Roswell, New Mexico: Missing My Baby (4x08)

I am so predictably easy lol. Literally you give me angsty Michael freaking out about Alex, and I'll forgive you anything.

Cons:

I really enjoyed this episode, but I'll of course try and step back and be objective about it! I think my main overarching complaint is that certain things in this episode would have been fine normally, but I feel a little weird about the pacing. I know that's a common refrain from me, but there are only five episodes left of this whole show, and it's a little concerning how we're still sort of lining up key pieces. Mostly, I'm talking about the Tezca stuff. It feels so late in the game to only now be clarifying the basic motivations and positions of our new characters. Clyde was my least favorite part of this episode, because the sinister reveal that he's the bad guy doesn't really hold weight when we saw him toss Dallas and Bonnie into quicksand last week. And what about the fact that Tezca is the one who quicksanded Alex? I just feel like the season spent quite a long time meandering before leading to this nexus point, and that does make me worried about what we'll be able to fit into the final episodes.

The big character thing that I need to mention this week... it's our girl Liz. I love Liz, I like having a female protagonist who is allowed to be messy and make these big mistakes and all that jazz, but this week she really, really rubbed me the wrong way. She's going around acting like she's the one who has the right to make big decisions on other people's behalves. She's the one who decides to keep Alex's disappearance a secret from Michael, and her reasons of "Michael might react poorly" and "I wanted to spare him from pain" are just... not good enough excuses! She also feels like she has a right to what Max chooses to do with his body and his powers, which is not a good look. And finally, after all the lessons she's supposed to have learned about the ethics of her alien scientific exploration, she goes ahead and takes Shivani to the pods, without running it by Max, Michael, and Isobel, and then Shivani finds out Max is an alien because of it! That's a huge secret to let slip, Liz. This is a big deal and it's super annoying that she's behaving in such an irresponsible and self-righteous way.

And then on the Echo front... you know how we're all pretty sure there's a wedding at the end of this season, because of the behind the scenes pictures? And how this season has the whole Echo proposal thing, and it keeps getting talked about? I am in the position right now of actively hoping these two are not going to get married at the end of this season. Unless the finale has like... a significant time jump and they've really worked on their bullshit together. Because right now? They are not in a marriage place, they're in a "we barely seem to know each other or how to interact with each other" place, and it's super bizarre to see them behaving like this so close to the finale.

It bothers me that we had to spend time in this episode with Liz getting sage relationship advice from Shivani and Michael, with Max angsting about Liz to Michael as well, when I'm sitting here thinking that the two of them are such awful communicators, it's frankly stretching credulity that they're even managing to stay together at all. This isn't how I want to feel! Unlike with Michael's character, who I feel has really grown and matured over the years, Liz and Max seem to be falling back into the same patterns we've seen a thousand times, with no sense of them understanding that their behavior is toxic. I want to root for these two, I've always thought Echo was a really good ship with a lot of angst and complexity, but I am just really struggling to connect to them right now.

As a last note and in the interests of thoroughness, while I am overall very pleased with how the Alex stuff was handled, I do think there were some awkward momentum killing moments that seemed odd to me. People were acting all urgent about Alex one minute, and then Rosa is talking about stopping to have pancakes with her dad first, and Michael is giving Liz relationship advice, and Liz has time to work on the cure for Michael and Max instead of focusing on her missing friend... it seemed like once they knew he was in trouble and actively reaching out for help, there should have been less time to sit around and have idle brooding conversations about other topics.

Pros:

So, let's start with the other plots before I dive into the Michael and Malex stuff, because you know that's the main thing I want to squeal about.

As I said, I wish the Tezca revelation had happened a bit sooner in the season, for pacing reasons, but I honestly really liked the material with Isobel and Tezca! The reveal that she was in fact an unwitting tool, a victim, of Jones, instead of an ally, was one that worked really well for me and that I never would have seen coming! I loved the tension between the two of them, and Isobel's determination to find answers. She really carried the main plot forward in a way that I found satisfying. Isobel's romance entanglements in the first half of the season left me feeling a little cold, so I'm just having fun seeing her back in the thick of things, fighting for answers.

And honestly, despite everything I said above about Liz, I thought the final scene of this episode with Shivani dropping the canister, was one of the best Liz scenes of the whole show. Great performance from Jeanine Mason, as we watch Liz grapple with the horror of Shivani's loss, and the lengths she's willing to go to save her dead daughter, coupled with the fact that she, Liz, is a hypocrite and she knows it: she got Rosa back, and she saved Max, and Shivani is right to point out the inherent unfairness of that. Why is Liz the only one who gets to bend the rules to be happy? Why can't she use use the incredible scientific miracles at her disposal, to save other innocent lives? You can see the pain on Liz's face as she tries to get through to an increasingly rattled Shivani, all leading to that moment when the canister drops and doses them both with the alien mist. I was honestly on the edge of my seat for that whole scene!

And now, for the whole point of this episode... the Michael and Alex stuff.

I want to start by saying that sometimes, honestly, being in this fandom can be kind of a bummer for me. When I was looking in the tags and seeing people's reactions, I saw a lot of anger and disappointment over this episode. I can only assume people's expectations were too high, that they'd talked themselves into hoping Tyler would be in the episode, or that they just wanted an even more extreme reaction from Michael, more anger, more urgency. I... get that, I get being disappointed that we've seen so little of Alex this season. But the part that makes me feel kind of bad whenever I check the tags is that everyone seems to take this lack of Alex as a deliberate choice on the part of the writers to undermine him, as opposed to them writing around a medically necessary absence of the actor.

Malex is my favorite part of the show! Truly, I get wishing things were different. But to pretend that anything not spent on Alex is a waste, that the show is pointless without him and that dragging out his absence is making the show terrible, is just not a justifiable position as far as I'm concerned. This has never been a show about Michael and Alex. If it's a show about any two people, it's a show about Max and Liz! I wish people could temper their reactions and appreciate that given the actor availability issue, they did what they could to build up the suspense about Alex's absence, and then to unleash a hell of a reaction from Michael on us when the time was right. Personally speaking, I was quite thrilled with what we were given.

To start with, I like that we get Maria, and Liz, and Rosa, all giving a shit about Alex. I wish this was something the show would do more often, I definitely think that Alex's friendships and connections with characters outside of Malex have been pushed aside a lot, especially in seasons three and four. But when they do give it focus and attention, I'm not going to complain, I'm just happy to see it! Rosa showing up to help Maria channel her potential new abilities was really satisfying to watch. Just everything about Rosa, the way she's come into her own, settled in her skin, makes me so happy. This is exactly what I would have wanted for her, and it's a lovely way for her to pay it forward, after Isobel helped her with her powers back in season three.

Then there's Michael's emotional journey through hearing the news. At first he's skeptical, and he actually stays pretty calm until it dawns on him that everyone, including Liz, Max, and Kyle, were all in on the fact that Alex might be in trouble, and that he was kept in the dark. At this point he rightfully freaks out, but what I love about the way that this was written and performed is that clearly, so much of his anger is actually aimed at himself. His guilt is clear the whole way through: Rosa points out that maybe Maria was the only one listening to Alex, and Michael pushes back, saying that he was thinking of Alex every second he was risking his life with the dark triad. And maybe that's true, in a sense, but I think it's pretty clear that Michael knows his focus wasn't on Alex. Then again with Max: he punches him, he says some awful things to him, and I don't really blame him for being pissed at Max, but he also says "I could have been looking for him," which feels like a condemnation of his own distraction as much as it does a condemnation of Max keeping the secret. Michael is realizing that Alex has been in trouble for days now, and that he hasn't even noticed. His friends were wrong for keeping it from him, and his anger is therefore justified. But the guilt is real too, even if he's perhaps being a little hard on himself.

And I love this. I love that even though it's not Michael's fault, that he had a lot of other things on his mind, and perfectly good reasons to think Alex was fine, that of course he'd go to this place of guilt. It's tied up so much in everything he's been learning about Oasis, this life-long yearning for his original home coming back to him in such a big way. Alex is away for one week, and he's busy fantasizing about leaving the planet? Of course he's a mess when he realizes Alex has been in trouble and trying to ask for help! He tells Liz that he lost sight of the home he was trying to build here with Alex, and I think we'll see his focus stay on that from this point forward. God, honestly, for all the issues this season has had up to this point, Michael's stuff has been my favorite all the way through. Such a delicious way to deepen his character.

Speaking of his character development, we then see that Michael's initial burst of rage cools off, and he makes amends to those he's wronged. I saw some people annoyed that Michael offered apologies to Max and Maria, when in fact they were in the wrong, but honestly I love that this happens. First of all, Maria and Max also express remorse, as does Liz. It's not like the show isn't acknowledging that they were in the wrong to keep the truth from Michael. But let's put this in perspective: Rosa and Liz found out last night. Max finds out maybe like... two hours ahead of Michael, at the most? It would be a different story if they'd been lying to him for days, but as much as I think Liz was wrong for doing what she did, I also think it makes a bit of sense to want some more definitive information. It's a misguided decision, but it's not totally monstrous.

Same with Michael's response: totally reasonable to lash out in that moment of fear! But it's a great sign of his character growth that he's then able to pause and reflect, and work together with his support system to find Alex, instead of tearing off on a rampage with single-minded focus on Alex and nothing else. Sure, it was fun to watch him lose his shit in season two, tying people up, building bombs, all to get Alex back, but Michael has grown as a character since then. He's learned to lean on other people. That's a good thing.

So many great lines from Michael this week that I want to call out. I really liked the way he talked to both Liz and Maria about Alex. He has that line to Liz about how you can't hold onto sand because it will just slip through your fingers. That's basically his way of saying that a relationship won't work if both people don't want it to. Such an important lesson that Malex had to learn together, as they took it in turns to be ready for one another, but had to wait until they were on the same page for things to finally click! And then one of my favorite lines of the episode, said to Maria: "I know you love Alex too. And that means we are always on the same side." Like!! Amazing. Perfect. No notes. I know most of the fandom vehemently disagrees with this viewpoint, but I wish more of the show was about Michael, Alex, and Maria, and the entanglement of their relationships and feelings over time. Obviously Malex is my OTP, but I love Maria's friendships with each of the guys and I loved this moment where the two of them were united in focusing on their love for Alex.

Alex playing "Would You Come Home" on the piano? Michael joining him on the guitar? The pendant glowing on Michael's chest? The lights leading them to a map? All of this shit was the CHEESIEST thing in the world, and I mean that absolutely as a compliment. Give me all the over the top sappy romance stuff, give me Michael looking like his heart is cracking open as he hears the song start, a single tear slipping down his cheek as he plays along... I was absolutely eating all that shit up, and I think it followed so beautifully from his initial anger reaction.

Another favorite moment of mine is Vlamis's performance on "I HAVE TO HELP HIM", as he's about to jump into quicksand after his boyfriend, with absolutely no plan. "I wasn't listening to him, I wasn't paying attention." Like, fuck me up, that's so powerful. His sheer desperation, and then the way he breaks down as Max pulls him into a hug... wow. I got a little choked up.

Speaking of Max! I loved all the brother stuff this week, I was hoping that the secret Max kept from Michael would be about Alex (since we knew about that from the episode description), and honestly the way this all played out was exactly what I would have wanted it to be! The initial anger, the punching, Michael absolutely ripping Max to shreds for putting his relationship issues above Michael knowing the truth about "the man he loves"... The line "I hope the wedding's worth losing a brother" is absolutely incredible, that went so hard.

Then we get Max showing up just in time to save Maria from the quicksand, and he also stops Michael from diving into the sand after Alex. I love that he was the one to talk him off the literal ledge. Max has always understood that Alex means everything to Michael. He compared Michael's feelings for Alex to his own feelings for Liz, back in season one, and he has been the one character on the show to consistently and repeatedly make such comparisons, actively paralleling their relationships with their respective significant others at key moments. So I loved that as a continuation point, and also just as a big ol' fan of all the sibling feels, watching Michael bury his face in Max's shoulder and cry was... very good. And it just gets better, with Michael apologizing for hitting Max, Max apologizing for hiding the truth from Michael, Michael talking obliquely about his own guilty feelings, and then affirming that all that matters to him is getting Alex back. Max calling Alex the love of Michael's life was also... very nice.

Wow, I really talked on about this one, huh? Could have guessed that would happen. If I had to say it succinctly, it would be this: sure, there are things I wish could have been different in this episode, even including the Michael stuff. Yes, absolutely I wish that we had more time with Alex in our final season. I'm guessing we see him again in episode ten, but who knows how active a role he'll play in the endgame? It's a bummer, and I do get that. But this was a PRIME episode for all my Malex feels, and I bet when the show is actually over and people can re-watch over the season without the suspense and uncertainty coloring their opinions, they'll have to agree that watching Michael break down and scream and punch his brother and play the guitar with the ghost of his missing lover, is all pretty dang satisfying to see.

8/10