.” The clue leads the trio to a ramshackle warehouse.  Larry, a disheveled dwarf, leads Parker, Sydney, and Broots into the dimly lit warehouse and unexpectedly locks them inside.  The warehouse walls have been painted like the forest of talking trees in the “Wizard of Oz.”  As Parker, Sydney, and Broots search for an escape route, they stumble upon a cherished childhood relic of Broots’, an old G.I. doll.  Eventually, they discover an inspiring memento of Sydney’s in a barren room with an illuminated Victrola.  The needle rests on a French recording of “Songs for the Spring.”  Only this record survived the bombing of Sydney’s home during World War II.   Finally, they find what Jarod left for Parker: a thimble from a Monopoly board game.  One of Parker’s warm memories of her family lies in an endless series of Monopoly games.  Parker always played with the thimble game piece.  Jarod’s cryptic clues clarify what the trio needs to do to be released.  Parker, Sydney and Broots run back to the locked door and shout to the dwarf, “There is no place like home.”  Larry opens the door, and the trio returns to the Centre.

Cruising down the road with the wind whistling through her hair, Zoe mesmerizes Jarod.  When Jarod looks into the back seat for music tapes, he notices a duffel bag stuffed with $25,000 in cash.  Jarod confronts Zoe about the money and her suspicious retreat from the cop-boyfriend.  Zoe skids the car to a grinding halt.  She explains that the car she is driving and the cash are all she owns.  The romantic spell now broken between the two, Zoe drops Jarod off at a gas station with a bus sign.  As Jarod checks out the bus information, he sees a cop car roll into the station.  The cop’s scanner describes Zoe as a possible armed robbery suspect.  The cop arrests Zoe.  Later, at the police station, Jarod poses as the police officer assigned to take Zoe back to the scene of the crime.  As Zoe and Jarod hurry out the back door of the jail, Vince arrives.  Jarod realizes that Zoe committed no crime and that Vince’s pursuit is one of a scorned ex-boyfriend.

Jarod and Zoe detour their road trip to the home of Zoe’s grandmother, where Zoe introduces an unsuspecting Jarod as her husband of eight months.  Zoe’s obvious love and affection for her grandmother does not extend to her older sister, Linda, or brother-law, Greg, who sit in the kitchen.

Later, Jarod learns from Grandma that Zoe was an identical twin.  The accidental death of Zoe’s twin sister, Katie, devastated Zoe.  The rest of the family continued on with their lives, but Zoe felt they forgot Katie.  Zoe’s resentment sent her far away.  But now Zoe carries an even bigger burden.  Jarod finds several prescriptions for medications that are precursors for chemotherapy.  Zoe has cancer, but she has not filled the three-week-old prescriptions.  Zoe blames herself for Katie’s accident and does not feel she deserves to live.  Against Jarod’s protests, Zoe leaves the next day without telling Grandma about her illness.

Stopping at a motel for the night, Zoe unpredictably dives nude into the motel pool and finally entices a very shy Jarod to join her.  A night of whimsy and passion follows for them both.  However, Jarod wakes up in the morning handcuffed to the bed to prevent him from stopping Zoe’s departure.  Zoe tells Jarod she did not plan on falling in love, and she needs to fight the cancer alone.  As Zoe makes a rapid exit out to her car, Vince grabs her.  While Zoe struggles with Vince, Jarod finally wrestles himself out of the handcuffs and runs outside.  A slugfest between Vince and Jarod ensues.  Jarod handcuffs Vince to a post and runs to find Zoe.  Finally, Jarod tracks Zoe down to the cliff where Katie died.  Jarod talks Zoe down from a suicide jump and convinces her to fight the cancer with her grandmother’s help.  The two lovers both vow to see each other again, and Jarod departs in tears.

Another “Wizard of Oz” clue from Jarod cuts short the arrival of Parker, Sydney and Broots back to the Centre.  The trio returns to the Kansas cornfield.  A note from Jarod in the scarecrow’s pockets greets them.  It reads, “There is no place like home.  So why don’t you leave me alone and let me find mine!”