'Roswell, New Mexico' Season 2 Episode 13 Finale Review: A wholesome ending brings in another pod dilemma
Spoilers for 'Roswell, New Mexico' Season 2 Episode 12 'Mr Jones'
The season two finale of one of The CW's most loved show 'Roswell, New Mexico' had been much awaited since last week's episode titled 'Crash Into Me' as it left too many ends untied. In this episode, titled 'Mr Jones', we see the aftermath of the last episode — the alien console bomb that risked civilian lives at CrashCon and the two atomizers — one threatening to kill aliens and another threatening to kill all the Manes men. The finale packs all that drama and then we were taken back to the time of Michael Guerin's (Michael Vlamis) mother Louise (Cassandra Jean Amell), Isobel Evan's (Lily Cowles) mother Nora (Kayla Ewell) and Maria DeLuca's (Heather Hemmens) grandmother Patricia, revealing a story that we have been dying to know.
Liz Oretcho (Jeanine Mason) manages to tame the bomb console on stage at CrashCon as Isobel held back the flames while Rosa manages to bring Max Evans (Nathan Parsons) back and Kyle Valenti (Michael Trevino) took Flint Manes (Kiowa Gordon) to the hospital. On the other side, we see Jesse Manes (Trevor St John) wanting to shoot Michael, an alien. As Alex Manes (Tyler Blackburn) fights his father to help out the situation, Gregory shoots Jesse telling Alex "I should have protected you from him a long time ago." Turns out that now, Flint, Gregory and Alex are the only Manes that remain.
Micahel and Alex tear down Harlan Manes's, Alex's grandfather's shed, and they find a skeleton buried underneath and on its neck was a tag that read Eugene Manes III aka Tripp Manes, Harlan's brother. Alex theorizes that Harlan killed Tripp because the latter was an "alien sympathizer." On the body, Michael finds a key that opens the family heirloom box that was with Maria in the hospital. When he visits her, she tells him that even though she is part alien she doesn't want to give up on that side of herself rendering Michael's need to protect her useless. Even though 'I love yous' were exchanged, the duo decided to break up and "let it be." Ironically enough, many fans were hoping this would happen because the #Malex (Michael and Alex) shippers do not rest. Not that they won this season either but more on that later.
The box housed a black book in which Tripp had written to Maria's grandmother Patricia about Michael's mother Nora. Tripp hadn't wanted to hurt Nora, and Nora told him how she and Louise were building something. That 'something' was the bomb that was on stage at CrachCon but Max believes that it wasn't meant to be one. Nora told Tripp when they had landed on earth, there was a stowaway on their ship who had made the crash happen. That person was the one hunting Louise and Nora. Keep in mind, when Max and Isobel had earlier found out that Louise and Nora were running away from evil, Max wondered if the "evil" was him.
Turns out, Nora had abandoned her building project and decided to go with Tripp to a reservation but Little Walt had convinced her to go to a fair. There she had met Mr Jones, the name that was given to the stowaway and Tripp saw and recognized him from the site of the crash. But Harlan had already called for the raid at this point and Nora was captured by Project Shepard and Tripp helped take Louise to safety. Nora told Tripp that if Harlan killed him, Louise would be stuck in her mind where she retreats to ignore the danger and sadness around her. Neither Nora nor Louise had told Tripp anything more about the console.
Fast forward to the end of the episode we see Max ask Isobel and Michael to help him find a tunnel in the desert; Max at this point had taken a whole vial of an antidote that helps bring back his memory. He claimed that when he had touched the console at CrashCon he had heard whispers that he didn't understand, but now he did. The trio finds a pod in the tunnel that had the symbol matching the one on Micahel's arm and the trio open it by putting their hands together on the edges of the symbol to reveal what looks to be Max's evil twin greeting them with a 'howdy partner.' This was most definitely a crazy ending and a huge cliffhanger which we were expecting. The visions Max was having in the previous episodes, had shown Louise protecting little Max from someone, we would assume that that man was this doppelganger that we finally get to meet. He's the stowaway, Nora and Louise were running away from Mr Jones.
The episode tied up all other loose ends as well, it seems. Kyle and Steph (Justina Adorno) finally can try to be a couple of outside of the hospital again, as Liz with her science heals Steph and Charlie Cameron comes back from hiding reuniting with her sister Jenna Cameron (Riley Voelkel). Max sets Liz's years of research material on fire when he finds out with the help of Jenna that Deigo, Liz's ex-fiance was on his way there with the scientist that Liz was accepting a new job in Calfornia from and who was also willing to sponsor Liz's father with his citizenship. Liz's confrontation with Max leads to the duo breaking up and Liz heading to Cali alone.
With all things well in the Manes family for now, well until Flint recovers anyway, Alex decides to sing while playing piano at the bar setting probably the most heartbreaking scene of the finale. Instead of going over to Alex, Michael decides to walk out telling Isobel "it's not our time" to which Isobel replied "It will be" and Michael said, "I think so," leaving us fans hoping that #Malex could be a thing again. But Alex did get his kiss from Forrest (Christian Antidormi) and so begins another romantic chapter.
This finale was a warm ending, with enough drama and all the reconciliation even though there were two breakups. It was an episode that gave each character a sense of their own strength as we see Liz see herself as a whole and pursue her dream of being a scientist after she spent every breath for a year helping Max. Her independence sheds a light on how women at times invest too much emotionally in a relationship and forget, as Liz said where she began and where her partner ended. Always a strong character, it was the perfect ending to the scientist that just wants to leave the world a better place. Not to mention, after a season of Rosa unable to curb her addiction, she not only reconciles with her mother but also decides to finish the program dedicated to getting better. As we said before, the series has always managed to make aware of real social and mental health issues that plague young minds every day.
All in all, it was a wholesome finale, with many narratives' loose ends tied tight giving way to narratives that could bring this sci-fi thriller to a whole new level in the next season.