Upamanyu Biswas
In the second season of ‘Tires,‘ Will and his gang of mechanics at the Valley Forge Automotive Center become part of more shenanigans as the auto-repair garage chain looks to expand its operations beyond its horizons. This leads to a series of challenges that define much of the narrative moving forward. However, even though much of the story focuses on the growth of Valley Forge as a business, things also take a turn for individual characters such as Shane, whose personal development is an integral part of season 2’s emotional core. We see this play out in a variety of ways, including Shane’s new relationship with a girl named Kelly and his estranged bond with his father, Phil. Yet, an unexpected twist in his character journey is his adopting a turtle named Jerome, which adds to the show’s never-ending amusements. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jerome Becomes an Integral Part of Shane’s Life
While ‘Tires’ season 2 brings a flurry of new things to the table, perhaps the most surprising addition of them all, even though it is mostly addressed in a peripheral manner, is Shane adopting a turtle into his life. The mechanic finds the animal outside the Valley Forge Automotive Center while working his shift. During a small break, which he spends conversing with Cal, he notices the turtle slowly creeping its way through the floor, immediately catching his attention. Subsequently, he picks up the turtle and shows it to Cal, who is just as startled as him by the animal’s appearance in their shop’s empty backyard. However, Shane is the least bit concerned about the turtle’s mysterious origins and instead takes him into his care, naming him Jerome Bettis in the process.
As the narrative progresses, we learn that Shane builds a small habitat for Jerome to live in within the Valley Forge premises. Even though the enclosure may infringe on the animal’s ability to wander around the neighborhood without care, it also provides him security, safety, and regular food from Shane. The irony in the latter is that Shane keeps a gun stored in the garage, making it all the more dangerous to hang around inside it for anything less than work. Additionally, season 2 also notifies us that the garage is a health hazard, mainly because it has patches of black mold growing on its walls, which can be life-threatening in some cases. Although Shane seems to joke around with such things normally, it brings another layer of comedy and whimsy into the story as we see another side to the character while he takes care of Jerome.
Season 2 also introduces romance into the mix as we see Shane fall in love with a catering girl named Kelly Miller, who stops by Valley Forge to have her car fixed. In one of the episodes, Shane gives her a tour of the entire garage facilities, including the place where he keeps Jerome. He shows her his pet turtle as a topic of conversation while also dealing with other issues within the shop. Overall, Jerome plays a vital role in season 2, even though he remains firmly relegated to a minor capacity for the most part. By the end of season 2, the turtle is seemingly still under the care of Shane, meaning that his part in a potential third season is still on the cards. To that end, we can see Jerome is a regular companion in Shane’s misadventures moving forward, making him a lesser-known but equally valuable part of the show’s main characters.
