Main Plot: Max throws a surprise birthday party for Isabel, but she is unable to enjoy it because she keeps having flashes of Tess in serious trouble and, coincidentally, Tess is late for the party. Also, Whitaker reveals her interest in the Royal Four.

Isabel: Could these kids have anymore weight placed upon their shoulders? Now, in addition to having to deal with having people trying to kill her and having to kill someone herself, Isabel has to deal with the fact that she may have betrayed an entire race of people all for the love of one man. I don’t believe Isabel’s people would have sent her (or Tess?) to be recreated as a human if she had betrayed her brother so, either they were unaware of the betrayal or Whitaker is lying. But, until Isabel learns the truth, thinking she may have done such a despicable thing will undermine her confidence in herself.

"You may be king but I’m not bowing down to you; not in this lifetime!" Until this episode, I had assumed that Isabel accepted Max’ role as King and leader, because she kept reminding Michael that Max was the leader, but it seems that doesn’t apply when Max is telling her to do something she doesn’t want to do. Then she can be just as stubborn as Michael. Poor Max, he thought being a leader would be difficult and that was before he knew his own sister would resist his authority! It seems no one (except Valenti) obeys his orders/requests unless they are convenient.

I was so tense when Isabel "saw" Tess come in while they were singing Happy Birthday to her that I was really surprised Isabel was able to keep her composure. It also surprised me that Isabel wasn’t more concerned that she was having these splitting headaches. If they never get sick, that should have been an indication to her, and the others, that something was seriously wrong. Unless Isabel wasn’t including headaches when she told Liz in Blood Brother that they never get sick.

Considering how much she feared the Pod Chamber in the beginning, it’s a good sign that she now goes there for solace; she is taking a step in accepting her alien side. Isabel talking to her "mother" that way, shows us how much she needs someone to confide in. [Side note: When talking to her "mother", Isabel said "I’m 18 today, Mother, October 25^th." If today was her actual birthday, no wonder Max was stressing that she would figure it out. Most surprise parties are thrown before (or sometimes even after) the actual day so the honoree will not suspect anything. And usually when they mention an actual date on the show it’s the same date as it is being aired; I wonder why they chose the 25^th instead of the 16^th? Also, I’m confused about the age thing. Last year all the kids were 16 year old sophomores, now, suddenly, Isabel is 18. Did we skip a year? Are they now 18 year old seniors? Did the WB decide it wanted to sex up the show and it would be better if they were "legal"?]

With all that is going on, it’s interesting that Isabel wanted to spend her birthday with Grant, a stranger, instead of making plans with her family. Telling Max that she could date Grant without letting him in on their secret, is evidence that she too, like Max, is trying to hold on to the fantasy that her life can be normal. With the Skins trying to kill her, she’s delusional if she thinks she can date someone without them figuring out something is "different" about her.

Whitaker seemed surprised at Isabel’s power. We know Nasedo had similar powers so is it that Isabel’s people were weaker than the Skins and she now has more power because of her human brain capacity?

Whitaker: I was very surprised to find out Whitaker was a Skin. I figured she was going to be the government adversary, taking over for Valenti and Pierce. Does this mean there is no government enemy or have we just not met them yet?

So, if she was a Skin and Courtney is a Skin, why was she spying on Courtney? Courtney’s cover story would be pretty easy to check, which would mean Whitaker was married with a step-son and Courtney spent two years in a juvenile hall. So, were these real people and, if so, when did the Skins take over their personas? Was Whitaker already a Skin when she and Nasedo were having their affair? Did she realize he was an alien and that he could lead her to the Royal Four and the Granilith? Did she decide to have "one for the road" before killing him that night? Was Nasedo unable to see "the evil within"?

Whitaker said she could only sustain her skin state for 50 years, that her time was almost up and that she needed the Granilith to survive. How does she know it only lasts for 50 years? Have some of the Skins been there longer than 50 years and are now dying? Does the skin state allow them to shapeshift into different personas or do they have to choose one and stick with it for 50 years? Nasedo had been there over 50 years. Was he using the Granilith to survive or wasn’t he affected the same way. Whitaker mentioned that hers was a different race from Isabel’s but were they a different species as well? What is their natural state? Do they shed in their natural state or only with human skins? Why would Nasedo refer to them as Skins if it’s not a natural state for them? Was he aware of what form these aliens took when they came to Earth and started thinking of them as "Skins" because of their need to shed or is "Skins" an English translation of their alien name? The Granilith; what do you suppose it is? Did Whitaker need it to get a new body or to go home? Where does it get it’s power? Has it been running since 1947 or did it turn on when Isabel threw the rock? Nasedo must have known about it, who else could have put it there, so why didn’t he say anything? Since next week’s episode is a flashback, we will probably not learn more about it until the 5^th episode (The End of the World); a rather foreboding title.

Whitaker was obviously looking for Vilandra when she was pumping Liz for information which was why she mistakenly took Tess instead of Isabel but if she was looking for Max’ sister, why would she think it was Tess? When Liz said Tess was a girl from his past, it was implied that it was a romantic connection or she wouldn’t have had to leave the relationship. So which is it? Is Vilandra the king’s sister or wife and did she really betray her people or is Whitaker lying?

Why would killing Nasedo save Isabel from the other three? Did Whitaker think he knew about the betrayal and would let the others know?

Michael: Kyle said having Tess’ lingerie, etc in the bathroom was like walking into Victoria’s Secret and Michael’s response was "So, what’s not to like?" Are we supposed to believe that Michael wouldn’t mind finding ladies lingerie hanging in his bathroom? I don’t think so! J And Kyle, I think thou doth protest too much; people will think you’re falling for Tess! Was this the first time Michael and Kyle ever spoke to each other in front of us? It will be interesting to see if they become friends. I was surprised to see that Michael was sensitive enough to realize that Kyle had committed a faux pas in front of Diane.

Michael’s cake was soooo pathetic but it was soooo sweet that he tried. The Tabasco was a nice touch but I think the other guests might have thought it a bit odd. Why did Courtney assume he didn’t use eggs? I guess Skins like Tobasco too!

Michael screwed up big time!! What was he thinking, confronting Courtney with the information he learned in Whitaker’s office! What did he hope to accomplish? Now she knows they suspect her. He has created a very dangerous situation. Why did he think she was "working with" Whitaker if he suspected Whitaker was spying on her? I wonder why Courtney didn’t ask him why he was going through Whitaker’s files? And just what was Michael planning to do to her when she slapped him, if Maria hadn’t interrupted? He seemed to believe her story but now that they know Whitaker is a Skin will they realize Courtney is too, since Whitaker was watching her?

Courtney: What is Courtney up to? Why does she keep flirting with Michael? Did she think she could seduce Michael and he would reveal his identity to her? And why, when Michael practically admitted who he was, didn’t she kill him?

When Maria pulls up in the car and says Isabel’s in trouble, did Courtney wonder where Isabel had gone and why she wasn’t at her own party?

Did anyone else wonder if those colas Courtney served were safe to drink? J It was probably a good thing Isabel dropped hers. Why was Courtney there anyway? They didn’t need to hire someone to serve the guests and she’s not exactly Isabel’s friend.

Max: I was glad to see that no one approved of Isabel being with Grant but I didn’t understand Max’ about face at the end. There’s still no proof that Grant is who he says he is so why did Max say he was wrong about him? And why would he bring it up then unless it was just to create an opportunity to tell Isabel he should trust her instincts? It looked like Max used Redial to check the last call Tess made (which would make sense), not *69 to see who called her last, so why did Max ask Grant why he called Tess? And if Grant did call Tess, why did he have her number? When did they meet? To our knowledge, they didn’t even know each other.

Tess was in pretty bad shape, why didn’t Max immediately go to her to heal her?

Why would Max invite non inner-circle members to the party? Wasn’t that a little risky since they don’t know who they can trust anymore? And why would Kyle discuss Tess’ new living arrangements openly with them. Wouldn’t they want to keep Harding’s absence low key? How have they explained his absence anyway? An extended business trip? Speaking of explanations, Valenti needs to come up with better cover stories for when he breaks the law on Max’ behalf. Grant could easily have sued him for breaking and entering his home without a warrant or probable cause. And it’s going to start getting suspicious if people keep disappearing when they go to Roswell (Harding, Pierce, Whitaker), especially prominent people like Whitaker. Can’t wait to see how they explain that one!

Alex: I thought Colin did a great job of spoofing the strip tease dance (Alex was soooo funny I was LMAO) and the look of shock on Diane’s/Mary Ellen’s face was priceless but what were they thinking?! Max was obviously aware of what Alex had planned and he certainly knew his mother would be there. Didn’t it occur to him she wouldn’t be amused and that Alex would be mortified?

It’s a good thing Alex was still dressing when Grant showed up; that would have killed him.

General: I liked that they actually gave Diane some zingers in this episode: "And, what year might that be?"

Where did the blue ring box that Isabel was holding at the party come from? When she came out from the back room she was not holding it, no one gave it to her and yet, before she got to the table to open gifts, it was in her hand. I think either Whitaker or Liz gave it to her as a gift but that action/dialog was cut. Can we say blooper?

I’ve been wondering whether the skin sheddings only disintegrate when one of the Royal Four touches it. When Michael and Max found the sheddings, only a few seconds had passed since the Skin had left it behind but much more time had passed since the shedding had been left on the car, so they don’t just self destruct after a certain amount of time. And Courtney obviously was unable to make it disintegrate or she would have done so instead of flushing it down the toilet. I’m still not sure if they are just careless or if they are purposely leaving behind calling cards.

I thought it was cute that Maria realized she’d be better off with a 4-wheel drive vehicle if she was going to continue going on adventures with the Royal Four!

It didn’t appear that Liz closed the file drawer, and the CD case was definitely still on the desk, so how did she explain it to Whitaker? At least we know now that Liz misses kissing "him". J

Was that a framed picture of Whitaker on her office wall (when Michael broke in)? Who keeps a framed picture of themselves on their office wall? And I guess Isabel forgot to tell Liz to keep Whitaker from returning to her office so Michael could check it out.

Next week’s episode looks like a lot of fun. They all looked great in the ‘40s get up, especially Liz.

Diane: And, what year might that be?

Michael: Nothing you could handle.

Isabel: You may be king but I’m not bowing down to you; not in this lifetime!