Thelma & Louise Scene 2 Summary

  • If your freedoms are few and far between, you wanna make the most of what you've got, right?
  • Thelma begs Louise to stop at a roadside bar along the way for a couple drinks before they reach the cabin. (Note: drinking and driving is a dumb idea…) Louise finally says okay, but at the bar, she doesn't order any drinks.
  • Thelma's accusation—"You're as bad as Darryl"—pushes the right button to get Louise to order a couple drinks.
  • Thelma orders a Coke up front with a Wild Turkey back. Louise orders a margarita and a Cuervo on the side. Symbolism?
  • The ladies meet a total creep named Harlan (Timothy Carhart), who Louise sees right through immediately. She majestically blows her cigarette smoke into his face.
  • But Thelma is intrigued and ends up drunkenly dancing with Harlan all evening.
  • Harlan takes Thelma into a dark parking lot to get it on with her. Classy.
  • When Thelma protests, Harlan gets violent and tries to rape her.
  • Louise appears, brandishing a gun, pointing it right at Harlan's screwed-up face. He says he and Thelma were just having some fun. Slowly, like a true renegade, Louise says, "When a woman's crying like that, she ain't having any fun." (#agoodlesson)
  • Gun-brandishing Louise gets Thelma behind her.
  • Harlan declares that he should have gone ahead and raped Thelma.
  • Hello, bullet in Harlan's chest.
  • With Thelma driving and Louise shakily staring at the gun in her hand, the two hit the road.