Answers and Questions

A Review of 'River Dog'

by Kate Ancel

copyright November 18, 1999

"I have been acting covertly."

"Drop kicking the sheriff - you call that covertly?"

Writer Cheryl Cain gave us an episode that answered some questions and raised a few more. She gave us the banter we've come to love between Michael and Maria and a healthy dose of pure romantic magic for Max and Liz. The trio is coming ever closer to discovering pertinent information about their heritage with a little help from their friends and the bonds of trust that began so shakily in '285 South' are beginning to cement.

Random Thoughts:

This episode showed us clearly that their joint adventure to Texas has strengthened the bonds of trust between these five people. They were all much more comfortable with each other and it allowed us to see a little more of their lighter sides. In spite of the fact that the situation is growing more dire, they all found time to laugh, smile and tease each other. It was a nice change.

One thing that does bother me a bit is that things seem to be falling apart awfully fast. It makes me wonder how much farther they can stretch this story believably. Both the FBI and the sheriff are pretty convinced that Max, Isabel and Michael are suspicious. What are they waiting for in the way of evidence to make a move? It seems apparent from this episode that they are watching them to see what the kids will uncover. But it's unclear to me how discovering artifacts from the crash and information about the people involved translates to hard evidence that the kids are aliens. If that was all that was needed for evidence, every UFOlogist in the world would be under suspicion.

River Dog is still an unknown quantity. It's true he provided some answers; confirming the existence of at least one other survivor of the crash and giving the kids yet another link to their past. But he raised more questions about the whereabouts and actions of that survivor.

We did get confirmation that Topulsky is indeed working for the FBI, although the possibility of an agenda hidden even from them still exists. I do have to wonder how the Bureau expects to accomplish anything with such inept field agents, though. Topulsky is about as subtle as a Mack truck and Mr Inconspicuous on tail duty is failing abominably at blending. At least Topulsky seems to be taking fashion tips from Scully with the high-heeled boots on a stakeout. And let's not mention the important pieces of evidence they conveniently left behind for the sheriff when they ransacked his office. The key I can understand, but an envelope of pictures under his desk drawer? Please. Very sloppy work indeed.

Speaking of the picture in the envelope, did anyone else notice that this was a different picture than the one the sheriff showed Liz in the first episode? In the picture Liz saw, the chest and the handprint were clearly visible, but the face was in almost complete shadow. Now we have a face so clear we can match it to an author's photograph in a book.

Interesting choice of movies playing at the theatre where Max and Liz pulled their bait and switch. The Lady Vanishes and The Secret Agent. Very appropriate, I thought.

It seemed a little out of character to me for Isabel to wear the necklace she found at the dome in plain sight, especially when she was so harsh with Michael about displaying his painting at school. But it was nice to see her get a little more excited about finding keys to their past. She's still scared, but now her interest has been piqued too.

I couldn't help but think it's pretty lucky Max lives on the first floor. That window gets more traffic than most front doors.

Dislikes:

• The flirting between the sheriff and Topulsky. It just doesn't work for me. I haven't made my mind up about the sheriff yet. I can't decide if he's a really bad guy or just someone with something to prove. But he makes my skin crawl whenever he flashes that flirty smile at Topolsky. Stick to the facts, officer; just the facts.
• I'd like to know what kind of forcefield Max has put over his Jeep that keeps the wind from ruffling anyone's hair.
• How did they get Maria's car to start for the return trip? I guess those secret powers can be really useful when you know how to use them, eh Michael?
• Where has Alex been? This character is sadly underused. He's got great potential when he's not missing in action.
• It bothered me that Max didn't write down the symbols on the cave wall, especially after he was told they couldn't come back. How are they ever supposed to decipher them if they can't reference them? And it denies Isabel and Michael the opportunity to even see them. Just because Max couldn't remember what they meant, doesn't mean that the other two won't. Seemed sloppy and out of character to me.
• Teasing us with trailers that include scenes not in the aired episode. What happened to the "Are you insane?" scene between Isabel and Michael we were shown at the end of 'River Dog'? Wasn't that from 'The Morning After'?

Likes:

• I liked the montage of scenes at the beginning of episode before scenes from last week were shown.
• It gave me a lot of satisfaction to see Topolsky getting her butt chewed for sloppy field work.
• We got to see laughing and teasing and smiling!! It was a long time coming, but it was worth it. Great scenes between Maria and Liz discussing Michael and also between Max, Isabel and Michael discussing Maria. I liked the teasing between them.
• The love/hate relationship between Maria and Michael is wonderful. Their bickering is hysterical and their lines are priceless. Brenden and Majandra look like they're having such fun together. I'm glad we're along for the ride.
• It's nice to see that Liz doesn't view Max as the father-figure Michael and Isabel do. His word is not law to her, which appears to be a fairly new concept to Max. He didn't quite know how to handle it when she made it clear she didn't need his permission, but wanted his understanding. His struggle to hang on to some semblence of control of the situation was obvious, and as was his fear for her.
• The increasingly close relationship between Max and Liz just continues to enchant me. I can't help it. The scene in his bedroom was just beautiful, in my opinion. I loved when Max held out his hand to help Liz in the window and his nervousness when he realized that he'd held her just a tad too long after catching her. I loved how shaky his voice got when he told her to come back. But mostly I loved the intensity of emotion that passed between them at so simple a gesture as touching foreheads. Jason and Shiri continue to blow me away with their scenes together.
• I liked the way the final scene played out. Max didn't much care for River Dog playing mind games with Liz and attempting to put doubts in her mind. With his outstretched hand he seemed to be asking for her trust and the image of them walking away hand in hand worked for me.

Favorite Quotes:

• Maria: "Oh, the Stalker. Good luck with that one Lizzy."

• Maria: "Michael is the type of person my mother likes to refer to as a vibrator."

• Max: "I'm not worried."

• Sheriff: "Only when they blow through three red lights, two stop signs and do 70 in a 30 MPH zone. Miss Topolsky, you are a walkin', talkin' movin' violation."
• Miss T: "I'll take that the best way I can."

• Max: "Friggin' Eddie."

• Maria: "Interesting. You know Michael, some wome of the 20th century would find that last comment a tad bit offensive."
• Michael: "Why?"
• Maria: "Why?"
• Isabel: "Welcome to Michael-land."

• Isabel: "Are you guys flirting? Could my life get any worse?"

• Maria: "I mean, it could never be. There are a number of obstacles… his hair, his personality, the fact that he was hatched."

• Isabel: "Fine, but don't let her blather too long because I'm desperately low on minutes."

• Sheriff: "I woke up with one hell of a headache."
• Miss T: "You must have had your head in the wrong place."

• Maria: "I hope you intend to pay for that."
• Michael: "I do not."
• Maria: "Well that's theft, buddy."
• Michael: "Arrest me."

• Isabel: "We all like things extremely sweet and extremely spicy.

It's our little dietary quirk."

I give this episode 4 UFOs out of 5. All in all, a solid, well-crafted outing.