Roswell 2.13: "Disturbing Behavior"
Written by Ronald Moore
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
In which Michael and Maria try to find out his connection to Laurie’s grandfather, while Max, Liz, and Isabel begin to uncover the secrets of Laurie’s abduction…
Status Report
Although this is a continuation of the previous two episodes, this is formally the first part of a two-part story. The fact that the network collected the four episodes into an informal mini-arc called “The Hybrid Chronicles” is rather confusing, but it does capture the fact that the four episodes belong together. They were originally conceived as a way to give the series some sense of closure, but when the second season was extended to a full episode count, these episodes were retooled slightly to let the series continue forward.
Oddly, this decision to modify the story was meant to provide plot and character threads for the rest of the season, but this was unnecessary. The episodes up to and including “Max in the City” provided a number of dangling plot threads to explore, and the question of free will/destiny was never fully addressed. These episodes were meant to explore the impact of the aliens on the humans around them, since the beginning of the season largely covered how the aliens were dealing with the demands of a predetermined call to arms.
Going into this episode, there were a number of questions to be answered. Those questions were:
Did Grant really abduct Laurie?
Why was Laurie abducted and placed in the ground?
What is the connection between Isabel and Laurie?
What did Isabel see when she touched Laurie?
How did Dan know so much about Valenti’s activities?
Was Dan there specifically to look into Max’s connection to Valenti?
Will Valenti lose his job while trying to protect the hybrids? (Answered!)
What will happen to Kyle?
Will Liz become attracted to Sean, and will she toss him aside for Max, as her dream suggests?
Is Agent Duff really there just to investigate Laurie’s disappearance?
Does Laurie really have paranoid schizophrenia?
Why was her file at the psychiatric hospital empty?
How are Michael and Laurie’s grandfather connected?
How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction?
What is the crystal, and why does it seem to be alive?
Why was the crystal placed in the same spot that Laurie was buried?
Why wasn’t the crystal at the crime scene when Laurie was found?
The opening scene addresses the connection between Michael and Laurie’s grandfather, at least in terms of what is likely to be true. It makes sense that if the aliens needed to create hybrids to ensure that the Royal Four would survive, and that the human DNA would therefore have to come from somewhere. This supports the idea, long hinted, that Max’s people had some past connection to Earth, since they would have been around Earth between 1910 and 1947 (otherwise, where did the human DNA come from?). This might have been possible with the granilith, and then not possible once the hybrids (and the Skins led by Nicholas) made their transit.
Meanwhile, while under interrogation, Laurie goes a bit nuts, claming that the aliens are nearby and coming for her. This connects to one of the open questions: How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction? She seems to feel the presence of the aliens involved in her kidnapping, which, inconsistencies aside, is not entirely impossible. Laurie’s grandfather might have been chosen because his DNA (and therefore, that of his progeny) would be easier to “activate”, thus giving the hybrids the full measure of humanity’s potential. If one of the abilities held with Laurie’s genetic code involved a sensitivity to anything related to Antar, specifically gandarium, then she would be able to sense when Grant (an infected individual) was nearby.
At the beginning of the episode, Laurie continues to react to Michael as though he were a ghost. Oddly, once she realizes that she’s in danger from someone else, she has no problem going along with Michael, even after he displays his powers. This suggests that Laurie is sensitive to the gandarium specifically, not aliens from Antar in general. All of which, of course, paints a very different picture than paranoid schizophrenia would imply. This is all quickly contradicted when Laurie tears apart the Jetta in her attempts to get away. Whatever else is true or implied, Laurie is definitely a troubled soul.
Back in Roswell, things are still settling after Valenti’s career collapse. Grant Sorenson is now suing Valenti, which becomes an important connection within the scope of the mini-arc. Kyle and Tess, of course, are troubled by his withdrawal. Meanwhile, Max continues to keep Liz out of the analysis of the blue crystal, despite the fact that she’s the science geek in the gang. Of course, he should know enough to keep the unknown and possibly alien bacterium under some kind of control, rather than leaving it out on his desk.
At the Crashdown, Isabel, Alex, and Liz see no problems with discussing Michael and Maria’s involvement with Laurie’s disappearance in the middle of a crowded room. Sean, as usual, is a major annoyance, and his vaguely threatening tone of voice should be enough to get everyone on his case. It implies that he cares about Maria and her welfare, but it’s probably closer to the truth to say that he wants Amy off his back.
Maria suggests that they stop at a diner with the worst food imaginable, supposedly a hole in the ground that’s so bad that even the cops don’t go there. This is supposed to be safe enough for them to take Laurie along without worry. However, that logic doesn’t make sense, since anyone can call the police and report that Laurie is being held (seemingly against her will) by Michael and Maria. That, and the diner, once on screen, doesn’t exactly match Maria’s assessment.
Meanwhile, a question is seemingly answered when Agent Duff questions Isabel about Laurie’s kidnapping and Valenti’s activities over the past couple of weeks. In particular, the questions begin to suggest that Duff knows Isabel was involved. The implication is that Isabel’s alien heritage is threatened, but in fact, that’s not the case. If anything, Isabel could claim psychic ability and probably eliminate further questions. It would probably seem, to the hybrids, too close to the truth for comfort, but it would also be more credible than silence. And never mind that it would even give Valenti a kind of indirect credibility, since police forces use tips from psychics to some degree on a fairly regular basis.
Amy’s decision to confront Liz is a classic moment for the series, and does much to overcome the impression that the teens are running around without any supervision or notice whatsoever. It doesn’t make sense for Maria to use the excuse that she’s camping (given her vocal aversion to camping in “Into the Woods”), but it does make sense for Amy to assume the worst about Maria’s frequent road trips with Michael.
Speaking of Maria, despite having made the assumption that she and Michael are together again, despite his many flaws, she doesn’t give him much reason to show appreciation for her attention. Michael can be a jerk, without question, but no matter how right she might be most of the time, she can’t continue to insult Michael so often without expecting a consequence. Sure, she gets him to make an emotional connection with Laurie, but she’s rather harsh in the process.
Though his potential reaction to being “activated” by the process of being healed hasn’t been addressed to this point, the writers take the time to cover his reaction to his father’s downfall. As the previous episode demonstrated, Kyle has a lot of unresolved issues regarding the whole mess that Isabel and Max dumped in his father’s lap, but he can’t let his father take forever in dealing with the fallout, either. Even though Kyle has little else to do in this episode, he sets his father on a path that reveals much.
When Michael makes his connection with Laurie, tenuous as it is, the writers have her suddenly mention that her grandfather is in Tucson, which is all well and good. Except, of course, that the whole reason she was flipping out about Michael was the fact that her grandfather was dead, and all of them were aware of that fact. Why, then, would they miss this rather major inconsistency? Did they think that Laurie was wrong about her grandfather being dead?
When Amy finally gets a chance to give Maria and Michael a piece of her mind, it’s a strong comic moment. It’s also something that could have easily been covered had either of them simply explained that Michael is following up a lead on a potential family member. Michael’s orphan status is common knowledge, and Amy wouldn’t blink twice at the idea that Maria would be there to give Michael emotional support. At the very least, it would also be a way to pass that information on to Max and Isabel through Liz, which would have been a good idea.
At least the conflict in that scene isn’t half as contrived as the sudden pillow fight between Liz and Sean, designed specifically for Max to see. The writers want to throw Sean into the mix as a potential roadblock, but they only tease at it. Liz isn’t all that interested, but it’s ambiguous enough to throw Max off his game.
Much stronger is Valenti’s scene with Grant and the follow-up with Duff, where his sudden epiphany about Grant and his mental instability is plainly written all over his face. Valenti looks like he’s going to be sick the entire time he speaks with Duff, possibly because he realizes just what Grant’s mental condition might mean in terms of the big picture. He’s quite obviously out of his depth when it comes to covering for the hybrids, if only because he can never be sure how convoluted the situation is going to get.
Once Max finally gets Liz involved (an episode too late), she quickly points out that the blue crystal consists of something like water-borne parasites. How these parasites would take on a crystalline form doesn’t quite make sense, but since they are alien parasites, it works just fine. Between the two of them, Max and Liz work out that the parasites don’t seem interested in humans or hybrids, which doesn’t make sense in relation to Laurie’s burial. As the next episode would finally reveal, there was a rationale.
Back in Tucson, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Meredith seem rather startled to find Laurie on their doorstep, never mind someone who looks like Charles Dupree. They’ve obviously been living off of Charles’ estate, though how is not entirely clear. What is clear is the old hobgoblin of this particular season: the lack of consistency. Suddenly Michael is talking about medical records that he couldn’t possibly have seen, since the file at Pinecrest was empty. The writers dropped the ball on that one, at least in this episode. At the same time, Aunt Meredith does mention that “aliens have been chasing the family”, which fits with the idea that the Duprees were chosen for a reason.
With the help of Isabel’s heartbreaking smile, Max and Liz are able to put the pieces together. Apparently the parasites have one thing in common: the water table under Frazier Woods and the 1947 crash site, thus suggesting that they came from the UFO that crashed. Liz also points out that Laurie’s kidnapper placed her in the ground where the parasites would be close to the surface for a reason. With no other information, a lingering plot point from “Max in the City” actually makes an appearance: the fact that Brody’s “alien abduction” was, in fact, possession by an Antarian named Larek, an old ally of Max’s family.
Through most of the episode, events take place at a fairly slow but steady pace. It finally picks up in the final act. Duff comes to Valenti with proof that Grant is, in fact, the main suspect in the kidnapping. This begins to address some of the existing questions by combining them. Bobby and Meredith pay off Michael and Maria to get out of Tucson and never come back. But the real kicker comes when Max and Liz convince Brody to let Isabel, under the guise of a psychic attempt to uncover his abduction memories, attempt to make a connection with Larek.
It goes very badly. Brody’s heart stops, since possession wasn’t initiated properly. Larek’s news is even worse. Apparently the parasites, finally identified as gandarium, were never supposed to get into Earth’s ecosystem. The resulting contamination is apparently quite dangerous, because Larek suggests that Max and the others should get off the planet immediately. Before Larek can say more, communication is broken. Max is left to revive Brody, which he does with some rather appalling attempt at CPR.
So as this episode fades to black, it’s time to reconsider the questions that were on the table before the episode began:
Did Grant really abduct Laurie? (Answered.)
Why was Laurie abducted and placed in the ground? (Effectively answered.)
What is the connection between Isabel and Laurie?
What did Isabel see when she touched Laurie? (Effectively answered.)
How did Dan know so much about Valenti’s activities?
Was Dan there specifically to look into Max’s connection to Valenti?
Will Valenti lose his job while trying to protect the hybrids? (Answered!)
What will happen to Kyle?
Will Liz become attracted to Sean, and will she toss him aside for Max, as her dream suggests?
Is Agent Duff really there just to investigate Laurie’s disappearance? (Apparently answered.)
Does Laurie really have paranoid schizophrenia?
Why was her file at the psychiatric hospital empty? (Directly contradicted.)
How are Michael and Laurie’s grandfather connected? (Answered.)
How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction?
What is the crystal, and why does it seem to be alive? (Answered.)
Why was the crystal placed in the same spot that Laurie was buried? (Answered.)
Why wasn’t the crystal at the crime scene when Laurie was found? (Effectively answered.)
In addition, there are some new questions to consider:
Why did Grant abduct Laurie and place her in the ground?
Will Duff get Valenti his job back?
Why didn’t the gandarium attack Max?
Why didn’t the gandarium attack Valenti?
Why are the gandarium dangerous to Earth?
Why didn’t anyone worry about gandarium “infection” immediately after the crash?
Why is “infection” dangerous to the hybrids?
More than half of the questions from the previous two episodes were answered in this installment, but many of them were replaced with new, more specific questions. As noted in the reviews for the previous two episodes, this is an interesting and illustrative example of how a relatively self-contained arc can become hopelessly muddled when the writers, already under pressure, need to revise their plans and outlines to account for constant changes in the network commitments.
The other side to this problem is the lack of direction in the second season, borne of the early decision to introduce plot and character elements in an open-ended fashion. The first season was strong because much of it was outlined ahead of time (with the obvious exception of the last few episodes). The second season was thematically developed but not firmly outlined. While this was also partially in response to the lack of network commitment, it was also the choice of Moore and Katims. The result was a constant tendency to leave questions unanswered.
Being the first part of a two-part story, but also the third episode of a four episode mini-arc, there’s a lack of distinct identity for this episode. It begins where the last episode left off, and it ends where the next episode needs to begin. Beyond the Michael/Maria road trip, nothing is distinctly begun and more or less resolved within the timeframe of the episode. Add that to the laundry list of other problems within the episode, and the final product is relatively subpar.
Memorable Quotes
MARIA: “She’s not actually going to plug that thing in, is she?”
MICHAEL: “Go, baby, go! Yeah!”
MARIA: “Sick, man…this town is sick…”
MARIA: “Form an emotional bond with Laurie. All right, fine. You don’t like that answer, then go show her the secret alien handshake!”
MICHAEL: “OK, fine…what kind of psychobabble, Oprah crap do I gotta tell her?”
AMY: “Do you think I wasn’t seventeen once? Do you think I didn’t do crazy, stupid things with a really bad guy when I was your age?”
MARIA: “Yes, I know you did, Mom: Dad!”
AMY: “Michael, I want you to listen to me very, very carefully. On this glorious, rebellious, lost weekend of yours, you will take care of my daughter. You will protect her and be kind to her, and she will have fun. You will not get matching tattoos, and you will not allow her to pierce any part of her body that cannot be shown in polite company. And Michael, if you have sex with my daughter, I will hunt you down and kill you like the mangy dog you are. OK?”
MICHAEL: “OK…”
AMY: “Call me if you need bail money.”
AMY: “Hi, Max.”
MAX: “Hi…is Liz here?”
AMY: “You’re not planning to take her across state lines, are you?”
MAX: “No.”
AMY: “Then yeah, she’s here.”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is a muddled disappointment, largely because of the long list of unanswered questions piling up before it even began. While some elements are quite good, and the writers do their best to smooth out a bad situation with the network, the final product is still a transitional chapter in a much larger story. As such, there’s very little distinct about it, since everything relies on the context provided by other episodes.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 5/10
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
In which Michael and Maria try to find out his connection to Laurie’s grandfather, while Max, Liz, and Isabel begin to uncover the secrets of Laurie’s abduction…
Status Report
Although this is a continuation of the previous two episodes, this is formally the first part of a two-part story. The fact that the network collected the four episodes into an informal mini-arc called “The Hybrid Chronicles” is rather confusing, but it does capture the fact that the four episodes belong together. They were originally conceived as a way to give the series some sense of closure, but when the second season was extended to a full episode count, these episodes were retooled slightly to let the series continue forward.
Oddly, this decision to modify the story was meant to provide plot and character threads for the rest of the season, but this was unnecessary. The episodes up to and including “Max in the City” provided a number of dangling plot threads to explore, and the question of free will/destiny was never fully addressed. These episodes were meant to explore the impact of the aliens on the humans around them, since the beginning of the season largely covered how the aliens were dealing with the demands of a predetermined call to arms.
Going into this episode, there were a number of questions to be answered. Those questions were:
Did Grant really abduct Laurie?
Why was Laurie abducted and placed in the ground?
What is the connection between Isabel and Laurie?
What did Isabel see when she touched Laurie?
How did Dan know so much about Valenti’s activities?
Was Dan there specifically to look into Max’s connection to Valenti?
Will Valenti lose his job while trying to protect the hybrids? (Answered!)
What will happen to Kyle?
Will Liz become attracted to Sean, and will she toss him aside for Max, as her dream suggests?
Is Agent Duff really there just to investigate Laurie’s disappearance?
Does Laurie really have paranoid schizophrenia?
Why was her file at the psychiatric hospital empty?
How are Michael and Laurie’s grandfather connected?
How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction?
What is the crystal, and why does it seem to be alive?
Why was the crystal placed in the same spot that Laurie was buried?
Why wasn’t the crystal at the crime scene when Laurie was found?
The opening scene addresses the connection between Michael and Laurie’s grandfather, at least in terms of what is likely to be true. It makes sense that if the aliens needed to create hybrids to ensure that the Royal Four would survive, and that the human DNA would therefore have to come from somewhere. This supports the idea, long hinted, that Max’s people had some past connection to Earth, since they would have been around Earth between 1910 and 1947 (otherwise, where did the human DNA come from?). This might have been possible with the granilith, and then not possible once the hybrids (and the Skins led by Nicholas) made their transit.
Meanwhile, while under interrogation, Laurie goes a bit nuts, claming that the aliens are nearby and coming for her. This connects to one of the open questions: How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction? She seems to feel the presence of the aliens involved in her kidnapping, which, inconsistencies aside, is not entirely impossible. Laurie’s grandfather might have been chosen because his DNA (and therefore, that of his progeny) would be easier to “activate”, thus giving the hybrids the full measure of humanity’s potential. If one of the abilities held with Laurie’s genetic code involved a sensitivity to anything related to Antar, specifically gandarium, then she would be able to sense when Grant (an infected individual) was nearby.
At the beginning of the episode, Laurie continues to react to Michael as though he were a ghost. Oddly, once she realizes that she’s in danger from someone else, she has no problem going along with Michael, even after he displays his powers. This suggests that Laurie is sensitive to the gandarium specifically, not aliens from Antar in general. All of which, of course, paints a very different picture than paranoid schizophrenia would imply. This is all quickly contradicted when Laurie tears apart the Jetta in her attempts to get away. Whatever else is true or implied, Laurie is definitely a troubled soul.
Back in Roswell, things are still settling after Valenti’s career collapse. Grant Sorenson is now suing Valenti, which becomes an important connection within the scope of the mini-arc. Kyle and Tess, of course, are troubled by his withdrawal. Meanwhile, Max continues to keep Liz out of the analysis of the blue crystal, despite the fact that she’s the science geek in the gang. Of course, he should know enough to keep the unknown and possibly alien bacterium under some kind of control, rather than leaving it out on his desk.
At the Crashdown, Isabel, Alex, and Liz see no problems with discussing Michael and Maria’s involvement with Laurie’s disappearance in the middle of a crowded room. Sean, as usual, is a major annoyance, and his vaguely threatening tone of voice should be enough to get everyone on his case. It implies that he cares about Maria and her welfare, but it’s probably closer to the truth to say that he wants Amy off his back.
Maria suggests that they stop at a diner with the worst food imaginable, supposedly a hole in the ground that’s so bad that even the cops don’t go there. This is supposed to be safe enough for them to take Laurie along without worry. However, that logic doesn’t make sense, since anyone can call the police and report that Laurie is being held (seemingly against her will) by Michael and Maria. That, and the diner, once on screen, doesn’t exactly match Maria’s assessment.
Meanwhile, a question is seemingly answered when Agent Duff questions Isabel about Laurie’s kidnapping and Valenti’s activities over the past couple of weeks. In particular, the questions begin to suggest that Duff knows Isabel was involved. The implication is that Isabel’s alien heritage is threatened, but in fact, that’s not the case. If anything, Isabel could claim psychic ability and probably eliminate further questions. It would probably seem, to the hybrids, too close to the truth for comfort, but it would also be more credible than silence. And never mind that it would even give Valenti a kind of indirect credibility, since police forces use tips from psychics to some degree on a fairly regular basis.
Amy’s decision to confront Liz is a classic moment for the series, and does much to overcome the impression that the teens are running around without any supervision or notice whatsoever. It doesn’t make sense for Maria to use the excuse that she’s camping (given her vocal aversion to camping in “Into the Woods”), but it does make sense for Amy to assume the worst about Maria’s frequent road trips with Michael.
Speaking of Maria, despite having made the assumption that she and Michael are together again, despite his many flaws, she doesn’t give him much reason to show appreciation for her attention. Michael can be a jerk, without question, but no matter how right she might be most of the time, she can’t continue to insult Michael so often without expecting a consequence. Sure, she gets him to make an emotional connection with Laurie, but she’s rather harsh in the process.
Though his potential reaction to being “activated” by the process of being healed hasn’t been addressed to this point, the writers take the time to cover his reaction to his father’s downfall. As the previous episode demonstrated, Kyle has a lot of unresolved issues regarding the whole mess that Isabel and Max dumped in his father’s lap, but he can’t let his father take forever in dealing with the fallout, either. Even though Kyle has little else to do in this episode, he sets his father on a path that reveals much.
When Michael makes his connection with Laurie, tenuous as it is, the writers have her suddenly mention that her grandfather is in Tucson, which is all well and good. Except, of course, that the whole reason she was flipping out about Michael was the fact that her grandfather was dead, and all of them were aware of that fact. Why, then, would they miss this rather major inconsistency? Did they think that Laurie was wrong about her grandfather being dead?
When Amy finally gets a chance to give Maria and Michael a piece of her mind, it’s a strong comic moment. It’s also something that could have easily been covered had either of them simply explained that Michael is following up a lead on a potential family member. Michael’s orphan status is common knowledge, and Amy wouldn’t blink twice at the idea that Maria would be there to give Michael emotional support. At the very least, it would also be a way to pass that information on to Max and Isabel through Liz, which would have been a good idea.
At least the conflict in that scene isn’t half as contrived as the sudden pillow fight between Liz and Sean, designed specifically for Max to see. The writers want to throw Sean into the mix as a potential roadblock, but they only tease at it. Liz isn’t all that interested, but it’s ambiguous enough to throw Max off his game.
Much stronger is Valenti’s scene with Grant and the follow-up with Duff, where his sudden epiphany about Grant and his mental instability is plainly written all over his face. Valenti looks like he’s going to be sick the entire time he speaks with Duff, possibly because he realizes just what Grant’s mental condition might mean in terms of the big picture. He’s quite obviously out of his depth when it comes to covering for the hybrids, if only because he can never be sure how convoluted the situation is going to get.
Once Max finally gets Liz involved (an episode too late), she quickly points out that the blue crystal consists of something like water-borne parasites. How these parasites would take on a crystalline form doesn’t quite make sense, but since they are alien parasites, it works just fine. Between the two of them, Max and Liz work out that the parasites don’t seem interested in humans or hybrids, which doesn’t make sense in relation to Laurie’s burial. As the next episode would finally reveal, there was a rationale.
Back in Tucson, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Meredith seem rather startled to find Laurie on their doorstep, never mind someone who looks like Charles Dupree. They’ve obviously been living off of Charles’ estate, though how is not entirely clear. What is clear is the old hobgoblin of this particular season: the lack of consistency. Suddenly Michael is talking about medical records that he couldn’t possibly have seen, since the file at Pinecrest was empty. The writers dropped the ball on that one, at least in this episode. At the same time, Aunt Meredith does mention that “aliens have been chasing the family”, which fits with the idea that the Duprees were chosen for a reason.
With the help of Isabel’s heartbreaking smile, Max and Liz are able to put the pieces together. Apparently the parasites have one thing in common: the water table under Frazier Woods and the 1947 crash site, thus suggesting that they came from the UFO that crashed. Liz also points out that Laurie’s kidnapper placed her in the ground where the parasites would be close to the surface for a reason. With no other information, a lingering plot point from “Max in the City” actually makes an appearance: the fact that Brody’s “alien abduction” was, in fact, possession by an Antarian named Larek, an old ally of Max’s family.
Through most of the episode, events take place at a fairly slow but steady pace. It finally picks up in the final act. Duff comes to Valenti with proof that Grant is, in fact, the main suspect in the kidnapping. This begins to address some of the existing questions by combining them. Bobby and Meredith pay off Michael and Maria to get out of Tucson and never come back. But the real kicker comes when Max and Liz convince Brody to let Isabel, under the guise of a psychic attempt to uncover his abduction memories, attempt to make a connection with Larek.
It goes very badly. Brody’s heart stops, since possession wasn’t initiated properly. Larek’s news is even worse. Apparently the parasites, finally identified as gandarium, were never supposed to get into Earth’s ecosystem. The resulting contamination is apparently quite dangerous, because Larek suggests that Max and the others should get off the planet immediately. Before Larek can say more, communication is broken. Max is left to revive Brody, which he does with some rather appalling attempt at CPR.
So as this episode fades to black, it’s time to reconsider the questions that were on the table before the episode began:
Did Grant really abduct Laurie? (Answered.)
Why was Laurie abducted and placed in the ground? (Effectively answered.)
What is the connection between Isabel and Laurie?
What did Isabel see when she touched Laurie? (Effectively answered.)
How did Dan know so much about Valenti’s activities?
Was Dan there specifically to look into Max’s connection to Valenti?
Will Valenti lose his job while trying to protect the hybrids? (Answered!)
What will happen to Kyle?
Will Liz become attracted to Sean, and will she toss him aside for Max, as her dream suggests?
Is Agent Duff really there just to investigate Laurie’s disappearance? (Apparently answered.)
Does Laurie really have paranoid schizophrenia?
Why was her file at the psychiatric hospital empty? (Directly contradicted.)
How are Michael and Laurie’s grandfather connected? (Answered.)
How did Laurie know about aliens being involved in her abduction?
What is the crystal, and why does it seem to be alive? (Answered.)
Why was the crystal placed in the same spot that Laurie was buried? (Answered.)
Why wasn’t the crystal at the crime scene when Laurie was found? (Effectively answered.)
In addition, there are some new questions to consider:
Why did Grant abduct Laurie and place her in the ground?
Will Duff get Valenti his job back?
Why didn’t the gandarium attack Max?
Why didn’t the gandarium attack Valenti?
Why are the gandarium dangerous to Earth?
Why didn’t anyone worry about gandarium “infection” immediately after the crash?
Why is “infection” dangerous to the hybrids?
More than half of the questions from the previous two episodes were answered in this installment, but many of them were replaced with new, more specific questions. As noted in the reviews for the previous two episodes, this is an interesting and illustrative example of how a relatively self-contained arc can become hopelessly muddled when the writers, already under pressure, need to revise their plans and outlines to account for constant changes in the network commitments.
The other side to this problem is the lack of direction in the second season, borne of the early decision to introduce plot and character elements in an open-ended fashion. The first season was strong because much of it was outlined ahead of time (with the obvious exception of the last few episodes). The second season was thematically developed but not firmly outlined. While this was also partially in response to the lack of network commitment, it was also the choice of Moore and Katims. The result was a constant tendency to leave questions unanswered.
Being the first part of a two-part story, but also the third episode of a four episode mini-arc, there’s a lack of distinct identity for this episode. It begins where the last episode left off, and it ends where the next episode needs to begin. Beyond the Michael/Maria road trip, nothing is distinctly begun and more or less resolved within the timeframe of the episode. Add that to the laundry list of other problems within the episode, and the final product is relatively subpar.
Memorable Quotes
MARIA: “She’s not actually going to plug that thing in, is she?”
MICHAEL: “Go, baby, go! Yeah!”
MARIA: “Sick, man…this town is sick…”
MARIA: “Form an emotional bond with Laurie. All right, fine. You don’t like that answer, then go show her the secret alien handshake!”
MICHAEL: “OK, fine…what kind of psychobabble, Oprah crap do I gotta tell her?”
AMY: “Do you think I wasn’t seventeen once? Do you think I didn’t do crazy, stupid things with a really bad guy when I was your age?”
MARIA: “Yes, I know you did, Mom: Dad!”
AMY: “Michael, I want you to listen to me very, very carefully. On this glorious, rebellious, lost weekend of yours, you will take care of my daughter. You will protect her and be kind to her, and she will have fun. You will not get matching tattoos, and you will not allow her to pierce any part of her body that cannot be shown in polite company. And Michael, if you have sex with my daughter, I will hunt you down and kill you like the mangy dog you are. OK?”
MICHAEL: “OK…”
AMY: “Call me if you need bail money.”
AMY: “Hi, Max.”
MAX: “Hi…is Liz here?”
AMY: “You’re not planning to take her across state lines, are you?”
MAX: “No.”
AMY: “Then yeah, she’s here.”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is a muddled disappointment, largely because of the long list of unanswered questions piling up before it even began. While some elements are quite good, and the writers do their best to smooth out a bad situation with the network, the final product is still a transitional chapter in a much larger story. As such, there’s very little distinct about it, since everything relies on the context provided by other episodes.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 5/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:25
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