When Isabel and Max refuse to let Michael use the jeep to drive to the dome, Michael steals Maria’s car with Maria in it, headed down Route 285 South towards Marathon, Texas. Maria secretly calls Liz, who is still being interviewed by Isabel, and lets her know where Michael is going. Isabel and Max take off in pursuit, with Liz tagging along. On the way, Isabel and Liz snipe at each other, and when they make a rest stop, Isabel accidentally bumps into Liz, who was bringing her a cup of hot chocolate as a peace offering. The chocolate spills down the fronts of both of them, staining their clothing. Isabel – the "Elle McPherson of the sophomore class," as Liz calls her – waves a hand over herself and makes the stains disappear. "No wonder you always look so perfect," Liz says. When Liz tells Isabel that she would never come between Isabel and her brother, Isabel relents and eliminates Liz’s stains, too.

Later, when the jeep is caught in a roadblock, Isabel works her wiles on the New Mexico State Police as Max apologizes to Liz for Isabel being "so Isabel." Then, after spotting Maria’s car in front of a seedy motel, Isabel uses her powers to open the motel door, and they find Maria and Michael inside. When Liz insists that the aliens tell her and Maria everything, Isabel makes the decision to clue them in about the dome in Marathon. They all head out for the dome, where they discover that the key opens a secret door leading to an underground room. When they crawl down into the area to investigate, they are trapped – Valenti is suddenly upstairs. He is hit on the head from behind by none other than Ms. Topolsky, while Isabel, Max, Michael, Maria, and Liz await their fate below.

Judith Gerber