| Still in the desert,
Isabel and Michael have barely recovered from the news that Tess is one of them, when Max
leads them up the dunes of the desert to a rock outcropping. There, he places his hand on
the rock face, and a secret door opens into the cave containing their pods. Though Isabel
has visions of the three of them emerging from the pods as children (but leaving the
incubating Tess behind), she still refuses to believe it. When she, Max, and Michael exit
the cave, Ed Harding, otherwise known as Nasedo, morphs out of the wall and reprimands
Tess for bringing the other three to the cave. But Tess defends her actions, telling
Nasedo that the three aliens are her family. Nasedo is scornful, reminding her that he
will kill people if he has to, to which Tess replies that she knows he’s afraid of
"Pierce." Nasedo admits that Pierce is both smarter than most, and closer to the
four of them than ever before. Isabel, Max,
and Michael examine the book that Tess has given them. As Isabel turns the pages, they see
pictures of themselves, and Isabel wonders, "How did they know what we would look
like?" Michael replies that they weren’t born, they were engineered, and it is
obvious from the way they are paired in the book that Isabel belongs with Michael and Tess
belongs with Max. Isabel remarks on the destiny of it all, saying it’s about her,
Michael and the baby. Max is shocked by Isabel’s admission, and Isabel tries to
reassure him that it’s not what he thinks. Max goes to Tess to get some answers.
Later, at the Crashdown, Isabel discusses her dream with Michael, saying she’s never
seen him so happy as he was with her and the baby. Michael agrees, and Maria enters just
in time to hear him say, "It’s my baby, too."
Meanwhile, Sheriff Valenti is suspicious of the new
young deputy who says he was sent from Santa Fe to help man the office, but his story
seems to check out. Out in the desert once again, Tess explains to Max that they were
meant to mate, as were Isabel and Michael, and the dreams and visions they have been
having are indications of that. She also explains that they mate and reproduce just as
humans do.
Liz is working when Max comes in and persuades her
to go for a ride with him…but it’s not Max, it’s Nasedo, which Liz soon
comes to suspect when she kisses "Max" and has dark, scary flashes. Back at the
Crashdown, Isabel and Alex discuss her supposed pregnancy; Isabel is worried about it not
being a run-of-the-mill teenage pregnancy with a human baby, but Alex tells her he will be
there for her. Later, Isabel and Michael are sitting together when the real Max enters,
and informs them that Isabel cannot possibly be pregnant. Max wonders where Liz is, and
Maria tells him that she saw Liz leave with him. They all realize that Liz has been
abducted by Nasedo.
Liz, meanwhile, finds out for certain that it really
isn’t Max when Nasedo takes the body of the government agent he has killed out of his
trunk and dumps it by the side of the road, then stops at a gas station and causes one of
the pumps to explode. Nasedo says he is using Liz as the bait to draw Pierce to him, and
heads for a carnival outside of town, where he sends a beacon signal of the alien symbol
into the night sky.
Maria and Alex tell Valenti that Liz has been taken
by Max, and they all convene on the carnival, where a final confrontation between
government agents and Nasedo leads to Max being captured and imprisoned in a white room.
It is revealed that Valenti’s new deputy is Max’s captor, Agent Pierce.
Judith Gerber |
