Main Plot: Max, Isabel, Tess and Liz go to Whitaker’s home town to attend her funeral.

Subplot: Michael and Maria investigate Courtney.

Michael: Why did Michael wait so long to tell them something as important as Courtney being a Skin? And, I wonder why Michael chose Maria as the first to tell? Was it just because he saw her first, at school or was it to do some repair work on their relationship? Considering his suggestion on how they could "make the time go faster", while waiting for Courtney to show up, he obviously wants to go back to boyfriend/girlfriend status. However, I think Courtney is going to prove to be serious competition for Maria. (Although he pretends to be annoyed, I bet he loves having two women fight over him.) Michael is obviously attracted to Courtney and for someone like Michael, who has received little praise in his life, it will be difficult for him not to gravitate towards someone who is lavishing praise upon him. And, she knows just the right tactic to take - telling him he’s better than Max. I was glad he had enough sense not to buy into her flattery immediately but given time, she will probably be able to convince him. And he just bought her some time by rescuing her "husk". I don’t think that was just in gratitude for the sacrifice she made, I think he wants her to stick around. However, he should still beware, the Skins may be using Courtney (possibly without her knowledge) to do just what he said - divide and conquer the Royal Four.

How did Michael know from where the pictures were taken? Even Courtney was impressed with that accomplishment (but then she’d be impressed with anything he did J )

Why didn’t Michael call Max (before driving all the way to Arizona) to let him know that Courtney confirmed that their enemy was there.

Why didn’t Michael ask Courtney how her people planned on getting home?

Maria: Maria, was once again her spunky self and highly entertaining. However, although I find Maria’s put downs of Michael very amusing (and often well deserved) she needs to start finding things to compliment him about, if she hopes to compete with Courtney.

I burst out laughing at Maria’s reaction to realizing she was holding Courtney’s skin. Obviously it does not disintegrate immediately when a human touches it.

That was a cute reference Maria made, comparing herself and Michael to Scully and Mulder.

I like both of Maria’s hairstyles; the swept up version gave her an older, more sophisticated look and the braids made her look soooo sweet and innocent.

Courtney: Oh, Courtney’s got it bad for Michael!! I was ROTFL when they revealed her Michael shrine! (The Metallica T-shirt was a cute touch.) Now we know her angle - she’s a groupie! I think perhaps she’s gotten a little too involved with her work. J Does she realize that if they go back home, and she returns to her former normal form, that he cannot. She seems to like being a "babe", will she want to return to her original form?

I wasn’t sure, in the beginning, if we could trust her, but if she was willing to sacrifice her own husk for Michael, I think there’s a good chance she’s sincere. I’m assuming the renegade group she belongs to is unknown to the rest of the Skins or there would not have been a husk for her, but they may have been suspicious, which could be why Whitaker was spying on her. Regardless, she can’t go back to the Friendship League colony now. Were there other members of the renegade group in the Friendship League and did she sacrifice them as well? If so, they won’t be too happy with her if they find out what she did. Does she know where the other colonies are? Will she betray them too? Will she have to ally herself with the Royal Four now?

Max: I thought the confrontation scene between Max and Liz was well done. I was so glad that he didn’t believe that Liz could do that to him and knows she’s hiding the truth. I could really feel his angst. Although he knows she’s lying, he just can’t fathom why she would be willing to hurt him so. I still don’t understand why Liz thinks she has to withhold the truth from him.

Max is showing more leniency for Tess. Although he was very stoical about it, he still let Tess use him as a pillow in the back seat of the jeep.

I was surprised that Max ate the food Ida Crawford offered, after saying they couldn’t trust anyone, and accepted their invitation to stay. Why didn’t he send someone with Isabel, when she followed Nicholas, if he said no one should be alone. And I didn’t understand why he was so surprised to realize that the Friendship League were all Skins; I thought he and the others assumed that possibility going in.

Does Max only have the force field ability for defense? Does he not have the energy surge like Michael, Isabel, Nasedo and the Skins seem to have?

When Max went sliding back, down the aisle, all I could think of was Maria’s expression - "Another one being sucked into the alien abyss!" but it was a neat effect.

Liz: Liz doesn’t trust Tess enough to let her know she didn’t really sleep with Kyle. Why? Tess would never want Max to know the truth so she wouldn’t tell him. Are Liz and Kyle planning on keeping up the charade?

When Liz poked a hole in Whitaker’s arm, I thought she was going to ask Max to fix it for her, not cover it with flowers, but then Greer wouldn’t have discovered they knew Whitaker’s body was a fake.

Why did Liz go wandering off alone after Max warned them not to?

Isabel: Isabel doesn’t want the others to know about her possible former betrayal but her withholding of information could be detrimental to the group and their mission, thereby creating the same scenario.

Why didn’t she use her powers against Nicholas? She had no trouble hitting him with a pipe so it wasn’t that she didn’t want to hurt him.

Isabel was a little harsh with Tess with that "crashing in" comment; you could see that Tess was hurt.

Tess: How did Tess know about Liz "sleeping" with Kyle. Did Max tell her or was she actually awake and overheard, when Max asked Liz about it in the jeep? Tess seemed a little too interested (and pleased) in knowing about Kyle’s "capabilities". I wonder which one she personally prefers, Max or Kyle? I think she’s too ambitious to choose Kyle over Max, if she had a choice, but I think she likes Kyle more.

What took Tess so long to help Max against the Friendship League? Why didn’t she try to unlock the doors, while Max had the force field up, so they could leave?

General: OK, if we assume the information we received from Whitaker, Courtney and Nicholas is correct, then there was a civil war between two races/species on the Royal Four’s alien home planet. (Why can’t the writers give this planet a name!) The Skins were on one side and Nasedo and the Royal Four’s people were on the other. Isabel/Vilandra fell in love with The Skins’ leader Khivar and betrayed her people, which led to the death of the Royal Four, the fall of her people’s empire and the rise of Khivar to the throne. The Skins sent troops to Earth to prevent the Royal Four from staging a comeback. The renegade Skins are just as unhappy with Khivar on the throne as they were with Max so they are planning their own coup, to place Michael on the throne. Did former Max actually cause the rift that started the civil war? These people are a mess! Are we sure we want the Royal Four to go back there to help them!?

I wonder if Khivar wants Vilandra returned to him unharmed? Judging by the way Whitaker and Nicholas treated her, I think not. I guess Vilandra made a poor choice as a mate. And, since Khivar is on the throne, I guess that means Grant is not her former lover, as some had surmised.

If the Skins have been here for 50 years, how do they know Khivar is still in power or that they still have supporters back home? Are they still in communication? The Momogram said "Our enemies have come to Earth." If the orbs contained a prerecorded message, and arrived with them in 1947, and the Skins came in 1950, how did Mom know in advance? Was the Momogram supposed to be an actual time communication? If so, can the Royal Four use the orbs to send a message as well as receive one?

I’m under the impression that the Skins are not shapeshifters, like Nasedo, so if they can’t change their form and their "husks" don’t age, they must have moved around an awful lot in the past 50 years to divert suspicion as to why they never grew any older, especially Nicholas. I’m sure they had no idea their mission would take this long. I must say, they certainly are dedicated to their cause.

If the heavy shedding didn’t start occurring until recently, because they are now dying, how did Nasedo know about it? Was he in touch with them in recent years? Did he only just recently start referring to them as "Skins" or did he always call them that because of their husks? Courtney seemed familiar with the term, so were the Skins aware that Nasedo called them this? Also, if the shedding is a sign of deterioration, why do they continue to regenerate fresh looking new skin?

When the tubes containing the husks exploded, the Skins suffered physical pain, as if connected to the husks already. Was this connection significant or was it just a way to provide an escape for Max, Tess and Liz? Since Courtney did not feel any pain, I guess we can assume Michael got her husk out of her tube before the tube exploded. Did it look like Nicholas’ husk was still in tact?

Why were the husks wearing clothes? I know, I know, network TV standards, but it was incongruous.

Why didn’t Courtney and Nicholas use Michael’s former name, and Greer use Max and Tess’ former names, like Whitaker and Nicholas did with Isabel?

I’m assuming Ida Crawford gave Tess the adoption story because she wasn’t sure who she was and that was their standard cover story but why didn’t the Crawfords pretend to be more upset about their "daughter’s" sudden demise, if they were playing a part? And if they weren’t sure, does that mean Whitaker never reported to them her suspicions? Walt Crawford did act like a typical guy, talking about which highway was the best to take!

Why did Greer say he was glad the Royal "Four" had saved them the trouble of finding them by coming to them, when it was obvious that Michael was not with them. Why didn’t he ask where he was?

Did anyone else notice that as the guy at the barn was telling them there were no tourist attractions in town, there was a tourist information office right across the street?

Did anyone else wonder why that TV was turned on in an empty classroom? They didn’t go in there to watch TV, so it is unlikely they turned it on.

Under bad edits/bloopers: First, I think there was some dialog missing in the Michael, Maria, Courtney scene, when Maria asks why Courtney is obsessed with Michael. Courtney says "I’m not obsessed with him. OK, I follow him, in the political sense." Maria laughs and Michael responds "Our leader?" (with the emphasis on the "our"). Courtney never said anything about "our" or "leader", so what statement is he responding to?

Second: In the funeral scene, the same extra (a woman in a purple v neck sweater) comes in twice in a row.

Maria: But it’s hard to run, with your pants around your ankles?

Maria: Yes, you know what? Just to make things simpler, from now on, you should consider everything to be your fault, OK? OK.

Michael: She’s obsessed with me.

Maria: Well, I guess that makes two of you, then, doesn’t it?

Maria: Oh please, do your lips not get chapped from all the ass kissing!?

Tess: Good looking pile of dust.