ROSWELL on PLANET-SF

PLOT

At the Evans' house, Mrs Evans is cooking dinner while Max does his biology homework. As the pair get onto the subject of his lab partner, Diane doesn't notice as she knocks over a bottle of oil. Max admits that his partner is Liz just as the oil catches fire. He shouts a warning to his mom and she falls to the floor, failing to see him use his powers to extinguish the fire.

Sometime later, after a fireman has checked that everything is okay, Diane tells Max that he saved her life. He suggests that she gets some rest but just then Valenti shows up on the pretence of making sure everything is okay. He asks about the fire, which must have been pretty scary for Diane, and she tells him that Max put it out with a pot of water. Valenti tells Max that he's impressed by his actions.

Later, in his room, Max tells Isabel what happened and about Valenti showing up. Isabel can tell he's really upset and tells her brother that he was right to put the brakes on his relationship with Liz.

At the Crashdown, Liz tells Maria that she's totally okay about breaking up with Max, and declares that it was 90% mutual anyway.

At school, Michael tells Max that adults are the enemy and can't be expected to handle the situation. Liz and a disinterested Maria show up and after Maria and Michael have walked off in opposite directions, Liz tells Max that today's basketball game is no big deal, even though they've all got seats together.

Mrs Evans is watching a video of a young Max and Isabel feeding birds and asks Isabel if she's ever noticed anything unusual about her brother. Isabel asks what this is all about and Diane says that she's just a bit shaken from the fire.

Isabel arrives at the basketball game with two of her friends and tells Max that she needs to speak to him. She tells him that their mom knows something and that she was looking for something on the video she was watching. Isabel clearly wants to reveal the truth about them, but Michael points out that it would only be a matter of time before she told the wrong person. Max says that no-one's telling anyone anything.

Liz, who has been cheering enthusiastically at the shouts out some encouragement to Kyle. He tries to get a loose ball and falls to the floor, spraining his ankle. Max notices Liz's concerned face.

Valenti stops by to check up on Mrs Evans, and mentions that Max has been around a couple of near misses recently, including the shooting at the Crashdown, which Max hadn't mentioned to her. He also drops off a pamphlet on household emergencies and has underlined the section on grease fires for her.

In the woodshop, Michael watches Maria struggling with her project and tries to offer some advice, which turns out to be a bad move. Maria is still annoyed that although she went out on a limb for him when he was sick, it's still only about him, Max and Isabel to him.

Liz drops off a pie from the Crashdown and some study notes for Kyle, but he's not really in the mood for talking about it and she leaves.

Max is painting over the burn marks on the kitchen ceiling. Diane tells him that the fire could have been a real disaster and gets him to run through what he did. She points out that it was a grease fire and that the pamphlet Valenti gave her says that water makes a grease fire spread and asks him what he did. Max is saved by Isabel returning home.

Later, Isabel tells Max that the more time they spend doing nothing, the more time Valenti has to make their mom curious about them. She wants to tell her the truth, adding that before they were hiding something for her, now they're actively lying. Max believes that it would destroy her to learn the truth but Isabel thinks that it would make them all closer.

The following morning, Mrs Evans asks Isabel what she can remember before she and Max were adopted. Isabel tells her that she can remember the orphanage and the day they were picked up, which was when their lives began.

Outside school, Maria is still fiddling with her napkin holder when Michael comes over. He tells her that the idea that he has to apologise to her is just a tactic so that he'll think he's indebted to her, but he isn't. He tries to pull it out of Maria's grasp only for it to break in half. Maria tells him that it would be cheating to just wave your hand over a problem and make it go away, asking why he can't just apologise like a normal human being - although that maybe the problem.

Kyle enters the Crashdown on crutches and tells Liz that she brought the pie and the study notes round because she feels responsible for his ankle. Liz denies it and Kyle tells her that he’s going to miss the rest of the season. Liz admits that she feels a bit responsible and apologises for breaking up with him and says she’s sorry that he’ll miss the rest of the season. Kyle admits that he just said that to prove a point and that he’ll only be out for two weeks. He also admits that the last two days have given him time to think and apologises for not letting it go when they broke up; it would be great if they could still be friends. Max is about to enter the café when he sees Liz talking with Kyle and decides against it.

Valenti invites Mrs Evans to see him at the police station, where he hands her a copy of the report from the shooting incident at the Crashdown. Valenti tells her to turn to the testimony of two witnesses who both said they saw Liz Parker get shot in the stomach and that someone put his hand over her and healed her. Diane asks whether he’s trying to tell her that Max has some sort of healing powers. Valenti replies that he just thought she should see the report.

Later, Diane has Max watch the video, which shows a six-year-old Max picking up a bird with a broken wing and then letting it fly away. She asks what him what happened, and tells him that she’s thought about this over again since the fire. Max, who was nearly in tears watching the video gets angry at all the questioning and storms out.

He meets Michael and Isabel at the quarry to discuss what happened. Michael wants to get hold of the videotape and burn it, so it’s just Diane’s word against theirs. A furious Isabel tells him that she’s their mother. Michael tells her that she isn’t and that when Isabel tells her she’s not going to be on their side. Max tries to put an end to Michael and Isabel’s argument by saying that they’re not going to tell their mom, but Isabel tells him to stop speaking to her like this. She tells Max that they’re losing their mother and that she needs her. Max declares that they’re not telling her and Isabel walks off.

Maria opens her locker to find a napkin holder with a note attached that reads "Handmade by Michael - Thanks". After she comes out of the class, Michael asks how her project went. Maria replies that she flunked, admitting that she didn’t use the one Michael made, she kept it instead. Maria starts to walk away but Michael tells her not to help him if he gets sick again - he can’t afford to be indebted to anybody. Around Maria, he just feels confused and he doesn’t want to feel that way.

Max watches Liz through the window of the Crashdown before entering. He tells her not to feel uncomfortable about getting back together with Kyle. Liz tells him that that isn’t happening and even if it was, she wouldn’t need his permission. Max thinks that she sounds like Isabel, because she’s also got a thing that he’s controlling. Liz tells him that he is controlling and that he should have more faith in those around him.

Max finds Mrs Evans sitting on a park bench. She asks whether he needs to find his real parents because his adoptive ones aren’t enough. Max doubts that they’ll ever find their real parents and tells her not to think that way. He gives her the model house that she gave him on his first nights with the Evanses; she told him that it was a magic hosue and that if he held onto it, it would take him home. But it would never bring him home because he doesn’t know where home is. He can’t remember and if she can’t accept that then he can leave. He reassures her that it’s nothing bad or dangerous and asks her to trust him.

He tries to the quarry where he meets Isabel. When she learns that he didn’t tell their mom, Isabel starts crying, saying she wanted her to know. Max hugs her, telling her that he understands, that they have each other and that it’s going to be okay.

CAST

Mary Ellen Trainer returns as Max and Isabel's mom, and as usual their younger selves are played by Daniel Hansen and Zoe K. Nutter.

CONTINUITY

On the day Max and Isabel were picked up from the orphanage, Diane Evans wore a yellow sweater which Isabel thought looked like the sun.

Shortly after this, Max healed a bird's broken wing (Michael: "Great. You healed a pigeon. Now you're Dr Doolittle").

When their father is out of town, Max and Isabel's mom always watching videos of them as kids.

Biology isn't Max's strongest subject, but Liz is really good at science (which is just as well given that she wants to be a molecular biologist).

Max only listens to the Counting Crows when he's really upset.

Michael finds basketball ridiculous. Maria is pretty hopeless at woodwork.

The names of the tourists in the Crashdown on the day Liz was shot are given as Larry Trilling and Jennifer Kattler.

NOTES

Having to reserve specific seats at a high school basketball game seems a little convenient plot-wise, as does Diane Evans' lack of knowledge about the effect of pouring water over a grease fire. Why isn't she suspicious of Isabel as well as Max?

Powers on display here are Max extinguishing a fire and Isabel experimenting with different lip gloss colours.

COMMENTS

Focusing mainly on Max, The Toy House is another enjoyable episode, even if there are a couple of convenient elements to it.

It seems a little unbelievable that Diane Evans is unaware of the dangers of trying to put out a grease fire with water, but in saving her, Max puts himself at risk, just as he did back in the Pilot when he saved Liz.

Yet although he was willing to trust Liz, he's not willing to reveal the truth to his mom - surely she would have given him more indication that she could be trusted than a girl at school who he's liked from a distance.

It's not difficult to why Isabel would be frustrated at his and Michael's refusal to let her in on the secret, especially since Max was the one who put them in danger in the first place. Isabel seems to have a different relationship with her parents, Max and Michael than the one she has with most of the others around her.

Valenti was also subtle in drawing out Diane's suspicions about Max. He could have just told her about throwing water onto a grease fire, but instead he just leaves a pamphlet with her, as well as mentioning Max's involvement with Liz being shot at the Crashdown.

However, nice to see her sticking up for her kids, although since both Max and Isabel are adopted, it does seem strange why her suspicions are confined to Max.

Despite the concentration on Max, all of the other regulars are also well handled.

Liz tries to regain control of her life, telling Maria that breaking up with Max was "99% mutual" and her scenes with Kyle, who is actually likeable for the first time.

The scene at the basketball game is great, with an enthusiastic Liz, Maria cheering for the wrong team and being reluctant to sit next to Michael, and Alex finding some space for Isabel and her friends.

Maria and Michael continue to be a funny, yet sweet, double-act, as shown by Michael's attempts to fix things (and the napkin holder) with Maria. He and Isabel are also quick to condemn Max for trying to control them, when they're equally as guilty of trying to control him. BACK TO THE TOP

THE TOY HOUSE

ritten by MICHAEL FIELDS
and JASON KATIMS

Directed by MICHAEL FIELDS

STARRING
SHIRI APPLEBY
Liz Parker

JASON BEHR
Max Evans

KATHERINE HEIGL
Isabel Evans

MAJANDRA DELFINO
Maria DeLuca

BRENDAN FEHR
Michael Guerin

COLIN HANKS
Alex Whitman

NICK WECHSLER
Kyle Valenti

and WILLIAM SADLER
Sheriff Jim Valenti

GUEST STARRING
MARY ELLEN TRAINOR
Diane Evans

CO-STARRING
DANIEL HANSEN
Young Max

ZOE K. NUTTER
Young Isabel
GIL COLON
Firefighter #1

US/UK TRANSMISSION DETAILS
The WB: 19 January 2000
Sky One: 23 March 2000
BBC2: 23 November 2000

EPISODE RATING: 9/10

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