Who: Lily Cowles as Isobel Evans What: Blanc Noir Skyfall Aviator Jacket in Olive Camo - $179.00 Where: 4x10 “Down in a Hole"

A continuation of my AU where Michael is adopted by the Evans’ instead of Max. 

Based on RNM 4x10. Kyle's return leads to revelations about the console. Max interrogates Tezca who has valuable information that speeds up their discoveries. Max takes the next step to finding Alex.

Differences from Canon: - Isobel and Kyle are a couple now. - Isobel hasn’t tried to talk to Tezca since that first time, so she doesn’t have her information about Theo’s pocket dimension when she’s at Max’s house. Max insists he would use his powers if she doesn’t have answers. - Liz figures out the mist like she did in canon 4x08. Michael’s argument against taking it reflects canon Max’s lines from 4x08. - Michael, who has investigated alien things all his life and has an interest in linguistics, has been helping Dallas with his sigil research. It’s him who helps translate the symbols. Because of this and Max’s insistence that Tezca holds answers, Michael gets the idea to have her translate. - Isobe’s work with Tezca reflects hers from canon 4x11, but it’s accelerated thanks to Max’s powers. Max uses his powers again and Tezca spills. - Although this scene exists only in this universe, lines from this revelation are inspired by 4x10 and 4x11. - A greater emphasis is put on the notes from the bible and the sigil on the console and Dallas’s research. - Tezca’s mind is cleared with Max’s help. She recognizes Max’s power and theorizes that since he was born after Michael was “made” that he might’ve inherited Jones’ advanced powers, aka the blue flame (this is inspired by Tezca’s explanation in 4x05). - Tezca confesses all she remembers, which theoretically is everything Clyde knew from 4x11. - Tezca is the one who leads them to the portal so Maria is not necessary. - Michael and Max’s dialogue attempts to cover canon plot holes. - Max never lost faith he would find Alex. - Dallas tries morse code (again) after seeing the portal flash with the vibration. Max, who saw Dallas, sends a more concise message that reflects what they know at that point. - Isobel and Kyle transfer lines they said at the beginning of 4x10. - Michael also knows morse code, so he volunteers to guard it when Max goes through.

My head hurts. I feel like I’m in a perpetual state of numbness, and the numbness cracks only to give way to misery. In other words, here are my thoughts on 4x10. Future rin edit; this one is long, I went on a bit of a tangent, I apologize.

If Michael or Kyle weren’t in the scene, I skipped it. I legitimately don’t know anything going on with the others except who they were working with and that Tezca is indeed good now, apparently, which was a wonderful choice to make with four episodes left. Truly, way to focus on the important stuff during the rest of the season. Marvelous pacing.

Whatever, I don’t care. Like I said, I skipped their scenes. Kyle was great, Kyle was the breath of fresh air I needed. I love Michael loving Alex and wanting to go after him, I really do, but... where’s feral Michael? Where’s the restless cowboy who’s fighting tooth and nail to get his lover back? Where’s the anger, the out-of-control power surges, the frustrated crying? Where is my Michael Guerin? Where is Alex’s Michael Guerin?

I swear, we better get Alex and malex enough in these three episodes to make up for everything.

Let me just get to it, okay? These writers, with all due respect, clearly did not care one way or the other what happens with Alex in the story. There was no effort put in to integrate him into the plot while Tyler couldn’t be there. I’m not complaining that Alex isn’t there. It sucks and I miss him and he’s the reason I breathe, but I can (begrudgingly) understand that Tyler couldn’t be there because of his health problems and he comes first, so fine. But this isn’t about Tyler being absent from the episodes. The very fact that the show uses that excuse as a reason to keep him from the story proves limit-mindedness and--I’m sorry--a lack of talent and creativity.

I saw someone suggest Alex be “in the episodes” since he went missing by communicating with Michael through lights and sounds like he only did in episode 4x08. I thought that was brilliant, and it came from a fan on tumblr who probably put maybe ten seconds of thought into it. You could’ve shown Michael missing him, texting him, leaving him voicemails. I can’t believe that they have the freaking nerve to talk about malex and how much they love them when the one malex scene of Guerin leaving Alex a voicemail was freaking cut so that they could make more time for Maria and Liz worship. I can’t BELIEVE that we had feral Michael for all of two minutes, then him apologizing to Maria and hugging Liz, everything forgiven, even though she was the one that told everyone to KEEP ALEX MISSING A SECRET FROM THE ONLY MAN THAT GIVES HIM ANY COMFORT.

I kid you not, I’ve been awake since 2:30 am to watch the episode and I went to sleep, numb and disassociated, thinking that I wouldn’t have any thoughts to share. And honestly, for the episode, I really don’t. Kyle and Michael were great, the little kybel moment was adorable but I didn’t really care that much with Alex not there, I needed more feral Michael, but the lack of Alex has drained me so that I don’t think I can properly feel anything about an episode until he comes back. That said, wow.

You know, Shadowhunters had a similar storyline to this. Magnus Bane had to go to Edom to save the Shadow World, and more importantly, the love of his life, Alec, but in doing so, it means he’s stuck there and can’t get back. So what do all of the characters do? Well, Magnus has become a dear friend and means a lot to them, not just for the wisdom he’s imparted but for the help he’s given them on multiple occasions. Not to mention, Magnus also means everything to Alec and Alec means a lot to them, too. So it’s a rescue mission. They gear up and decide to go to Edom together to save Magnus.

Clary and Jace are the main characters of the show. Alec and Magnus were sidelined for most of the first season. There are episodes in season 3 where they have a scene for a little over a minute. But when push comes to shove, Magnus is their friend and they are in this together, and that episode is one of my favorites because it doesn’t just have Alec talk about how important Magnus is and maybe doing one thing to try to bring him back. It values friendship and shows the meaning of found family, alongside true love.

What does Roswell New Mexico do after they find out Alex goes missing after an unrealistic amount of time without a hint of Michael missing Alex except for when he got sick and then said that Alex should’ve been the one checking in?

Well. Liz makes a dumb decision, everything is put on halt to save her, and then they bring out this storyline of how something is wrong with Liz and how everyone needs to turn around and help her with that, completely ignoring Alex and whether or not he might be dying in this other dimension. That’s when they’re not worshipping Maria and her nonsensical abilities that really would’ve made more sense with Rosa. Again, why wasn’t Rosa the main character? I feel like she and Michael would’ve led the damn parade through that portal in search of Alex, especially considering how similar the two used to seem when they were teenagers and could’ve been great friends. But they’ve never even spoken to each other in the show, so that’s a bust, I guess.

Yeah, that’s it. I really have nothing else to say. I’m so tired, I’m so sick of this, I’m usually painfully hopeful, even when I don’t want to be, but I’ve lost hope in this show. Believe me, for me, that’s near impossible. But I just want to see Alex. I’m so sick of the writers so eager to show how tolerant they are by forcing Maria down our throats in a role she doesn’t deserve and doesn’t fit, by refusing to let Michael get properly angry and feral for more than thirty seconds because it’s somehow toxic masculinity to fight for the love of your life, and by patting themselves on the back for their supposed work with malex that really shows their complete lack of thought, care, or attention to the couple that most people watch for. All the while, ignoring the queer guy, doing two woc injustice by having them be such selfish, self-involved, greedy, sometimes stupid, horrible people that never get called out for their flaws, and worrying more about how woke they’ll look in every episode instead of worrying about the actual story.

Merlin never needed to talk about Gwen’s skin color or how amazing her accomplishments were because she was a woman. She never had powers, never owned a business, and the only time she wielded a sword was when she was protecting her friend, and Maria DeLuca, for all the screen time, credit, and newfound abilities she gets, doesn’t hold a freaking candle next to my queen.

Oh. And as the biggest Harry Potter fan and a Marvel fan; a) don’t have Maria, of all people, reference my favorite work, and b) you wish you had anything on Dr. Strange. Do not flatter yourself, lady.

Okay. Now I’m done.

RNM 4x10 transcript

Draft of the 4x10 Transcript draft is done! All of the Season 4 transcripts can be found here.

And Seasons 1-3 can be found in this post.

Things that did NOT Spark Joy-4x10

Well. Here we are again, folks! If you want to read about me singing Kyle’s much deserved praises, that post is here, otherwise, lets dive into the retconning, confusing, jam-packed and yet still somehow boring AF mire of this episode.

Starting off strong with Liz dropping the line about the sinkhole being a “one way door” when they found her passed out immediately after finding the sinkhole and as far as we know NO ONE but especially not her, have run tests to know what’s going on with the sinkhole. PLUS, they pulled m*ria out so why are we being told (but never, not ONCE, shown) that things can’t come back out?

I wish I could like Bonnie but after so much focus on her I’m just so very tired. But also. why do they want us to sympathize so hard with a character who helped steal powers so a dictator take over and kill swaths of people to harvest those flowers and prolong his own life, and whatever TF else he was trying to do that involved murdering a lot of people? Why give us that backstory and focus instead of focusing on the MAIN CHARACTERS? And it’s so confusing what the aliens are supposed to know of earth because Bonnie knows the concept of a turducken and what a haiku is, but no idea what Morse Code is, and it feels like every thing the dark triad knows or doesn’t know is based entirely off of plot convince, and how much they want them to have snarky one-liners. She seems pretty confident that she’s not a danger to humans but how would she know unless she had been going around kissing them? They don’t have powers to mitigate, but could she be passing along her alien flu/cold mixture? Which no human would have immunity to? We didn’t need ANY of that storyline since it was just about taking away their powers and honestly they could have mixed that in with Tezca stealing people’s faces or just injected Michael with something like the alien flowers. We didn’t even need him being “sick” because nothing really came out of that either since it wasn’t used to have Alex taking care of him, or him fighting through being ill to go after Alex!

Honestly, it makes no sense to trust Bonnie-she could be playing all of them with her doe-eyed innocent act! She took away Michael’s powers without consent and now wants to stay with Michael in another dimension she claims she doesn’t know anything about? She’s constantly been feeding them tidbits of information about the mission of the dark triad but every time they need more information she doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on. Season 1 pod squad (and present day Alex at least though Kyle should know better too) would never have put any kind of trust in someone like that, and would have at least discussed that she was trying to lead them into a trap or knows more than she’s telling.

On that note, Tezca having “amnesia” about everything is mighty convenient and season 1 pod squad wouldn’t just be taking this at face value either. And Michael asking vague questions instead of specifically asking why she won’t tell them about what she knows about Alex and the quicksand/sinkhole thing? What was that about?! Whyyyy are the writers allergic to letting Michael go all out and demand answers about Alex?! And supposedly Tezca was the “go-between” for Nora, Louise, and Theo but that whole relationship with Jones and how they were working for him but not really is already so convoluted that throwing another person into their triad mix just makes it all make even less sense. And why do we have time for her sob story about all the people she killed working for the dictator (who could control her but apparently couldn’t just...control Nora, Louise, and Theo to get what he wanted? Okay.), but don’t have time to focus on our main characters and their journeys or them working together? This Tezca plot would have fit better last season, but also the shape-shifting which was the only cool thing has been entirely dropped, and was never really used THAT well and didn’t take over any of the mains to gain “secret” info. so again, what was even the point?! The only thing they really did was get a body from Deep Sky and then destroy it, which since they can memory-wipe people, didn’t need Eduardo’s face to accomplish in the first place!

Tezca says she would have done Ophiuchus's will and that Clyde is a true believer, but she was following Jones and his plan soooo, what IS Ophiuchus?! Jones and his plan? A religion/god/fate? A cult? They keep dropping the name but every time has such weird and different contexts it’s impossible to pinpoint what it even is.

The Jones wig is sooooo bad!! I was so excited about maybe getting Jones back but every bit they have used him this season has been awful, confusing, or both.

The idea that there is just a WHOLE ASS OTHER DEMINSION that ANYONE COULD FALL INTO, and a giant metallic structure, just...sitting out in the open that were NOT found by the regular military OR any of the Caulfield/Project Shepherd/alien research offshoots, OR Deep Sky, OR any of the alien-obsessed people like the Green twins (remember when “lots of twins in Roswell” was a teased plotline?) and turned into a tourist trap or an urban legend, OR by Michael who has spent his whole life looking for stuff like this is beyond ridiculous. Especially given that characters are now just constantly having loud, public discussions of alien stuff. Remember when they were worried about getting caught and experimented on? I miss that energy.

Did Kyle and Eduardo even find Allie?! That was the whole point of them staying in Mexico for the past 3 episodes and we just don’t see or talk about any of that? Where did they find that box, and since it was SO important why didn't we see it?! Besides the ridiculousness of separating the alien pieces and putting some of them in another demission, some in a hideout in Mexico that seems like maybe didn’t exist until after the OG triad were taken, and just...leaving the rest of the pieces in the ground to be scavenged by literally anyone, HOW did Kyle get that sealed box full of alien stuff on a plane and through customs? Or did he make a 25 hour drive instead and hope he didn’t trigger any sensors at the border? Also, as I talked about here, there are some weird discrepancies not just about the console and Michael and Alex’s necklaces being made from pieces of it, but also backstories for the Valenti family and how this new “secret alien stash in Mexico” plotline doesn’t really fit with anything. Nothing that happened there couldn’t have just happened in Roswell. Hell, they could have found that stuff hiding in the Valenti cabin or in a secret lock-box Jim left for Kyle! So much of that storyline was wasted time and set up to get items that they easily could have found quicker, easier, and with less set up in town, leaving time to SHOW us the more important stuff.

Speaking of showing us important stuff, we should have seen Michael and Kyle trying lots of different things, putting stuff in the hole and trying to pull it back, and Michael getting more and more frustrated and despondent as things didn’t work! Seeing Michael being frustrated, out of ideas, and ready to give up, feels like it comes out of nowhere because we haven’t even seen him try a single thing to get to Alex yet! We could have spent less time on Tezca, Bonnie and Dallas, and soooo much less time on m*ria and used that time to see Kyle and Michael working on research, and trying to get to Alex.

WHY IS EVERYONE REFERRING TO ALEX AS “MANES” AND HOW DO WE MAKE IT FUCKING STOP!

No Heath this episode helping Michael and Kyle, so did he not stick around to look for his lost lover buddie Dallas? Just to help Liz and then fuck off forever? So what was the point of bringing him back if he’s not even going to be allowed to help find his life-long friend?! Instead we could have had Kyle having to walk Isobel through what to do over the phone, which easily could have been done without Trevino present, would have tied in to their working together on medical stuff and her being his extra set of hands, and would have again given focus to our mains instead of side characters, and would have given Isobel something to do during the episode instead of sit around 90% of the time.

I just cannot be bothered to go over all the Liz stuff at this point but I will say that Evil!Liz would have been fun way earlier in the season, and would have been more interesting if it was something more than just Liz doing exactly what she has been doing this whole time, but with the added layer of being cruel to her sister. It’s just so sloppy and I have ALWAYS liked Liz as a character but this season has been rough trying to be a fan of Liz, or Max, or Echo because the writing...doesn’t seem to particularly like Liz, or Echo, and refuses to lean into the things people liked about Max at the beginning-namely him being soft and heart-eyes over Liz and wanting to support her, but they also make it hard for him to do that when they also insist on her doing unethical shit all the time or expressly doing things the pod squad have asked her not to, or helping herself to their pod goo like it belongs to her or is hers to share with whoever she wants. Do the writers even know or care how unlikable they are making both their leads out to be? Don’t answer that. We been knew.

Speaking of Liz, I was interested in season 1 when she was worried she was losing her mind and that she knew mental illness ran in the family and that’s what was triggering the substance abuse in her mom and Rosa, but they always undercut that with having Liz smoking with m*ria, and always having a drink in her hand, and then when Rosa came back with NO ONE taking her mental health seriously or discussing how it was the driving force behind her addiction. But the way they are handling it with Liz now just feels so sloppy and disingenuous. She doesn’t need an addiction to be the driving force behind her “bad deeds” because Evil!Liz was the one that “won” in the mindscape and she was fully dedicated to focusing on her research AND we’ve been told this whole time that, unlike Shivani who is just a tech investor, Liz is brilliant and can constantly pull off feats of scientific invention on her own. We don’t need this subplot, this late in the game, for additional “drama”, when we would be getting the same story without it! Also, why does huffing it now not kick her into the mindscape again? Uuuuugh, it’s just so, so sloppy and confusing, and involves a lot of wasted time, especially since we went through all this just to have her make one attempt and then immediately just give up and move on from Shivani. She should have done that like, 7 episodes ago.

m*ria is as fucking useless as always and Rosa deserves so much better than to be sidelined into being m*ria’s spirit guide/mentor whatever. The fact that they even put it into the text that m*ria’s power is basically just Rosa’s and that didn’t stop them from wedging m*ria in there makes me want to scream. GOD FORBID she miss three episodes and they stop ruining other people’s stories just to try and invent things for her to do. GOD FORBID they just let Rosa do what she trained to do last season instead of wasting precious screentime walking m*ria through how to do literally the same thing. Also, what was the fucking point of wasting all that time at the start of the season with m*ria bitching about losing something that was literally killing her and has never once actually been useful to anyone, only to just...pretend it never happened and she’s not only fine, she has SUPER new powers now! 🙄🙄🙄🙄 give me a fucking break.

Link to previous episode posts: 4x01, 4x02, 4x03, 4x04, 4x05, 4x06, 4x07, 4x08, 4x09 

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO       1.10 || 2.10 || 3.10

Who: Jeanine Mason as Liz Ortecho What: Ulla Johnson Lucia Top - Sold Out Where: 4x10 “Down in a Hole"

Worn with: Sandro coat

Who: Lily Cowles as Isobel Evans What: Madewell Mixed-Link Chain Necklace in Silver - Sold Out Where: 4x10 “Down in a Hole"

Who: Jeanine Mason as Liz Ortecho What: Anabaglish Annie Tooled Tote - $228.00 (in Another color) Where: 4x10 “Down in a Hole"

Worn with: Sandro coat

Who: Jeanine Mason as Liz Ortecho What: Sandro Long Trench Coat - Sold Out Where: 4x10 “Down in a Hole"

Things that Spark Joy-4x10

It’s gonna be a shorter list today folks, followed by a much longer, much saltier list which you can find here. On the bright side, the few things that DID spark joy, sparked a lot of it, so let’s talk about Kyle them!

First off, Alex crumbs with that “AM was here” written on the Welcome To Roswell sign! 

I’m not thrilled with the pacing or it’s placement in this season instead of last season, but I’m intrigued by Isobel and Tezca working together and their similar stories about being controlled and not able to tell what in their past is “true”.

As I said here "After everything we've been through, our love is losing out to a hole in the ground" sparks joy because BOY did you feel the frustration Vlamis has for this separation. I can’t wait for the writers to finally set him free to be as feral and desperate and in love with Alex as Vlamis always wants to be.

I still think it would have been better for either Dallas OR Bonnie to go in the hole and to have another main like Isobel trapped with whoever went, but ignoring that this is the last season and how frustrating it is not having our mains working together and spending so much time on side characters, I don’t actually mind Bonnie and I adore Dallas and their scenes weren’t bad (though that blue filter certainly is). Plus, we get some alien lore in there scenes which is always nice, if often confusing and contradictory to everything we’ve learned before. BUT having some focus on the alien stuff is always interesting and needed. Seeing that the star map is more than just a map and has a place to actually navigate the journey was good information I’m glad to have!

As irritating as the cyclical arguments with Echo have been and how this should have happened ages ago, them both calling out the other for making decisions fueled by fear is exactly what they BOTH need to hear.

Also, Max saying  "All I've ever wanted is to be the man standing behind Liz Ortecho” was sooo good and they should have been leaning into that part of his character all along because that’s when he’s at his best.

Isobel zooming in on the picture of Kyle smiling 🥺🥺🥺

Michael being contacted and immediately asking if it’s Alex 😭😭😭 please my heart can’t take it! But also, I love when we get to see Genus Michael come out. I know a lot of people are eye-rolling about Michael and Dallas just happening to know Morse Code, but they are EXACTLY the kind of nerds who learned that shit. You know Dallas and Heath used it to chat after hours at camp when they were supposed to be sleeping, and I would bet anything Michael and Alex did the same thing because Alex for sure had to learn it young, and he taught Michael and they would tap pencils at each other during class. 

*klaxon blaring* Michael went in the hole through the portal! I repeat, MICHAEL WENT THROUGH THE PORTAL TO GET HIS MAN!

Okay now lets talk about KYLE!! Because Kyle Manuel Valenti literally saved this episode.

He just got back from what was likely a very long flight from Mexico and is over at Max’s first thing in the morning to check on Liz

His awkward hello with Isobel and the hug where they are both a little stiff then just melt into each other

His gracious acceptance of Michael’s teasing which he brushes off while also making a joke he know will make Isobel smile

Dropping certified Truth Bombs on Max about getting on the same page with Liz because that has ALWAYS been their problem

Going with Michael to read over the letter left by his mom so he’s not alone for that, and helping him research the symbol. Also his panic about everything shaking and going haywire every time he’s in Michael lair is hilarious and  "Is this a space curse?!" is my favorite line this season and might just be my favorite line Kyle has ever said.

Kyle going out to the desert to run experiments with Michael all day so they can go get Alex is exactly the support Michael has been lacking from everyone else. It was so good to see someone finally not just supporting but actively encouraging and fighting for Michael’s quest to save Alex instead of throwing things in Michael’s face about why he shouldn’t go and how it’s not helping anyone, and guilting him into staying and helping save anyone BUT Alex. Kyle is the captain of the Malex ship, and even when Michael is losing hope, Kyle doesn’t throw that in his face either, he’s understanding that it’s hard sometimes and if Michael needs a break to breathe, then Kyle won’t let the flame go out, he’ll keep it safe until Michael is steady to pick up the torch again. WHOMST is doing it like him?! This is the energy I have been waiting for all season, this is the kind of friend Alex and Michael both deserve. And you can see the way his words just fill Michael with determination vs the way every other person has stopped him and discouraged him from going after Alex and how broken he looks walking away every time. I just 😭😭😭 Bless Kyle. The writers have had Max occasionally say some pretty words, but it’s always within the bubble of the scene without being backed up by actions on his part which is a shame, but BOY was Kyle allowed to deliver in this episode. I can’t wait for him to be Alex’s best man at the Malex wedding. He’s going to cry the entire time.

Kyle’s heartbroken comment about reaching out, putting himself out there, and Isobel not reaching back 😭😭😭

But also, even with all the support and love, Kyle and Michael still have their banter and it’s always hilarious. I wish we had gotten more of them working together as Science Bros with Liz because you know it would be so chaotic and fun and every pairing would leave one person holding the braincell trying to get the other two to behave. Kyle vs Liz & Michael working on weird alien stuff, Michael vs Kyle & Liz working on weird medical stuff, Liz vs Kyle and Michael trying to one-up each other with weird alien medical stuff. Literally comedy gold, not least because Trevino, Vlamis, and Jeanine all play off each other so well. We were robbed!

Kyle not even trying to stop Michael from going to get Alex because he knows a) that it’s futile, and b) that if anyone can rescue his best friend it’s Michael. Kyle is the ONLY friend who currently has rights.

Link to previous episode posts: 4x01, 4x02, 4x03, 4x04, 4x05, 4x06, 4x07, 4x08, 4x09

This episode was SO GOOD. Best of the season for sure. Maybe the best of s3 & 4 even???

Idk I need to rewatch it obviously. But currently I have no notes except to delete the HP reference.

I was just internally screaming with excitement the entire episode. I've missed this!!

Only halfway through the episode but so far this is the best episode of the season by far am I right?? I'm having so much fun. Things are happening! LORE.