Each week I look for a theme or at least a unifying theory for the events of the episode. This week’s takeaway was truth and consequences. Each of our main characters is forced to either face a truth they’ve been hiding or the consequences of their actions. With one noticeable exception – I’m looking at you, Max.
Liz has spent her life in reaction to her circumstances. As a young child Liz recognized the strained relationship between her mother and Rosa, even if she didn’t understand why. Her response was to be everything Rosa wasn’t. If she was perfect, maybe her mother would love her. Liz studied regeneration, hoping no one would have to suffer the loss of their family the way she suffered from Rosa’s death. And her ambition is driven by the need for little girls who feel trapped by their lives will see they have options.
These are all laudable ambitions. That she continually turns down Genoryx’s money because she suspects the company’s ethics is also laudable. Hiding her research from Max is less so. Especially when that research could threaten his existence. He’s right. She never asked. She proceeded with a monk-like hyper focus that I doubt Max found endearing.
That said, Max harbors a few secrets of his own, which may be why he was reluctant to call Liz out on her lie about Maria. It is unclear if Max has shared the fear he may be dangerous with Liz. He certainly hasn’t informed her he’s used the rest of the alien cure in his quest for more pre-pod memories. At some point that chicken will come home to roost.
Unlike Liz and Max, Michael is in search of the truth. When he realizes Tripp’s message is a fraud, he attempts to confront Alex with the true nature of his father. Unfortunately, he’s met by the scumbag himself and discovers that Alex is missing and possibly in danger.
Can we just pause for a moment to contemplate Michael’s flagrant use of his abilities? Jesse and Flint are part of an organization that views Michael, and anyone like him, as a threat to humanity. Is confirming his status as an alien a wise move? And even if that cat was out of the bag, how does attacking Jesse or Flint solve anything when they already believe aliens are inherently violent? Do Liz’s experiments matter when one, possibly two government agencies know Michael, Max and Isobel are aliens?
By this point I think we were all aware the Manes family was royally screwed up. However, we may have to come up with a new definition for family dysfunction. Alex was taken by his brother from their father, who was holding Alex captive in the basement after clubbing him for an alien artifact. And, if Michael was right, Jesse Manes only wanted Alex back to cut the loose end. Does the fact that Flint wants his brother court-martialled rather than dead make him better? No wonder Gregory is hiding out on the res.
The redemption of Isobel continues. After years of self-described selfishness, she is determined to be better. She wants to live up to the memory of her biological mother. One way is by undoing the damage she’s done to Rosa. Even if that damage was due to Isobel’s serial-killing alien husband.
I have to admit that Rosa’s journey confounds me. So far, her existence facilitated the other characters’ storylines. The cause of Liz’s need for perfection, the representation of Max’s failure and attempt at redemption, and most recently Isobel’s redemption story. This week she also furthers the plot by discovering her mother’s “disappearance.”
However, her role in the show’s overall narrative remains a mystery. She can’t move around Roswell freely because of her status as a dead woman and she can’t remain in rehab forever, regardless of Noah’s prowess at day trading. Will they continue the fiction that she is Liz’s cousin, Rosalinda, or is she destined to have a second untimely death? Neither is a satisfactory conclusion in her journey to find herself.
For Kyle, no good deed goes unpunished. He is facing the consequences for helping Liz and saving Max’s life. Yet even after losing his job and being threatened with a criminal investigation, he still helps Max. Then there is Steph. Their non-relationship fascinates me. Their first date was an abject failure. Yet Kyle felt the need to apologize to her for his actions – not to the hospital or even her father. And Steph plays upon her terminal illness with her dad to save Kyle’s job even as she explains how hurt and angry she is.
Setting the truth and consequences theme aside, this episode moved at warp speed in contrast to the reflective nature of the last one. Diego’s motives may not be as pure as we first believed. He was pushing pretty hard for Liz to join Genoryx. This makes me believe it’s connected to all the other alien shenanigans, although his offers started before Liz's return to Roswell.
Then there’s the revelation that the Manes family dysfunction ties into the Ortecho’s version. Mama Ortecho is in cahoots with Flint, which sheds a different light on her recent homecoming. Was her involvement because of her relationship with Valenti or how they met?
We also have reason to believe that Flint was responsible for Mimi Deluca and Cam’s abduction, not to mention shooting Charlie. The question remains if Flint and Helena are working on Project Shepherd’s behalf or Deep Sky’s? Or could they be, as I suspect, one and the same?
There are only two weeks left, and I still have no clue where this is headed.
4 out of 5 empty vials of the alien cure
Parting Thoughts:
This week’s episode is named after the Cranberries’ 1993 hit.
Now that Max is not in law enforcement, he’s into breaking and entering? But at least he’s wearing gloves. Kyle, on the other hand...
Yucca Blooms Ltd. Could this be where they are holding Alex?
Is the bomb that Michael is supposed to build the same as the Caulfield prototype in "Creep"?
Quotes:
Diego: “Your monk-like hyper focus is a turn on.”
Isobel: “My brain picks lock now.”
Isobel: “Are you guys about to fight? ‘Cause I can make popcorn.”
Michael: “Your kinder-gentler, bigot-scumbag thing isn’t going to work with me. Without even touching you, I can rip your trachea out and show it to you.”
Isobel: “I’m trying this new thing where I don’t follow every selfish impulse.”
Kyle: “And Project Shepherd is in the middle of your alien-military Venn diagram.”
Hinckle: “You know, you’d be good-looking if wasn’t for that ugly mouth.”
Flint: “If this is your attempt to convince me you aren’t a horde of violent invaders here to colonize a planet that isn’t yours, I mean you’re doing a really bang-up job.”
Max: “What kind of work are you doing exactly?”
Steph: “This isn’t a victimless crime, Kyle.”
Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and anything with a cape.
Did they just talk about Rosa in front of Diego? Doesn't he think she's dead?
ReplyDeleteAlso knew he was too hot to be trusted.
Confusing ep but nice review.
I didn't notice if they did. I'm going to have to rewatch. And, no, I don't think he can be trusted.
ReplyDelete