Every week when Roswell, New Mexico airs I end up with several pages of notes. Because so much happens on this show and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Particularly with all the science stuff. Some of my notes will be all the science stuff so I don’t forget important information. Other times, the notes are just filled with my reactions to whatever is happening onscreen. That’s pretty much what happened with Roswell, New Mexico 4×05: “You Get What You Give.”
This week’s episode truly had me feeling like one of those people on Sesame Street saying, “The letter for today is ‘C.’ ‘C’ for COMMUNICATION.” That’s what this episode was all about. We know we keep talking about the communication between the characters in this show especially Liz and Max. Believe us, they have a ton to still work on, but they most certainly were not the only ones.
In Roswell, New Mexico 4×05 “You Get What You Give” we saw a whole lot of folks opening up to each other, someone gained powers while someone else was losing theirs. We learned a little more about a few families, and most importantly we got a moment we had been waiting for.
Let’s discuss Roswell, New Mexico 4×05 “You Get What You Give.”
‘C’ Is For Communication
Like we said this week’s Roswell, New Mexico was all about communication. And a whole lot of it was long overdue. Liz and Max are the couple we love but they also frustrate us. These two are amazing at loving one another but they are also extremely good at self-sabotage. And they do it a lot. The problem with both Liz and Max is that they are both too much in their own heads. They spend so much time focusing on the negative things that they can’t really seem to live in the present.
Past problems in their relationship still haunt them. And it’s always about the science. Max is an alien, and he just needs to deal with that. Being an alien means that having alien problems will always exist. That may sound negative for us to say but that is not what we’re doing at all. Liz has this idea that at some point in their lives they won’t have to worry about alien things coming into their relationship and that’s part of why she won’t accept Max’s proposal.
Max has been dealing with the aftermath of being linked to Jones. It’s made him more powerful than he expected. Max has always been fearful of allowing his powers to fully release and because of this he’s constantly keeping so much bottled inside. He won’t share his turmoil with Liz because in his mind it’s a burden and that’s just a reminder of why she didn’t say yes to his proposal.
The one person that seems to be able to pick up on all that Max is keeping from Liz is his former partner and friend Jenna AKA Cameron. She really put things into perspective for the two of them and reminded them both how important it is for them to communicate. Jenna was the one who told Liz that Max was hiding something from her, and she really tried to push Liz to make Max tell her what was going on. Of course, Liz being Liz, refused to listen right away because she felt like pushing Max would hurt their relationship.
When Jenna talked to Max about keeping secrets from Liz, he finally let the truth out. Max has gone through a lot of shit in every season of Roswell, New Mexico. Each time he’s faced a problem, Liz has had to bail him out with her scientific knowledge time and time again and it’s made him feel like he hasn’t been there for her. Max told Jenna he doesn’t want to mess things up with Liz and he needs to be able to save her back because she’s saved him so many times.
We weren’t surprised to hear this revelation from Max. We know he’s been frustrated over not being able to be the man he feels he needs to be for Liz. Part of that is because he’s so conflicted with who he is and coming to terms with his newfound powers.
What finally made Max come clean to Liz was his time spent with Tezca. In Roswell, New Mexico 4×04 “Dear Mama” Max and Tezca ended up in a showdown of sorts after she shapeshifted into Jenna’s form. When she tricked Max into believing she was Jenna, he healed her. This caused him to leave a handprint on her which ended up linking the two of them together.
Through most of the episode Tezca puts Max through a bit of hell. She does everything she can to pull his essence out to bring out his powers. That includes squeezing his organs from the inside out to speed up the process. Max discovers that he has the ability to create a blue flame like Jones. Something we didn’t expect Tezca to do was setting Jones’s body on fire. We guess that’s the last we’ll see of him then.
What Tezca doesn’t realize about Max is that he’s a determined guy and he knows how to flip the script. After Tezca pulled Max into his own mindscape to make his powers come out, he quickly realized he could do the same thing. Max gained control of his mindscape again and this time he pulled Tezca in and he severed the link between them. It was impressive although we did see what happens when Max’s power goes full force.
Max’s fear of the consequences of losing control were realized when he created an explosion and some shrapnel hit Liz in her side. Thankfully he was able to heal her but if he hadn’t been, things could have gone bad. That situation was what made Max talk about how he’s been feeling. He apologized to Liz for keeping what he was dealing with a secret. She apologized for not pushing him harder. You see, once again a problem that could have possibly been avoided if they had only communicated.
History Lessons Galore
Roswell, New Mexico is good about showcasing family and family history. Kyle, Michael, Dallas, and Maria are all learning more about their history every week. Dallas has been trying to figure out more about his father so he’s using his powers to try and trigger a vision. Like Maria, it seems that when his powers are working that’s when he’s able to see flashes of memories. Maria understands and so she helps him trace his past by heading to the Revivalist Church that he once went to with his dad.
While there, his memories are triggered, and he recalls a time when he and his father planted some seeds to grow a tree. The tree that they grew just so happens to be the tree that Maria found the drawing of in Roswell, New Mexico 4×04 “Dear Mama.” This leads Maria to believe that their lives are somehow linked. Something we need to mention is that the tree is growing that weird fruit Clyde let Michael taste when he gave him a glimpse of the oasis. And it turns out the fruit isn’t fruit, it’s fuel? Isn’t food fuel though? So, can’t it be both?
Kyle is still in Careyes, Mexico. He’s learning a lot about himself and his family. What he’s learned is actually pretty freaking cool. After Isobel shows up on his doorstep, he gets her to help him open the pod that he found with Tezca inside. When they finish, he learns that the person inside the pod is his cousin Sonya. Sonya is Eduardo’s daughter and she’s been living in Careyes overseeing the families’ businesses while her dad works for Deep Sky.
The way that Sonya ended up in the pod was because of Tezca. What happened was Tezca pulled a Jones on Sonya and took her form then placed her into the pod. Tezca isn’t even the alien’s name but a name that they just adopted for themself after seeing a piece of artwork featuring Tezcatlipoca. The reason for Tezca attacking Sonya and taking over her form was so that they could grab an artifact from the house. The Valenti’s have been collecting and protecting alien artifacts including the pod for 75 years. Naturally, they had what Tezca needed.
This is a lot of information for Kyle to process but it brings him a lot of joy to learn. It makes him even happier when he learns that his family has basically looked out for Isobel and her entire family for decades. This new information is what brings these two together. More on that later.
Michael has been doing his due diligence bonding with Bonnie and Clyde to get information from them as to what Tezcas endgame is. He convinced Max to give him the octahedron so that he could take it to them which he did. If you were thinking this was a bad idea just like we were, you were right to do so. Michael has always thought he’s been a step ahead of Bonnie and Clyde, but it seems as though that was a miscalculation.
After Michael brings the missing piece to the puzzle, he is finally able to get a full glimpse of home. He’s so excited about that and you can’t help but feel his happiness. That’s why it was a shocker to see that his powers are not working. Dallas stopped by to share all that he had learned on his outing with Maria and as he and Michael were preparing to share their stories, Michael realized his powers weren’t working. Not only that, but he’s also sick. Like really sick. We’re talking a fever and passing out type of sick. And like Michael says, aliens don’t get sick. Clearly this is so bad. Now we don’t know if that thing he put together has something to do with it or if it’s something else.
Kybel Is Happening
Alright, we’re closing out this review with something positive. Our Kybel moment finally happened! It was so worth the wait. Some people might think it was too quick after Isobel and Anatsa split up, but we don’t. We know Anatsa and Isobel were cute together, but Isobel’s heart wasn’t fully in the relationship.
Through all the time we’ve watched Kyle and Isobel interact we have been feeling the tension and the love. They’re so close and they know each other like nobody else. They open up to each other and they make a fantastic team working side by side. The whole time we watched Roswell, New Mexico 4×05 “You Get What You Give” we could see that Kyle was holding back. We kept yelling at the TV for him to “SPEAK UP!” Just watching Kyle keep quiet was killing us.
We were so happy when he decided to be honest with Isobel about his feelings. Isobel opened that door for him by telling him that Anatsa wasn’t her person, but she did teach her how to love again. Once she said that, the floodgates opened. Kyle knew in that moment he could tell Isobel he thought she was beautiful and when they kissed, we died. It was a long-awaited moment that hit us in the feels.
Other Things
- When Jenna told Max she was once in love with him our hearts broke a little bit. We know she’s not in love with him anymore but, we could tell that she does still care for him a lot. (“Alexa, play ‘Little Freak’ by Harry Styles please.”)
- We love Max for still looking out for Jenna. Like, he was hardcore concerned about her well-being.
- That Max/Michael brotherly bonding in the car was sweet. We haven’t seen that in a while. The last time they were together, they were arguing.
- Tezca squeezing Max’s organs from the inside out…just…OUCH!
- “Humans are obsessed with the illusion of happiness.” – Clyde to Michael.
- So, Bonnie likes it on earth and wants to stay. That’s an interesting new development.
- “I’d say class is dismissed.” – Max to Tezca after breaking their link.
- What’s Ophiuchus’s plan for Liz?
- “I find you beautiful.” – Kyle to Isobel (Insert heart eye emojis).
- We’re so glad Maria finally told Liz that the cure took away her visions. We’re also glad she told her not try and fix things because she didn’t need it.
- “Right now, I don’t need a scientist. I need a friend.” – Maria to Liz.’
- Alrighty, Michael still doesn’t know his boo is missing and now he’s sick and powerless.
Loved the episode. But I was a bit confused…which is a bit normal with this show haha. But Dallas was out planting trees with his Dad, after the crash? How then did his pod end up in the lake at Camp Mesa Pines with him in it? And he came out not remembering that, or that he was even an alien. Did someone erase his memory, put back in his pod, then toss him in the middle of the lake? I’m looking at Jones
Also not sure what the point of Liz getting hurt was. Max got to rescue her? It made them talk? Or now she has a handprint and somehow Tezca will use that to her advantage? Maybe all of the above or not. Who knows with this show. But I can’t wait to see more!