‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: “Good Mother”

By
Rebecca Murray
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Roswell New Mexico Season 2 Episode 3
Lily Cowles as Isobel and Nathan Parsons as Max in ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ season 2 episode 3 (Photo: Richard Foreman © 2020 The CW Network, LLC)

The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico season two episode three kicks off with a flashback to June 14, 1947 showing Nora (Kayla Ewell) emerging from her downed alien spacecraft. Hector Valenti introduces himself while dozens of soldiers have his back, guns drawn. Other aliens emerge and one sends a row of flames across the ground. It engulfs Hector, and the soldiers begin shooting as the aliens flee.

Nora’s hit but doesn’t follow the other occupants from the spaceship out into the desert.

Flash-forward to current events and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) catches up with Michael (Michael Vlamis) in the cave. He’s charging up Max’s pod and doesn’t seem super jazzed about Alex’s appearance. It turns out Alex is there to deliver more info about Michael’s mom. Someone’s hiding all the details behind a pretty tough firewall, and Alex asks for permission to keep digging. Michael tells him to dig on and even thanks him for not giving up.

Jenna Cameron (welcome back, Riley Voelkel!) returns to Roswell and nearly slams into Mimi (Sherri Saum) who appears out of nowhere in the middle of the road. Mimi claims she’s been “nowhere” and then looks up at the stars.

Michael cooks Maria (Heather Hemmens) a yummy omelet and apparently one of his many talents is that he’s a decent cook. She’s impressed and they get all flirty, but that cute moment’s interrupted by Isobel (Lily Cowles). She doesn’t mince words and asks if they’re living together, and Maria says Michael’s just parking in her lot.

Isobel doesn’t even want to try and picture what that means.

Maria takes off, super excited to learn her mom’s been found. Isobel thinks someone took Mimi, but Michael assures her Mimi wanders off and wasn’t hijacked by an alien.

Meanwhile, Liz (Jeanine Mason) is doing what she can to reconnect with Rosa (Amber Midthunder). She’s bought art supplies for her sister, but Rosa’s not cutting her any slack. When Liz tells her sister she loves her, Rosa doesn’t respond.

Jenna delivers Mimi to the hospital where she has an uncomfortable discussion with Sheriff Valenti (Rosa Arredondo). Jenna claims she’s okay with the sheriff dismissing her, but her facial expression says otherwise. Jenna’s shocked to learn that Max is missing.

Back at home, Isobel packs up family photos. An app informs her “the lentil” is now the size of a blueberry. She reacts to the news by swallowing more of the alien poison she stole from Liz. Is it the poison that causes her to have a vision of Max? Don’t know…but she does get a visit from her dead brother.

Max is disappointed she’s attempting to kill herself, but Isobel explains she’s only trying to get rid of the baby. She continues her conversation with Max all while telling him she knows he’s a figment of her imagination.

Jenna catches up with Michael and he tries to brush her off. He says Max is in Mexico, but no way does Jenna buy it. She reminds him she kept their secret and she lost her job because she took the blame for the gunplay during the big gala. She’s not about to put up with any lame lie about Max’s whereabouts.

Michael isn’t forthcoming so Jenna tries to guilt him into the truth, warning him if he continues to lie he’ll lose his allies.

Maria asks her mom to please explain where she’s been for a month. Mimi’s confused; she’s certain she’s only been gone one night. Maria and Mimi hug as Mimi assures her daughter she wasn’t hurt and feels fine.

Next, Jenna heads over to the Scooby gang’s secret lair. Liz is understandably shocked that Jenna is in town and that she knows about this lab. Jenna reveals Michael gave her the location but, apparently, he didn’t explain what happened to Max.

Liz gives Jenna a brief rundown on Max’s condition and her research into bringing cells back to life. She explains her goal now is to use her knowledge and the alien technology to accelerate Max’s recovery. Jenna’s overwhelmed by all this news about Max, and Liz offers some wine to help relax. Jenna’s got a better idea – she’s got whiskey in her car.

The two do a little bonding and Jenna introduces Liz to her favorite form of therapy – shooting a gun. Jenna recalls how Max used to make up goofy excuses whenever he missed a target. They laugh about his horrible Spanish and his macho ways. But then laughter turns to tears and it’s obvious how much Liz misses him. And just like that, sadness transitions to anger. Liz is pissed he didn’t ask her before bringing back Rosa and dying.

Target practice ends and they return to the lab. They’re still talking about Max and each explains when it was they learned about aliens.

Alex pays a visit to his dad, Jesse, in the hospital and apologizes for what they had to do. He offers his dad a morphine drip, if he needs it, and informs his dad he and Michael aren’t together anymore. He also reveals his brother left reports in the bunker about the night of the crash. Alex says he now understands how violent the aliens were and why they’re such a threat.

As Jesse self-medicates, he lets slip that Tripp was never the same after that night.

Rosa’s alone, drawing, when she hears Max. She grabs a bottle and starts drinking in order to make the voice go away.

Isobel’s also still hearing – and seeing – Max. She’s miserable from the poison but demands this imaginary Max answer her question. Did he know he was going to die when he brought back Rosa? When he responds, “I wouldn’t have left you,” she figures that’s exactly what a figment of her imagination would say.

He makes a valid point when he reminds her they need each other and would never choose anyone else over each other. He wants her to live.

Their talk’s broken up by the arrival of Sheriff Valenti. She shows Isobel photos of Noah’s body and Isobel throws up. The sheriff isn’t sympathetic and points out the evidence indicates someone – most likely Max – restrained Noah using police-issued handcuffs. Isobel excuses herself briefly and returns with a suitcase full of sex toys that includes handcuffs. Isobel confesses she stole them from Max because the plastic ones are too flimsy.

Imaginary Max returns after the sheriff leaves and claims he’s going to be scarred for life over learning about Isobel’s interest in S&M. He jokingly pleads with her to stop the sex talk – it’s way too much info for a brother to learn about his sister! Isobel laughs for a second and then sobs because of how much she misses him. His loss has left a massive hole in her life that can’t be filled. (This is an absolutely heartbreaking scene!)

Max extends his hand and as she reaches to touch it, she begins coughing up blood. She refuses to call for help and tells her dead brother that now she’s just like all the other girls. “Did you know that our city council just passed a resolution banning clinics? They call Roswell the last sanctuary city for the unborn. Just the unborn! We don’t have a women’s shelter,” says an exasperated Isobel.

Max admits their parents picked the wrong place to crash.

The siblings reminisce about their childhood. He believes she’d be a really good mom, but Isobel explains it’s not about being a mother; it’s about having Noah as the father. She must rid herself of the parts of him living inside her. She does, however, want to be a mother in the future. She also reveals she’s learned she’s the only one who will always come to her rescue and who will always love her.

Max completely understands.

The poison has done its job and Isobel’s soaked in blood. She’s weak and as Max yells at her to take the antidote she inadvertently knocks it off the table. She passes out before she can save herself.

Rosa, of course, refused to listen to Liz and has ventured over to the bar. She’s making so much noise in the back that she draws Maria’s attention. Maria spots Rosa, thinks she’s gone crazy like her mother, screams, and then cowers in the corner. She’s scared to death and Rosa tries to reassure her she’s real. Rosa asks, “Do you believe in aliens?”

Michael enters the bar and is, coincidently, about to tell Maria about aliens when he spots Rosa crashed on the seat next to her. Maria’s furious and beats on Michael’s arms as he tries to explain, refusing to be calmed.

Max enters Rosa’s dream asking for her help. She says his presence is getting stronger and he agrees. He begs her to help Isobel. He’s sure she’s dying.

Rosa calls Liz and says Max came to her again in a nightmare. He claimed Isobel was dying and although Liz is sure it’s just a dream, she assures a frantic Rosa she’ll go check it out. After hanging up Liz realizes she’s too drunk to drive. Fortunately, Jenna didn’t drink because she didn’t want to be drunk around Liz and a firearm.

Liz arrives and finds Isobel sprawled out on the floor, unconscious and in a large puddle of blood. Liz spots the antidote and quickly jams it into her chest.

A short while later, Isobel’s revived and apologizes to Liz for getting her involved. Liz understands and apologizes for Max losing his life while reviving Rosa. The mutual apologizing continues and Liz asks what Isobel needs. Isobel answers, “Max,” and Liz explains Max was in fact with her. Liz believes Michael’s been charging the pod and that Max is getting stronger. Isobel can’t believe it’s true, but Liz reassures her Max has not left her and he never will.

Isobel realizes she would have died if it wasn’t for her half-dead alien twin watching over her.

Maria visits her mom again, but this time she’s armed with the knowledge there are actual aliens from space in Roswell. Mimi holds up Maria’s necklace and assures her she’s protected. The necklace will keep her from getting lost. Mimi drifts off and Maria places her necklace around her mom’s neck.

Liz shows up at the hospital and Maria’s incredibly angry her friend kept the fact there are aliens in Roswell a secret all this time. Liz confesses she wanted to tell her sooner but thought she would feel safer if she was kept in the dark. Maria reveals she’s never felt safe in this town. She also explains that every month for the past 10 years she’s cleaned Rosa’s grave and talked to her spirit. She just did it and now she’s learned Rosa was probably hanging out watching Netflix while she was still grieving the loss of her best friend.

Maria needs time to process everything she’s learned.

Later at home, Rosa’s an emotional wreck and apologizes to her sister for everything that’s happened. (This is an episode jam-packed with apologies!) Liz strokes her sister’s head and says they’ll figure it out together.

Roswell New Mexico Season 2 Episode 3
Jason Behr as Tripp in ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ season 2 episode 3 (Photo: Karen Kuehn © 2020 The CW Network, LLC)

And now we learn about the mysterious Tripp. Alex delivers what he’s just learned to Michael and the new information involves a soldier whose nickname was Tripp. A flashback shows Tripp (Jason Behr from the original Roswell series!) holding an injured Nora at gunpoint. She uses her mind to knock his gun away and escape. His notes from that time period explain they found Nora again not far away. She’d stolen one of their trucks and was fastening a rope around something in the back when they forced her to stop.

Tripp laid down his weapon and offered Nora help (complete with an “I come in peace” declaration), explaining he didn’t believe they crashed on Earth to hurt humans. He offered to look at her wounds and she allowed him to get close, but that was just a ruse. The soldiers grabbed her and then looked under the tarp. She’d been able to move the alien pods onto the truck bed and they glowed with a sort of light Trip confessed he’d never seen before on Earth.

The soldiers were distracted and that allowed the female alien who lit the fire earlier to return. She was incredibly powerful and even though she was shot in the chest, she held the men away from Nora, allowing them both to escape into the truck.

As the women drove away, Tripp understood at that moment what was happening. He could see the forms of children in the pods and realized this was a mother fighting for her children, as any mother would do.

Michael wonders if the other alien was Max and Isobel’s mother. Alex hasn’t found any information that would indicate whether she survived but promises to keep looking.

Michael shows Alex a photo of a woman who could be his mother. The photo was taken two days before she was captured and taken to the alien torture chamber. Michael has no idea why, if his mother fought for them so hard, she left them in pods to wake up 50 years later all alone.

The final scene explains what actually happened to the alien women after they escaped the soldiers. They pulled up to a house and the male occupant offered to help.




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