At the Crashdown, Isabel sits at a table with Alex as he tries to tell her that he doesn’t believe she, Max and Michael are aliens. She explains to him that they don’t know who they are or how they got there, but they do have the same emotions as humans, the difference being that the aliens can manipulate molecular structure. With that, she lifts the ketchup bottle from the table and proceeds to change the ketchup into mustard. Meanwhile, Michael is annoyed with Max for keeping things from him, and so decides to go to the Mesalika Reservation to talk to River Dog himself, taking part in a tribal ceremony called a "sweat."

Max and Liz attempt a first date at a Mexican/Chinese/Pool Hall restaurant, which is cut short when Maria enters to tell them Michael is sick. Back at the Crashdown, Isabel is cradling Michael as he appears to be having a feverish convulsion of some sort, but he quickly recovers.

Alex drags Isabel into the UFO Center, to show her an exhibit on Machu Picchu in Peru, where cave drawings seem to imply an alien involvement. Isabel is scornful, telling Alex that they’ve already checked out things like that, and as she begins to walk away, Alex yells, "But what if this could help you find your planet?" – causing everyone in the UFO Center to turn and stare at him, leaving Isabel appalled by his indiscretion. Later, Michael has a recurrence of his illness, only this time it’s worse. Isabel attempts to care for him, but it’s clear more is needed; Michael is beginning to be enclosed in a cocoon.

Max and Liz travel to the reservation, where River Dog tells them Michael will have to undergo a dangerous ritual. While Isabel, Max, Maria, Alex, and Riverdog take part in the ritual, Liz has to step back because of her fear, and Michael recovers, having learned important truths about his early life, and his relationship to the others.

Judith Gerber