Roswell (1999–2002): Season 2, Episode 1 - Skin and Bones - full transcript

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

I feel as if you've buried something.

Your parents are concerned about you, Max...

deeply concerned.

Max, I want you to know that however unique

you think your problems may be,

there are millions of teenagers out there

going through exactly
what you're going through right now.

Let me assure you,
this is all normal teenage stuff.

Can you try and tell me what's been going on?

Well, I guess the natural place to start is...
that I'm an alien...



a hybrid, actually.

You know, human DNA mixed with alien DNA...
that kind of thing.

Oh, I almost forgot.

My sister Isabel and our friend Michael

are also a little green around the gills.

We didn't know where we came from,

who sent us, or why.

For the past 10 years,
we've been aging much like humans,

but clearly there are differences.

From the beginning we had the instinct
to keep this to ourselves,

to hide in plain sight.
Then one day last fall,

everything changed.

You broke the bottle when you fell.

You spilled ketchup on yourself.



Don't say anything, please?

The 6 of us were connected
by the secret we shared.

There was also Tess, a hybrid like us...

part human, part alien.

And then there was Nasedo.

He's a shapeshifter...

which means he can take on any human form,

a skill that could really come in handy since

there were people out there
who would do anything to find us.

And if they found us,

there was no limit to what they would do.

Fortunately, we used Nasedo's abilities

to infiltrate the special unit of the FBI.

Of course we had skills of our own.

And as much as we tried to convince ourselves

that we could live a normal life...

Stop!

We couldn't.

To save our lives,
Michael killed Agent Pierce of the FBI.

And no matter how justified it was

the truth is...we killed a man...

and that wasn't easy...for any of us.

Max? Max!

Max, don't you have anything to say?
Anything at all?

It's like you said, just...normal teenage stuff.

Season 2
Episod 1: Skin and bones.

Subtitles: Victory
Time corection: Aries

Mr. Pierce. How much of that spending was
authorized by your superiors?

None.

Huh? Oh, sorry, Mr. Pierce.

My hearing isn't what it used to be.

Why don't you speak right into the mike?

None.

Oh, none! Not a penny.

- For $17 million spent by so-called special unit of the FBI...
- Max, you're a genius.

- What?
- Having Nasedo pose as Pierce.

You know, make a mockery of the special unit
and the government threat against you.

It's really smart.

I had nothing to do with it.

I haven't heard from Nasedo in 3 months.

Well, if Nasedo can put an end
to this special unit

I'd say, all your problems are solved.

We still have our enemies to deal with.

It's been over 3 months,
and nothing has happened.

No aliens have shown up.

Maybe there's no one out there.

Maybe the war is over.

Or thousands of them could be lining up
outside of town right now.

I just don't think we should live
our lives in fear like Michael.

Maybe he's just preparing for the inevitable.

They're taking a vote.

Ladies and gentlemen, I move for
the immediate disbandment of that component

of the FBI known as the special unit.
All those in favor say, aye.

You people are way too into C-SPAN.

- Goodbye, Courtney.
- All opposed say, nay.

Nay.

The committee recognizes
Congresswoman Whitaker.

She looks familiar.

Yeah, that's Vanessa Whitaker.
She's our congresswoman.

I've gotta start reading the newspaper.

Members of the committee...

in 1972, the special unit
of the FBI investigated a murder.

Several curiosities surrounded the event.

No murder weapon. No entry wound,

other than the presence of silver markings
left on the skin, which subsequently vanished,

yet the internal organs and tissues
of the victim were completely decimated.

Now, nuclear analysis of the victim's bones
showed traces of a substance dubbed

cadmium-x, an element which
doesn't exist on earth.

It is, simply put...not human.

Mr. Pierce, in all records, materials,
and other findings...

appropriated from your offices, we have found

no mention of anything known as cadmium-x.

Can you explain that to us?

There is no record in our files
of the substance called cadmium-x,

because there is no substance
called cadmium-x.

Cadmium-x is a hoax that we invented.

I am definitely not in the market
for a 30-something shapeshifter,

but I have to admit the man rocks.

All right, the show's over.

I gotta change into my uniform.
My shift's starting.

Girlfriend.
Like, I know that we bonded over the summer,

but I'm not quite ready
to show you the bod just yet.

No. I was just wondering
if you'd heard from Liz yet.

Not since you asked me an hour ago. No.

- I heard you on the phone with her.
- Max, little advice.

The girl goes off to
some aunt in Florida for the entire summer

and barely says good-bye to you.

In layman's terms, she blew you off big time.

I mean, and look at you.
Look, you're like a groveling dog.

Have you heard from Liz today? Did Liz call?

No. That's no good.
Look, you've gotta play it cool, all right?

Let her come to you.

Let her come to me.

That's what I'd do.

Wait. Didn't you just tell me that you left

like 5 messages for Michael in the past 2 days?

What's your point?

Oh, look! "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is
playing at the Revival Theater at the fairgrounds.

You know, Alex, maybe you should see
what you can find out about cadmium-x.

Sure.
Look, there are 4 showings on Saturday.

We're not going to a movie, Alex.

Yeah, right.

Alex, I'm sorry. You know it's not you.

It's just that with everything
that's happening, everything on my mind,

I can't think about being with a guy
right now. You know, any guy.

Excuse me. Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to...

N-no. You're fine. We're...

- Uh, Grant Sorenson.
- Isabel Evans.

Alex Whitman.

I was just wondering if might be able to tell me
where I could find the Sheriff's office.

Why are you looking for the Sheriff?

Could be a coyote.

Why would anyone bury a coyote?

Where'd you find this?

30 miles northeast of here...
off the old Clovis Highway.

That's a pretty isolated place to be digging
around. What were you doing up there?

- Geological survey.
- I see.

There's one thing that I can't quite explain.
I was using a Lorenz Pulse 5...

basically a fancy metal detector.
Why would a metal detector detect bones?

Ok, I just got goose bumps

You did the right thing by bringing this to my
attention, Mr. Sorenson. I'll look into it immediately.

Sure thing, Sheriff.

You don't even need to say it, Sheriff. I'll get
an excavation team out there right away.

Next one. Keep your focus.

- No rock stands a chance against Michael Guerin.
- Our fearless leader.

Hey.

I think Nasedo's finished with D.C.
He'll probably be headed back soon.

It's not like he's Ward Cleaver when he's here.

So, what's going on?
Something tells me this isn't a social visit.

We think somebody found Pierce's bones.

You're kidding.

A geologist.

What the hell was he doing
digging around in the middle of nowhere?

That's what geologists do.

I don't feel good about this.

Valenti's handling the investigation.
He'll take care of it.

- What about Nasedo?
- He told us not to contact him unless there was an emergency.

So what do you call this?
I mean, what if this guy's not a geologist?

What if he's one of our enemies, Max?

Right now there's no reason to doubt him.

He's a geologist, and in the course of
doing his job, he dug up the bones.

I'll decide when we call Nasedo.
Don't do anything until I tell you.

I'm not just gonna sit around and do nothing
like we've done all summer.

We've been having this conversation for
months. What are we supposed to do?

You're our leader. Why don't you lead us?

- Fine! Crack some more rocks.
- Max!

Valenti has it under control. Let's not panic.
I'll call you when there's news.

Sheriff. Found this in the brush,
right near the grave.

I'm all over it, Sheriff. I called the lab.
I'm gonna run it over right now

and have them check for prints.

Good work, Hanson.

- Looks like we could have
an actual homicide on our hands.

What the hell?

Maybe Michael's right.
Maybe we should check out the geologist.

Valenti already did.

He has a degree from the University of Wyoming
and was hired to do field work in the area.

Nasedo had a pretty good cover, too.

I'll talk to him later.

Or I could.

We'll talk about it later.

- Liz.
- Hi...Max.

Hi. So...so when did you get back?

- A couple of days ago...actually.
- Well, that's odd. Maria said you're still away.

Yeah, I know she did. Um, you know, I just...
I wanted to get settled a little bit before...

Yeah. Yeah. I...I understand. Listen, Liz, I...

I know how strange everything got
before you left. But I think it's ok.

No aliens have attacked. Nasedo is putting an
end to the special unit as we speak.

I think all of this could finally be over.

Oh, I really hope that's true...for all of you.

- And I just want you to know
about the whole Tess situation...

- Oh, Max. You don't...you don't have to.

It's just that it's definitely over.
I don't have feelings for her.

I've told her that...and she understands.

I know it's probably irrelevant
at this point, but...just for the record.

Right. Yeah. I just want to get a fresh start.
I've decided...

- Right...right. Anyway, you look...
- Oh!

- Great!
- No, it's...

- Different.
- Oh, I have a job interview actually.

Oh. What about the Crashdown?

Well, this really incredible opportunity
came up sort of out of the...

You must be Liz Parker.

Congresswoman Whitaker! It is so nice
to meet you. You are a real hero to me.

You don't need to suck up, really.
My paid staff takes care of my enormous ego.

Oh, so there's, um, not an actual salary?

We have a lot to talk about.

- Hi.
- I'm sorry. This is Max Evans. A friend.

- Nice to meet you.
- Same here.

- Should we step inside?
- Yeah. Sure. It would be great.

This is the suspect, Sheriff. Came in peaceably.
Although I do see a bit of an attitude problem.

You recognize that?

Well, there's a lot of knives out there
that look like that.

How many of them do you suppose have your
fingerprints on them, Mr. Guerin?

My very efficient deputy here
has linked this knife to you.

It was discovered way out in
the desert, out near the old Clovis Highway.

You remember our little meeting out there
a few months ago?

- Do I have to refresh your memory?
- Yeah. Maybe you'd better.

I found you and 2 of your buddies drinking beer,
joyriding, taking potshots out into the desert.

Remember?

Yeah.

Here's the police report I filled out that
night, just in case you forgot.

Now, did you witness anything out of
the ordinary that night, Mr. Guerin?

N-no, sir.

All right. Listen, do yourself a favor.

The next time you're going off to break
the law somewhere, don't leave a calling card.

- Yes, sir.
- Get the hell out of here.

I smell a rat.

Nasedo. It's Michael.

Does Max know you're calling?

No. But we got a code red.
Get the hell out here.

Don't ever contact me again
unless Max knows.

Great people skills.

- Hey.
- Hey.

What are you doing out here?

- Looking for you actually.
- Really?

Well, Roswell's a small town.

You know, when something interesting pops us,
sometimes your curiosity gets the best of you.

Something interesting?

- Like the bones you dug up.
- Ah...bones.

It seems like such a romantic job, being a
geologist, studying the earth.

What exactly
are you doing up here?

I'm testing the area for radioactivity.

You're kidding. Here?

Apparently, there had been
some nuclear testing in the fifties.

Oh. Ok, so you're here
to make sure it's safe for the public.

Actually, I'm here to make sure it's safe for a
huge corporation to open a chemical plant.

They're the ones who commissioned
me to do the survey.

Wouldn't a big chemical plant
just pollute the area anyway?

Does my job still seem so romantic?

Well, beats working at the cheese factory.

Well, let's just cut to the chase,
shall we, Sheriff?

This is a piece of a phone conversation I had
with Agent Pierce when he first came to Roswell.

How's it going there?

Don't know yet.

My first note is to look into the Sheriff here.
I think he may be the key to everything.

That's the last I heard from him until he
returned to Washington.

That's when he started lying to me.

Congresswoman Whitaker,

I would strongly advise that you not spend
too much more energy looking for aliens.

I mean, you just might find yourself out of
a job like your friend, Mr. Pierce.

How odd. That almost sounds like a threat.

- Sheriff, I need...
- Deputy!

I'm truly sorry. I didn't realize
you were in here with someone.

I'll be with you in a minute, Deputy.

Right. I just got the coroner's report back...

Thank you, Deputy. I'll look it over
when I get a chance.

They found something on the murder victim.

Murder victim?

There isn't any murder victim.

It's some bones that were dug up by a geologist.
We don't even know if they're human.

There's no doubt the bones are human,
but that's not the interesting part of all this.

Listen to this.

- See this mass of bone structure?
- What about it?

Well, now compare it
to this other side of the rib cage.

This side has been
melted and fused together.

The corpse was clearly in a fire.
What's your point?

Fire or no fire, bone doesn't melt. Only some
bizarre form of radiation could do this.

Any nuclear accidents in the area, Sheriff?

What we have here was caused by a short and
very contained burst of unthinkable energy.

Well, I'm gonna start a full-blown investigation.

Hanson, let's get back to the precinct.
Bender, you'll let me know the other test results?

Why don't you go back to your office?
And I'll keep you informed as things develop.

Actually, Sheriff, I think I'll stay right here.

With all due respect, I believe
this matter is out of your jurisdiction.

And with all due respect to you, I have no
intention of leaving this situation

in the hands of a county sheriff.
This is now a matter of federal interest.

I have every intention of
consulting with the FBI on this.

No. I'll consult with the FBI. I'm not taking my
eyes off these bones until I get an explanation.

Sheriff, based on this new information,
maybe I should bring that kid back in.

What kid?

Open the door! Police!

Valenti.

I figured you'd have to come over here and
give me grief about leaving the knife out there.

Man, what's the big deal?

Mr. Guerin, you're under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law.

You have a right to an attorney.

If you can't afford an attorney,
one will be appointed for you by the court.

You can never find those little pod people
when you want them.

- Hey! You're that guy from tv!
- Move, please.

Honey, get over here.
It's that crazy FBI guy!

Excuse me.

Honey?

Sheriff Valenti, welcome to the ever-burgeoning
"I know an alien" club.

You called me here.
I assume it's important.

How much do you know about
Congressman Whitaker?

- I know her intimately.
- Intimately?

To borrow a rather crude human colloquialism,
I've been diddling her all summer.

I hope he's using birth control.

I must admit, I've grown awfully
fond of the foul temptress.

It's a shame I may now have to kill her.

Well, Pierce's bones have been dug up, and
apparently some of them have been

fused in a way that is completely
unexplainable by human terms.

Tell me how far this information
has been leaked.

I need to extinguish every human
who has this information.

I'm going to assume
present company is excluded?

Isn't murder what got you into
this situation to begin with?

My job is to protect the royal 4. Their survival
is critical to the survival of an entire race.

No one's going to die.
Killing people isn't going to solve anything.

Oh, my. A pacifist for a king. Shall we all
just commit joint suicide right now,

or shall we wait for our enemies to show up
and have a nice boxed lunch of us?

We're not killing anyone.
That's an order.

As you wish.
The feds know about cadmium-x.

If they find it on the bones,
their first order of business

will be to do to Michael what
they did to you in the white room.

We can't let that happen.

Where are the bones now?

Whitaker took them out of the coroner's office.
I don't know where they are.

Even if we knew where they were, what
would we do with them?

Hiding them isn't going to
solve the problem.

I know what to do.

Parker, go home. It's late.

No, it's ok.
I want to make sure you're organized.

I don't want to be hit with a child labor suit.

I promise.

Agent Pierce.

Just Daniel. I'm a civilian now.

Uh, this is Liz Parker.
She's my new intern.

- Pleasure.
- Hi.

So, what brings a out-of-work
FBI agent to Roswell?

Seems like the worst place
to be for a recovering alien hunter.

I might be out here hunting something else.

What might that be?

Nothing I could say in front of your new intern.

Oh, she's a big girl. I think she can handle it.
Right, Parker?

Um, I'm just gonna go get some more folders.
Excuse me.

I needed to see you.

Well, you should have thought of that before
you publicly humiliated me on tv.

Don't let politics come between us.

Politics is the reason you slept with me
to begin with.

Well, maybe at first.
It's more than that now.

You showed me a side of myself...
I didn't know existed.

Parker, can you lock up on your way out?
I'll see you tomorrow.

- Yeah. Have a good night.
- Oh, we will.

We gotta move fast. I don't know how long
he's going to be able to keep her away.

Well, I...I don't think that they're going to be
back anytime soon.

We only have a couple minutes to talk.

What's up?

I just want to make sure you don't do anything
like use your powers to try to break out of here.

The best thing to do right now is to sit tight.

You sound like Max.

Look, I know it's hard for you
to be locked up like this.

It's not that bad. I killed a man.
Maybe this is where I should be.

Michael, you killed the man who killed
Agent Topolsky and killed Agent Stevens

and who knows how many others,
and he was just about to kill me.

Yeah. I've told myself all those things, but
I still killed a man.

And the thing that I keep thinking about is that
what happened is just the tip of the iceberg.

I've been trying to prepare myself for what's
about to go down, and I have no idea what to do.

I'm cracking rocks. I have no clue who
or what we're up against.

And I've been so pissed off
at Max for not leading,

but he doesn't know any more
than I do. None of us do.

We're all in the dark
waiting to be attacked,

and all I can think about is what
if I'm not strong enough?

There's nothing.

Damn it!

So, I guess it's not all over.

It can be. These are just bones that somebody
dug up...pieces of the past

If I can just fix it, it can all be over.
Things can go back to how they were.

I don't think they can.

So, I never really got the whole story.

Uh, why are we looking for these bones?
What exactly is cadmium-x?

It's an isotope of cadmium that might have
been created when Michael killed Pierce.

Oh, so it's like some sort of after-effect
of Michael using his powers?

Something like that.

And if we don't get the bones before they're
able to test for cadmium-x, Michael is screwed.

We all are.

Well, did you check the particle physics lab
at Las Cruces University?

The what?

It opened up last year. Mr. Saldeman spent like
2 weeks in physics obsessing about it last semester.

The new cyclotron can measure isotope ratios,

so if cadmium-x is extraterrestrial, that's
where you would go to find it out.

I'm not a dork. I just enjoy science.

Did you find anything?

The bones are going to be delivered tomorrow
morning to the University in Las Cruces.

I'll be there.

So, did you have a good time
distracting the congresswoman?

No comment. How have you
and Tess been getting along?

Well, I haven't performed any mating rituals
if that's what you're asking.

You heard your destiny.
You heard it with your own ears.

I just want to get Michael
out of jail and go back to my life.

I'm not a king and we are not at war.

You're the boss. I would just be careful
not to confuse

what you want to be true
with what really is true.

Oh, no.

We'll be ready to start in 2 minutes.

Let's make history.

Excuse me.

I'm a security guard,
not an information booth.

This is so embarrassing, but I am completely
and utterly lost. I have been looking

all over the place for the student union,
but apparently I have no sense of direction.

At least that's what my boyfriend says.
Well, ex-boyfriend.

I'll take you.

I was hoping you'd say that.

Max?

Where's Nasedo?

He's still not here.

We can't wait any longer. Are you ready?

Yeah.

I see 8 people in the control room.

That's a lot of people.

Tess, we need you. Can you do this or not?

- I think so.
- You can't let anyone in that room see me.

I got it. I won't let you down.

But with this many people, I can only sustain
the mind warp for a couple of minutes.

It'll have to do.

Ok. Bye.

Ready to go.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Initiating accelerator.

Up to speed.

Begin scan at 10 seconds.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

That's impossible.

The results are pretty conclusive.
There's no evidence of cadmium-x anywhere.

Doesn't make any sense.

Sir, look at this.

Very interesting. We carbon-dated the bones.

What does that mean exactly?

It's a way of measuring the decay of
radioactive carbon isotopes in bones.

The ratio of carbon isotopes depends on
how long the organism has been dead.

Can you translate that into English, please?

It's a fancy way of figuring out how long ago
the body that belonged to that skeleton died.

What does it say about these bones?

These bones have been out in
that desert for 42 years.

What about the fused ribs
around the point of impact?

Well, the fused ribs could be explained as a
mutation due to radiation

resulting from the nuclear tests which were
done in the area in 1958.

42 years ago.

Something about this isn't right.

So I thought if I could age the bones,
it would totally take suspicion off Michael.

Thanks, Maxwell.

Better sew the holes in your pockets, soldier.

Hey! What's the big celebration?

Tradition. School starts monday.
It's kind of like our last hurrah.

Cool. Well, see ya. Hi, Michael.

Sorry. I didn't know that she was still here.
I'm sorry.

We gotta be more careful than that.

So, I hear ex-cons are really great in bed.

I thought we agreed that it was over
between us.

You agreed, and then you avoided
me the entire summer.

Well, it is.

Why? 'Cause you're
destined to be with Isabel?

No. I don't buy that.
Because I'm destined to be the soldier,

and a soldier can't have some
chick at home waiting for him.

Michael, half the movies ever made are about
soldiers with chicks waiting at home for them.

Well, be that as it may...

I miss you, Michael.

I know, but don't.

- Hey.
- Hey.

Let me ask you a question.

I know what you said...that things couldn't go
back to the way they were,

but pretend they could for just one second.
Could you and I go back, too?

I...I can't pretend, Max.

What?

Nothing.

Good night.

Night, Liz.

Michael, what is it?
It's late. Michael?

Michael?

Nasedo!

They're among you now.

Who is? Who's among us?

The skins.

No.

No. No. No. No!

Timing: Aries