This episode focuses on Maria's character development.

Driving across the dusty long roads of New Mexico, Maria spots Isabelle on the side. The jeep has apparently broken down, and so she offers her a ride.

Though she is only trying to help, Maria gets freaked out once Isabelle starts "fixing" her broken air condition, etc (using her powers). Maria gets so engrossed in Isabelle's tales of aliens that she crashes into the sheriff's jeep.

At school, Depolski is making a presentation to the sophomore class about their future. She tells them that she will be interviewing each of them to see what kind of future they want to travel toward.

After the presentation, Maria goes on about her fear of the aliens.

During the interviews (funny), Depolski finds out a bit about the students' aspirations and goals. She encourages Max to try something new every day, instead of hiding.

In the hall, Liz and Max talk. Liz tells him about Maria's fear, and also that Isabelle makes her nervous.

While Max tries to convince Isabelle to stop freaking Maria out, Isabelle thinks otherwise. She puts forth the idea that maybe they can use the fear, so that others will be afraid. Michael plays along, and then goes back to his key (see Ep 2). He seems pretty obsessed, while the others aren't that sure of the key's relevancy.

Later that afternoon at the Crashdown, Liz is showing off her obsessive-compulsiveness: her presentation of new shift organization (with a large color-coded graph) is not as big a hit with her fellow employees. Afterwards, Liz forces Maria to confront her fears and talk to Isabelle, who is waiting at a nearby table.

When the sheriff walks in, Maria is obviously startled. She begins stuttering and is suddenly absent-minded. "Anything else I can tell you, sheriff?" she says accidentally. Valenti has only come for insurance information for the car accident, but he becomes suspicious of what Maria might know.

Max walks in the Crashdown later, just in time to answer a customer's question about the UFO museum across the street. Maria, being her usual unsettled self, forgets to give the woman her change, so Max offers to take it to her.

It is a strange scene to see Max walking in the "UFO Center," where models of aliens and crashsites are everywhere, and a tour is currently being given. When talking about the secretive Area 51, the tour guide says, "Imagine... if living your entire life was like a terrible secret that you couldn't even share with your loved ones, for fear of their safety. I don't think anyone here today is strong enough for that." Afterwards is a question session, and in the midst, Max asks, "What about 1959?" The tour guide is obviously startled, and later finds Max and tells him to come the next day for "something [he] might find interesting."

When Max talks to Isabelle that night about their secretiveness, Isabelle reinforces the "we can't expose ourselves" theory they have been living behind. She then decides to visit Maria in her dreams: Maria is at the Crashdown, and is freaking out after seeing Michael and Isabelle as disgusting alien-like creatures. When "Michael" starts slithering up Maria's arm, she reaches for the sheriff, screaming, "Sheriff! I have to tell the sheriff!"

The next day, Max goes to the UFO museum to meet the tour guide. The guide shows Max "proof that aliens walked this earth": a photo of him as a child, with an alien-shaped shadow behind him. Though Max doesn't give him any real info, the guide offers him a job at the UFO Center! Max takes it, mostly because of the guide's very extensive archives of UFO sightings and information.

Meanwhile, Maria is startled to find the sheriff at the Crashdown. He tries to befriend her, and asks her to come to his office after school the next day. Maria cannot refuse.

The next day, at school, Max pulls a funny "oops I knocked the notebook off the table" bit to talk to Liz under the lab table. He asks about Maria's trustworthiness, and Liz overreacts, quickly comparing her to Fort Knox. Max is still a bit unsure, but tries to trust Liz.

While Liz is trying to prepare Maria for the sheriff (she has a whole dialogue written out!), Maria tells a surprised Liz that maybe they should tell Valenti. Now Liz is a bit worried. But as she is waiting for her car at the mechanics, she bumps into Isabelle, who is also picking up the jeep. She is surprised to see Isabelle hug her mother, who is dropping her off.

At the interview, Maria is nervous and sweating under the sheriff's pressure. Her answers don't make sense, as she tries to remember Liz's dialogue. He begins to confide in her, telling her about his father and his manhunt for aliens. Then, he turns to Maria, asking her why Isabelle Evans frightens her so much.

"She's a special girl..." Maria says, looking down.

"What makes her so special?" Valenti questions, leaning in.

"Where she comes from..."

"Where is she from? Maria, where are they from?"

"...A very nice family." Wow, what a relief. Maria didn't crack. She may be a flake, but when it comes down to it, this is the episode where her strength of character overtakes the flake.

Driving home, she sees Isabelle stranded on the roadside. (Guess the mechanic wasn't very good!) They have a moment of bonding, as Isabelle is surprised and relieved that Maria didn't tell the sheriff anything. Maria offers Isabelle a ride, smiling.

I don't know how time works in this alternate universe of TV Land, but we're back at school, and it seems the last bell has just rung. Max, Michael, and Liz are waiting (supposedly waiting for Maria to come back from her interview, but I thought that was after school, since Maria was wearing the same outfit as the one she was wearing in school before the interview... okay, we'll bypass this one...) As everyone sighs in relief that this battle was won, Max puts his arm around Isabelle, Michael walks off alone, and Maria and Isabelle walk out in each other's company.

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