Jessie leads Drew out back to the cemetery, introducing him to Charles Dean, the funeral director, and Uncle Dale. Drew offers them his condolences, eliciting bewildered looks from both before Charles presents Drew with Mitch's burial plot. When Drew brings up the possibility of cremation, Charles and Uncle Dale grow visibly uncomfortable and change the topic to some of Mitch's personal belongings Charles has set aside for Drew. These items include Mitch's West Point ring: "I don't know how y'all feel out there in California," Charles says, "but West Point sure does matter around here." Drew corrects Charles, explaining that his family now lives in Oregon.

Charles leads Drew into the chapel to greet a room full of Mitch's mourners, introducing him as "one of the California Baylors." Before Drew can protest, Charles announces that everyone here is proud of him for his "eight-year triumph with that beautiful shoe." Once again, Drew offers his condolences to everyone at the wake, prompting Jessie to explain that you're meant to receive condolences, as it is "an incoming phrase."

In a private viewing room, Drew is shown to the coffin containing his father. Charles asks if he has adequately captured Mitch, and Drew notes a particular facial expression on Mitch's corpse that he doesn't recognize and cannot quite name. Before leaving Drew alone, Charles advises him to examine Mitch from different angles.

Elton John's "My Father's Gun" cues in the background as Drew timidly approaches his father and wonders in voiceover, "What's the word?" After several moments (and several angles) of staring into the coffin, Drew eventually decides out loud, "Whimsical!" Before his eyes, Mitch's face appears to break into a grin. Drew slowly places his hand over those of his late father.

Proudly displaying his dominance of the art of exposition (unparalleled even by Heather), Jessie introduces Drew to his own uncle: "And here's my dad, your Uncle Dale." That Drew might actually require this kind of background information, including a clarification of the very concept of "uncle," should surprise no one. Making matters even more confusing is Uncle Dale's casual response, suggesting a familiarity which renders the interaction even more absurd.

Perhaps as a result of Orlando Bloom's American accent, Charles Dean gathers little from Drew's halting correction regarding his family's perceived geography; mere moments later, as Charles claps Drew on the shoulder and proclaims his status as a "California Baylor," it is difficult to say who is more to blame for this persistent misunderstanding. In a narrative so far remarkable for depriving the viewer of any likable characters with which to identify, at last we can relate to the conspicuous non-reaction of the assembled Elizabethtownies.

Mitch Baylor's grinning corpse marks Elizabethtown's first descent into macabre surrealism. Although this moment is presumably intended to be "magical" or "touching" (as indicated by the soundtrack), the distinctly horrifying sight of a dead human body in the actual act of smiling raises at least two possibilities:

1. Drew is an unreliable narrator whose hallucinations cannot be distinguished from the real world
2. Mitch's own death cannot inhibit the sheer delight he feels at finally escaping his nincompoop of a son

Drew's repeated faux pas and shocking discussion of cremation make it clear he does not feel at home in Elizabethtown. However, thanks to Mitch's reanimated carcass, Drew is given a second chance to make a connection with his father, despite whatever degree of estrangement may have occurred between them before Mitch became a reanimated carcass.