ROSWELL
Season 1, Episode 11: The Toy Story
Ms. Evans is cooking and talking to Max in the kitchen, when a sudden grease fire breaks out. Max cannot help but use his powers to dispense with the fire; he pours water on the stove afterwards, to make it look like he put it out with water. Valenti shows up at the Evans' after the firemen, and Max begins to feel a bit uneasy. When Ms. Evans describes the event as "miraculous," Valenti becomes even more suspicious.
Funny scene at the Crashdown: Maria tries to discuss Liz's breakup, but Liz keeps telling her she's fine, while she is obviously a bit shaken by it.
Later, at school, Liz tells Max that they can still go to the basketball game that they had already bought tickets for. "No big deal..." she tells him, trying to convince him as well as herself.
Meanwhile, Ms. Evans continues to watch a home video of Max and Isabelle when they were young, playing with birds in a park. When Isabelle walks in, Ms. Evans begins to ask her questions about Max. "Have you ever noticed anything unusual [about Max]?" she asks. Isabelle is a bit worried about the sudden interest, but tries to get her mind off it at the basketball game. Everyone is at the game that night. Liz tries to get her mind off Max by screaming her head off whenever Kyle scores. Isabelle tells Max at the sidelines about their mom's strange behavior. Meanwhile, Liz is still screaming, and Kyle suddenly falls, spraining his leg. Max looks over and gets a hurt look in his eyes when he sees Liz's intense concern as she stares at Kyle, lying on the floor in writhing pain.
During school, Valenti stops by the Evans to talk to Ms. Evans. He slyly invokes a new suspicion in Ms. Evans about Max. At school, Maria is having trouble in shop class; Michael walks over to try and help, but they only start to argue again. Maria enlightens him to the fact that others care about him, and how the non-aliens feel a bit alienated from the group. "It's all about the three of you..." she tells him, obviously hurt.
At Kyle's, Liz comes over to drop off notes from classes, as well as a cake. Kyle is not appreciative though, and Liz leaves after an awkward moment.
That night, as Max paints over the burn marks in the ceiling, Ms. Evans begins to question him more about the grease fire. She tells him that a pamphlet Valenti gave her explicitly said that grease fires cannot be put out by water! Thank goodness Isabelle walks in to interrupt the situation. The two drive somewhere and Isabelle tells Max that they should tell their mother. Isabelle's hopes are high, but Max thinks that their mother's feeling for them will change if she finds out the truth.
At the Crashdown, Kyle limps in to confront Liz. As they apologize to each other about how things ended badly, they agree to try and be friends. At the same time, Max is about to walk in, until he sees Liz and Kyle befriending each other again. Again, he gets a hurt look in his eyes.
Later that day, Ms. Evans is at the sheriff's office. Valenti, again, is very manipulative, and shows her the police report on the shooting at the Crashdown. "What are you saying, that he has some kind of healing power?" Ms. Evans asks, eyes wide. The sheriff doesn't say anything, but leaves Ms. Evans to believe what she will.
Again that night, Ms. Evans watches the home video. When Max walks in, she beckons him to sit with her. She shows him a part in the video, where Max (as a child) takes a bird with a broken wing in his hand, and after a few moments, the bird flies away. A heated discussion follows: Ms. Evans asks Max about a secret that he might be hiding, but Max does not know what to say. He can only clam up again, backing away, and yelling, "why are you doing this to me? You're supposed to be my mother, you're not supposed to investigate us!" Max, in a rare moment of confusion and loss of the situation, leaves.
As Michael, Max, and Isabelle discuss the situation, Michael is outraged (as usual). He and Isabelle obviously disagree, as Isabelle feels that they are losing their mother. "We can't lose her... I need her..." she mumbles. "We are alone here, we will always be alone," Max says finally, gathering himself and choosing a side.
Michael and Maria provide the humor in the midst of the tension: At school, Michael walks up to Maria during lunchtime, and tells her that he doesn't owe her anything. When Maria acts exasperated again, Michael takes her failed woodshop project and is about to "fix" it, using his powers. Maria yells at him, telling him that that's cheating, then walks away. Later (must be another day), Maria finds a nicely-made napkin holder in her locker. "Handmade by Michael" says the note she finds on it. When she sees Michael later that day, he asks how her woodshop class went. "I failed that last project," she replies. Michael is outraged then, thinking about his handmade napkin holder ("It redefined the term napkin holder!") Maria then tells him, smiling, that she kept his napkin holder instead. A rare moment occurs then... Michael tells Maria not to help him anymore because he can't be indebted to her. "I've got to be a stone wall, and when I'm around you... I don't feel that way." Maria calls it feeling like a human.
Late at night, Liz is cleaning up at the Crashdown, when Max stops by. He tells her that it's okay if she and Kyle get back together. Liz tells him that they aren't, and even if they are, she wouldn't need his permission. Max turns to leave, telling Liz that she sounds like Isabelle, who told him he was controlling. Liz explains that he is, and should try to stop putting things on himself and start having faith in those around him.
The next day, Max sees his mother sitting in the park, watching the children play. They have a emotional moment, where Max's mom tells him that nothing he is would change how she would feel about her. Max then gives her a "present," a small figure of a house that she gave him when he was a child. He tells her that he excepts the fact that he won't know where home is, and accepts her as his mother. "Please don't ask me about this... just trust me," he says finally before they hug.
When Max finds Isabelle, they act nonchalantly. Max tells her that he didn't tell their mother, and Isabelle begins to cry. "I just wanted her to know... so badly..." Max begins to comfort her then, telling her that they'll have each other.
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