As Tom Petty sings "Learning to Fly" on the soundtrack, Hollie Baylor advises her Volvo, "You will not defeat me!" before the hood comes smashing down on her, to the understandable shock of her daughter.

Back in Elizabethtown, Uncle Dale, Bill Banyan, and Charles Dean observe from afar as Drew paces around a soccer field and yells at his mother through the phone. Hollie, who has presumably survived the Volvo attack, prepares for dance class and explains her crowded new schedule.

Drew informs Hollie about Mitch's upcoming memorial, an event being organized by one Bill Banyan. Immediately upon mention of his name, Hollie explodes in anger and explains that Bill Banyan almost ruined their family years ago and not to trust the folksy lure of Elizabethtown. When Drew asks his mother to weigh in on the burial vs. cremation debate, Hollie snarls, "If Bill Banyan is there, definitely cremation. And you tell Bill Banyan I'll be there."

Although nearly half the film has gone by, not even the time-bending quantum physics of Elizabethtown can change the fact that Mitch Baylor has only been dead for 48 hours. During that time, Hollie Baylor has rallied impressively, evidently realizing that Mitch's death does not necessitate her own funeral; Hollie's new passions include auto repair, tap dancing, comedy school, plumbing, and surely several other hobbies Mitch cruelly prevented her from exploring. Yet inspiring as it is to see a woman get on with her life after a tragedy, it might not hurt her reputation with Mitch's skeptical family if she at least pretended to grieve, maybe just a little.

Indeed, to Hollie, moving on is of paramount importance, even if it comes a mere day after her deceased husband smiled whimsically from his coffin at her suicidal son. Though Hollie insists she will not be defeated by her misbehaving auto, the spontaneously collapsing hood indicates that perhaps Mitch has taken it upon himself in the afterlife to prevent his widow from reaching the dance classes that will better equip her to frolic on his grave. Unfortunately, not only does Hollie make it to dance class, she has inexplicably dragged Heather and her baby along, as if demonstrating to the camera that they still exist.

In this clip, we see the parallels between Hollie and Claire growing more pronounced, notably in Hollie's tendency to answer Drew's direct questions with totally unrelated statements, as though trying to recreate some of the word-salad magic of Drew and Claire's all-night gabfest. (For once, the viewer sides with Drew as his mother's behavior leaves him literally jumping with frustration.) It is entirely possible that after dance class, Hollie will be attending such courses as "Imaginary Photography for Beginners" and "Specious Geography 101."

Meanwhile, left holding the bag for his mother's shameful detachment, Drew paces the Elizabethtown Quidditch Pitch furiously until Hollie finally reaches the shocking decision to incinerate her husband's corpse as revenge on Bill Banyan. It is a moment of Elizabethtown singularly baffling and off-putting, as we are clearly intended to find Hollie (and Susan Sarandon's performance) at least slightly sympathetic or likable; somehow, "I cremate for spite" comes across less endearing than intended. In fact, Hollie's vindictive attitude towards attending her own husband's memorial service leads us to question her role in Mitch Baylor's untimely demise.