Michael sensibly attempts to avoid this absurd situation and flees the building, only to run straight into the waiting arms of the still-nameless sheriff's deputy who is always hanging around with Sheriff Valenti. The deputy has a gun out. Michael is trapped.
A fit of apparent sadism
The next morning at school, all of the regulars (except geeky Alex, who once again does not appear at all this episode) are in history class getting a lecture about how the historian's role is to uncover secrets and track down information that time and other people ordinarily work to keep hidden.
In a fit of apparent sadism, Mr. Somers, the history teacher, pairs up the class for a special project. The members of each team will have to interview one another in order to get a sense of what they are really like, filling out a sheet of questions that he thoughtfully provides.
Max and Kyle are partners, as are Isabel and Liz. Maria is stuck with Michael, who is ditching as always. She complains, but Somers refuses to change the assignments.
The school office sends for Max, who has a phone call. As it turns out, it's Michael, stuck in the sheriff's office, so Max springs him by saying Michael was only skulking around the UFO Center to bring him some things he needed for a homework assignment. The deputy watches them very carefully as they leave.
Meanwhile, back at school, Mr. Somers thanks Topolsky for providing him with such juicy questions. Could the history project be an elaborate government plot to get our heroes to spy on one another?
Max and Michael return to school and go talk on the bleachers with Isabel. Michael is very excited because the computer file revealed that the dome is in Marathon, Texas, an easy road-trip away from Roswell.
However, Max and Isabel are wisely reluctant to loan him the jeep or even go with him. He won't get far without a car.
When aliens abduct
As it so happens, Maria has a car, as demonstrated by her arrival in it. She jumps out and immediately starts asking Michael the homework questions, perhaps guessing correctly that she's not going to get another chance to see him again on school grounds because he's always ditching.
Michael's not amused by the surprise interrogation, but lusts after her wheels so he plays along. They ride off.
Everyone else goes to the Crashdown Cafe to work on the assignment. Liz's answers are typically goody-good; her favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla. This bores Isabel to no end, so she sends Liz off to distract Max and Kyle.
Max and Kyle, of course, are busy marking territory and trying to provoke each other. Kyle gets Max to admit in front of Liz that he's never been in love, causing her some angst.
Meanwhile, Maria dumps off a package of alien-themed novelties that her mother made at a local gas station. Michael takes advantage of her distracted attention to steal the car, but she is unwilling to surrender the Jetta and so gets in the passenger seat, thus serving as accessory to her own kidnapping. They head to Texas.
She is plucky, however, and dials Liz on her cell phone, which she conceals from Michael. Using a subtle code, she alerts her friend that she's been kidnapped by Michael and they are now going south on Route 285. He discovers the ruse and dumps the phone.
Hearing this from Liz, Isabel leaps into action, grabbing Max and commandeering the jeep. Because this is among the aliens, Max and Isabel refuse to let Liz come along, but she insists. Kyle follows along and acts snarky, as is his wont, so the aliens and Liz drive off.
In the parking lot, a Man in Black observes the action and calls Topolsky, who has turned her guidance counselor's office into a command headquarters. She immediately sends an encrypted e-mail advising her superiors that there is "tension in the ranks" among the aliens and she is now simply waiting for them to make a mistake.
The wages of Big Gulp
Liz calls her mother to say she'll be spending the night at Maria's. Isabel is amused by the display of dishonesty from the otherwise pristine Liz Evans, science genius and vanilla-loving girl.
Speaking of criminal tendencies, Maria is slowly becoming enthralled by Michael's talents in that direction, but they get pulled over by the cops for speeding.
He gets very upset and pleads with her to play it cool, even showing her the picture of the dome and talking wistfully about how he's just misunderstood and simply wants to find a home. She buys it and makes up her own story about how they're speeding because she needs to find a ladies' room. Everything's cool.
However, it's a different story at the Valenti house, where Kyle is frantically calling Maria, Liz and even the Evanses in order to try to find out where Liz is. The stories don't match, leaving him suspicious and hurt. The sheriff wanders in briefly to get the scoop, only to head straight back to the office when Kyle tells him it's about the Evanses again.
At a convenience store somewhere on the road to Texas, Liz gets coffee, but Isabel, startled, knocks the warm beverage all over Liz. Of course, none of the coffee gets on Isabel because her alien powers apparently work as an effective stain guard, prompting Liz's envy.
However, it also breaks the ice between the two girls, and they allow themselves to bond by reassuring each other that there's room for both of them in Max's life. In a fit of compassion, Isabel even uses her powers to dry and clean Liz's turtleneck.
Max, meanwhile, has spotted the Man in Black hogging the pay phone, and the insistent bass twang of a guitar on the soundtrack indicates to him that he and the girls are in danger. They hurry back into the jeep and drive off, leaving the MIB with some flat tires.
Teen angst, roadside motels
Automotive problems also beset Michael, who has been driving the Jetta so hard he has nearly destroyed it. Since he's not good enough with his powers to fix it, he blames Maria for having such a lousy car.
They have a spat, driving him to seek refuge in the sleazy motel across the street. She follows, cold, bored and hungry.
Recrimination seems to be in the air. Back in the jeep, Isabel and Liz team up to accuse Max of behaving irrationally in his desire to get into the geodesic dome. Then Liz's cell phone rings -- it's Kyle, who helps sustain the general current of backbiting by "charitably" offering to bring Liz her history book. Since Liz is not actually at Maria's house, this would cause the entire fragile network of lies to collapse, so she freaks out and tells him to bring it to school.
Of course, Kyle believes none of this and gets in his car to follow the aliens down Route 285.
Like son, like father. Sheriff Valenti is busy pursuing his own investigation, which reveals that, although none of the law enforcement types between Roswell and Texas have seen the jeep, they have reported Michael's speeding ticket.
The desert gets lonely
Michael and Maria check into a room Maria describes as "the porno version of Aladdin," seemingly quite innocently. The blatant sexual connotations of their surroundings are titillating, but both young people sublimate their natural attraction to one another through the time-honored valves of junk food and sarcasm.
Having sated their urge for chocolate and Doritos (and, in Michael's case, the precious Tabasco that Earth people make so well), they share a bonding moment by confessing their mutual unhappiness about not having traditional home lives.
Michael, of course, never knew his alien family, and so is desperate to find the geodesic dome as a clue to his origins. Maria is in a similar position, having never known her father. Both dreamed of having something better waiting out there than life in Roswell.
Once their inner pain is eased, they sleep.
Meanwhile, a traffic accident traps Liz and the Evanses in a roadblock for several hours. Isabel leaves the jeep to berate the local law enforcement types, giving Max and Liz a chance to apologize to each other for various imagined slights. They do not touch.
Isabel interrupts the cute moment by noting that Maria's Jetta is pulled up in front of the motel nearby. They break into the room, fully expecting to see their friends locked in a steamy embrace.
As luck would have it, the shock of having people barge in disturbs Maria, who we know is not a sound sleeper to begin with. Surprised, she roll off the bed onto Michael, who is sleeping comfortably as usual on the floor. All defuse the situation by venting their petty frustrations at each other.
Speaking of petty frustrations, here comes Kyle! He has tracked them this far and demands to know what's going on, sparking a brief and rather inexpert fight scene that only results in posturing and tension.
A whole lot of crime
Liz, who has the most right of anyone to be upset seeing as how Kyle has been stalking her all night, tells him the situation is none of his business. He storms out.
Max loses heart and wants to take the girls home, but Liz is still irritable and demands to finish this adventure. Isabel agrees.
Defeated, Max tells Liz the tale of how he and Michael broke into Valenti's office to get the Hand Killer photo and got a key instead. Michael has had several visions involving this key and has become obsessed with the geodesic dome that he thinks it may unlock. This is the same dome everyone is now heading toward.
Liz, in a moment of compassion, thoughtfully sums the situation up for the audience. The aliens are hoping the key will unlock the dome, she says, allowing them to learn about their extraterrestrial past.
Sheriff Valenti, oblivious to all this, drives south, presumably heading to Texas on an errand of his own.
The next morning, the jeep finally pulls up in front of the dome from the pictures and visions. Michael tries to unlock the door, but the key doesn't fit. Instead, Max uses his powers to pick the lock and all enter.
The aliens touch everything looking for psychic impressions, but it appears that the place was searched long ago. Maria tells Michael to try his key trick again and, out of the power of her spunkiness, he sees a secret room inside the dome.
Searching quickly, they find a hidden keyhole in an interior stone wall and find a passage into a secret basement. They enter and the door closes behind them.
Valenti is too late and wanders around upstairs, finding nothing. Unfortunately, he is almost immediately pistol-whipped by Topolsky (in sleek government ninja gear) and hits the floor.
To be continued....
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