S03.E06: Bitter Sweet Symphony

[jewel21]

Max investigates the break-in meanwhile, Alex continues his research. Rosa and Isobel team up and Liz makes a shocking discovery.

Airdate: 08/30/2021

[KittenPokerCheater]

Tre predictable.  

But good job to the actor playing Max, because it was clear that it was Jones and not Max from the get go.  From the walk to the pitch of his voice.  We, the audience, got it in a second, but the characters on the show....

Also, Michael's boss Sanders was surprisingly lucid- I remember him being harder/more of an actively drinking alcoholic.

The episode lacked the Epic-Awesomeness that is Kyle.

It was nice to see the dreamscape again.  And decent scene between Michael and Alex that didn't make me roll my eyes.  

[backhometome]

Ok but why did it take the whole episode for Liz to realize it was Jones. Come on, it was so obvious. I just rolled my eyes at her figuring it out. 

[Lady Calypso]

Well, I thought it would be Max/Jones switching in and out but with the revelation that it's been Jones this entire time....well, I guess the question STILL is about where Max is. Is he in the pod or is he trapped inside his own mind while Jones controls his body? It's still very much unclear, although I guess the former is just as likely now. At least Pod Squad figured it out relatively quickly. They could have drawn it out, and I'm glad they didn't.

Rosa and Isobel's plot was really, really interesting. I like that Rosa has some different types of abilities that aren't telekinesis or mind control. I kind of did forget a lot of Rosa's stuff from last season, and especially since they went the Rosa/Wyatt route in the first four episodes of this season...which, by the way, makes me more convinced that Carina was going to have Rosa involved in a romantic plot with Wyatt but, with her firing, got Rosa in a much better arc this season. Because I'm fairly convinced, had Carina still been attached to this episode, she would have had Wyatt lurking in the background, helping Rosa more than Isobel. Or maybe that's what I'm telling myself. 

Michael/Alex's interactions are so damn awkward. Neither of them seem to know how to act around each other. I can feel the tension in their scene. I did enjoy Michael asking Alex why he said he'd burn down the earth for him, but didn't seem to give a shit about Maria and Kyle. Obviously we know Alex was figuring it out through his secret organization, but Michael doesn't know that. I did like that Michael was extremely concerned, and he got his own side adventure with Sanders' help! 

Speaking of Deep Sky or whatever the organization is called, I didn't expect Alex's boss to be Uncle Valenti. That means he's a likely candidate for the coffin instead! Hooray! Kyle and his mother could live another season! But why Kyle's uncle took him is beyond me. Though Alex was being stupid in his final scene and confronting Uncle Valenti without expecting a gun to be pulled on him. C'mon, man. You know better. 

I still have way more questions than answers. But this season is shaping up to be its best....not a great season in general, by any means, but the best it's been for me to watch. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

where Max is. Is he in the pod or is he trapped inside his own mind while Jones controls his body? It's still very much unclear, although I guess the former is just as likely now.

I prefer your theory of Max "trapped inside his own mind while Jones controls his body" as it has been written so far. In other scifi body swapping arcs, they have people having sex while inhabiting other people's bodies, which always annoys or outrages the viewers. Here Not-Max avoided touching Liz, so all's well if there is a body swap.

[Cristofle]

I think Max is probably trapped in there? But I could be wrong. That said, I do feel like the people closest to him who knew he had a doppelganger probably should have figured it out sooner (props to Maria, who had a concussion and still figured it out the fastest) because Jones is (hilariously) SUPER bad at portraying Max. He walks into a room and is like "What.is.up.people.that.I.definitely.know.very.well." I cracked up when early on he said "of course he went to immediately check on Maria" when NO ONE was asking or questioning that. He might as well have passing out "Am I Doing A Good Job of Pretending I Care About Humans Check Yes or No" cards.

LUCKY! I LOLed when he looked away from Jones going all murder-happy. 

Quote

In other scifi body swapping arcs, they have people having sex while inhabiting other people's bodies, which always annoys or outrages the viewers. Here Not-Max avoided touching Liz, so all's well if there is a body swap.

I wonder if the reason Jones avoided trying to get too close to Liz is because Max IS in there and Jones fears how powerfully attached Max is to Liz would bring him to the surface, because Liz was giving off CLEAR vibes and he was very deliberately ignoring them (incidentally, her "We are bad for each other" epiphany burned out real fast? She clearly wasn't only hanging around him to investigate with him, she almost immediately tried to bond via Shakespeare). But I am one of those people who is grossed out by doppelgangers having sex with anyone the person is actually attached to and who is attached to them, so whatever his reasons, I'm glad he's not going there.

I clearly missed a lot about that sword, but I still don't understand who those people were who took it and why? Are we not supposed to understand that yet? And was that what Jones was looking for, why he was portraying Max, or does he have something else in mind?

What I do like about this season is we get to see more of the group interacting with each other - Kyle/Max/Maria, Maria and Isobel, Michael and Rosa, and in this episode Alex and Liz. The group has been way too isolated from most of each other up to this point, and I'd like more big group scenes. 

Interesting idea that the funeral could be his uncle's, but it makes no sense why the whole town is there if so. Does anyone even know this guy? Why would Max be so upset? Why would Isobel? Or Rosa? I still think Kyle's mother is the most likely candidate. 

[peachmangosteen]

I love this stupid show lol. It's just so enjoyable to watch this season. Even if I have literally no idea what is happening ever.

I can chalk up people not realizing Max was Jones to them being preoccupied with Maria's coma and Kyle's kidnapping. Plus, Liz obviously did think something was off the whole time and I'm not gonna really fault her for not realizing right away that Max was Jones. I mean, that's a pretty big leap. Maria realizing it right away even with a busted head just proves Maria is more awesome than everyone else lol.

[backhometome]

Liz thinking something was off should have been the huge indicator that he was Jones lol.

I do find Jones a hell of a lot more interesting than Max. Plus his dog Lucky is so cute.

[Cristofle]

Isobel, especially towards the end in Max's dream, was actually who I was questioning more than Liz. Liz just found out Jones exists and has spent no time with him and doesn't know much about him, so it's fair that it took her a few hours to realize what was going on. But I was just kind of laughing at Isobel in Maria's memory, because it was basically like "Let me ignore him giving Maria the MURDER STARE for like five minutes while I contemplate the fact that the glass isn't broken like it should be, until Maria figures it out herself." Isobel has spent time with Jones. She maybe should have been quicker on the uptake, lol. 

Did I miss something, or was it a deliberate cliffhanger, what Jones might have done to the sheriff? Because she demanded an answer and he was kind of smirking at her and the scene ended. I don't think we saw her again, did we? But even though we all figured out last week that Jones was the one driving, so to speak, we clearly were not SUPPOSED to fully know until the end of this episode, so maybe that's why they didn't show yet what happened to her. I wonder if he's capable of manipulating memories. He clearly can get inside anyone's mind - as soon as he touched Maria, he was able to learn her grandmother's name. 

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, Cristofle said:

Did I miss something, or was it a deliberate cliffhanger, what Jones might have done to the sheriff? Because she demanded an answer and he was kind of smirking at her and the scene ended. I don't think we saw her again, did we? But even though we all figured out last week that Jones was the one driving, so to speak, we clearly were not SUPPOSED to fully know until the end of this episode, so maybe that's why they didn't show yet what happened to her. I wonder if he's capable of manipulating memories. He clearly can get inside anyone's mind - as soon as he touched Maria, he was able to learn her grandmother's name. 

Realistically, from what we know about Jones, he would have killed her without a second thought. What I think might happen is that she's shown to be in a coma. Which...eh, I would not be mad if they killed her off. She's done more harm than good and Jones HAS been useful in getting rid of shitty people thus far.

[tvwatchergordis]

Good episode albeit a bit slow. So the leader of Deep Sky is actually a Valenti 😲. Kyle's uncle in fact. Careful Alex! Don't want to be hurt. He's so smart. Love how his brain works and how he figured out the secret of Valenti.

Liking Rosa's new powers though it reminded me of Clark/Superman LOL. That's how his super hearing works. Interesting how "Maria's" mind was trying to keep Isobel out but still trying to give her and Rosa a clue of what really was going on.

When did Jones take over Max????? Was it when he healed him? The twist at the end was done well. Didn't expect that not to be Max. I guess Lucky was a big clue that the audience overlooked. Jones is not as honest as he makes seem. Knew he wasn't trust worthy. 

Let's see what happens now.

[RachelKM]

22 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Jones HAS been useful in getting rid of shitty people thus far.

He's the alien Dexter!

I'm really liking all the character interactions this season.  Isobel and Rosa were really nice together.  And I appreciated Isobel using her experience with Noah to help Rosa. It made me think, however, have we ever seen Isobel and Rosa discuss Noah?  His obsession with Rosa and his using Isobel to be with her, all of that is something that happened to both of them.

Goddamit, Alex! Good on you for putting things together.  But what the actual FUCK?! Was confronting Uncle DeepState like that the best plan you could come up with? 

Also, I now cringe whenever Alex and Michael are in a scene now. I think it's supposed to be angsty. But it comes off more antagonistic and whiny from Michael's side and annoyed from Alex's.

Edited September 1, 2021 by RachelKM
Typos and incomplete sentences....

[Cristofle]

8 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Also, I now cringe whenever Alex and Michael are in a scene now. I think it's supposed to be angsty. But it come off more antagonistic and whiny from Michael side and annoyed from Alex's.

I liked their scene in 3x03 - yes, Michael was whiny and Alex was annoyed, but it felt like a justified response because Michael's whining was annoying me too, lol. But this one? Ooof. I was not feeling it. It did not feel angsty, it just felt needlessly antagonistic. 

I'm not sure Max has been at the "surface", so to speak, since Jones healed him. Max is either trapped in his own mind or stuck in the pod. But that definitely wasn't Max with Liz in the last episode, and it wasn't him when he woke up either - he couldn't even clearly remember Kyle's name, because Jones doesn't know Kyle. And then we saw it was him with Maria. 

I am glad most of the main players knew it was Jones by the end of the episode. Watching Jones try to be human (since Max essentially is human, having been raised on Earth) is funny, since he's so bad at it, but I'm really not into doppelganger stories where everyone is clueless and thinks they're reacting with their friend/family member/whatever. I just find it cringey. I'm glad they haven't dragged that out here. 

[jqdeco]

I really like Jones. This has been a nice break from sad lovesick Max.  Although I’m surprised I actually miss sad Max.  Glad to see Alex and hoping him and Michael get over this angsty vibe. Really enjoying Isabel and Rosa working together.

[tennisgurl]

I am glad that the reveal of Max actually being Jonas didn't get dragged out too long, but I did enjoy watching Jonas trying and failing to seem like Max. It would have been annoying if it went on forever with nobody noticing how weird Max was acting, but for one episode I enjoyed it quite a lot.  "Hello fellow Earth people, its me, a person who has totally spent their formative years on this third rock from the sun named Max." 

I am quite liking this season, especially how much the characters are mixing up pairings and are around each other in groups so much more often. last season everyone was so isolated in their own subplots I really like the increased interactions, like Rosa and Isabel teaming up to help Maria or Kyle and Max hanging out last week. I even thought the scenes between Alex and Michael were decent, even if they were angsty and awkward as usual. At least they had reasons to be angsty and awkward, with Michael upset and guilty over Kyle's disappearance and Maria's coma and Alex's seeming indifference and Alex freaking out that the project he worked on and the boss he admired might be really sketchy and just kidnapped one of his best friends but not wanting to admit that yet.

Of course the guy turns out to be Kyle's uncle, you cant throw a stick around Rosewell and not hit a shifty relative. Oh Alex, this is why you have an exit strategy when confronting someone you think could be a bad guy.

[Cristofle]

15 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

"Hello fellow Earth people, its me, a person who has totally spent their formative years on this third rock from the sun named Max." 

LMAO, right? Basically Jones, except for all humans instead of teenagers:

Clearly when some of us thought this might go on for awhile, we were not taking into account that Jones cannot relate to people raised on Earth in any way, shape, or form. LOL. He looked like he was going to give up on his will to live if Liz came at him one more time.