ROSWELL
Season 1, Episode 10: The Balance
Liz cannot stop smiling, even while cleaning the counters at the Crashdown. When Max and Michael enter, Maria comments, "oh look, it's Prince Charming and Quasimoto." It's a funny scene when Liz and Max are floating on air, and Michael and Maria are constantly jabbing each other.
When Max knocks over a notebook, Michael sees a piece of paper covered with symbols Max saw in the cave with River Dog. At the Evans', Isabelle pours over the paper, while Michael continues to get angry. Feeling a bit estranged from Max and Liz, Michael becomes determined to visit River Dog on his own. When he gets to the reservation, he meets Eddie, who tells him that River Dog is in the "tent."
Meanwhile, Alex and Isabelle are at the Crashdown. Isabelle is trying to explain what's it's like to be an alien, as well as convince Alex that they are aliens.
Back to the reservation, Eddie invites Michael to the tent. Inside are chanting Indians sitting around a fire, with sauna-like conditions. They pass around a bowl of water(?), which everyone takes a sip from (Michael included). Afterward, Michael begins coughing insanely, and runs out of the tent.
As Isabelle and Alex are acting awkwardly toward each other, Max and Liz are having a great time at the Chinese restaurant. Liz plays some good pool, until she scratched... Cute scene: when the two open fortune cookies, Max tells her that his says, "Ask a girl to dance with you." "Is that really what it says," asks Liz, smiling shyly. "Depends on your answer..." Max grins. Their night ends abruptly though, as Maria suddenly walks in, and tells them that something is wrong with Michael.
They all rush to meet at the Crashdown, and are alarmed to see Michael unconscious and twitching! When he gains consciousness soon after, he is defensive and assures everyone that he's fine.
When the others leave, Maria and Liz decide to have a talk over ice cream. They begin to talk about their respective boys' kissing techniques and relationships.
At the UFO center, Alex leads Isabelle to a display of a reservation in South America. He tries to help by showing her information there, that he found interesting. When Isabelle doesn't listen, Alex basically shouts across the room "but what if this could help you find your planet?" Thankfully, Max's boss comes and dispells it as a joke, but Isabelle cannot believe how easily she could have been exposed.
Directly after that, Michael collapses again, and Max and the others bring him to Liz's. When Michael finally mentions "River Dog," Max is determined to get to the bottom of things. He and Liz drive to the reservation, and talk to Eddie. Eddie only shakes his head, telling them that River Dog tested Michael, but Michael didn't pass.
Back at Liz's, Isabelle is really scared now, and defensively yells at Maria and Alex, "He needs me right now, not strangers!"
At the reservation, Max and Liz wait for River Dog. Max tells Liz about what his childhood: apparently, when they awoke in the desert, Michael was afraid to take Max's hand, while Isabelle did. And so they were separated.
As they are about to leave, they see a tent, and realize the chant coming from it resembles what Michael had been mumbling. They peek into the tent, then are startled when River Dog appears from behind and asks them to bring Michael to the reservation.
While Isabelle is watching over Michael, he suddenly convulses and we see images that Michael is seeing in his feverish state. Standing in the middle of a desert, with strange words and symbols around him. When he looks up, he sees a cluster of stars that form a 'V' shape.
When Max and Liz return to Liz's, they are surprised to see an unconscious Michael covered with a cobweb-like covering! They quickly bring him back to the reservation, where River Dog begins to explain to the others his reasons. He tells them that he tested Michael, but the symptons didn't show up immediately, so he dismissed him. Once he heard that Michael was sick, though, he figures he must have misjudged him. He then tells them how to heal Michael: by giving each of them gem-like stones, and encircling Michael. River Dog explains that the stones were given to him by Nesaro (the name of the Man), and that the stones contain the same energy as a life force in any living body.
They also pass a bowl around, filled with water, which River Dog explains is their "connection" to each other. River Dog makes Liz leave the circle, telling her that her fears for someone else are too disruptive.
As they chant, the stones light up, and so does Michael! We see into his mind again, and he sees himself, Max, and Isabelle as their present selves, and them as small children. He sees Max reaching out for him as a child, as well as his present self.
When Michael suddenly breaks out of his web-like covering, they all are relieved. He turns to Max, and says, "No more running, Max." He then asks them for their rocks, and walks over to the wall with the writing on it. He places them into small "holes" in the wall and they light up, forming the same shape as the cluster of stars he saw earlier in his visions.
"It's a map," Michael says conclusively. The others can only stare.
Liz writes in her journal later that night. She admits to being afraid of Max falling into the same situation as Michael, into a situation where she cannot help the person she cared so much about. Max appears on her balcony again, and explains that they can't be together, because of the way they make each other feel... their feel unbalanced. Though they want to be together, Max feels that it is not the right thing to do, to be with Liz. They admit that the feeling they feel must be love, but Max explains that he needs to take a step back, because he is scared. Before he leaves, Liz kisses him. "I just wanted to remember," Liz says slowly before they say goodbye to each other.
As Max climbs down from her balcony, Liz turns her attention to the stars, focusing on the constellation that appeared in Michael's vision.
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