Black Hole Sun is the third episode of season 3 of Roswell, New Mexico and the twenty-ninth episode of the series overall. It premiered on August 9, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Official synopsis for Black Hole Sun from The CW:
WHAT GIVES - Liz (Jeanine Mason) confronts Max (Nathan Dean). Maria (Heather Hemmens) is desperate to figure out the mystery of her vision and Isobel (Lily Cowles) is learning more about her abilities. Meanwhile, Kyle (Michael Trevino) has a strange encounter and Michael (Michael Vlamis) is fueled by his anger. Also starring, Tyler Blackburn and Amber Midthunder. [1]
Plot summary[]
The episode picks up seconds from the previous one after Max and Liz’s accidental meeting as she exited a taxi in front of the café. They stumble through some uncomfortable small talk and Liz reveals she’s only in Roswell for the weekend. Max chokes up when he admits he no longer has the inspiration he needs to finish his novel. They say goodbye to each-other as Liz walks into her family cafe.
The next morning Liz and Rosa talk over an pancake breakfast. Liz claims she and Max are a thing of the past and she’s only there to help Maria when Rosa asks.
Max’s condition continues to deteriorate yet he won’t stop working on putting together the clues to find out who was murdered. He jots names on index cards and posts them on a bulletin board, trying to connect the dots.
Meanwhile, Michael is alternating between drinking alcohol and using it to try and set his hand on fire. A flashback shows Michael threatening to kill Jones and give his heart to Max. “Then you’d be just like your dad,” replies Jones.
Still in the flashback, Michael throws a mini-tantrum and in his anger exposes some sparkling stones. Jones warns him they’re precious and reveals Michael’s mom was mining them.
Over at Deep Sky’s secret headquarters, Ramos warns Alex he needs to take a break from doing research on the Lockhart machine. Ramos advises Alex that what he really needs to do is look inside himself for the answers.
Ramos tells Alex that he knew his father and his approach to get the answers was very flawed. Ramos believes Alex could be the exception not to get it wrong.
Max joins Isobel and Maria at the funeral home; they’ve also invited Michael and Alex but they’re not responding. Maria learns via text that Kyle’s with Liz, and Max doesn’t want to talk about her right now.
Michael shows up just as Maria explains she needed to visit this place because it’s the funeral home from her dreams. It’s drab and unimpressive, and Isobel thinks whoever had a funeral here wouldn’t have been caught dead in a church.
They narrow it down to an alien committing murder, the murder victim is an alien, or Max left a handprint on a victim. In other words, they have no clue who was murdered. Max rules out a few people and comes up with it being Michael in the casket. Sunflowers and a specific song do seem to point to Michael. Maria recalls someone at the funeral said this wouldn’t have happened if the sheriffs had responded to the complaint. She thinks she saw snow so maybe it won’t happen for a few months.
Michael, now in an incredibly rotten mood, floats a stone then leaves while tossing out a comment about going up in flames. Max heads over to the station to look up complaints while Maria breaks down in tears.
Isobel picks up the stone Michael left behind and it affects her in a strange way.
Kyle accompanies Liz to her burned out lab where she looks for Noah’s DNA among the ashes. She finds something that might have spores she can use, and Kyle’s able to get her to admit she always wants some of Max’s DNA.
“If you need Max’s blood, you need to ask him yourself,” replies Kyle, refusing to be a part of Liz’s secret plans.
Kyle shows up over at Max’s place and Max tries to give him a letter with Liz’s name on the envelope. Wisely, Kyle refuses to play their reindeer games anymore.
Kyle notices tracks on Max’s arms and Max admits mainlining acetone is no longer working. Kyle confirms his symptoms add up to late-stage heart failure. Max finally reveals to Kyle that he has a clone.
Kyle’s reached his limit and doesn’t even want to know how or why. Max confesses the guy (Jones) they’ve got locked up is drawing him to him and he’s struggling to resist. He begs Kyle to make it stop so he can solve the murder, but Kyle’s stunned Max has had a healthy version of himself locked up for a year and never mentioned it.
Max explains he only kept Kyle in the dark because Jones is “a liability.” As Max becomes more emotional, panes of glass keep cracking in the nearby door. Max pleads with Kyle for help as he explains he’s just trying to keep everyone safe.
When Max asks for anything that might help him, Kyle doesn’t pull any punches. The only thing that can help Max now is if Jones is a healer or if he hands over his heart.
Kyle’s pissed, but ultimately agrees to hold on to the letter to give to Liz.
Isobel confronts Jones about the turquoise stone. He explains it’s an amplifier that vibrates at their frequency. Jones reveals back in 1947 their ship was breaking apart before it landed, spewing chemicals that killed cattle. It turned the stone into something that can boost their abilities. Jones believes Isobel is an empath and the stone’s increased her ability to feel what others are feeling.
Jones has Isobel’s attention when he says her powers can help get her, Max, and Michael back in sync. She demands to know more about her ability and he reveals the dictator used her mom as a weapon to target people’s weaknesses
Gregory shows up to flirt with Maria and help her in the bar’s booth set up at the Desert Flower drive-in. (The bar’s just one of dozens of merchants there selling stuff to tourists.) Gregory heads off to retrieve items from Maria’s car just a Liz shows up and receives a huge hug from Maria.
Maria claims Gregory is just a friend and Liz wants to know more but first she needs to know why Maria sent her an urgent text. Liz guesses it’s about Max. They’re forced to temporarily stop catching up when a couple of local racists show up to hassle Bert, a local Black business owner who sells honey. The racists are shocked when Wyatt doesn’t side with them and instead says they should leave.
Bert suggests filing a complaint which jars Maria’s memory of her vision. Max shows up to take the report and learns that white supremacists have been emboldened now that Sheriff Valenti’s no longer around. Jordan Bernhardt the mayor’s son is apparently the leader. Knowing the new sheriff won't take care of it Max vows to take care of it himself.
Max and Maria agree her vision points to the grudge between Michael and Wyatt, even though Wyatt wasn’t siding with his old friends this time.
Maria tells Liz about Max’s heart and poor Kyle’s once again drawn into everyone else’s problems. Liz is livid when she asks Kyle how he could have kept Max’s condition from her. Kyle reminds her he’s ethically bound to not talk about his patients and she should be talking to Max – not him.
Once again, Liz blames Max for her lab fire but Kyle doesn’t let her get away with shifting the blame. “You used his DNA, Liz, without telling him. Max didn’t put you here – you did, when you decided to put science above everything else,” says Kyle. “Success at any cost has a cost.”
Kyle adds that she’ll eventually have to take responsibility for what she’s done.
Liz then has a heart-to-heart with Rosa, and Rosa doesn’t take her side when she asks if what happened with Max was her fault. Rosa thinks they were both to blame.
Night falls at the driven-in where Alex and Gregory discuss how watching a movie was their dad’s favorite activity. Gregory confesses he has days when the realization he killed their dad really hits him, but then the mood lightens when Alex asks about his “dream girl,” Maria. Alex has been waiting forever for his brother to make a move, and he’s happy Gregory seems to be in a good place.
Alex reveals he left the Air Force and is having second thoughts. “My new boss suggested I settle a potential matter of national security by looking up at the sky, and then he brought up dad,” explains Alex.
Gregory believes his brother should stop listening to their dad’s voice in his head. Things will turn around.
Bert’s dumping his trash at the drive-in when Jordan and his scumbag buddies arrive with baseball bats and other weapons. Michael removes the bat from play and is ready to take on the racist foursome when Jordan suggests he walk away. Michael doesn’t back down and taunts Jordan, demanding he hit him. Max shows up in time to stop the fight.
Isobel and Max team up to question Michael about his reckless behavior. Michael insists nothing matters since Maria saw his funeral, but Max thinks they can change the future. Isobel holds the stone and reads Michael; she instantly senses Jones told him something. She realizes Michael’s ashamed and believes he’s a monster.
Michael blurts out that he’s the heir to an evil dictator.
Max, who still has no idea Jones is awake and held in a cage, is confused. Michael admits they pulled him out two days ago. Michael claims he’s the tyrant and Max is, as always, the savior. Michael storms off and Isobel fills Max in on what she’s learned from Jones so far.
Max wants to put Jones back in the pod because Liz won’t leave if she finds out about him. He still insists Jones is dangerous.
Michael’s leaning against Alex’s car as Alex walks up. Michael hands him the turquoise stone and explains it resonates with their tech. He also reveals he’s about to be murdered and his father was a genocidal maniac.
Alex isn’t getting sucked into Michael’s doom and gloom, and chuckles when he tells Michael finding out about his dad must have confirmed why he’s always felt worthless. “If you’re your father, then I’m mine,” replies Alex. That’s obviously untrue and Michael tries to protest, but Alex says aliens and humans don’t play by different father/son rules. Alex reminds Michael if he gives up, it’s only on him.
Before leaving Alex delivers a bombshell. Michael couldn’t be the person in the coffin. In Maria’s vision Alex is covering up a murder. If Michael were murdered, Alex would never do that. Before driving away, he adds that he’d burn the world down first before ever covering it up.
Liz catches up to Max at the drive-in and quickly reveals she knows everything that’s going on. She apologizes for hiding what she was doing in the lab and admits she forgot about the important part – him. She also says she should have stopped when he asked.
Max also apologizes for burning down the lab.
Tears in her eyes, Liz confesses she can’t go to the ocean because he’s not with her and she thinks about him every day. Max tries to end the conversation by walking away but Liz stops him. When he places his hand on her chest, she knows he’s lying. She asks if it’s about what he’s hiding in the desert, and Max shuts her down. “I don’t owe you any explanations. You just can’t be a part of my life anymore,” says Max, driving away without looking back.
Kyle and Isobel are the next to have a heart-to-heart. She’s sorry they’ve dragged him into all this and suggests he try and get some rest.
Alex returns to Deep Sky with fresh ideas about how to approach the Lockhart machine. They need to start with the basics – is it built for good or evil? The machine’s countdown ends, the lights flicker, and the buttons at the base of the machine light up. Alex approaches it with Ramos and they both notice the stone in Alex’s pocket is glowing. Alex moves the stone closer to the machine and music from the ‘40s begins playing.
Simultaneously, Kyle’s dad’s old-time radio also begins playing the same song. Kyle picks up the radio as he hears his dad’s voice asking questions.
Max goes alone to the cave to question Jones. Jones wants Max to choose who he wants to be with, and Max quickly sides with Isobel, Michael, and Liz. Max, frustrated and running out of time, wants Jones to set him free. He doesn’t want to feel this pull toward him anymore. Jones insists that can’t happen. Nora and Louise left a hole in him when they stole a piece to create Max. That hole is only healed when they’re together.
Max insists he doesn’t need Jones, but Jones is adamant Max will remain broken if they continue to be separated. As their argument heats up, the cage loses power and Max is flung backward.
Gregory is back with Maria and brushes away thick ash from the nearby fires from her shoulders. It suddenly dawns on Maria the snow from her vision was actually ash. The murder could happen at any time!
Isobel runs up with news the church is on fire. They were wrong; the victim could be anyone.
Max is still knocked out when Jones emerges from the cave looking very satisfied with this turn of events.
Cast and characters[]
Starring:
Guest-starring:
- Dylan McTee as Wyatt Long
- David DeSantos as Eduardo Ramos
- Tanner Novlan as Gregory Manes
- Michael Grant Terry as Jordan Bernhardt
Co-starring:
- La'Charles Trask as Bert
- Zacciah Hanson as Zeke
Additional:
Powers[]
Trivia[]
- The title for the episode was revealed on November 13, 2020 when the writers' room Twitter account posted an image of the script's title page.[2]
- The episode is named after the song "Black Hole Sun" performed by Soundgarden, released in 1994.
- This episode also shares its name with The Vampire Diaries' Season 6 fourth episode
- During a Entertainment Weekly interview on August 9, 2021 Jeanine Mason said this episode and Walk on the Ocean were her favorite Season 3 episodes as they set up the conflict for the end of the season. She also teased that an really big Liz-Max moment would close out this episode
Quotes[]
Michael: I could kill you right now. Take your heart and save Max.
Jones: Well, then you'd be just like your dad.
Kyle: Why are you so afraid to talk to him?
Liz: I am not afraid. I am furious at him. He made me believe that I was capable of anything. Of being anyone. And then he took it away when he burned it all down.
Kyle: You used his DNA, Liz. Without telling him. Max didn't put you here. You did when you decided to put science before everything else. Success at any cost has a cost. And you never stopped to consider it. Look, you can run from Max forever if you want, but you can't run from yourself. Eventually you'll have to take responsibility for the things that you've done to the people you love.
Liz: All I ever wanted was to save lives.
Kyle: That doesn't make it right.
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Other images[]
Videos[]
[]
External links[]
Black Hole Sun on the Internet Movie Database
References[]
- ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20210721cw04/
- ↑ Roswell New Mexico Writers, Twitter post: November 13, 2020.