The ‘Miracle Over the Mojave’ wasn’t always part of the plan

The second season of The Rehearsal ended with a twist that came as a big surprise to everyone who didn’t look at the FAA’s website before watching the episode. In the hour-long finale, “My Controls,” Fielder revealed that he had secretly learned how to fly a 737, had obtained his pilot’s certification and then proceeded to fly a plane full of professional actors over the Mojave desert. Or maybe he didn’t. Who the hell knows?

But Fielder wasn’t always planning to end the season with the “Miracle Over the Mojave.” During a recent Q&A with Jack Black, the School of Rock star admitted that he expected that the season would end with Fielder making his flight safety pitch to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., à la Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. “But then you pulled a switcheroo on us,” Black told Fielder, “and the finale episode is actually you’ve learned how to fly a 737. An unbelievable twist I didn’t see coming. No one saw it coming.”

Apparently Fielder would have gone that route had it been a possibility. “If I could get in front of the (Congressional) panel, I would have done that,” he admitted. “And I will still do that if they will have me.” And the series, by design, is never set in stone. “When making a show like this, you have to have a plan, but (also) be open to things that will happen that you’re not expecting,” Fielder noted.