|The synopsis|The new characters|Our take|
In the sheriff's office, Max and Isabel are being interrogated by Deputy Hanson, while Valenti is in his office answering questions for Dan Lubertkin (see To Serve and Protect for more information on Lubertkin) and Judge Lewis. Unfortunately, the Evans recount the situation much differently than Valenti does. Max and Isabel tell Deputy Hanson that they heard six shots fired, while Valenti tells Dan and Judge Lewis that there was four from the north. The Evans say that they were hiking when they met up with the sheriff. Valenti, however, tells Dan and the judge that he was picking them up from the library. This lie backfires on him when the judge recalls that the library closes at eight, but the shooting happens at approximately ten. Valenti is unable to answer that question. This then erupts into another loud argument. Deputy Hanson tells the Evans that they are done with answering questions when Max asks if they could see the sheriff, but Hanson tells them that the sheriff is unavailable, obviously because he is deep in argument. The judge then stops the fighting and dismisses Dan. The judge then forces Valenti to give up his position as sheriff until the city council decides whether Valenti should stay the sheriff or not. Meanwhile, Michael and Tess are in the hospital where Laurie Dupree (see To Serve and Protect for more information on Laurie) was taken after the former sheriff, Max, and Isabel had found her buried in the ground. Laurie, at the hospital, wakes up and asks the nurse taking care of her to bring her some juice. She then looks like she is sleeping quite peacefully, when she opens her eyes, looking suspiciously determined. Michael, acting as a visitor, is waiting for Tess. Tess, disguised as a nurse, tells him that according to Laurie's records at the hospital, Laurie is very much human, despite the fact that Isabel was able to get a vision after just touching her. Michael, being his impulsive self, is determined to see Laurie and enters her room. They find the hospital bed she was lying on empty and she is nowhere to be seen.
Valenti is waking up to a morning cup of coffee when he hears someone at the door. He opens it to find an FBI agent, Agent Duff. She enters his house and helps herself to coffee, telling Valenti that Laurie Dupree is missing yet again and she would like to have help. Valenti, reluctant to be associated with an FBI agent, tells her that she could find many deputies who would love to help her in this case at the sheriff's station. Agent Duff tells him that she appreciates honesty and tells him that she has very high standards for herself. Valenti, making up his mind, decides to help her in this case. At school, Maria is picking up her things at her locker when Alex suddenly comes up behind her and speaks something in Swedish. Maria, seeing her best friend, is excited to see him, apparently back from Sweden. Liz comes in and is excited to see Alex as well. Both Liz and Maria are curious about Alex's visit to Sweden, so Alex promises to show them the slides that he created with pictures he took in Sweden. When Alex asks what's new, Liz breaks out the bad news she read in the newspaper about Valenti being suspended from his position as the sheriff. Maria sees Max coming down the stairs, troubled, and advises Liz to talk to him. Liz gives Alex one last hug and goes to Max, while Maria and Alex go their separate ways to catch up on the things that Alex had missed while he was gone. Liz asks Max if he is doing okay, but Max tells her that it's Valenti that he's worried about. Seeing Kyle come down the hallway, Max attempts to talk to him, but Kyle brushes by him, leaving both Max and Liz baffled. Kyle, coming directly from school, delivers his father a chicken sandwich at the sheriff's station. He asks why his father didn't tell him about his suspension, and Valenti tells him that he hasn't been fired yet, but he's just working as a glorified secretary. Agent Duff then comes in demanding a paper and meets Kyle. After exchanging pleasantries, Kyle excuses himself so that he isn't late for class. When he leaves, Valenti tells Duff that he discovered that Laurie's previous address was at the Pine Crest Psychiatric Hospital, and that the hospital is faxing over the information at the current moment. Duff tells Valenti to show the info to her once he gets it. Then, Valenti receives a message from Michael that he has found something at Laurie's gravesite. Valenti meets Michael there and finds a semi-gooey green object in the hole. Valenti, worried, asks if Michael had even a hint that he was being followed. Michael reassures Valenti that no one followed him. Valenti warns him not to sneak around like that for fear that he might be caught and tells Michael that he will call on them if he needed any more help.
Liz is in the process of cleaning up Max's scraps when he comes back in and tells her awkwardly that he wasn't finished. There is no one around, and the Crashdown is obviously closed. Max, trying to bring up a conversation, asks if she has studied for Chemistry and Liz tells him that she will study once her shift is over. Max asks for more food and Liz tells Max that he has been in the restaurant since six o' clock. Max tells her that he doesn't want to go home, but then reveals that he is genuinely been at the restaurant because he is worried for her, since there is a killer loose in Roswell. Liz thanks him, being very grateful about his concern. Sean (see To Serve and Protect for more information about Sean) then comes knocking on the door, ruining the moment. Liz suggests to him that he can come tomorrow to eat when Sean asks for an Asteroid Pie. He leaves and Liz comes up to Max and tells him that she will give him the last pieces of Asteroid Pie and he can stay as long as he would like. Meanwhile, Valenti is sorting his clothes in his closet only to find Laurie in it. She looks deranged and tells him to stop looking for her. She tells him that she trusts Valenti the most because he was the one that saved her. She tells him that it wasn't a person that had kidnapped her. Instead, the kidnapper was an alien. Valenti's phone rings and Valenti motions for her to be quiet. Agent Duff is on another one of her authoratative rampages and orders him to come over to help her to, ironically, find Laurie. Valenti, not wanting to attract any attention from her, reluctantly agrees to come. Laurie becomes frightened because Valenti has to leave her, but Valenti tells her that since she trusts him, he will let trusted friends watch over her. At Liz's house, Liz, Maria, Alex, and Isabel are having a mild party on the balcony. While Liz, Maria, and Isabel are dressed in very warm clothes and trying to get themselves warm, Alex is dressed in a t-shirt, undaunted by the cold that the girls are feeling. He wants them to feel as if they had been in Sweden too. Then, Valenti calls Isabel to take care of Laurie, and Isabel excuses herself. She apologizes to Alex, but Alex nonchalantly tells her that it's okay. She comments that Alex seems to have changed for the better, and Alex tells her that he feels great and then tells her that he'll see her later. She leaves and Alex asks Liz for an extension cord for the slideshow. On going down into the back, she finds Sean eating Saltine crackers and she asks what he is doing there. Sean tells her that he was hungry. She semi-ignores him while she looks for the extension cord that Alex asked for and Sean looks in and pulls it out of an obvious place. He invites her to an auto show, implying that it's his idea of a date. Alex comes down to ask for Windex to clean the lens and gives Sean a cold greeting. Liz goes on to talk to Sean about being grateful for his invitation while Alex goes into the kitchen to get the Windex and grabs the extension cord. Sean inquires about Max, and Liz admits to him that she used to have a romantic relationship with Max, but now, she is not sure where they stand. She tells Sean that they are "friends-plus" at the moment. Sean leaves and Alex bades Liz to come up to the balcony to watch the slideshow.
Kyle and Tess are at a grocery store and Tess makes Kyle carry all the things that she wants. They approach the counter to overhear a conversation between an employee and a customer. They are talking about Valenti being the wrong man to be sheriff, how he had been associated with Isabel Evans because she looks like a "supermodel." They go on to talk about other rumors about Valenti when Amy comes in and stops their chattering by making smart remarks about the employee. At Valenti's house, in the meanwhile, Isabel asks Laurie what her kidnappers had done to her. Laurie tells Isabel that they had put stuff inside of her body and tries to show Isabel something on her arm that only Laurie herself can see. When they hear someone at the door, Isabel tells Laurie to go into a room as a safety precaution. Max and Michael are at the door and Isabel tells them that Laurie is here. Isabel tells Laurie that she can come out and introduces her to them. Upon seeing Michael, Laurie screams in terror, "Get away from me. You're dead, you're dead!" and locks the door. Isabel pounds on the door trying to have Laurie open it again, but to no avail. Michael opens the door with his powers. They find that Laurie has escaped through a window. Max and Michael run out to find her, while Isabel calls Valenti. Valenti has just been dismissed from working with Duff when Isabel calls and tells Isabel that he will be right there. Just then, Agent Duff receives a phone call, probably that Laurie has been found running around the streets. Laurie is still running in the streets when she runs straight into Michael. Michael tries to calm her down and tells her that he is not going to hurt her, but she manages to struggle away from him into the street and a car runs into her. The driver comes out of the car to see if she is okay. She looks up at him, relatively unhurt, and grabs him. She pleads for help, telling him that the aliens are coming to get her. Max and Michael come into the scene, but they cannot get her because there is already a great crowd surrounding her. Valenti and Duff arrive on the scene and Valenti orders the people to walk away. The three aliens take the opportunity to get away from the scene. Laurie then starts to babble about being at Valenti's house and blames him for betraying her trust, by making the aliens come after her. She further convinces Duff that she was at his house by describing the interior of his house. Duff comes up to Valenti to inquire whether all this is true. Valenti, unable to lie, says nothing. Agent Duff tells him that their arrangement is over. They go to the sheriff station and Duff interrogates him. Valenti admits to Duff that he didn't find her. Instead, she found him. Agent Duff hits the record button on a tape recorder and asks him what relations he has with the kids in Roswell, but he refuses to answer. Agent Duff tells him that he will lose his job if he does not cooperate. Valenti tells her that although it may not seem like it now, he is on the right side.
On Liz's balcony, Alex is showing Liz more of his slides of his trip to Sweden. He shows her a picture of the family he was staying with. He then shows her a slide with someone he had met, Leeanna, and admits that he has a long-distance relationship going on. Alex uses this conversation on relationships as an opportunity to talk about what was happening between Liz and Sean. Liz tells Alex that there is nothing going on between them, and it would be disgusting if there actually was. Alex pushes on to say that he had seen a twinkle between them, but Liz assures him that there had been no twinkle at all. Liz then comments on his suaveness to Isabel and Alex tells Liz that lusting after Isabel was what the "old" Alex would do. He then switches the next slide to show that the "new" Alex snowboarded on the mountain pictured on the slide and almost broke his wrist. Liz humorously asks if she knows him anymore, not expecting to find all these new sides of Alex, and Alex tells her that she does, but he understands how she feels, since he sometimes looks into the mirror to wonder who he is himself. He goes on to the next slide and shows her the northern lights. Liz is awed by the beauty of it and Alex tells Liz that she must travel someday. Liz suddenly becomes sad, thinking about how Max was trapped inside Roswell and her along with it. Alex understands her sadness and suggests that they could go whenever there isn't so much things going on.
At school the next day, Max tries to convince Kyle to help him. Kyle, very angry at how Max was one of the reasons that his father has been suspended and in danger of being fired, refuses to help him. Max pushes on to tell Kyle that his father is in possession of an alien object and he can be caught for with-holding evidence. Kyle tells Max to fix the situation, but Max tells Kyle that he can't get it himself because he is already on their radar. Kyle can get to the sheriff's office and get the object away from the possession of the FBI without making anyone suspicious. Max again pleads for Kyle's help. Max then goes into the eraser room, where Liz had asked to meet earlier. Max asks if there is anything wrong, and Liz asks if he has ever wanted to travel. Max admits that he has always wanted to travel, but he can't get very far without shirking off his responsibilities. Liz tells him that he, in fact, can go traveling, but Max tells her that he can't possibly go. He tells her that she should get to go to Sweden, but he can't come with her. He doesn't want her to look back five years from now and realize that she had missed out. She would always be part of the group, but she had to be allowed to grow. Liz hugs Max and starts to cry, asking why he can't come with her. He tells her that he just can't, but whenever she left, he assured her that he would always be here waiting for her. After school, Kyle strolls into the sheriff's office and begins searching for the object that would incriminate his father. He finally finds it in a bag that formerly held tobacco. Just when he is about to leave, Agent Duff enters the office. Kyle, seeing her, greets her rather hastily. Agent Duff tells Kyle that he shouldn't be in the office, but Kyle tells her that he had given his report card to his father and he had to turn it in the next day. Agent Duff, suspicious, asks what he is really looking for, but Kyle grabs a random blank paper on the desk and tells Agent Duff that he's found it. Agent Duff asks to take a look, wondering if that really is his report card. Trapped, Kyle is forced to give her the blank piece of paper. Agent Duff hands the paper back to him and tells him that she didn't really enjoy Trigonometry either. He walks out of the office and looks at the paper, revealing that it was a report card after all. He stops just right out of the station, and suddenly the writing on the paper disappears to reveal that what he was holding was a blank piece of paper after all. He looks up, sees Tess, and tells her to not mind warp him and starts rushing her away from the station lest they get caught acting suspiciously.
At the hearing that Judge Lewis had appointed, the city council unanimously vote for Valenti's removal from being the sheriff. Max and Isabel enter the Crashdown, apologizing for being late, and they immediately sense the silence. Max asks what's wrong, and Liz tells him that Valenti is fired. Isabel laments that they can't just fire the sheriff, but Kyle tells them that they can if they happen to be the city council. Kyle handles the green object and begins telling how the alien-human hybrids had destroyed any normalcy within his family's life. He demands Max's promise to stay away from his family, but because Max has no way of guaranteeing that Kyle's family will be safe, Max can do nothing but tell him that he can't. Kyle disappointed, hands Max what he had asked for, but before Max can get a hold on it, Kyle drops it on the ground and leaves the Crashdown. Back at the Evans' home, Michael tells Max and Isabel that they have to find out what they have really is. He looks up at them to find them deep in thought. He snaps them out of their reverie and Isabel asks what Valenti is going to do without a job. Michael tells them that Valenti got out of a low-paying job with long hours. Max tries to tell Michael how much the job means to Valenti, but Michael tells them that they were born into this cause, while Valenti chose to be in it. Valenti did his best to be worth something and that should be left well alone. Max goes into his closet and suggests that they could see whether this object is alien or not, since they know how their cells look like. When they look at the sample, they find that it is composed of cells that are pulsating.
Next morning, Amy comes to Valenti's house and invites him to a paddle boat in Calhoun Park with her. Valenti, not wanting to go and his predicament slipping from his head, tells her that he is busy that day. Amy asks what Valenti could possibly be busy doing. Valenti tells her that he has to clean the gutters. Amy playfully begs him to come with her since she had whipped up a potato salad and rain was not supposed to come until the weekend. At the Crashdown, Liz serves Sean his burger and Sean tells her that she looks like "roadkill." Liz, very offended, tells Sean that she is having a horrible day and turns to go when he suddenly blurts out that she needs to write her problems in mustard. Liz looks at him baffled and Sean bades her to sit. She sits down and he explains what he means. He tells her that she should write what her problem is in mustard on the patty of a burger and take a bite and her problems will go away. Sean tells her to do it on his burger and assures her that he won't look. Liz grabs a bottle of mustard and writes on the patty "GROW" and takes a bite. Sean asks if she feels better and she admits that she does feel a little better. She then goes back to her shift, perhaps making Sean feel good for appealing to her. At night, in Amy's car, Valenti thanks Amy for taking him in as a charity case of the day. Amy tells him that she didn't invite him because of that. She wanted to spend the day with a good man. They share a mild kiss and Amy adds that he was a good kisser as well.
Kyle is making his meal in the morning when Tess comes in and informs him that there is meat loaf in the refridgerator. Kyle bluntly remarks that he had already found it. Tess tells him that she's got her stuff packed and she would be leaving after school. She felt that after what Kyle said, it was her that he was talking about. She had barged into his life and had overstayed her welcome. Kyle begs her not to leave, but Tess tells him that it's all right if he wants her to leave. Kyle, trying to find the right words, tells Tess that she was part of the family that he had been trying to protect and that she was the only good thing about having aliens in his life. Tess, moved, tells Kyle that he is definitely her favorite human. Kyle then remarks that she is his favorite martian and laughs. Michael and Isabel, in the meantime, go to Pine Crest Psychiatric Hospital and break in. After a while of unsuccessful searching, they find Laurie's personal belongings and start sorting through them. To their astonishment, they find a picture of Laurie's grandfather, who looks exactly like Michael. And so ends the episode.