‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Season 3 Episode 8 Recap: “Free Your Mind”

By
Rebecca Murray
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Roswell New Mexico Season 3 Episode 8
Lily Cowles as Isobel Evans-Bracken, Jeanine Mason as Liz Ortecho, and Amber Midthunder as Rosa Ortecho in ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ season 3 episode 8 (Photo: John Golden Britt © 2021 The CW Network, LLC)

The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico season three episode eight begins inside Maria’s mindscape. Jones (Nathan Dean) has yanked her into the past – March 11, 1969, to be exact – in order to retrieve her grandmother’s memories. Maria (Heather Hemmens) has been successful up to this point keeping her memories out of Jones reach, but by killing multiple humans he’s supercharged and has freed himself from Maria’s mind jail.

Jones wants to know what happened when Maria’s grandmother, Patricia, met a specific alien in Caulfield. He plans on forcing Maria to relive the day which should reveal how Patricia came into possession of an equation written on alien glass.

Maria’s determined to fight like hell to keep Jones at bay, smashing a coffee pot over his head and locking herself in the diner’s freezer. Jones doesn’t give up. If she won’t cooperate, he’ll never let her wake from her coma.

The Scooby Squad teams up to fool the hospital into transferring Maria to a “military hospital,” and by military hospital they mean a barn. Michael (Michael Vlamis) helps get things set up and then tries to escape without talking to Alex (Tyler Blackburn) but fails. Alex follows him outside and lets him in on multiple secrets.

Michael’s determined to find Jones’ pod and retrieve the sword in order to get leverage over his dictator daddy. Alex explains he joined Deep Sky, insists it’s not the evil organization described by his father, and confesses everything he’s doing right now is to make the world safe for Michael.

“This world where you don’t live in fear is not going to build itself, so I have to try,” says Alex. He pauses a moment and adds, “For us.”

Alex insists he’ll plan the mission to retrieve the pod and it will be done strategically, not driven by emotions.

“You picked a helluva time for a grand gesture, mate,” replies Michael.

#Malex fans melt as Alex delivers a smoldering smile.

Rosa (Amber Midthunder) arrives in a tizzy, upset Liz (Jeanine Mason) is trying to block her out of the mission to wake Maria. Rosa refuses to be pushed aside and reveals she’s learned everything on the planet has its own resonant frequency. Isobel (Lily Cowles) saves the siblings from further argument, handing Rosa one of the turquoise alien stones to enhance her hearing powers.

Maria’s machines begin beeping as dark veins appear, her temperature increases, and her nose begins bleeding. Liz warns that if they enter Maria’s mindscape and she dies, they’ll die too.

Isobel and Rosa get pulled into a big hug by Maria when they appear outside the diner’s freezer in her mindscape. They grab a table and Isobel explains their plan. Step one: hide in an obscure memory where Jones can’t find them. Step two: Liz figures out a way to sever the bond between Maria and Jones.

However, that’s not at all what Maria has in mind. She wants to pursue Patricia’s memories all the way to Caulfield to discover what Jones is after. Isobel thinks the equation on the alien glass must have something to do with alien genetics, and it dawns on Maria the equation might be the key to destroying Jones.

Isobel attempts to dissuade Maria from reliving Patricia’s day because it will mean Maria will be forced to experience the experiments done on her at Caulfield. Nevertheless, Maria remains determined to continue reliving March 11, 1969 if it means they can destroy Jones.

Isobel and Rosa pledge to be with her, no matter what.

This is Rosa’s first real visit inside Maria’s mindscape and she tries to hide when someone approaches them in Caulfield. She doesn’t get the Christmas Carol reference Isobel tosses out but understands what’s happening when Maria compares this mindscape to Dumbledore’s Pensieve. (Rosa doesn’t read Dickens but does grasp the “Potter rules of the mindscape.”)

Liz squeals in delight after her discovering her research is paying off. She believes she’s figured out a way to sever the bond but needs to determine the correct microdose to administer.

The fearsome threesome wander Caulfield looking for the alien Patricia encountered on March 11th. Meanwhile, Liz has hit another stumbling block when the cells on her screen begin fusing back together. She halts the microdose seconds before she’s about to deliver it. Maria’s temperature is plummeting, and Liz knows if it continues to tumble, she’ll experience brain damage followed by cardiac arrest.

Roswell New Mexico Season 3 Episode 8
Michael Vlamis as Michael Guerin and Tyler Blackburn as Alex Manes in ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ season 3 episode 8 (Photo: John Golden Britt © 2021 The CW Network, LLC)

Alex and Michael track Jones to Lincoln National Park but then lose his signal when the tracker Michael planted on Jones’ car disappears. Alex uses the park’s camera system to spot Jones’ vehicle and figures out Jones is likely in the barn or the fish warehouse. He lets Michael choose which to check out – heads or fish tails.

Inside the mindscape, Maria and her backup team continue to follow in Patricia’s footsteps and are led into a room where experiments are conducted on people of color. (Caulfield was an equal opportunity racist organization, experimenting not only on aliens but also anyone who wasn’t white.) Maria’s shocked when she’s handed a tray by a doctor who recognizes her as Patricia and told to administer shots to people who’ve been lied to about their medical conditions and the help the shots will provide.

Patricia wasn’t experimented on; she was a facilitator.

Back in the barn, Liz attempts to raise Maria’s temperature by heating up horseshoes and placing them in a bucket under Maria’s cot.

Isobel’s jumpy and sure Jones is close by. She’s less sure of why Jones so desperately wants that glass. Rosa remains optimistic they will ultimately emerge victorious in their battle with the evil alien dictator. She’s proud Maria chose to fight rather than hide. Rosa also reminds Isobel the mindscape world has always been her jam and she should remember that as they take on Jones.

The threesome reunite and Maria is devastated. She can’t believe her grandmother was on the wrong side of history. Isobel suggests they turn back but Rosa believes they need to continue to follow Patricia’s day. Maria agrees with Rosa.

As they’re talking an officer arrives and advises Maria he’s gotten her 10 minutes with the prisoner she wanted to visit. He warns her she has to be quick so the doctor doesn’t find out about the visit.

Liz is at her wit’s end. She’s tried everything she can think of but nothing’s working. Liz says aloud what she’s been thinking, confessing her innermost thoughts and fears while Maria, Rosa, and Isobel remain in the mindscape unable to hear them. She thinks her friends are going to die because she’s lied to herself that “being the smartest person in the room can be enough.”

Liz screams in frustration and tosses a horseshoe at an anvil. The noise it makes when it strikes leads to an epiphany – sounds are vibrations that move things. Liz figures out sounds are making Jones’ cells vibrate. “Damn, Rosa, you were on to something,” whispers Liz with a smile.

Maria, Isobel, and Rosa enter a room where Michael’s mom, Nora (Kayla Ewell), is seated. It turns out Patricia was working with Nora and has been injecting the subjects with placebos. Patricia was, in fact, one of the good guys!

Nora has been instructing Patricia on how to make a machine that would make ET green with envy. Only one piece is missing and Nora explains Patricia needs to get it from an alien named Theo. Nora and Louise were working with Theo, a scientist who Jones forced to make clones. There’s only one boy clone left who can let Jones continue his reign. When Maria says Max’s name, Nora responds with a blank look. Apparently, there’s a problem with “the boy” but Nora, Theo, and Louise never discussed exactly what was wrong.

Nora says Patricia must find Theo, give him the glass, and get the final piece to finish the machine.

Back in the real world, Alex and Michael go over their game plan before entering the building to search for Jones. No matter what happens, Alex wants Michael to stick with the plan. Alex reminds Michael the pod is the top priority and to forget anything else.

Alex realizes Michael’s not fully committed to the plan and reveals the story of how he lost his leg in Iraq. Alex allowed his rage to get the best of him after the death of a young boy he befriended. When given the chance to take out the Taliban captain responsible, Alex killed him and then instead of falling back, he pushed further into the location. He took a bullet to his leg and ruined a mission the SEALS had put together to take out that specific location.

The Taliban fighters got away because Alex was ruled by his emotions. “I lost a piece of me, in many ways, on that mission,” says Alex. “You are the one piece that I can not go through life without.”

They stare into each other’s eyes as Michael strokes Alex’s face.

They enter the room where the pod’s located and Jones is kneeling, clutching his sword with his eyes tightly shut. Alex stops Michael from retrieving the sword.

Liz begins her new sound frequency experiments and the vibration is such that Rosa hears it in the mindscape. Rosa realizes Liz is doing something she thinks will help and knows she has to wake up and join her. She assures Isobel and Maria they can handle the mindscape on their own, promising to see them on the outside.

Rosa comes to and Liz apologizes for not listening earlier. She admits Rosa was right and Rosa’s stunned her sister needs her help. Together they begin working on tapping into the right frequency to break Jones’ cells and leave Maria unharmed.

Back in the mindscape, Isobel and Maria discover Theo’s been tortured to death. The glass doesn’t have symbols on it and Maria spots a symbol on Theo’s head. They figure out the glass needs to interact with that symbol. The lights begin flickering and the radio turns on as soon as Maria puts the glass near Theo’s forehead.

Jones suddenly appears and Isobel realizes he knew Maria would trace Patricia’s steps from that pivotal day. Jones reveals there were lots of Max-looking clones on their planet, and the Max here on Earth shouldn’t even exist. Isobel realizes the dictator is immortal only because he’s been jumping into clones to stay alive. Jones confirms that’s true, adding that her mother’s triad slaughtered every clone except Max. Plus, they destroyed the science he needed to create more.

Jones and Maria fight over the glass, but Isobel steps in and brings Jones into her own “mind game.” Fists fly as they engage in hand-to-hand combat in the diner while Maria sticks the glass in the machine she was building under Nora’s instructions.

Michael uses his powers to move the pod out from behind Jones while over in the barn, Rosa tells Liz which way to adjust the frequency. (Rosa powers up by holding a turquoise alien stone.)

Once more to the mindscape we go and Dr. Lockhart confronts Patricia about swapping out the drugs for placebos. The machine falls when Lockhart reaches for her, and Lockhart reveals they knew about Nora and the machine all along. He injects her with a double dose as punishment for costing them data.

Jones and Isobel continue to fight and Isobel gets the upper hand, tossing him in a jail cell. She confesses she’s actually just been trying to keep him busy while Liz and Rosa work on waking up Maria.

The sisters find the right frequency and Maria emerges from her coma! Isobel also wakes up while a frustrated Jones looks angry as he stands up still clutching his sword. He stops Michael and Alex before they can drive off with the pod, and Alex allows Michael to put his contingency plan into action.

Jones taunts Michael, reminding him if he shoots him Max dies. He’s in Max’s body and Max is in his, so it’s all the same. Michael’s about to pull the trigger when Alex hits Jones with the truck. They manage to drive off with the pod and without killing Jones.

The team gathers at the Wild Pony to celebrate, and Liz confesses she’s been underestimating her little sis. Michael and Alex hug Maria, welcoming their heroine home. Maria reveals she spoke with Nora and Michael smiles when she calls Nora a genius. She explains Dr. Lockhart took the machine Patricia and Nora were building.

Maria fills them in on what she learned about Nora and the machine, but Alex doesn’t come clean until he’s alone outside with Michael. Alex thinks maybe it’s Nora – a genius and a fighter – who Michael takes after and not his dictator father. Alex reveals the Lockhart machine is at Deep Sky and he’ll ask Eduardo if he and Michael can work on it together. Michael doesn’t believe that will go over well and adds, cryptically, “One mission at a time, right?”

Alex promises he’ll tell him everything he learns about the machine. The sparks fly as Michael says he’s looking forward to spending time with Alex discussing the machine.

They smile, drink their beers, and enjoy each other’s company. Finally, Alex says, “I’m confused though. What is the mission you’re working on right now?” Michael answers by leaning in for a lengthy, passionate kiss.

Maria and Isobel toast to the “badass stock” they come from. Gregory calls and Isobel tells Maria she should take it.

Isobel grabs some wine and takes it outside to share with Liz. They’re aware they have a lot of work to do but now they know where to begin with the next stage of getting rid of Jones. Isobel confesses she’s happy Liz is back in Roswell for good, and Liz confirms she’s equally glad to be home.

“I’m going to drink this wine and then I’m going to hug Maria DeLuca until it hurts. And then I’m going to do what I always do…save Max Evans,” says Liz.




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