PLOT
Michael breaks into the UFO Center and searches for James Atherton on
Milton's PC. He prints out the results then notices Milton sleeping
at a nearby desk. The printer beeps, waking Milton and Michael tries
to escape, only to run into Deputy Blackwood. The
next day, Max, Isabel, Liz, Maria and Kyle are in class listening to
Mr. Somers talking about the role of the historian. Listening
to Mr. Somers, I realised how strange it must be for Max, Isabel and
Michael not to even know their own history, and how scary it would be if
anyone discovered it before they did. Mr.
Somers hands out a set of questions for the students to use to write up an
oral report and pairs them off, including Liz with Isabel, Max with Kyle,
Maria with Michael. Maria finds the questions "kinda
personal" and objects to be paired with Michael, especially since
he's not even in class. Mr. Somers tells her that in this case it'll
be like true field week, tracking down her subject. Outside
class, Maria continues to moan while Liz see Kyle with Max and asks if
things could possibly get any worse. Kyle, who seems to be enjoying
it, arranges to meet Max at the Crashdown where they can get to know each
other a little. After he's gone, Liz explains that Kyle has been
acting weird ever since they split up. Max assures it that it will
be okay before the secretary tells him that he's got a phone call. In
the classroom, Mr. Somers thanks Topolsky, who provided him with the
questions and well as suggesting the way the students were paired up. At
the police station, the deputy tells Max that the suspect entered the
premises at his request, which Milton doesn't find possible. Max
claims that he gave Michael his keys (which he then lost) and offers to
work off any damages. After Max and Michael have left, the deputy
hands Valenti copies of the two pages Michael printed off. Max,
Isabel and Michael are sat outside school, discussing what's
happened. Michael wants to borrow the keys to Max's jeep so he can
drive to Marathon, Texas, where the geodesic dome is. Max tells him
to wait, at which point Michael walks over. Max tells Isabel that he
won't get far without a car. Maria
collars Michael and tries to ask him the questions for their history
assignment. He's not interested until he sees the keys to the Jetta
in her hand and agrees to answer her questions in exchange for a lift. In
the Crashdown, Isabel and Liz are sat at the counter. Liz is
distracted by Kyle and Max, who are seated at a booth, and Isabel asks why
she doesn't just take them some ketchup or something. Liz takes it
over, and Kyle decides to skip to question 8 - "Have you ever been in
love?" he asks Max in front of Liz. "No," comes the reply. Maria
pulls up at a gas station, and tells Michael to stop making up his
answers, which he denies. She says that if he wants to be like this
then she'll make up the answers for him and asks him to help her unload a
box. He refuses so she gets out of the car herself. While
she's picking up the cash, Michael slides over to the driver's seat and
starts the car. Realising what he's doing, Maria runs back and gets
in as well. Michael tells her to get out but she tells him that
wherever the car goes, she goes. "Fine," he tells her. Liz
is back at the counter when her cell phone rings. It's Maria.
Liz realises that she's with Michael, who twigs what Maria's upto when she
announces that they're going south on 285. Seeing the phone, he
throws it out of the window. Isabel
asks Liz what's wrong, so she tells her that Maria and Michael are in a
car. Isabel walks over to Max and tells him they have to go.
Outside the Crashdown, she's explaining what's happened when Liz wants to
know what's going on. He tells her she can't come with them but
relents when Kyle asks if there's "trouble in paradise." In
the car parked next to Max's jeep, an agent calls Topolsky and tells her
that Max, Isabel and Liz have left in a hurry. She tells him to find
out when they're going and types "Special Investigation Unit, Code
Name: West Roswell High... Tension in the Ranks. Waiting for them to
slip up. Will happen soon" into her laptop. In
the jeep, Liz calls her mom and tells her that she's studying at
Maria's. Isabel finds it amusing that she's lying. "Yeah,
well, at least she knows what species I am," Liz tells her. In
the Jetta, Michael and Maria are still arguing. Maria can't believe
that Michael intends to drive all the way to Texas and tells him not to
drive so fast. The police car behind them turns on its sirens and
Maria tells him he's got 20 seconds to convince her not to say
anything. Michael tells her that this is the first lead they've ever
had. When the cop asks why he was speeding, Maria claims she's got a
weak bladder condition, and he lets them off with a ticket.
"You owe me big," Maria tells Michael. At
home, Kyle calls round the Evanses, the Parkers and the DeLucas to no
avail. His dad asks what's up and Kyle tells him that Max, Isabel
and Liz took off from the Crashdown and have lied to their parents.
Sheriff Valenti makes up an excuse that he's left something at the office
and tells Kyle to stay out of it. Outside
a store, Liz hands Isabel a drink, which Isabel knocks out of her
hand. Liz explains that she was just trying to be nice and Isabel
uses her powers to clean up her own outfit. Liz says that it's no
surprise that Isabel always looks so perfect, adding that she's the
"Elle McPherson of the sophomore class." "Well, I
guess that answers question number 12: 'Who do you envy?'" Isabel
replies. Liz asks who Isabel envies - "no one," she
replies. Liz tells her that she's not trying to take Max away from
her, which Isabel says she understands. Liz then asks if they found
something in Marathon would Isabel take Max away from her? Isabel
uses her powers to clean up Liz's sweater. Max
emerges from the store as a guy waiting to use the phone is arguing with
the one making a call. Max recognises the one using the phone as the
guy parked next to him at the Crashdown and as he hurries over to the jeep
he uses his powers to let down the tyres on his car. Maria's
car is spluttering and Michael is forced to pull over. She tells him
to use his "secret powers", but he tells her that he's not very
good at using them. He gets out, struggles to open the hood and
tries to use his powers to fix it, which only results in blowing the
engine. Michael declares that he's going to take the back seat, at
which Maria points out that he's kidnapped her, blown up her car and now
expects her to spend the night in the car with him. Michael replies
that it's not exactly his fantasy evening either, but after setting off an
inflatable alien in one of the boxes Maria was delivering, he spots a
motel and announces he's off to get some sleep. In
the jeep, Liz suggests that they call their parents since it's getting
late. Isabel agrees with her but Max tells her that no one can know
about this. Liz says she's worried about Maria, Isabel is worried
about Michael but Max thinks they're too close to finding something to
risk it. Liz's phone rings. It's Kyle, who offers to drop her
books off at Maria's. Liz says that she'll see him at school
tomorrow instead. After she's ending the call, Kyle turns onto 285,
heading south. Valenti
is on the radio asking the highway patrol about the jeep. There's
nothing on the computer about that, but there is a citation for a Michael
Guerin, driving a car registered to an Amy DeLuca. Valenti asks
where they were headed, tracing the route directly to Marathon. Michael
and Maria enter the motel room. Maria says that she's cold, hungry,
in a motel with a guy she barely knows and just wants to go home.
Michael offers to get something from the vending machines outside, telling
her to lock the door. A
traffic report announces that a truck has jack-knifed on the
highway. A dismayed Isabel thinks that Michael and Maria will have
already made it through. Max tells her they'll just have to get some
rest and continue when the road's open again. Isabel is alarmed at
the prospect of spending the night in the jeep with Max and Liz. In
the motel room, Maria discovers that Michael gets hungry just like humans
and asks what other urges he gets. He walks up to her and then tells
her "not if you're the last woman on Earth."
"Ditto," Maria replies and then presses on with the
assignment. Michael disproves her scepticism about James Joyce's Ulysses
being his favourite book and then she asks him a personal question, since
she didn't turn him into the cop. Michael tells her that it's
important for him to find out where he's from because there has to be
something better out there for him than Roswell, New Mexico. Maria
tells a story she used to make up as a kid that ends with her thinking
that there had to be somewhere better out there for her than Roswell, New
Mexico. She says that she's tired and Michael admits that it has
been a long day. Indicating the bed, he adds that he doesn't suppose
they can share. "No if you were the last alien on Earth,"
Maria replies. Liz
and Max are alone in the jeep. Liz tries to apologise for Kyle and
for her "stupid, boring life" getting them into trouble.
Max assures her that nothing about her is stupid and that it feels as if
his life didn't start until he told her the truth. Liz asks him
whether agreeing not to feel a certain way about each other is still a
good idea. Max reaches towards her face but then uses his power to
fix a tear in the roof, telling Liz he just wanted to keep her warm. Isabel
returns with an update on the road block before spotting Maria's car
pulled over by the motel. The
three of them are stood outside Maria and Michael's motel room. Liz
says they'll knock, but Isabel uses her powers to pull the chain
back. The door opening wakes Maria, who has been sleeping on the
bed, and she falls onto Michael, who has been sleeping on the floor. Liz
says that they thought Maria might be in trouble and when Michael makes it
look like something was going on between them, she starts hitting
him. Michael tells Max that he couldn't just hang around waiting for
him and Isabel any longer. They might like it in Roswell but one day
someone will find out about them. Kyle
walks in and wants to know wants Michael to finish what he was
saying. Michael tells him to get out and then throws him across the
room. Kyle wants to know what's going on and tells Liz he wants her
to come back with him. Liz tells Kyle that he doesn't belong there
and that she's not his girlfriend any longer. After
Kyle leaves, Max tells Liz and Maria that he'll take them home, but Liz
tells him that if they don't know everything that's going on how can them
protect themselves? Max tells them about breaking into Valenti's
office and the vision Michael got from the key. Max
drives the group to the geodesic dome. Michael tries to unlock the
door with the key, but it doesn't work so Max uses his powers
instead. Max suggests that it might open something inside the dome,
which it looks like no one has been inside for ages. Isabel suggests
Michael tries holding the key again, but he doesn't see anything.
However, after Maria suggests he tries again, he has a vision of another
room. Pulling the stones set in a wall, Michael finds a hidden lock,
which the key fits. A door in the floor opens. The
group explore the hidden room but then hear footsteps coming from above
them. It is Valenti, but then he is hit from behind by an assailant,
which is revealed to be Topolsky. To
Be Continued... CONTINUITY
Liz's favourite ice cream is vanilla. She appears to envy Isabel,
who doesn't envy any one. Max
doesn't watch a lot of TV. The best thing that's ever happened to
him was "getting adopted, I guess." Michael
claims that his favourite TV programme is The View, but then says
later that it's Win Ben Stein's Money. His favourite ice
cream is pistachio and he is able to quote from page 655 of James Joyce's Ulysses.
He also admits that he's not that good at using his powers. Kyle's
favourite TV programme is America's Most Wanted, which he watches
with his dad. The best thing that's happened to him was winning the
statewide junior rifle competition. Maria's
mom, Amy DeLuca, makes inflatable green aliens. The
aliens' powers are shown to include letting down car tyres, clearing
liquid from sweaters, fixing a tear in the jeep's roof, unlocking doors
(Max's use of this is similar to Silver in the ATV series Sapphire and
Steel) and accidentally blowing up a car engine. NOTES
Apart from the various TV programmes mentioned in response to the
questionnaire, Maria mentions Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie
("wiggle your nose, blink your eyes, do the Samantha-Jeannie-alien
thing"). She thinks the motel room looks "like the porno
version of Aladdin" (how does she know?) How
does Kyle know where Max, Isabel and Liz are going? COMMENTS
Excellent. Max
again seems to defer to Liz, but the pair also have some excellent moments
in the episode - the scene where he avoids her question and fixes the tear
in the jeep's roof and the look they share when Isabel realises that they
might have to sleep in the jeep. And it's just so Liz that her
favourite flavour of ice cream is vanilla. A
different side of Isabel is shown when she knocks the drink out of Liz's
hand and Liz asks whether Isabel would take Max anyway from her. She
doesn't reply, but she does get the stains out of Liz's sweater, something
which seems highly after Liz's "at least [my mom] knows what species
I am" line earlier. Missing
showed that Michael trusts Liz and now it appears that Isabel does as
well. Michael's
"abduction" of Maria again shows his obsession with finding out
more about the aliens' past, his feeling on his life in Roswell compared
with Max and Isabel's and his lack of control over his powers. But
we also learn new things - his reaction to her not giving him up to the
traffic cop, telling her to lock the motel room door behind him, his quote
from Ulysses (including the page number) and trying to get a vision
from the key when she suggests he gives it another go. Maria
has moved from finding Michael creepy to find that they've got something
in common, as shown by his "subsitute a spaceship for a limo"
line. Not only does she not tell the patrolman that he's kidnapped
her but she also has faith in him and tells him to try the key
again. Her falling off the bed is a little obvious but Michael and
Liz's reactions and Isabel's "honey" line make up for this, and
her use of his own words against him when he indicates that they share the
bed is great. I
still can't see what Liz ever saw in Kyle, whose delight at winding up Max
is obvious. Even he seems to have realised at last that Liz hasn't
stumbled into something that she needs him to rescue her from. Topolsky
seems still seems a bit unconvincing. None of the kids have
questioned what she's doing, and doesn't anyone see her with Mr.
Somers? Her agents are also pretty bumbling, although her braining
of Valenti at the climax of the episode does set things up for part two of
the story. That
aside, however, there is virtually nothing negative to say about 285
South. Back
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