This episode was, to put it quite simply, fantastic. It absolutely had it all, suspense, conflict, touching romance, the beginnings of new relationships between some of the characters, and a surprise ending which made all of us sit on the edge of our seats, as we wait in eager anticipation for the next show!

The shows opens up with Michael breaking into the UFO Center, where he goes to the secret research room, and he uses the computer there to get a print out showing the location of the geodesic dome that may hold the answer to their origins. Right after this, Michael is caught by Max’s boss, and arrested by the deputy sheriff.

Back at school, Mr. Summers, the history teacher, gives the class an assignment to interview each other with a series of probing questions for the supposed purpose of writing a biography, and the class is teamed into some unlikely pairs. To the mutual dismay of all involved, Liz is paired with Isabel, Maria is paired with Michael, and Max is paired with Kyle. Later, we find that this “random” pairing was arranged be the ever scheming Ms. Topolsky.

Max goes to the police station to bail out Michael, and he is forced to lie to protect him, and he convinces his boss not to press charges, and Michael is released. Meanwhile, the deputy sheriff has made a copy of the print out Michael had in his possession, and gives it to Sheriff Valenti. Michael then tells Max and Isabel that the geodesic dome is located in Marathon Texas, and he asks Max and Isabel for the keys to the jeep so he can go there. Max advises Michael that they should wait, and Michael angrily storms off.

Michael then runs into Maria, who tries to ask him questions for their assignment, and he rebuffs her until he realizes that she has a car, and he asks her for a ride to the gas station where she is going to get a money order.

Back at the diner, we see Liz and Isabel and Max and Kyle paired up for their project, and the hostility in the air is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Meanwhile, Michael “borrows” Maria’s car at the gas station while she goes inside to get her money order, and Maria gets in with him, screaming that Michael was “kidnapping” her. Maria then surreptitiously contacts Liz via a cell phone that she has hidden in her car, and relates that she is unwillingly “on the road” heading south on Highway 285. Michael discovers her ruse, and throws the cell phone out of the car. Max, Isabel and Liz leave the diner, and Liz asks to go with them, and Max relents only when a sarcastic and suspicious Kyle tries to interfere. Meanwhile, an obvious looking government agent reports their departure to Ms. Topolsky, who tells him to follow them. Ms. Topolsky then sends an encoded message to her superiors which says: “Tension in the ranks. Waiting for them to slip up. Will happen soon.”

On the road, Liz calls her mother, and Isabel makes a snide remark about “the perfect Liz Parker lying to her mother,” and Liz replies “At least she knows what species I am!” ( Summary writer’s note: Good for you Liz!) We next find Maria and Michael arguing, and then they get stopped by the police. Maria had every right at that point turn Michael in for stealing her car and kidnapping her, but after hearing Michael’s explanation as to why he needs to get to Marathon, she gets them out of trouble by saying that she has a weak bladder condition, and that they were speeding because she “had to pee.”

Sheriff Valenti comes home and finds Kyle making a series of phone calls trying to locate Liz, and Kyle unwittingly tells him that Max, Liz, and Isabel had left the diner suddenly, and the sheriff leaves to go find them, telling Kyle to stay out of it.

At a gas station, Liz tries to give Isabel a cup of coffee, and it spills on both of them, and Isabel is characteristically cold and hostile to Liz, even when Liz tells Isabel that she’s the Elle MacPherson of the sophomore class. (Summary writer’s note: no argument from me on that point! Isabel is gorgeous! ;-)) Then, kindly and perceptively, Liz tells Isabel that she’s not trying to take Max away from her, and asks Isabel if what they find what they’re looking for in Marathon, if Isabel will take Max away from her. Isabel doesn’t respond, but uses her powers to clean off spilled coffee from Liz’s blouse. Meanwhile, Max catches on that a government agent is following them when he sees the agent loitering at a phone booth, and he uses his powers to give the agent’s car a flat tire.

Maria and Michael break down, because Michael had ignored Maria’s warning that the car couldn’t travel at high speeds, and Michael sets the engine on fire by misusing his powers, which he reluctantly admits he doesn’t have control over. Michael and Maria argue constantly during this interlude, and they finally agree to spend the night in a nearby motel.

A suspicious Kyle, on the road, calls Liz, and is able to determine their location, and proceeds to follow them. The sheriff, meanwhile, also determines that they’re heading to the site of the geodesic dome, and proceeds along Highway 285 himself to track them down. Meanwhile, it is announced on the radio that a major accident has caused all southbound traffic on Highway 285 to be shut down by a road block.

Back at the motel, which Maria calls a “porno version of Aladdin,” Michael and Maria continue to argue, but they start to discover that they have some things in common, and they seem to come to an understanding with each other.

We next find Liz and Max alone in the jeep while Isabel talks to the police at the road block, and they apologize to each in a way where they also express the deep affection that they have towards one another. Liz then sweetly asks if they should reconsider “feeling a certain way towards each other,” and Max reaches over like he’s going to kiss her, but he uses his powers to fix a tear in the jeep roof instead, smiling shyly at her and saying that he “didn’t want her to get cold.” (Summary writer’s note: What are you waiting for Max? They don’t get any nicer than Liz! ;-)) They then discover Michael and Maria at the motel, and just as Michael starts to say that everyone in the room would be in trouble if their secret came out, Kyle bursts in, and confronts them, demanding to know what their secret is, and Michael angrily but effortlessly throws Kyle across the room. Kyle then orders Liz to leave with him, and she replies that she’s not his girlfriend any more, and that he doesn’t belong there, and that this is none of his business. Kyle then angrily storms off. Liz then demands that they tell her and Maria the truth, and it is Isabel who breaks down and encourages the others to tell their full story.

Following this, they all arrive at the geodesic dome, and they discover that the key Michael has unlocks the door to a secret underground room which seems to hold all the answers they’re looking for. To their great alarm, however, they hear footsteps above them, as Sheriff Valenti has followed them, and he seems to be on the verge of discovering them, until he is knocked unconscious – by Ms. Topolsky!

Overall, I enjoyed this episode on every level, and this show just gets better and better with every new episode. Like the rest of you, I anxiously await next week’s show!

Jerry D.