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Previously: Isobel takes Liz’s, uh, “scientific” potion to block her powers and ends up frying her cells, literally, so the gang puts her in one of the alien pods to keep her in suspended animation while they figure out a cure. Alex gives his dad the caning we’ve all been waiting for and runs him out of town after exposing his illegal spying operation.
THIS WEEK ON ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
It’s been six weeks since Isobel went into stasis and Max has made it his mission to narrate for her the 100 classics everyone should read before they die. Liz and Michael are hoping that the one-hundredth-and-forty-eighth time is the charm for their super scientific antidote, but it has to cure for 36 hours before they can be sure. It seems to pass the test and is ready for use by the end of the episode, but the powers that be heard my prayers and decided I deserved an entire Isobel-free hour (praise be!), so we’ll have to wait until next week to see if it works (can it also cure bad acting? Because that would be fantastic.).
Maria’s mom’s memory is getting worse, and soon Maria believes she won’t remember anything about their life together. She wants Liz’s help to vet a faith healer she’s found in Texas. Unbeknownst to the ladies, Max has asked Michael to drive him to the same faith healer because her flyer features their alien symbol/beacon. It certainly looks like she’s healing the way Max does, but when they interrogate her further, she reveals she is simply trying to earn a living by taking money from gullible white men, as every year the government takes more and more of her people’s land away. Max returns the next day to beg for more answers, and the healer’s grandma(?) explains there was a true healer on their reservation long ago, who left that symbol wherever she went like a calling card. The day she died she spoke her first and only words: “He has arrived, so I may leave.” Coincidentally, this happened right around the time Max left his own alien pod twenty years ago…
Cameron confides in Alex that his father is blackmailing her into spying on him, but she figures the enemy of her enemy is her BFF. He takes her to Manes’ underground lair and Kyle also shows up, and they all dance around the topic of aliens until finally bringing Cam into the loop. She figured out the doctor who signed fourteen different autopsy reports over the last ten years (starting with Rosa’s) doesn’t actually exist. It seems like Manes was covering up alien-related deaths, and if it wasn’t Isobel, then it looks like there’s a fourth alien in Roswell who has “serial killing” listed as one of their hobbies.
YOU’RE FROM WHERE?!
This episode was full of whoa moments! We got:
– Michael and Maria getting down and literally and figuratively dirty in the desert. Is Michael getting more attractive or am I just experiencing Stockholm Syndrome?
– Max giving another adorably romantic speech, and this time it works and he gets his smoochies!
– Liz confesses she kind of likes Michael. I am totally enjoying the fact that they are two eggheads getting along as lab partners. More of this, show, please.
– Alex’s dad apparently covering up and/or also committing Kyle’s dad’s murder (so it wasn’t a brain aneurysm, because: of course not). At this point we have to ask: does anyone in Roswell die a natural death?
– Noah taking matters into his own hands and finding Isobel floating in her pod, AND being super calm enough about it to lie to the sheriff. Does he KNOW something we don’t know he knows, or is he just an unflappable human?
WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE CZECHOSLOVAKIANS
– This episode was my favorite so far. I wonder how much of that was due to Shiri Appleby being at the helm. If there’s anyone who knows that a show like this needs some light-hearted moments and when to go heavy on the swoon, it’s original Liz! Also, check out this adorable photo of her with the cast.
– I was instantly suspicious of the faith healer’s healing abilities, mostly because she didn’t display any of the intense O-faces Max gives us whenever he tries to fix someone.
– I see this version of Maria is also a wannabe singer, or at least is a pro at karaoke (I am also loving all the references to Alanis and her seminal album, Jagged Little Pill, one of my all-time faves). I enjoyed seeing the foursome bust loose, although it did feel a little weird to see, like, Michael dancing. From what we’ve seen of him, he doesn’t seem like a dancer. It’s strange to see them all hanging out so easily in general. I guess we missed some bonding moments within those fast-forwarded six weeks. On one hand, I’m annoyed we weren’t privy to the build-up, but on the other I really needed the fun after so many heavy, plot-laden episodes.
– While I like Alex and Michael, the flirty banter between Michael and Maria was giving me OG vibes and I was INTO it, but I also can’t help but feel this is just Michael distracting himself because Alex is giving him the cold shoulder. Their little moment at the end of the episode, where it seems like Michael is thinking that Alex may be guessing his secret, makes me feel like this desert hookup will be a one-time thing.
– Michael’s messed up hand from Manes’ hammer-time—OUCH. I know we saw it happen, but I think this is the first time we’ve seen how much damage there was.
– Was anyone else grinning when Max and Liz finally kissed? I had some whiplash, as Liz was JUST declaring she’d never forgive him a mere three episodes ago, but I also just want some freaking romance already, so thank god it’s finally happening. I’m loving the way they shoot these scenes: gorgeous, sweeping landscapes and their silhouettes framed by the setting sun. SO pretty.
ROSWELLIAN OF THE WEEK: Max
Put away those Kleenex, Max, my boy, because you actually got to make out with the girl of your dreams, learn a bit more about your past, AND your sister is almost ready to be hatched. Life is coming up Max this week.
SAY WHAT
“Max, Isobel’s organs are failing; thoughts and prayers aren’t going to save her liver.”—Michael
“Hey, where are the actual lab rats?”—Kyle
“In the freezer. We sacrificed them yesterday.”—Liz
“Your casual blurring of the lines between science experiment and Satanic ritual concerns me, Liz.”—Kyle
[To Max] “What are you going ask her to heal? Your wounded heart?”—Michael
“We’ve only got one room. King sized bed. It’s the jalapeno room. Real spicy.”—Weird hotel clerk
“You know, I knew something weird was going on, but Max Evans is an alien murderer wasn’t top of my list.”—Cameron
“Just out of curiosity, what was?”—Alex
“I don’t know…wizard murderer?”—Cameron
WE NEED ANSWERS
– So now Maria is literally the only one who doesn’t know about aliens? Can someone please just clue her in!?
– Do you think we’ve seen this fourth Roswellian alien on screen yet? We haven’t really met many people in town, so I’m thinking no.
Next episode: “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing.” Michael tells Alex everything, and Isobel gets injected with the cure.
