Roswell, NM – #111 Champagne Supernova Review by Leonard

Written by Leonard

Shots of the UFO Emporium gala are shown with Liz’s voiceover about trust and who to trust. Michael is shown standing over an unconscious Maria. Liz is shown running down the street in her dress. A bloodied Max is shown with a gun being pointed at him … by Isobel. Everybody is gathered at the Crashdown 12 hours earlier. Isobel explains the memory she has of killing Rosa and that she had no control of her body at the time. Liz says they’re back to square one. Max points out that other than Rosa, all the victims were from Ranchero Night. Liz says the next Ranchero Night is next week. Max says he and Cameron will try to profile the killer. Liz says she’ll go to the lab to make more serum. Isobel asks how the killer knows about the serum. Michael says the killer seems to know about everything. Max says the killer has gotten away with 14 murders and needs to think he’s still in the clear. Liz agrees with Noah to pretend everything is normal, she and Max will go to work, Isobel host the gala as planned and Michael will do whatever he does with his time. Max asks Liz to the gala as his date. Liz says she already agreed to take her dad to it but will see him there. Liz asks Max if his ballroom dancing skills have improved since high school. Max says they’ve gotten worse. Max and Cameron are going over the killer’s M.O. Max tells Cameron that the killer can incept or possess people with who have conditions that cause blackouts. A clerk comes and tells them that Wyatt Long is being brought in with information for them. Max says he wants to make a deal, Cameron asks to play the bad cop. Isobel looks at her dress and remembers killing Rosa. Noah comes and kisses her neck shocking her. Noah says “easy killer”. Isobel gives him a look. Noah realizes it was a poor choice of words. They discuss how Isobel was possessed to kill Rosa. Isobel thinks if she practiced with her powers she could be more in control. Noah asks that she no longer use her powers. Michael picks up food at the Crashdown and passes by Maria who tries to ignore him. Maria says she didn’t recognize him in daylight. Michael says he isn’t going to the gala. Maria says Alex is skipping it too as he spent too much time there in high school. Michael tells Maria it’s been over between him and Alex and she didn’t do anything wrong. Maria tells Michael he’s not the arbiter of friendship patting his coat and leaves. Wyatt is in the cell and asks if it’s really necessary. Max says he doesn’t believe he killed Grant and would testify that if his information is worth it. Wyatt says he saw Carla screaming at Maria. Michael is in his bunker working. He goes and picks up his coat and a smoke bomb goes off in his pocket, the smoke eventually knocking him out. Max and Cameron discuss what Wyatt has told them. Max thinks maybe the killer is possessing Wyatt right now to throw them off as he doesn’t believe that it’s Maria because she’s Liz’s best friend. Cameron counters they spent 12 hours a day together for 2 years and she never once thought he was an alien. Max concedes and will monitor Maria at the gala. Wyatt asks to finalize a deal. Max and Cameron say there was no deal. Max repeats that he doesn’t believe he killed Grant, but that he got away with murder at the Crashdown in June so he’s just going to leave him there to rot. Liz is getting ready for the gala and looks at the corner of the room where Rosa’s things used to be. Arturo comes in already in his tuxedo. Liz compliments him. Arturo acknowledges it’s strange without Rosa’s things but it was time. Liz says the room doesn’t feel it’s hers without it being Rosa’s too. Arturo asks what else is bothering her, Liz replies Dr. Avila has no plan to salvage their study as their funding was pulled so she’s moving it to Palo Alto, but Liz doesn’t want to go and leave him. Arturo says he’s loved having her the last few months but the Crashdown is his American dream and not hers. Liz suggests seeking citizenship again for him. Arturo will discuss it over a dance later and tells her to hurry because he likes to make an entrance. Max leaves the police station already in his tuxedo carrying flowers. He’s hit from behind over the head with a bottle and knocked unconscious. Liz and Arturo enter the gala. Arturo leaves to get drinks. Maria comes up to Liz and compliments the dress but asks why the red lipstick because red is armor according to Rosa’s rules and she wouldn’t wear that if she didn’t want to hook up with a hot cop at the end of the night. Liz says she’s not armoring herself against Max and tells her about maybe having to move to Palo Alto. Maria says Liz can do her research from anywhere and she likes her with Max as she fits right under his chin like a little “zupple piece”, slurring her words. Max wakes up in Michael’s bunker to Michael trying to pound the hatch open. Michael tells Max where he is, Max asks how he got in there. Michael says he doesn’t know, he was working when the smoke bomb went off in his jacket spreading some yellow powder and he passed out. Max notices no cell service. When Michael woke up, Max was there too. Max tells him to use his powers to open the door. Michael says the yellow powder seems to negate his powers. At the gala, Isobel welcomes everyone and introduces Grant’s twin brother Graham who says the money raised will go towards Grant’s quest to find the truth about extraterrestrials. Noah points out the fact that Graham looks exactly like Grant. Isobel wonders where Max is. Liz exits the main room to where Cameron is because Graham’s resemblance to Grant freaked her out. Cameron was expecting a call from her sister that never came. Liz thanks her for protecting Max. Cameron tells her the situation with her sister and Manes, protecting Max over her sister because it was the right thing. Cameron why she’s not with Max, Liz says he isn’t there yet, Isobel confirms that and says if he doesn’t answer his phone she’ll murder him. Cameron tells them they have new info on who might be the 4th alien. Max is frustrated he can’t get the hatch open either, Michael remarks it’s like he tried that already. Max asks Michael what’s his problem. Michael replies he’s been rendered powerless by some pollen and doesn’t know what it is because they never asked questions about their alien origins, blindly followed Max’s rules and now there’s a stronger alien who knows more about them. Max says he didn’t have to follow his rules because he’s not his dad. Michael replies he acted like it all his life. Max says they have to get out of there because Liz and Isobel are at the gala with their person of interest as the 4th alien. Michael asks who. Switch to Cameron telling Liz and Isobel that it’s Maria because she got into an altercation with one of the victims so they have to look into it. Liz doesn’t believe it. Isobel says it makes sense as when she tried to get to incept Maria she got real sick and woke up in the desert. Cameron adds that all the victims frequent the Wild Pony, she pointed to Hank who it isn’t. Isobel adds that Maria hates her and loved Rosa. She asks Liz to give her a reason why it can’t be Maria. Cameron confirms chances are the killer is someone Liz knows. Isobel says Maria had motive, opportunity and some weird alien force field around her brain. Liz insists again it isn’t Maria and leaves. Michael pushes Max against the wall and exclaims it isn’t Maria also, he’s not his biggest fan but he knows her. Max if he knows her well enough that she could slip something into his jacket. We see a flashback of Maria patting his coat at the Crashdown earlier. Max asks if he’s into Maria, because he thought he was gay. Michael says he doesn’t need to be held to an antiquated binary choice, he’s bisexual. Max says if they’d talk he would have known that. Michael says they talk. Max replies they speak; they haven’t talked in years, since they covered up Rosa’s death. Max realizes Michael hasn’t been mad at him for 10 years, he’s been angry for 20, since the Evans picked him and Isobel and not him. Max says he’s carried that burden and pushed his parents away because they didn’t take care of him and that Michael is his family. Liz finds Maria in the ladies room and asks to leave. Maria doesn’t want to leave as she’s having fun and says that Isobel went all out planning the gala. Liz asks Maria to watch her purse and goes into a stall. Maria asks to borrow lip gloss and takes a syringe out of Liz’s purse. Liz wants to the rooftop or the Wild Pony as they’re not gala types. Maria says “speak for yourself,” puts the syringe in her purse and leaves. Liz comes out of the stall and realizes Maria has taken the syringe. Liz then finds Maria’s glass of champagne by the sink. Liz with the glass tells Isobel and Cameron that Maria stole the serum, or actually a fake syringe that doesn’t have the serum. Isobel asks for the serum as she’s going to enjoy taking her down. Cameron tells her that on Earth there’s a process before the death sentence. Liz affirms again Maria isn’t the killer, she thinks she’s possessed by the killer too because she said something nice about Isobel. Isobel says she, the hospital shooter and Wyatt all had blackouts right before so does she have a pre-existing blackout condition. Liz says no but she could have been drugged. Liz wants to take the champagne home to examine. Cameron stops her and says her nail polish has date rape drug detector shine. Isobel comments ”that’s not a thing”, Liz confirms it actually is. Cameron dips her finger in, her purple nail polish turns white. Cameron confirms that good news is Maria isn’t the killer, bad news she was drugged. Liz tells Isobel they have to find Maria. Michael puts a sample of the powder into a test tube. His hand stiffens up. Max asks what really happened to his hand, as he’s heard bar fight, junkyard accident and chupacabra. Michael tells Max it was Alex’s dad and he never let Max heal it because he can’t explain that to Alex. Max asks Michael to talk to him. Michael further explains he didn’t let him heal it because he needed the reminder of what could happen if you believe humanity might be good, Alex made him believe he had a place in this world, that hope is a dangerous thing and the scars remind him to avoid it in the future. Liz and Isobel find Maria unconscious in the alien autopsy room. Liz doesn’t find the syringe in Maria’s purse so she must have handed it off to the killer already. Isobel says they need Max, Liz thinks he stood her up. Isobel tells Liz that something she would do not Max. Liz tells Isobel she got into her head and made her leave Roswell, that she never would have left. Isobel interrupts her saying she would have left, she can’t make people do something they don’t already want to do, and she left Roswell not because of what happened to Rosa but because deep down she wanted to run away, but Max doesn’t need to know that. Isobel can’t contact Michael either, so that’s not normal or they both don’t have service. Liz thinks she knows where they might be and leaves. Liz arrives at the junkyard and tows Michael’s trailer away and opens the hatch. Max is the first one up and sees Liz in her dress, makeup now smeared, hair messy and sweaty. He says she looks … Liz interrupts if he were on time he would have been stunned. Michael interrupts them saying make out after as a murderer just tried to bury them alive in a bunker full of poison. Max, Liz and Michael arrive back at the gala. Maria is still unconscious but stirring. Max says they need to get Maria out of the gala before the killer notices they’re not in the bunker. Michael said everything has to look normal so go back to the gala and he’ll stay with Maria. He asks Maria to wake up because she’s no fun when she’s quiet. Max and Liz are dancing. Max says whoever locked him and Michael up was trying to keep them away from either the party, Liz, Maria or Isobel. Maria wakes up on Michael’s lap and says he needs to stop showing up for her like that. Michael offers to leave and get Liz, Maria says the problem is he never does. Liz tells Max she thought he was standing her up, Max says he wouldn’t. Liz says she knows but when the thought occurred she felt relieved that maybe he would screw this up first, that she wants to leave before … before she gets left Max interrupts. He says it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that’s because of her mom and offers to slow down. Liz doesn’t want to. Liz tells Max he doesn’t make her feel safe or comfortable, he makes her feels like she’s teetering on the edge of a cliff and she’s addicted to that feeling. But if she does run, she wants Max to follow her this time and not let her leave easily. Max says he never would have let her go easily if he knew that was what she wanted. They kiss, then Liz says she must forsaken him for another man. Arturo is waiting for his dance. Max passes Liz off and checks on Maria. Arturo tells Liz that Noah will help him with the citizenship process. Max asks Maria about May 5 and fighting with Carla. Maria says she saw her about to leave with a married man. Liz asks Arturo how he knows Arturo. He replies his firm volunteers on Ranchero Night and that he’s a good man. Max and Liz discuss that it doesn’t make sense that it’s Noah. Liz mentions she went to Grant’s warehouse because of him, we see a flashback of the scene in 105 where Noah tells Liz that Grant is keeping the UFO artifacts in storage. Max remembers that Noah advised him to stop investigating Wyatt, we see a flashback of Noah calling Max to lay off Wyatt scene in 107. So Liz trying to piece it together thinks Noah incepted the barista to destroy her lab and get the rest of the serum and antidote but got shot. Max says it’s the perfect cover, and there’s one way to find out. Max interrupts Noah and Isobel dancing and takes her. Liz looks at Noah and remembers that Noah bled on her lab coat, and proceeds to run home. Max asks Isobel if she’s ever been in Noah’s head. Isobel says she trusts him. Max asks her to make sure. Isobel tells him she promised not to use her powers anymore. She angrily concedes to do it and prove that he is a good man. Isobel starts dancing with Noah and then enters his mind. She asks him if he still loves her now that he knows the truth. Noah responds yes, he won’t let anyone hurt her and he will always protect her. Liz arrives home and finds her lab coat at the bottom of her hamper, tears the sleeve off to look under the microscope as the scene where she tells the paramedic it’s not her blood flashes. Isobel still in Noah mind says that isn’t what she asked and asks again if he loves her. Noah says they are so connected and have been since the first time he heard her voice. She asks if he loved Rosa. He answers of course he did, he still does and always will. Max is watching them dance. Noah tells Isobel he told her not to go digging. He tells her she’s in control here in the mindwarp, but he’s in control out there in the real world. Isobel tells him Max knows and won’t let him get away with it. Noah says he will if she talks to him. Isobel goes back to Max and tells him it’s not Noah and will now go have a quickie with him in the crop circle exhibit. Max answers the phone telling Liz it’s not Noah. Liz says it is Noah as she’s looking at his blood. Max stops Isobel outside and tells her he knows she’s not Isobel. Isobel replies you’re never gonna let go of her and proceeds to punch Max 3 times, then taunts him asking you don’t want to hit your sister, then knees him, says cowboy chivalry was always going to be his downfall then kicks him. She takes Max’s gun. Max says to Noah he’s going to destroy him. Isobel pistol whips him then points the gun at him saying it’s already over. Cameron shoots out the light behind Isobel exclaiming Max won’t her but she will. She shoots again away from Isobel, who drops the gun and runs away. Isobel gets into the car with Noah. Isobel is in full zombie mode. Noah says let’s go home. Liz injects Noah in the neck with serum from the back seat. She starts running down the street. Noah uses his powers and freezes Liz. He turns her around. He walks up behind her and turns her around again. Noah puts his hand on her chest and starts to kill her. Liz is screaming until Noah’s hand goes dark. Liz says it sucks to be powerless. Liz pushes Noah’s hand out of the way and punches him. Max comes from behind and tackles Noah, then ground and pounds him. Max and Liz hug. Isobel comes out of the car and gasps at the site of Noah unconscious.

Another solid episode this week. I give the writers credit in the connecting the seemingly innocuous events together. The Noah is the 4th alien theory had been out there for several weeks but I didn’t buy into it. My money was always on someone to be introduced, or if it had to be someone we had already seen, Cameron. The bisexual line was the only thing that bothered me in this episode. I never had a problem with making Alex gay in the series as they went with Isobel being already married so if they wanted to drastically change up a character, Alex was the free canvas to work with. Making Michael gay, or bisexual as the writers had made it a point to point out even months prior to this episode when discussing the show always just screamed of political correctness and inclusion for the sake of inclusion to me. This goes back to my this is not Roswell statement in the 106 review. By calling the show Roswell there are certain expectations that inherently come with that. Michael and Maria is one of those expectations as Candy is one of the things beloved about the original show. Here they are a mirage couple, where you don’t know whether they are a main couple meant to be or not.