Hands is the first episode of season 3 of Roswell, New Mexico and the twenty-seventh episode of the series overall. It aired on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Synopsis
Official synopsis for Hands from The CW:[1]
SEASON PREMIERE – While Liz (Jeanine Mason) is settling in to her new life and career in Los Angeles, Max (Nathan Dean), Isobel (Lily Cowles) and Michael (Michael Vlamis) are figuring out if the stranger in the cave, with the familiar face, is friend or foe.
The episode was directed by Lance Anderson and written by Carina Adly Mackenzie (301). Original airdate 7/26/2021.
Plot summary
Roswell: Everyone Else
Picking up from where the finale left off, Jones realizes Max’s mom must have never mentioned him. Jones lays his hand on Max’s chest and, although Isobel and Michael immediately react and knock out Jones, he’s still successful in passing along his identity. It turns out Jones is the savior and Max is a clone.
A time jump of a year passes and Max is shown busy typing a letter explaining what he’s going through. He’s always wanted to be “just a guy from Roswell” but has been unsuccessful in putting the past behind him. Max is full of questions about who he needs to be for the people he cares about.
He adds the completed letter to others he’s written for each of his loved ones. Finished, he buries the box containing the letters in the desert.
It’s obvious Max hasn’t gotten over Liz. Isobel and Michael watch as he mounts a mechanical bull outside The Wild Pony, and Michael wonders just how much Tequila Max has had to drink. Apparently, Max has been drowning his sorrows and fighting off Liz’s memory with a mix of alcohol and one-night stands.
Isobel zaps Max into a mindscape while he’s still riding the bull. Everyone disappears but the three siblings and Isobel reminds them they can’t lie in a mindscape. Michael gets Isobel to confirm she’s still dating the bartender chick and Max gets Michael to admit he’s having trouble building a cage to weaken Jones’ powers. Isobel cuts to the chase and asks if Max misses “the waitress who shall not be named.” Max is able to escape the mindscape before having to answer.
Max lightens the mood and challenges Michael to see who can get with the singer. After he walks away, Michael reveals he’s worried about Max because, strangely, Max seems to be having fun. Isobel wonders if his worry over Max is actually just a cover for his own nervousness about Alex coming home.
However Michael's hunch is right as Max is hiding his psychical pain by injecting himself with Acetone in the privacy of his jeep. Gregory Manes carries a box of beer into the bar and delivers it to Maria. He congratulates her on the success of the patio, and she realizes he’s supposed to be out on a date. He confesses dating sucks because everyone recognizes his last name because of his late father.
Gregory drives Maria home after work and she’s impressed with his hot car. She can’t believe he used to drag race; that’s something Michael, her ex, would do. Gregory flirts a little and then, while showing off his driving skills, Maria experiences another vision. It’s of a funeral and Isobel sobbing.
Alex gets off a Greyhound and is dropped off right in front of the new statue of his dad. Forrest is there to greet him with a few passionate kisses. Michael, who was also ready to welcome Alex home, watches from across the street. They get reacquainted. Maria’s latest vision sparked a visit to the doctor, and Kyle shows her the new scans of her brain reveal the dark parts of her right temporal lobe are expanding. She needs to put on her protective bracelet, but Maria’s unwilling to become like her mom and lose parts of herself. Maria wonders why she had a vision of a funeral if she’s not supposed to act on what she learns. Kyle doesn’t know the answer but does know the bracelet will keep her alive.
Alex learns that his boyfriend is part of Deep Sky and that they want to recruit him, which he's initially opposed to. Alex and Forrest argue over Forrest’s involvement in the group, with Alex labeling his lover a “cold-blooded mercenary.” Forrest claims he’s not since he's only an historian for them and swears he was forced to keep his involvement a secret. “At Deep Sky, secrecy is the price of admission,” Forrest tells Alex.
Forrest confesses he doesn’t want to lose Alex to Deep Sky. If Alex gets in and goes deep, he’ll be cut off from everyone since he will be given a higher level of security clearance than Forrest has. Forrest makes it clear he doesn't want Alex to join, inviting him on his book tour in order to get him away from the group and town.
Alex doesn’t reply before Forrest heads out.
Max stops by the store and stocks up on nail polish remover. As he’s heading down the road, Kyle chases him down in an ambulance. Max has been missing all of his appointments, which Kyle wouldn’t care about if it weren’t for the fact Maria had a vision of a funeral. Kyle’s figured out Max is dying (again) and demands Max come clean with everyone.
Rosa’s at art therapy when Wyatt arrives for the session. He doesn’t want to be there but was forced into undergoing therapy by the court. Rosa tries to keep him from spotting her but is unsuccessful and he immediately recognizes her. She claims she’s Rosa’s identical cousin, but Wyatt doesn’t believe her. She suggests the only other alternative is that she’s Rosa’s ghost.
Max is in the cave staring at Jones who’s securely back inside a pod. Michael and Isobel arrive, and Max is pissed Michael still hasn’t designed a cage to contain Jones. Michael reminds Max their mom called Jones the devil. Max thinks Jones has the answers to all their questions, but Michael believes he should remain locked away.
Tripp’s journals indicated Jones left a ship and started a war between humans and aliens with just the flick of his wrist. Max is adamant they need to question Jones and is about to leave when Isobel says she can feel something’s wrong. She knows Max is keeping a secret.
Max finally lets them in on the fact he’s dying. Isobel refuses to accept it; she’s sure he was getting better. Max admits his body is rejecting the heart transplant and his time is almost up. Max is barely holding it together as he tells them, “I’m dying.”
Both Michael and Isobel are pissed at him since they could have figured out a way to save him over the previous year if he hadn't kept the secret from them.
After leaving his siblings, Michael pays a visit to Maria at The Wild Pony. He explains he knows about her funeral vision and informs her it was Max in the coffin. Michael’s only telling her this so she won’t try and force another vision to see who’s in the coffin.
Isobel’s waiting inside Kyle’s place when he arrives home from work to talk about Max. She wants to know what they can do, but Kyle doesn’t believe there’s any additional treatment he can provide. It took a miracle to bring Max back in the first place.
As they’re talking Isobel realizes Jones might actually hold the key to keeping Max alive.
Max is alone in the desert and retrieves his secret box. He listens to an audio recording of Liz describing the aftermath of his surgery and cries as Liz says, “Can you feel me holding your hand?”
Alex and Kyle are the next duo to sit down for a drink. Alex confesses Max’s situation is making him think about what he needs to do before time runs out. He reveals he has an opportunity to learn more than his dad ever did, but it will come at a high price. If he moves forward, he’ll have to cut himself off from everyone.
Kyle wonders what Alex’s heart is telling him to do and Alex doesn’t pause before saying his heart is saying not to do it. But, he’s conflicted. His family did everything wrong, but what if someone out there did everything right?
Kyle can’t talk to other doctors about Max’s heart transplant and warns Alex that alone is a lonely place to be.
It’s late at night and Rosa is alone at the café when Wyatt breaks through the door. He knows that there's no cousin Rosalinda and Rosa's mannerism clued him that she's really Rosa. The lights start flashing as he yanks off her necklace while she claims he’s crazy.
Wyatt begins smashing things and reminds Rosa that it’s her fault his sister died. As they struggle, Wyatt drops his gun. Rosa’s able to reach a syringe and stabs him in the neck.
Max is relaxing with a book in front of a fire at a coffee shop when he’s joined by the singer from earlier at the bar. The sparks fly as she takes a seat and he pours a little bourbon into her coffee.
They move the action to Max’s place and Max lays out the ground rules before they go any further. She assures Max she doesn’t want anything and isn’t even going to give him her number. It’s strictly a one-night stand to which she agrees to.
Forrest takes a last look around at the bus stop before boarding the bus. He climbs on board, sits down, and then spots Alex standing outside. He quickly realizes Alex isn’t going to join him.
Michael and Isobel return to the cave and it appears they’re about to set Jones free!
LA: Liz's New Life
Liz is busy in her new Genoryx lab with fellow researcher, Heath, who she has known for a year. She turns him down for a drink. Heath tries to convince her he’s not after a date and just wants a casual outing with a coworker. But then he immediately proves that declaration’s untrue by suggesting they get some wine which might then lead to them succumbing to the moment. Their conversation is interrupted by their boss, Dr. Margot Meyerson (GiGi Erneta), who delivers the news a skincare company wants their latest formula. Production can begin immediately. Liz is shocked to learn their breakthrough treatment for paraplegic spinal injury victims is going to be used to erase fine lines. Because the skincare company will own the patent, it can’t be used to help spinal injury victims for 10 years, which Liz views as too long to help the people who need it now. She meets up with Kyle, who has been in LA for a medical convention, but is now heading back to Roswell. Before his flight they catch up. Kyle discloses Steph broke up with him. He thinks that, because Liz invented a cure that saved her, she doesn’t want to be tied to Roswell anymore.
Kyle has other big news to share – his old hospital in New York wants him back. He’s not sure what his future holds at this point.
Kyle gets Liz to admit that although she’s dreamed of visiting the beach since her school days, her work has kept her so busy she still hasn’t made it to the ocean. Liz doesn’t care about the beach – what she really wants is to find a way to stop Maria’s brain from degenerating with each new vision. She’s stymied without her previous research, for which she’s still angry at Max for destroying in a fire. Liz admits that, despite Max betraying her by doing so, she still holds out hope he'll show up in her LA Life. Kyle doesn’t think that’s ever going to happen. He wants her to do what makes her feel alive because Max has moved on.
Rosa face-times her sister prior to her first art therapy session. She’s having a tough time dealing with bipolar disorder on top of covering up an alien resurrection. Therapy discussion done, Rosa reveals why she really called. She received a package from their mom that contains her plans from last year to take down Jesse Manes, and syringes loaded with the drug she used to wipe Jenna Cameron’s memory.
Liz decides to take Heath up on his offer and meets him for a drink. They toast to making something great together just as they both receive a text informing them their patent was leaked. Heath notes Liz isn’t shocked by the news and quickly puts two and two together. He warns her she’s toast if Genoryx discovers she’s the leak.
Heath says he has a friend who can cover her tracks, and then opens up about why he got into Genoryx in the first place. His mom had early-onset Alzheimer’s and died when he was just nine; he’s committed to finding ways to help people like his mom. If they fire Liz, it’s likely Genoryx will also let him go.
A short while later, Liz and Heath break into the lab after hours to cover Liz’s tracks. After they’re done, they return to her place, and she apologizes for not thinking things through. He suggests she do a better job of breaking the rules, proceeding to have a one night stand as Liz slowly starts her process of moving on from Max.
Cast and characters
Starring:
Guest-starring:
- Steven Krueger as Heath
- Dylan McTee as Wyatt Long
- Sibongile Mlambo as Anatsa
- Tanner Novlan as Gregory Manes
- Christian Antidormi as Forrest
Co-starring:
- GiGi Erneta as Margot Meyerson
- Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Therapist
Mentioned:
Powers
Trivia
- The title for the episode was revealed on October 5, 2020 when the writers room Twitter account posted an image of the script's title page.[2]
- The episode is named after the song "Hands" performed by Jewel, released in 1998.
- In this episode, Liz is revealed to have two middle names, being "Christina Magdalene".
- Although Magdalene is her confirmation name.
- This is the last episode of the series to be written by Carina Adly MacKenzie as she left the show.
Quotes
Forrest (About Deep Sky): Think of it like the Pentagon. The deeper you go, the more answers you find.
Alex: You afraid I won't be able to resist those answers.
Forrest: If you go deep, you'll be cut off from everyone. And I don't want to lose you to them.
Michael: Is something weird going on with Max lately?
Isobel: Weirder than him having an evil twin hidden in the desert?
Michael: He seems fun.
Isobel: Are you sure this isn't misplaced nerves about Alex coming home? Because in last nights mindscape you were sending out some pretty intense 'I think it's our times' vibes.
Liz: Is it really fair to some new guy if I keep looking over my shoulder hoping that Max is going to show up?
Kyle: He's not coming, Liz. I know that's tough to hear, but if you've got your life on hold for him, he's moved on.
Heath: Who was it that made you so distrustful, Liz? I'm not trying to ruin you, alright. You're brilliant. And there aren't enough people like you on the planet. So, if you're gonna go all mad scientist and break the rules, just break em better.
Liz: Enough talking. I wanna make your heart race again.
Isobel (About Jones): Max! What did he do to you?
Max: He, uh he told me he's the savior, and I'm the clone.
Michael:You know, it was the craziest thing. My girlfriend dumped me. I'm broker than I've ever been. Alex took off. There was a global pandemic, and yet, I was happy. Because this, because us three, we were good. And I was wrong.
Gallery
Promotional stills
Behind the scenes images
Videos
External links
Hands on the Internet Movie Database
