The Diner is the ninth episode of Season 2 of Roswell, New Mexico and the twenty-second episode of the series overall. It aired on May 11, 2020.
Synopsis[]
Official synopsis for The Diner from The CW:
- AISHA TYLER DIRECTS THE EPISODE - After uncovering a surprising connection to their past, Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) learn the painful truth about the night Tripp (guest star Jason Behr) attacked their mothers. Meanwhile, Alex (Tyler Blackburn) confronts his father (Trevor St. John) about their troubled family history. Elsewhere, Kyle's (Michael Trevino) first date with Steph (guest star Justina Adorno) takes an awkward turn after Liz (Jeanine Mason) inadvertently becomes a third wheel. Nathan Dean also stars. Aisha Tyler directed the episode written by Steve Stringer & Carina Adly MacKenzie and teleplay by Steve Stringer, Alanna Bennett & Carina Adly MacKenzie (#209). Original airdate 5/11/2020.
Plot summary[]
Act I[]
At Sanders' Auto, Walt refuses to discuss his past, even though Michael and Isobel want to know about what happened all those years ago. He gives in when beer is offered as a bribe.
Liz is absorbed in her research on alien and human DNA and the possibility of curing human illnesses when her dad calls informing her she has to cover a shift at the diner. He mentions that Rosa is doing fine, and she’s sleeping right now.
At the hospital, Kyle and Steph are making out, when the awkward position they’re kissing gets too uncomfortable. After talking it out, Kyle decides to take out Steph on a date outside the hospital.
Max comes to after last being with Charlie in a hotel parking lot, before being engulfed in a bright light. Once he takes in his surroundings, he notices that Sheriff Valenti is pointing a flashlight in his face. Now he’s alone and wondering what happened to Charlie, who is nowhere to be found. Valenti demands he stand and places him in cuffs.
Liz cooks up a burger for Kyle and his date, Steph, who recognizes Liz as the woman she caught making out with him in a closet at the hospital. Kyle tries to explain but Steph thinks maybe he arranged to bring his ex along on their first date which is taking place after hours at the Crash Down Café. Liz is super friendly and even offers to serve them drinks from her dad’s private stash.
Kyle excuses himself to speak to Liz. He explains Steph is sick, but he’s not supposed to know. He snooped into her medical records and found out it is a very rare blood disease, where she was exposed to bacteria. After a short discussion on ethics, Liz thinks maybe Kyle should come clean and tell Steph what he knows. Kyle’s not so sure. Kyle admits to hating that he even likes Steph, but Liz reminds him that his date is a feisty latina, so he clearly has a type.
Liz then admits her own little secret; she’s been busy doing research in the lab and hasn’t told Max. She claims she doesn’t want to stress him out. Kyle suggests she stop experimenting on alien DNA but Liz won’t let it go. She believes Max came from a planet similar to Earth yet he never gets sick. Maybe his people have developed immunities to human diseases which means alien DNA could be used to create a universal vaccine down the line for all of humankind's ailments.
Liz excuses herself to work on her research, turning down the lights and turning on the jukebox. Taking a cue from the story of Max and Liz’s first date, Steph asks what is the worst thing Kyle has done. He reveals that back in high school he was a total dick. But ironically, the guy he treated the worst back then, is one of the only people he counts on now. He admits to hating what he put him through. Steph, for her part, admits to catfishing a girl for an entire semester, just so that she’d be stood up on prom night by her super hot fake boyfriend. She states that she has evolved since high school. But finds it annoying that she can’t shake off that insecurity. Like how she can’t stop thinking what someone as perfect as Kyle is doing with someone like her. Kyle tells her that he isn’t perfect by any means, and eventually admits he knows she’s sick. Steph gets pissed and thinks it’s a pity date. She storms out and Liz returns, concerned about the yelling.
Liz is convinced she can help Steph but Kyle’s worried about this path Liz is taking. He reminds her she’ll be risking the world learning about Max, Michael, and Isobel, but Rosa too since she was affected when she was in the pod. Kyle asks Liz to come back to Earth, and stop going down this road.
They’re still arguing when Isobel arrives, angry that Kyle screwed them over and got Max in trouble.
Act II[]
At around midnight, Walt, Michael, and Isobel have a drink at The Wild Pony as Walt explains his backstory. When Isobel asks how he is even still alive, Walt mentions that it’s certainly not because he has good genes. He eventually confesses that his mom died young,and that his dad was a violent son-of-a-bitch deadbeat. He ran away as soon as he could and ended up in Roswell.
In 1947, He tried to get a job mopping floors at a diner but they didn’t want him. He lucked into a job with Bronson on the farm and he loved being there. It was all quiet until the women showed up at their doorstep.
Walt remembers the night the women arrived and how he and Bronson gave them their names. The foursome became a family and Bronson fell in love with Louise. A year passed and he wanted to take her to the fair to show off the pumpkin launcher they built. Nora squashed that idea because they needed to remain out of sight.
Bronson was a good man but Nora was firm in her belief that they couldn’t risk being out and about in the town. Bronson knew Nora was building something and theorized it could be a time machine, a spaceship, or at least something important. But ultimately, she wouldn’t say what it was. Bronson was hurt by Nora’s insistence they stay hidden and by the fact he couldn’t take Louise out dancing.
Nora eventually tells him that she protects Louise, because only Louise can protect the child.
Still, Bronson begged for Nora to come to the fair and let Louise hear music before they had to leave this planet. Walt also begged for them to go to the fair.
Michael interrupts Walt’s story convinced there’s no way Walt actually remembers any of this. Walt incensed swears he does because of what happened soon after that.
Walt was at the diner selling a pie when he overheard a soldier talking to Tripp. The soldier, Tripp’s brother Harlan, pointed out Nora’s photo in the paper taken at the fair. Harlan was angry that the aliens had been in town for the past year right under their noses. Walt heard Tripp say they would raid the farm in two days and that they wouldn’t show any mercy this time.
Act III[]
Walt recalls Nora wanted to leave the next day but he begged for one final day together. “She caved. She always caved,” says Walt.
Michael’s heard enough and doesn’t want a blow-by-blow of the “Tripp Manes leading a massacre” story. However, Isobel wants Walt to finish his story. She wants to know how her mother died too.
Walt explains they saw the soldiers approaching and Nora hid him in a crate. She tucked a note in his shirt and said, “X marks the spot.”
Bronson was the first to die when he tried to plead with Tripp that the women were just people. Tripp looked upon them as the enemy and shot Bronson. Walt remained in hiding but heard the screaming and all the gunshots. A bullet injured his eye, causing him to lose his vision. The crate had a secret exit built in that led out to the back of the farm. Walt escaped while Nora and Louise put up what he describes as a helluva fight.
The soldiers shot everyone who was on the farm that night including other innocent farmers and neighbors who came to find out what was happening. He recalls running past Louise’s dead body as he fled from the massacre.
Walt was the only one who survived. He made it pretty far from the farm and watched as a massive explosion rocked the area.
Michael can’t believe Walt didn’t tell anyone he saw the ship explode. Walt explains he had no idea what it was that blew up and he left town immediately. He didn’t want to ever return but did so because he needed to follow the map Nora stuffed in his pocket.
The map led him to their pods. He watched over the pods for years and then all of a sudden they were gone. Isobel thanks him for sharing his story and he pats her hand. “Louise was a firecracker, honey, just like you,” he says. “That’s why we all fell for her so hard.”
After Walt leaves, Michael reveals he’s convinced that his mom sacrificed herself for Max who because of his power is the healer and the savior. He reminds Isobel how Walt had said that Louise protects “the child” not children, and Michael is sure that child is Max. Isobel’s so over Michael’s jealousy because he’s so good at manufacturing things to be mad about.As they’re talking Isobel hears Max’s voice telling her he needs help. Instead of telling Michael what she heard, she claims she needs to leave to process this new information.
Act IV[]
Meanwhile, Alex cleans up his dad’s pills and booze. When his dad joins him, Alex asks about Tripp. Alex recalls how when he was growing up, Jesse always mentioned Harlan Manes but never Tripp.
In 1987, a much older Tripp is having dinner at the Crashdown, and gives a younger Arturo Ortecho some money. Arturo doesn’t want to initially accept it as he feels like it’s too much, but Tripp mentions that he has heard Arturo is trying to save up to buy the place. He insists that he is investing in Arturo’s version of the American Dream. Later, a young Jesse is meeting up with his mysterious Uncle Tripp in the diner. Tripp’s about to share a secret and Jesse guesses it’s about the 1947 UFO crash. Before they can go into the details, Jesse’s dad arrived and sent him home.
Harlan believed an alien seduced Tripp and was able to get her ultimate revenge on their family. Jesse passes Alex a paper with alien symbols. Tripp had apparently slipped it to him under the table at the diner all those years ago. But to this day, Jesse has no idea what the symbols mean.
Michael texts Alex but then is genuinely surprised when Alex actually shows up.
Act V[]
Sheriff Valenti has Max in cuffs in the back of her squad car when she replies to the radio saying it was just a false alarm at the hotel where she picked up Max. Max is confused as to why he’s in custody and even further confused when she takes him into a café and questions him over coffee. She demands to know if he was really in Mexico when Noah died. Max claims he was. Valenti admits she likes him but thinks maybe he snapped, given that he has a traumatic past, and did something he doesn’t want to admit to.
Max disagrees with the traumatic past assessment and Sheriff Valenti rattles off his history. She knows he was abandoned naked in the desert when he was seven. She then reveals she’s the deputy who received the call and ultimately became obsessed with his case. She was determined to find the scumbag who did that to three little kids.
Max says he and Isobel didn’t show signs of being abused, but Valenti reveals that at the group home he was screaming and drawing on walls. Michael tried to calm him down and snatched the crayon from Max. When the Evans came to adopt kids, it was Michael holding the crayon. They left him behind and adopted Max and Isobel instead, believing Michael had problems.
Max is becoming increasingly agitated as they talk. He tries to convince Valenti she’s wrong but while he’s doing so, he bends a utensil in half. She then asks him if he has ever heard about the Gunther twins. Michelle mentions how one is a bootmaker, and the other one is a paranoid schizophrenic. They apparently have cameras all over their farm. She goes on to say how after an incident, they found footage of Mimi DeLuca getting out of the back of a hunting van the night she vanished. That same van was seen 100 yards from where Cameron’s car was abandoned. And,then again, at the hotel where she found Max and where Charlie went missing.
Max agrees he fits the profile of a kidnapper (i.e. white males 28-40 years old) but he claims that she can’t place him at the other scenes. Valenti is relentless, laying out her case. She knows he had a sexual relationship with Cameron, has rage issues, and he has knowledge of how to pull off a kidnapping. Sheriff Valenti drops a bombshell; that his passport was never marked crossing into Mexico.She reads him his rights and while doing so he uses his powers to send a message to Isobel asking for help.
Later, Isobel’s waiting at the station flirting with a cop when Sheriff Valenti drags Max in. Isobel attempts to use her powers to get inside Valenti’s mind and place the idea that she doesn’t want to arrest Max in her head. She starts the process and then falls to the floor. She’s only out for a second and then quickly sits up, claiming to be a fainter and assuring them she’s fine.
Isobel eventually charges into the Crashdown Café and asks, “do you want to tell Liz how you royally boned us, Kyle, or should I?”. Liz and Kyle are both confused and Isobel explains Sheriff Valenti arrested Max for something – it could be kidnapping, murder, or kicking puppies. But when Isobel tried to use her powers, they didn’t work.
Kyle confesses that he stole yellow pollen from the lab and put it in the perfume he gave his mom for her birthday. He needed to stop her from the alien investigation she was tracking. However, now she’s got Max under arrest for killing Noah Bracken.
Kyle reminds them Max did kill Noah. He’s not going to mess up her mind to convince her otherwise. But he thinks he may have a solution.
Over at The Wild Pony, Michael’s laying out what he knows about his mom sacrificing herself for Max. Alex listens patiently and then offers his own theory. He thinks Tripp and Nora were working together and had a genuine connection. Alex thinks it’s even possible Tripp was warning Walt at the diner, aware the kid was listening in.
Back in 1947, the soldiers are preparing for the raid one night earlier than planned. Tripp was unaware of the change of plans until he saw them getting ready. Harlan was in charge and moved it up, claiming the men were ready.
Once they got to the farm, it wasn’t Tripp who shot Bronson. Instead, Harlan came in from the rear of the barn and shot Bronson in the back. Harlan confronted Tripp about hesitating, and Tripp claimed Nora got into his head again.
Tripp joined the men holding Nora outside the barn. He turned and shot a lantern, setting the barn on fire. Louise and Nora exchanged a smile right before Louise was shot running from the barn.
Alex believes Tripp knew Nora wanted Louise protected. Michael reminds him she died and that Nora was taken to Caulfield to be experimented on. Michael doesn’t think any of this really matters anyway since everybody’s dead. They can never possibly know the truth.
Act VI[]
Kyle arrives at the station and asks Joe, the officer on duty, for a minute with Max. Kyle tells Max he thinks his mother needs some of the truth…but maybe not all of it. Their talk’s interrupted by Kyle’s mom who wants his assurance he’s not involved with Max’s problems.
Kyle claims Max has an alibi for Mimi and Jenna. “I had a heart problem, Sheriff,” says Max, revealing the large wound on his chest. “I was unconscious when Mimi and Cam went missing.”
He explains he didn’t tell her because he wanted to continue to be a force for good and make her proud.
Kyle confirms everything Max said was true.
Isobel’s still at the diner hanging out with Liz and now is even filling the ketchup bottles when Alex joins them. Alex reveals his uncle had a favorite booth and Liz points out one that the teenagers love one booth in particular because of how the light hits it in the afternoon. Thus making great for selfies.
They look around the booth and Alex is searching for something out of place that no one would notice. Liz spots an X carved into a brick on the wall. She easily pries it out and withdraws a dusty envelope. It’s a photo of Isobel’s mom and Isobel becomes emotional pointing out how pretty her mom was. But then Isobel notices her mom is older in the picture than she should have been. Which reveals that Louise in fact survived the raid!
“Thank you Tripp”is written on the back of the photo next to three circle Alien symbol that Max tends to draw. The newfound information inevitably confirms for Alex that Tripp was helping, not hunting the aliens.
Alex is unaware his dad is listening in to this conversation via his phone. Jesse leaps up and heads out, after briefly returning to grab the cane that he doesn’t actually need to get around.
Max is released from jail but before he leaves, he tells Valenti there are 14 murders in the county that he thinks Noah’s responsible for. He also explains Noah violated, abused, and used his sister for 10 years. He believes Noah deserved the bolt of lightning that killed him.
Walt and Michael have a heart-to-heart and Walt reveals that twice he attempted to adopt Michael. They wouldn’t let him but he kept watch even after being turned down. That year with Nora and Louise was apparently the best time of his life.
Michael breaks down and cries after Walt leaves.
Max meets Liz at the diner and after a reunion hug, he admits he believes Charlie was abducted by aliens. They kiss before Max heads home to catch up on some sleep.
Liz spots the milkshake Steph was sipping. She places the straw in a baggie
Cast and characters[]
Starring:
- Jeanine Mason as Liz Ortecho
- Nathan Dean as Max Evans
- Michael Vlamis as Michael Guerin
- Lily Cowles as Isobel Evans-Bracken
- Tyler Blackburn as Alex Manes
- Heather Hemmens as Maria DeLuca (credit only)
- Michael Trevino as Kyle Valenti
- Trevor St. John as Jesse Manes
- Amber Midthunder as Rosa Ortecho (credit only)
Guest-starring:
- Rosa Arredondo as Sheriff Michelle Valenti
- Kayla Ewell as Nora Truman
- Justina Adorno as Steph
- Jason Behr as Tripp Manes
- Cassandra Jean Amell as Louise
- Nicholas Ballas as Walt Sanders
- Gaius Charles as Roy Bronson
- Major Dodge Jr. as Young Walt Sanders
- Carlos Compean as Arturo Ortecho
Co-starring:
- Greg Farinelli as Deputy Joe
- Vic Browder as Mr. Gibbons
- Zach Rose as Harlan Manes
- Mitchell Hoog as Young Jesse Manes
- David Baca as Young Arturo Ortecho
- Richard Lippert as Old Harlan Manes
- Ewan Simpson as Young Max
- William Edward Spinelli as Young Michael
- Mia Wagenman as Young Isobel
Mentioned:
- Carl, works at the Crashdown, his wife is having a baby
- Charlie Cameron
- Jenna Cameron
- Mimi DeLuca
- Mr. Bernhardt, Roy says Bernhardt won't award first prize in the pumpkin-chunkin contest to a colored man, and Sanders lists Bernhardt as one of the people whose hand might be on Nora's shoulder in the newspaper photograph
- Mr. Jones, Sanders lists Jones as one of the people whose hand might be on Nora's shoulder in the newspaper photograph
Powers[]
- Telepathy - Max uses his connection with Isobel to call for her help after Sheriff Valenti arrests him. It's also implied that Nora and Louise communicate telepathically about attending the fair.
- Mental influence - Isobel tries to use her powers to mentally influence Sheriff Valenti into letting Max go; this doesn't work because the sheriff is protected with alien pollen that Kyle put into her perfume.
- Telekinesis - Louise shoves Harlan Manes aside so she can run past him out of the barn.
Music[]
- On May 12, 2020, Chris Mollere, the show's music supervisor tweeted out the list of songs used in this episode:[1][2]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Dance Dance" | Cage The Elephant | Liz hypothesizes for her experiment. Kyle and Steph make out. Alex goes through a box of Tripp's memorabilia. |
| "Supernova" | Liz Phair | Liz turns the grill back on for Kyle and Steph's date. |
| "I Love You Always Forever" | Donna Lewis | Liz turns on the jukebox for Kyle and Steph's date. |
| "The Most Influential Teacher" | James Talley | Isobel and Michael take Sanders to the Wild Pony. |
| "Chattanooga Choo Choo" | The Andrews Sisters | Sanders remembers 1947. Roy brings Mr. Gibbons produce and eggs at the Atomic Malt Shoppe. Walt comes looking for work. |
| "Stand Or Fall" | The Fixx | 1987 at the Crashdown Cafe. Tripp tips Arturo and Jesse meets up with him. |
| "Beside You Til The End" | Josh Johnson | Sanders and Michael talk the next morning. Max visits Liz at the Crashdown. |
Trivia[]
- On November 7,2019, Carina went onto reveal that the ninth episode is titled: The Diner.[3]
- Production code is: T48.10209.
- On March 23, 2020, Carina revealed in a tweet that they've delivered up through episode 9 to The CW.
- The rest of the episodes there is still some VFX and sound work to do, but amidst the COVAD-19 pandemic, they’re finding ways for people to do that from home.
- She goes onto say that she hopes that The CW chooses to air them as scheduled.[4]
- The episode is named after The Diner by Ani Difranco, which was released in 1994.
- Major Dodge Jr., who plays young Walt Sanders, was promoted to a guest-star this episode; he was previously credited as a co-star.
- The scene where Alex, Liz, and Isobel find a picture of Isobel's mother which was left for Tripp behind a brick in the wall is a reference to the original series in which that was how Liz hid her diary.
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
Promotional stills[]
BTS Images[]
Videos[]
[]
External links[]
The Diner on the Internet Movie Database
References[]
- ↑ Tweet from Chris Mollere Roswell, New Mexico - 208 - Songs In Episode Part I. May 12, 2020.
- ↑ Tweet from Chris Mollere Roswell, New Mexico - 208 - Songs In Episode Part II. May 12, 2020.
- ↑ Carina Adly MacKenzie Nov. 7, 2019 post (@cadlymack) - Instagram
- ↑ Carina Adly MacKenzie March 23, 2020 Tweet (@cadlymack) - Twitter