"Max, you know what your problem is? You put everything on yourself, on your own shoulders. Maybe you should have some faith in the people around you."

The relationship between mother and child was explored in this touching and, at times heartbreaking, outing penned by Jon Harmon Feldman and Jason Katims. It clearly showed us how secrets can divide families and how difficult blind faith and unconditional love can sometimes be. There were no easy answers to be had here and I was pleased they didn't wrap the story up conveniently by telling the secret. This outcome was much more realistic and offered much greater potential for future story development as Isabel and Max must now deal with actively keeping the truth from their mother.

This episode also gave new dimensions to the relationships between Michael and Maria and between Liz and Kyle as they found their way past hostilities.

Random Thoughts:

I wonder how much of Max's resistance to telling their mother stems from the resistance he's been facing from Isabel and Michael for months about bringing Liz into the fold. He threw their words back in Isabel's face more than once in this episode and the frustration he feels about it was apparent. I did find his absolute refusal to even consider telling their mother a little hard to believe given his complete faith that Liz could be trusted. Certainly you would think Diane has given him more reason think she would be accepting of the idea than Liz had before he confided in her. I would have thought Liz's acceptance of his true nature would have made him more open to trusting the woman who has apparently loved him unconditionally most of his life.

But maybe it's a case of too much too soon for someone almost completely unused to sharing himself with anyone other than Isabel and Michael. Also, the relationship he's had with his mother is one of the few normal relationships he's allowed himself to have over the years. It must be frightening to think of that being taken from him and being confronted with suspicion from the last person he expected it from.

And it's obvious that Isabel has some real issues with Max taking charge when she disagrees with his position. I don't get the impression this happens often and that she is fairly used to getting her way when it does. It's equally obvious that Max doesn't find it easy to stand his ground when faced with her anger and her desperation.

I find Isabel to be such a paradoxical character. With her family, she is almost completely open, warm and loving. She has obviously felt safe and secure in the love of the parents who've raised them since the very beginning. And yet she's developed a persona that is the polar opposite of the warm, loving girl she is at home to deal with the outside world. I enjoy watching the different facets of her personality unfold. Katherine Heigl does such a great job showing us the many layers of Isabel. Her despair at having to withhold the truth from her mother was heartbreaking.

But I found it strange that Diane's suspicions focused so intently on just Max. It seems reasonable to me to assume that if Max had special powers to hide because of where he came from, so would Isabel, since they obviously came from the same place.

While this was primarily an episode that focused on Max's inability to control everything around him, we also saw Liz struggling to get back in control of her life. She refused to admit that it was Max's decision for them to break up by insisting that the decision was 99% mutual. She took steps to resolve the tension with Kyle by extending an olive branch and followed through, opening the door to a more solid friendship with him. And she made it clear to Max that she's not going to be sitting around pining for him.

There was also some real progress in the lines of communication between Michael and Maria. Maria forces Michael to deal with all those messy feelings he's managed to avoid most of his life. She doesn't make excuses for him or make it easy for him. In spite of his repeated statement that he has to remain uninvolved, he's finding himself entangled in a very earthly relationship whether he likes it or not. Her opinion matters to him and he goes out of his way in this episode to make things right with her. I hope Maria realizes what it cost him to be so honest with her and how much he must care about her to make that effort.

Likes:

I loved the exploration of Max and Isabel's relationship with their mother. We have a much clearer understanding of their dynamic, both individually and together. The bonding scenes were very well done and Mary Ellen Trainor did a great job of conveying love for the kids as well as the frustration any mother would have at feeling left out of something significantly important in her children's lives and the hurt of feeling inadequate as a parent.

I like Diane's protectiveness of her kids. She shows us again that she's aware of the undercurrents between Max and the sheriff and she doesn't appreciate it.

I was glad to see the easing of tensions between Liz and Kyle. He's got a lot of potential as a character and now that they are on the road to friendship, maybe we will see more of him in the future. And let's hope that any further life lessons he learns from Sally Jessy are as enlightening as this one proved to be.

I got a chuckle out of Maria spontaneously cheering for the other team and her subsequent reaction.

The scenes between Michael and Maria were fabulous. I loved that Michael didn't give up when faced with her hostility, but instead kept making serious efforts to put things right between them. I found it very in keeping with the Michael we've come to know that he would try to solve the interpersonal problem by fixing the napkin holder for her. It represented something real and concrete without the messiness that comes with feelings. I found his anger at her failing grade touching and sweet. Brenden Fehr conveyed the confusion and determination Michael was experiencing superbly.

I liked how subtly Sheriff Valenti fed Diane's suspicions about the fire. Instead of coming right out and asking how Max put out a grease fire with a pan of water, he leaves a brochure for her to read, allowing her to wonder that for herself instead of raising her protective shackles by being accusatory.

I thought it was cute how Alex rearranged everyone in the bleachers to make room for Isabel and her friends and conveniently created a space for himself right next to her.

Loved Mom giving Max the third degree about his mysterious female lab partner.

I loved that Max wrapped the toy house in newspaper and then was embarrassed about it.

I thought Jason Behr did an outstanding job of showing the frustration and fear Max was feeling as things spiraled out of his control. From watching Liz gravitate back to Kyle to his first serious fight with Isabel to his heartfelt plea to his mother for understanding, his reactions were completely believable and real.

Dislikes:

There were more set inconsistencies in the Evans and Valenti homes. There was a window where the fireplace should be in the Evans' living room and the Valenti living room was completely different yet again. This makes three different sets used for that house, by my count.

The scene at the lockers with Max and Liz felt contrived. Since when is there reserved seating at a high school basketball game? There was nothing explained about why they would be compelled to sit together and therefore the conversation seemed unnecessary. And if they were uncomfortable enough about the whole situation to actually have a conversation about it, why would they sit next to each other instead of Liz sitting with Maria?

How ironic that both Isabel and Liz were so very quick to condemn Max for his controlling ways, without ever acknowledging their own tendencies in the same direction. While I think it was good that Max was forced to confront this in himself, we've seen time and again that Liz is every bit the control freak that Max is and Isabel has been trying to control Max ever since he confessed the truth to Liz. If they really believe that Max is the only one with a control problem, we need to take up a collection and buy them both tickets on the clue train.

I thought Max's pretext for going to see Liz after work at the Crashdown was weak. It would have been a much stronger scene if he had admitted that he was there because he needed someone to talk to who could provide a little perspective on the situation and wasn't as emotionally vested as Isabel and Michael. I think the same result could have been achieved if they had left Kyle out of it, and Max would have established that he still values Liz as a friend and respects her opinion. He could have even asked her directly if she was getting back together with Kyle without creating the ill will giving her permission created.

Favorite Quotes:

Max: "You're a real party animal, Mom.."

Max: "Everything you always wanted to know about a dead frog."

Max: "Thank you. You mentioned that. Like 10 times."

Michael: "Dealing with Frick and Frack over there is one thing, but we can't bring adults into this and expect them to handle it.."

Liz: "Hey."
Max: "Hey."
Michael: "Hey."
Maria: "Yeah, whatever."

Michael: "Humans. How excited they get over someone putting a ball through a hoop. It's ridiculous."

Isabel: "What are you saying? That if we tell Mom the truth, she won't love us anymore?"
Max: "I'm saying we'll never know the answer to that question."

Maria: "Look, I know how to grip, OK?"
Michael: "Apparently you don't."

Maria: "Interesting. You know, you should get yourself massive doses of therapy, like immediately."

Maria: "Maybe you should figure out what's wrong with you, Michael. Why you can't just piece together an apology like any normal human being. OOPS! Maybe that's the problem."

Isabel: "We can't just do a Max on this. We can't just sit back and passively watch."

Michael: "You healed a pigeon. Great. Now you're Doctor Doolittle."

Liz: "Excuse me? Are you apologizing to me?
Kyle: "I guess."
Liz: "Wow. You know, I wasn't aware that this was part of your repertoire."
Kyle: "I didn't either."

Kyle: "About lunch. I was hoping for something high in both fat and cholesterol without any inherent nutritional value."

Maria: "I guess I can safely rule out any career paths involving wood."

Michael: "It redefined the term napkin holder."

Michael: "I gotta be a stone wall and when I'm with you sometimes I don't feel like a stone wall anymore.
Maria: "What do you feel like?"
Michael: "I don't know...like, confused."
Maria: "Human?"
Michael: "Yeah, and I don't want to feel that way."

Max: "She's got this thing all of a sudden that I'm controlling."
Liz: "Oh, so it's her thing?"
Max: "What?"
Liz: "Just take a Psych class, Max, because you are controlling."

I give this episode 4.5 UFOs out of 5.