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| The episode opens in a suburban community called Dorado Grande Estates. Inside one of the homes, a family of five is talking over breakfast. As the mother and father cheerfully talk about a birthday party, the eldest daughter looks at them in disbelief. When her father gets up to leave for work, she accuses them of not being her real parents. She tells them that they aren't normally this happy. Hysterical, she runs out of the house and is almost hit by Mickey. She gets in the car and tells Mickey to drive away. |
| Mickey, with Karen in the car, pulls up in front of Serendip. She runs up to Austin, who has been waiting for her. She tries to tell him about Karen, but he isn't listening to her. Instead, he complains that Serendip CEO Graham McKinley won't let him search for dinosaur bones by digging in the lobby. |
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| Karen's parents pull up to Serendip. Karen again accuses them of not being her parents. Her father wants to take her home, but Austin suggests that he give Karen some space. He promises them that he'll make sure Karen is at her birthday party. Karen's parents reluctantly leave. Austin tells Mickey that he's not mad at her for being late because Karen's parents are the most remarkable people that he's ever met. Even though they only stopped smoking one month ago, they behave like they've never had a cigarette in their lives. Austin says he's only known one other personality type to have that much self-control: psychotic mass murderers. |
| Austin and Mickey take Karen to her birthday party. All of the homes in the community are perfectly maintained. Practically all of the residents have RVs. There's only one home where the lawn is overgrown and unkempt. Karen's little sister Abby is delighted to see her, but her teenage brother Roger is hostile and aloof. One of the neighbors, Barry Boxell, approaches Austin and tells him that his company, Boxell Drugs, is coming out with a product that will stop America from smoking. Karen's father, who is also Barry's advertising advisor, is concerned that Barry is telling Austin too much about the drug. |
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| Austin and Mickey also meet the owner of the one house that looks different from the others, a loud, obnoxious RV salesman named Lou. Lou's wife tells Mickey that they don't have children and that Lou is obsessed with his business. Austin later sees Lou and another married woman exchange some intimate gestures. When Austin asks Mickey her opinion about the party, she says that everyone seems normal to her. Austin tells her that the number of stressed-out personalities at the party is extremely high. He also tells her that it might look nice if she wore her hair up. |
| Some of the neighborhood children, including Roger, are throwing a football around. Roger accidentally hits Barry Boxell in the head with the football. When his father reprimands him, Roger angrily tells his father to "suck an egg". When Barry tells his son to go home, his son tells him to shoot himself. As Karen's mother brings out her birthday cake, Austin sees Roger's father drill a small hole in an egg and suck the end of it. He rushed to the garage, and stops Barry just before he shoots himself with a gun. |
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| As all the neighbors leave the party, Mickey tells Austin that Barry was taken to the hospital, and that he doesn't remember anything. Austin grabs some samples of the food. Austin and Mickey try to convince Karen to leave with them, but she refuses, saying that she's needed. |
| Back at the warehouse, Austin's tests on the food samples reveal nothing unusual. Mickey tells him that Boxell Drugs has applied for a patent under the name "Quit-It", and even borrowed 8 million dollars for an ad campaign. As she speaks, Mickey puts her hair in a bun, but Austin tells her that the old way was better. Austin decides to return to Dorado Grande Estates to see someone. |
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| As Mickey drives, Austin thinks about the situation at Dorado Grande. Mickey complains about Austin's "thinking tape", but he tells her that he lowers his pulse rate and breathing to match its tempo. As she pulls into the Dorado Grande complex, she almost runs over a teenage boy riding his bike. When she tells him that he should be more careful, he sarcastically tells her to get her eyes examined. Mickey asks Austin why he wants to talk to Lou. Instead of answering her, he tells her that her face looks beautiful in the moonlight. After an awkward silence, Austin explains that Lou and Barb were the only sane people at the party and that Lou sold everyone in the community their RVs. |
| Austin asks Lou what he's hiding about the RVs. Lou geniuinely doesn't understand why his neighbors are spending so much money. Austin wonders why Lou is the only one in the neighborhood who doesn't take care of his lawn, and the only one who smokes, drinks, and cheats on his wife. |
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| Austin and Mickey visit Karen next. Karen is completely different than when Austin and Mickey first met her. She seems cheerful and happy, and never once mentions her previous behavior. Austin decides to kidnap her so he can study her. He chloroforms her and carries her outside. As he and Mickey are leaving, they see Julie, the married woman Lou was having an affair with, shoot Lou on his doorstep. Austin turns to see Julie's son watching the shooting with a satisfied smirk on his face. |
| Back at the warehouse, Austin tells Mickey that Lou is going to live. He explains that the "perfect life" at Dorado Grande is breaking down, resulting in the suicide attempt and the shooting. Suddenly, he stops, and tells Mickey that he can hear her blink her eyes. Mickey is confused by his strange behavior. Austin snaps out of it, and abruptly leaves to go back to Dorado Grande. Mickey stays to watch Karen, who is sleeping upstairs. |
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| During the night, a terrified Karen wakes up. She grabs a knife and tells Mickey that "they" are coming. Mickey tries to calm her down. Karen reached into her pocket and swallows some Quit-It pills. As soon as she does, she becomes groggy, and falls asleep. |
| The next day, Mickey and Austin discover that Karen has returned home. Mickey gives Austin the empty Quit-It bottle, hoping that he can analyze the residue. Mickey is still a bit confused by Austin's behavior last night, but Austin tells her she's out of her element and quickly changes the subject to Lou. Austin asks Mickey why she doesn't like Lou, and one of the things she mentions is the fact that Lou doesn't want children. Austin realizes that in Dorado Grande, the children have all the power, and Lou is the only one without children. When Austin's analysis of the bottle yields nothing, Austin and Mickey return to Dorado Grande. |
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| Austin sneaks into Karen's house while her parents and Barry Boxell and his wife are playing cards. Abby catches him in her father's workshop. She tells Austin that her father uses the sound equipment to make commercials and "funny noises". Abby's parents hear her talking to Austin, and chase after him as he and Mickey try to escape. Some of the neighbors block the station wagon, and Austin and Mickey surrender. |
| The neighbors tie Austin and Mickey up and force them to swallow the Quit-It pills. Austin and Mickey try to convince them that there is something wrong with the pills, but they won't listen. They explain that the first time Quit-It is used, a peaceful atmosphere with soothing music is needed. After they leave, Austin frees himself from the ropes, and he and Mickey escape. He also tells Mickey that they're going to have to vomit the pills so he can have a sample. |
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| Back at the warehouse, Austin suddenly becomes very affectionate. Mickey tells him that this behavior isn't like him. That snaps him out of it, and he realizes that ever since the party, he's been under the influence of whatever is affecting the people of Dorado Grande. An analysis of the pills reveals that there is nothing special about them. Austin realizes that before every romantic episode, he was listening to music. He analyzes the sounds on his tape, and he finds that Roger has planted a subliminal message telling him that he is in love with Mickey. The pills weren't controlling the Dorado Grande residents, the subliminal messages created by the children are. |
| Austin and Mickey take an ice cream truck to Dorado Grande and blast music through the neighborhood. Roger and a group of teenagers start hitting the truck with bats and rocking it back and forth. Suddenly, their parents come and start pulling them off the truck. Austin explains to Mickey that he directed the subliminal message to the parents, hoping they would be easier to control. |
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| Abby walks up to them and asks if Austin and Mickey are married yet. Austin realizes that it was Abby's distorted voice on the tape, not Roger. Abby tells them how she and Roger discovered they could make people do what they wanted using their father's sound equiptment. When Mickey asks Abby why she wanted Austin to fall in love with Mickey, Abby explains that they're supposed to be together. |
| Back at the warehouse, Mickey and Austin discuss Dorado Grande. Austin plans to take the ice cream truck back and use a subliminal message to get make Roger forget about the technique. Mickey teases Austin about the fact that Abby was able to make him act against his will, but he tells her that he was fascinated by the experience. Mickey starts to tell Austin how it's a shame that he's decided not to get involved in relationships, because he's a wonderful person and his face looks beautiful in the moonlight. Then she realizes that Austin is using the subliminal technique on her. Austin teases her, telling her that she was so sincere. |
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| THE END |