WTH is this, and why is it leaking?

[Andrew]

so would it be bad if I dont have the elbow on the a/c drain? i cant see why, although maybe it doesnt stick out that far so the firewall may get a little wet.

 

[ismellrealbad]

I don't know about 2nd gen, but if the elbow isnt on I could imagine it might just run back down the tube towards the firewall and down in between the opening and underneath your carpet. As seen in shitty pic