The Number Car

Overview

The Number Car

Season	Episode	Overall
2	10	20

Broadcast Information

Air Date

January 10, 2020

Air Time

7:45

Production Code

V210

Viewers

382,000

Credits

Written by

Alex Horab

Storyboard by

Kellye Perdue
Sam Spina

Guide

Previous	Next
"The Tape Car"	"The Musical Car" (Book Three - Cult of the Conductor)

"The Number Car" is the 10^th and final episode of Season 2 of Infinity Train and the 20^th episode overall. It aired on January 10, 2020.

Synopsis[]

Mirror Tulip fights for her right to make her own choices.

Plot[]

One-One recognizes M.T. as Tulip's reflection, which she angrily refutes, claiming she is her own person and deserves an exit. One-One refuses, pointing out numbers are for passengers and their growth, while M.T. is a denizen who was created for the sole purpose of helping passengers. He demonstrates by showing a data pad with Jesse and the fact that he got to zero with her help, only to realize that Jesse is also being processed for the train. They find him in the Passenger Farm, where M.T. reunites with Alan Dracula, and bring him to the Memory Watching Machine where One-One tries to figure out why he returned to the train. A new Memory Tape is created, where they learn the source of Jesse's problems is the guilt he felt for leaving M.T. behind. After getting off the train he reunited with Nate and apologized for his actions before explaining what happened. After giving it some thought, he decided he couldn't leave M.T. behind.

M.T. wakes up Jesse and they happily reunite. One-One forces Jesse to get a number assigned, only to discover it only displays non-real numbers: Jesse's problem is that M.T. is stuck on the train, but because M.T. is a denizen and cannot leave, Jesse's problem cannot be solved. This paradox catches One-One in a loop and causes the car to lose power, creating a reflection in a screen that summons Sieve, who is out for revenge after M.T. killed Mace. Sieve offers One-One the opportunity to solve the paradox by destroying M.T., which One-One considers.

After momentarily fighting off Sieve, M.T. notices Jesse's number being reflected in a television screen. Seizing the opportunity, she demonstrates to One-One that she has a number by reflecting Jesse's number off her hand: denizens don't have numbers, but because she has a number, she can get an exit. One-One accepts this and gives M.T. and Jesse a dual exit. As they try to escape, however, Sieve manages to grab onto M.T.'s leg, leaving her half-stuck in the human world with Jesse trying to pull her through. M.T. uses some grass she tears from the ground to summon Alan Dracula, who activates his laser eyes and promptly destroys Sieve, freeing M.T. and Jesse and allowing them to escape. Having saved M.T. and Jesse and fulfilled his purpose as their companion, Alan Dracula's feet turn into rockets and with One-One's help, he flies off back to his home car.

“	I really broke the mold with you, Alan Dracula.	”
—One-One

M.T. opens her eyes to the human world, where she and Jesse are left dumbfounded at their success. Nate arrives and expresses shock that "the Chrome Girl" is real before introducing himself. M.T. tries to introduce herself but is unable to figure out a name at first (and brushes off Jesse's suggestion of "Dracula 2"). Seeing herself reflected in a nearby lake, she gives herself the name of "Lake."

Features[]

Characters[]

Locations[]

Wasteland
Infinity Train
- Passenger Preparation Car
- Hill Car (flashback)
- Family Tree Car (flashback)
- Toad Car (flashback)
- Mall Car (flashback)
Arizona, United States
- Jesse's Residence (debut)

Trivia[]

This is the final episode of the series that aired on Cartoon Network before the move to HBO Max with Book Three.
This is the second time in the series where One-One is the one that helps the protagonist to open a second Exit Door in order for them to leave the train.
A reference to the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda can be seen on a passenger's hat when One-One is looking for Jesse on his tablet. Zelda franchise creator Nintendo was previously referenced in "The Cat's Car."
The sped up audio of Jesse telling Nate everything is basically just Nate saying "Is she okay? That sounds terrible. Wow that's crazy. That sounds so cool. Wait what? Wait, who are those guys? Wait what? Whoah is she okay? That sounds wowww.”^[1]^[2]
When MT realizes that she can reflect a number off of Jesse, the irrational number that's first presented is square root 2. A square root 2 multiplying itself equals 2, a real number. We can essentially say that Jesse's "irrational" problem finally has a "real" solution.
"The Number Car" is the only season finale to have the word "Car" in its name.
End tag: Lake looking at her reflection in her hand, but now in the real world. She smiles hopefully.

Continuity[]

Jesse is the first passenger to willingly return to the train. How he was able to do so is not known, but it is heavily implied he is the first to even try.
Mirror Tulip/Lake is the first denizen of the train to exit to the real world.
The train appears to be unable to handle a paradox between the assigning of a number and the condition for the passenger to leave the train.
Alan Dracula killing Sieve is the only time in the entire season that he directly helps Lake and Jesse.
- The writers made a conscious decision to write Alan Dracula to only ever help them unintentionally.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Owen Dennis notes in the DVD commentary for this episode that while it is somewhat comforting to see One-One again, the opening scene is actually supposed to gradually reveal that One-One isn't a force for good when it comes to Lake's story. Alex Horab considers this one of the best parts of the episode: the audience has only known One-One as Tulip's funny companion, whereas for Lake he represents the system that is keeping her down.^[1]
This episode is in some ways a commentary on the first book: audiences caught on pretty early that there is a somewhat "messed up" aspect to the train, but this episode is meant to make them understand this was intentional on the writers' part.^[1]
There was originally an entire sequence of watching Jesse’s first tape, with memories from the swim team and others, but Madeline Queripel decided it made the episode too long.^[1]
- One of Owen Dennis’ promotional images for Book Two had Jesse sitting on top of the hill after causing Nate’s injury (seen in "The Toad Car"), looking at his phone. This was meant to depict the moment the train showed up, which would have appeared in Jesse’s tape.^[1]
There was a lot of discussion in the writers’ room about One-One’s reaction to the events of this episode, with Alex Horab personally believing One-One’s only concern is saving the train, which is why he seriously considers Sieve's proposal that Lake get ground down. This opinion is not shared by the whole crew.^[1]
In the first draft of the script, the reflection of the number didn’t exist: Dennis felt they needed to see Lake get a number, which was how Alex Horab came up with the idea to have her reflect off of Jesse. Horab notes that symbolically, the system never recognizes Lake’s number: she has to physically grab Jesse’s hand and force the system to recognize who she is.^[1]
The sequence where Alan Dracula destroys Agent Sieve was boarded by Kellye Perdue and animated by Jeff Liu, best known for his work on Steven Universe. Liu was brought in when Owen Dennis thought the scene would be too complicated to animate: Queripel suggested bringing on a guest animator, a tradition on Cartoon Network shows like OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and Steven Universe.^[1]
The gag of Alan Dracula's feet turning into rockets and blasting off was the first joke written for him. The writers consciously avoided showing him flying for the entire season for the simple purpose of paying off with this gag.^[4]