#rnm 4x02 spoilers

[foramomentonly]

4.02 Ficlet

Spoilers for 4.02

Read on AO3

This is sort of a reaction ficlet, but not a coda. @haloud and I were just casually freaking out about Sanders calling Alex pretty, and Sanders as protective dad, and Sanders’ “Alex ain’t shit” phase, and this little Lost Decade scene popped into my head. @christchex and @lambourngb and @arielana are also, no doubt, to blame.

Wow, it feels good to write to completion again lol.

As dawn burns a garish pink slash across the horizon, Walt sits in his office portable with a stack of receipts and watches the Manes boy sneak out of Michael's trailer, shaking his head. Manes is down the rickety steps of the Airstream and halfway across the dirt to his waiting Jeep before he pauses, eyes dark and gleaming even at a distance as he turns back towards the silver bullet.

"Come on, son," Walt mutters into his coffee cup. "You know you wanna stay."

The boy stands frozen for a long minute, one foot twisted behind him in flight, the other planted firmly forward. But then, like pieces of a Rubik’s Cube, his body turns away from the trailer in segments; hips, then shoulders, and finally his head, gaze lingering to the last moment on the dark interior visible through the small, papered window. He climbs into his car and drives away.

Walt sighs, dropping the papers in his hand back onto the clutter of his desk.

The kid'll be hell in cowboy boots today, that's for damn sure. Always is, after a visit from Alex Manes.

They're few and far between now Jesse Manes has his way and all four of his sons serve Uncle Sam. But no matter if the boy's in town a month or 24 hours, he finds his way to Michael's door like there's a magnet melted into the metal. And it always ends the same. Alex leaves, Michael stays, and the kid's heart breaks all over again.

Sometimes, Manes is gone while Michael’s still dead to the world, slipping away into the dark night or the brisk, early morning. Other times, they spill out of the trailer like dominoes, one after the other, angry, pleading voices carrying across the desert. Few years back, Michael all but chased Alex out the door, shirtless and barefoot, his sneakers gripped tight in one hand and his shirt draped over his shoulder. That memory's always a little too vivid for Walt's taste.

The glow of the Airstream's low light flickers on through the little window and Walt stands slowly as Michael's dark figure begins to shuffle around inside. He crosses the small office to the ancient coffee maker, pouring a new cup without bothering to refresh his own.

Walt used to wonder why Michael didn't kick Manes's ass to the curb. Sure, he's a good-looking kid. His features are pretty in a way his daddy no doubt hates; Jesse Manes mistakes beauty for weakness, even after his wife showed him the steel of her spine. Walt sees her most in Alex Manes, in the curve of his cheekbones and the dark depth of his eyes. And they damn well have chemistry, sounds like Walt has never heard before, he's sorry to admit, echoing through the thin walls of the trailer.

But Michael's got his own charm; sandy hair darker than Ms. Nora's, but his curls catch in the light same as hers, and his young body is lean and strong thanks to years of ranch work. He does more than all right with the women of Roswell when Alex isn't around.

He’s around eventually, though. He comes back. He always comes back. Manes inevitably stands at Michael's door and shifts his weight, flexing his muscles like he could even make his legs carry him away if he wanted them to. And Michael hems and haws, squints his golden eyes like he could look through Alex if he glared hard enough, like he could look away. And then he pushes the door wide open and Manes steps inside, and when it shuts behind them it stays that way for hours, all day, a weekend. 

The kids want to be together. Nothing's stopped them so far, and Walt's come to realize nothing probably ever will. Not even some damn self-preservation.

Michael bursts out of the trailer dripping wet and stormy-eyed, and Walt steps out to meet him, holding out the steaming mug of fresh coffee like an offering.

"We're backed up today, kid," he says instead of a greeting. "Drink fast."

Michael looks surprised, tries to cover it with a roll of his eyes.

"How long you been here, old man?" he asks, slurping the coffee greedily.

Up close, his eyes are shaded by dark circles.

"You get any shut eye?" Walt asks pointedly in lieu of a straight answer, raising a knowing brow, and Michael huffs, head rolling back in exasperation.

"Relax," Walt grunts, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm not gonna tell you something you already know and don't wanna hear."

Michael tilts his head forward, nodding slowly and looking anywhere but Walt's face. He fights the urge to cup Michael's chin between his fingers, the ghost of a gesture Ms. Nora once used to still Walt's restless energy. But the kid's a grown man, and Walt's not his father, not for lack of trying. Instead, he squeezes Michael's shoulder.

"He'll be back," he says, and Michael's eyes fly to his, wide and shining with hope.

"That so?" Michael asks, and Walt nods, turning back towards the office as a classic truck rattles into the lot, the first of the day.

"If he knows what's good for you," Walt calls over his shoulder. "And I think he does."

[gra-sonas]

T H I S S C E N E 🥺😭🥹

[0ut-of-my-head]

◦•●◉✿ 🅔🅒🅗🅞 ✿◉●•◦

4x02 «Fly»

[maycanady]

LIZ ORTECHO and MAX EVANS ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO | 4.02 “Fly”

[bisexualalienss]

Roswell, New Mexico | 4.02 "Fly"

[roswellnmsource]

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO | 4.02 “Fly”

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT – A visitor connected to Liz’s (Jeanine Mason) past comes bearing gifts. Anatsa (guest star Sibongile Mlambo) digs in on a story about the bank heists, angering Max (Nathan Dean) and putting Kyle (Michael Trevino) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) in a difficult position. The series also stars Michael Vlamis, Tyler Blackburn, Heather Hemmens, and Amber Midthunder. Lance Anderson directed the episode written by Christopher Hollier (#402). Original Airdate 6/13/2022.

[pastelwitchling]

My heart is pounding at the thought of last night’s episode. For certain people and scenes at least. I’ve given up hope that these posts will be short, so if you want to read my thoughts on 4x02, grab some tea and maybe a snack, because I have quiet a few opinions.

First thing’s first. I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking; Walt and Arturo are wonderful. Arturo’s whole, “Looks delicious, you’re hired” had me giggling for the first time since Alex’s, “And I’m eating Wheaties” last season. And Walt. Listen. Alex has been called many things throughout the show, but Walt calling him “pretty-lookin’ fella” is my absolute favorite. Anyone who acknowledges Alex’s good looks and beautiful heart is a freaking genius in my book. I’ve been calling Alex “pretty” in my fics since the dawn of time, and I can’t even begin to describe how satisfying it was to have Walt, of all people, be the one to bring it to life with such a casual tone, like of course he’s pretty, what’re you kidding me? This must be how authors feel when their books are adapted onto the big screen.

Anyway. That’s really where the laughs end for me. I’m probably going to get a lot of crap for this, but Anatsa’s so annoying. Okay, hear me out. On the one hand, I get that she’s a reporter and this is her job, the main character in my original novel The Wolf King is a journalist who wants the truth, so I get it. I really don’t dislike her at all, in fact if she was starring in her own show or something, I think she’d be a really fun and cool character. On the other, she’s an outsider to our little group, and she’s putting people I already know and love in difficult positions. I don’t want her to stay with Isobel, so I don’t want her to know the truth. I’m just waiting for this tedious, awkward relationship to end already.

I love that Isobel wanted to see Kyle and was crestfallen when she’d seen him on a date with someone else. I love kybel so I really can’t wait till we get to those two together. Kyle is awesome as always. I have to mention that.

Listen. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the guest stars, I’m sure they’re all very nice people and great actors, it’s just that there are always so damn many of them, and I am sick to death of the excess subplots. I really, really, really, really, really don’t care about Liz’s students. The one guest star who I legitimately am upset did not show up in season 2 (you know, when we were supposed to find out about the Awakening) was that doctor lady. I feel bad for having forgotten her name considering she’s the only one whose character is really unique and cool. I’m just so done with everyone else though. Respectfully.

Before I get to the Alex stuff that I always save till the end because I want to go off on a good note, I want to talk for just a second about that scene between Michael and Alex in front of the console. Admittedly, it really bugged me for a lot of the episode that Michael seemed willing to let Alex be away from home for a longer time so that he didn’t have to give up a piece of glass. I know the glass is important to him, but I wished he cared more about Alex leaving. Luckily though, they do address that at the end of the episode, and acknowledge it, and Michael makes up for it, which I was really grateful for.

There is a moment in the promo, however, for next week’s episode in which Michael basically implies that these aliens might not be the enemy, and I’m really, really hoping that that scene happens before he realizes that they took Alex. Because if these people kidnapped Alex, and Michael still considers that they might be good guys -- even if they didn’t know about the kidnapping and they are good guys -- but if Michael wonders, then I will be so, painfully disappointed. They took his Alex. They are the enemy in that instance, they can’t be anything else, not to him. So I hope for the best.

Now for everything to do with Alex. I love the opening scene, the way Michael and Alex are together as Alex talks to Deep Sky, I love love love the fact that Alex and Max and Dallas had sat down together to discuss plans -- I’ve been waiting for something like this since season 1 -- and I absolutely love the amount of time we got Alex on screen. As always, I wish we had him for the entire episode, but I’m really glad I didn’t have to wait long to see him.

Now. About him leaving, I love the way they did it, it was such a relief, and here’s why. We knew Alex was going to be off-screen for a bit because Tyler was having back problems at the time of filming and ultimately needed back surgery, so we knew Alex was going to leave for a time. I only pleaded that it wouldn’t be because he and Michael had broken up for whatever reason. They might still do that, I’m praying they don’t, but I said I would be fine if they faced whatever came as a couple, and that seems to be the direction the writers are going in, so thank the gods.

It gets better though, because even as Alex drove out of Roswell, I was brokenhearted, but the way they did it, with him being taken in the end, keeps him involved in the story in a much bigger way.

So it’s not like, Oh Alex just texted, he said he found some interesting readings blah blah blah. Alex being taken could be, what I’m desperately hoping for, the reason that Michael goes undercover in the first place. What I’m hoping happens is that the group talks like we saw them do in the promo for next week’s episode, Michael gets word that Alex’s car was left behind, that he’d vanished, and that they found traces of alien so the aliens took him, and that prompts Michael to go undercover in order to find Alex.

I’m hoping for the whole season 2 thing done right this time. I want the entire group to worry about him the way they freaking obsessed over Maria, I want everyone to actually care about what happens to him, I want Michael to go ballistic and never leave his side again.

I want this season to be the writers’ attempt to right the wrongs of season 2, do it better. And without a certain showrunner around, I have hope that they just might.

[maxortecho]

max running his thumb over liz’s ring finger because he can’t stop pining about marriage

PLEASE I CANT HANDLE IT

[lindstromm]

Random thoughts on 4x02 (Fly) of Roswell New Mexico:

Cutest moment: After Sanders calls Alex 'pretty' and gives Michael relationship advice, he does something somewhere between chucking him on the chin and fake punching him in the jaw. Sounds weird to describe, but it was cute in the show. (has someone giffed this yet?)

Cringest moment: Cam propositioning Dallas by thinking dirty thoughts at him and letting his telepathy pick it up. Seriously, girl, have a conversation first, would you?

Most unbelievable: The tech billionaire is a lesbian woman of color. That's the biggest clue that Roswell takes place in an AU. It's not the aliens, no, it's the idea that there is an American billionaire who is not a straight white man.

Getting kinda annoying: Liz, you do not need to force Vanessa to like you and accept your help. Respect some boundaries and let her be bitchy.

Best line: Michael carefully enunciating "bug goo baton."

Questions this episode answered:

Did Sanders survive Jones? (yes)

Why was Jones so intent on finding out who Michael loved? (so he could send a henchman to kidnap him)

What would Liz do if she ever gave up obsessively making world changing scientific discoveries? (teach GED classes and thin out Max's collection of longhorn skulls)

Questions not yet answered:

WHERE IS ROSA?

What is Isobel doing? She sold her house and her business, she's apparently living with Anatsa, and said working at the Crashdown was a second job.

Did Dallas quit his preacher job? He's moved into Michael's Airstream and is apparently hanging around Roswell without much to do.

[metaphoric-aliens]

what if Michael has to destroy his console to release Alex 🥺

[winnie-the-monster]

Hold TF up I figured Alex was gonna get kidnapped or something. But what's her name really sent him in the ground to some unknown bunker or something. Why him??? For what purpose??? Does she plan on using him to get Michael on their side??

[gra-sonas]

4x02 “Fly” Promo Pics

[gra-sonas]

4x02 Malex spoiler

“Michael and Alex, who are now officially living together, also share an intimate moment on “Fly.” Shippers, get ready because it looks cosmic!” - via TellTaleTV

[gra-sonas]

Malex in 4x02 THE SOFTEST 🥹💕

[gra-sonas]

He’s just as impatient as the rest of us ❤️

[gra-sonas]

Michael Vlamis plays Michael Guerin on The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico. The series, which originally premiered in 2019, is now in its fourth and final season. New episodes of the sci-fi drama air Mondays at 8pm ET/PT. This interview will include spoilers for episode 4×02, “Fly.”

We discussed this episode’s big cliffhanger, Michael Guerin’s growth, representation, his favorite Malex moment of the season, and much more. Keep reading for everything he told me!

So I really love the content we’re getting in terms of Michael allowing himself to share and acknowledge his fears in his relationship with Alex. It’s one of my favorite things so far. What are those scenes like for you to show that emotion and be real rather than pretend everything’s happy and amazing? Michael Vlamis: Yeah, actually I’m a big fan of those scenes. They’re some of my favorite scenes because they’re harder to do. They take digging a little deeper into my own personal past and any situations or feelings in my life that I can correlate to these moments, where someone is being so kind to you and you don’t think you deserve it. It took me a lot of years to realize that, “Oh, if I’m lashing back at someone, who’s been nice to me, why am I doing that? Why am I pushing people away that are loving me?” Maybe it was because I didn’t feel I deserved that love at that time and I think that is a really interesting thing to play now. As Michael Vlamis, I’m completely away from that– I mean, maybe not completely we’re all going to have pieces of it, right? But I can see and I’m self-aware of it, where Guerin isn’t yet. He’s becoming that, but it’s very interesting to go back to that state. It’s almost like I’m a bird watching above, but have to still embrace what’s going on on the ground and it’s fun. It’s a challenge, but I really like it.

We’re going to discuss this more later, but so many fans feel represented by your character and I feel like this is just another aspect that is going to drive that home even more because so many people feel that way in relationships. I hope so. I’ve been very fortunate, the writers have given me so much. I know Michael Guerin is really loved by a lot of people and a lot of people say I do a great job playing him, the writers do a great job writing him. The reason people love Guerin are the little moments, not just me, but also like the writers wrote in this kid in episode one, his rocket didn’t launch and the fact that they gave me a scene where I help, that is beautiful, that is the writers.

That moment made me teary-eyed, don’t get me started. In this episode, we have one of my favorite Malex scenes yet, and I don’t say that lightly, but we have to talk about that cliffhanger with Alex. I know you can’t spoil anything but can you tease Michael’s reaction? Are we gonna see him go full rescue mode like he did when Alex was kidnapped in the past? What can you give me? Oh my gosh, well, I think Michael Guerin is in a position in his life where he is entrusting that if Alex believes that he needs to go away for something, Michael is going to let him go. Michael’s not going to bother him, Michael’s not going to hover over him. That might be a bad thing at first.

But he goes, he snaps, and he makes sure that he goes after Alex. So he’s going after Alex in a way that I don’t even think we’ve seen him go after Alex before so everyone can be excited for that. I can’t give anything away, I really don’t want to give anything away, but Michael is deeply in love with Alex more than ever, like they are an item now. They’re officially an item! He’s not going to let that other half of him go anywhere else. I mean, he’s so corny, he gave him a half of a necklace. He loves the guy so much!

That was like straight out of a fanfiction. [Really?] People were predicting that he was going to give Alex some sort of alien glass jewelry. They were saying a ring, but I think that this necklace moment was pretty cute. Everybody wants a ring. Everybody’s talking about how– I made a joke on Twitter saying I resized Max’s ring so quickly and they were like, “Yeah, cause you’ve been practicing on yours.” And I’m like, “Man, you guys just wait and see. Just wait and see, stop guessing.”

I’m not ready, we’re not ready. No, nobody is.

One thing that I really love about you is how you engage with the fans. You are amazing with that. Were you shocked by how much the audience really resonated and felt represented by Michael and Malex’s relationship? Also, do you have any message for them about it being the final season? My heart is absolutely broken, but the show will definitely stay with viewers. Well, thank you. Oh, man, I was shocked but the question that you asked I’ve thought about a lot. A lot of different people have asked me questions in this vein and every time it’s a similar answer, which is I am literally floored by the amount of people that we have spoke to, but I shouldn’t be because Tyler Blackburn told me that this was going to happen. It’s very similar to like our characters in the show, he tells me something and I just go do it, and then it’s like “Ah, alright. You were right.” That’s exactly what happened. He told me at the very beginning, “This is going to mean a ton to a lot of people. You’re representing something way bigger than yourself right now.” We were like drinking wine on a balcony of the hotel in Albuquerque, where we’re shooting the pilot and I was just like, “Okay, yeah. I mean, I’m up to the challenge. I’m just gonna fully commit as an actor.” But then all of a sudden, DMs start flooding in, the tweets start coming in, letters even, and you start realizing, “Oh my god, this is way bigger than me,” and it’s honestly made me so much more involved in the community. I’m not out there like— I don’t voice a lot of political things, I’m an actor, there’s other people for that, you know? But I do always support, especially when it comes to representation and love being love all over the map. I can’t stand that there are some people that are the reason for people being afraid to be who they are. So yeah, I mean, absolutely floored, absolutely honored. I know that we’ve been on lists before of top couples in this community representing, Guerin himself has been on lists with like Zendaya and Euphoria for bisexual representation, I was like, “This is really fun. This is cool.”

But with it being the last season, I’m gonna keep doing my part for the community and that really is the best I could do is to support, be a lending ear, and just be there. That’s why I am so engaged with the fans, I want people to know that I am there. Little things like making sure that I’m donating to causes that I respect, The Trevor Project was a big one for us. We had a great donation last year to them because of a collaboration that me and Tyler did, and that makes me really proud. Things like that make me really proud. But yeah, for what’s next, I mean, I’m still going to be around, I’m doing so much. I’m really curious to see how that– you know, we created this fun little community called the Vlambase, which started off as a joke, like Vlambasefanbase, it was this fun pun, and it’s just become something, I mean, I got it on my AirPods. It’s become something so much more than a fun pun, it’s become a community of people that are meeting, making friendships over it, and people that are wearing merch and repeated customers because they’ve liked the quality and they like what it represents. I mean that has been so special, so cool. Honestly, I’m not trying to brag but like you said, I do think that my partner Jesa Joy and myself have done a great job marketing the show through this too. I didn’t even think about it as that at first, even me responding to tweets and stuff, I never thought about it as that. I just thought about it as “Oh, it’s good to be engaged.” If I was a kid or a fan of somebody, I would be floored if they responded. So I always think about it from that kid in Chicago, who wanted people to hit him back. So I’m trying to give that but I’m very curious of what I should be doing with the Vlambaseas it goes on, if there are more Roswell-themed things I could do with it or if I should move on to the next venture, but keep the Vlambaseor if it’s going to turn into something. I don’t know exactly yet, but I know that I’m always going to be here, representing, spreading the message, and being here for the fans. That is one of the most fulfilling things about the show, that the show gave me.

I can’t wait to see what you do next, you have some cool projects coming up and I’m definitely going to be covering them. Thank you, I can’t wait for everyone to see the first movie I directed. It’s way different than Roswell, but it’s really fun and it’ll make you think, make you feel. I’m excited for that.

I’m speaking to you during Pride Month, which makes me so happy so I want to ask what it’s meant to you to bring this beautiful bisexual character to life on television, see the effect, and how he’s evolved? He’s had a really great journey. Yeah, it’s so interesting because first of all, it’s meant the world to me– obviously, that’s apparent, I’m doing tie-dyes with the bisexual colors and that’s not a mistake! I was looking up like how do I represent as much as I can? What can I do? I mean, I’m ridiculous but no, it means the world to me. The job is fun. The feedback and reactions are fulfilling. I mean, the job is fulfilling too, but connecting with people, I think that’s a big reason I’m in this business. It’s not only entertaining or just getting reactions out of people, but like spreading positive messages or spreading messages that most people aren’t thinking about and this is going to give them an opportunity to think about, an opportunity to go share what they’re feeling with someone else. So it’s meant everything to me. I think Pride Month is so important, I’m so proud to be in LA as it’s happening. I’ve talked about it so much, I think it just is everything, it makes me emotional. It makes me very happy, very proud. I’m more proud of that than any of the work I’ve done on the show, but the work is the reason for that so they go hand in hand. Yeah, I think that’s where I’m at.

Everyone is ready for Malex this season, we finally get to see them as official boyfriends! What can you tease about your favorite Michael and Alex moment this season? Oh, my favorite Malex moment without spoiling, well, I’ll go back to the second half of your other question, which was like not only did Michael Guerin grow in his sexuality, which he grew relatively quickly in that, didn’t he? He came out to Max in season one.

He was proud of it, too. Yeah, he owned that pretty quickly. The things he doesn’t own are his problems with his family, his parents, how he felt from being abandoned as a kid, these are things he’s owning, but that growth has been really fun to play and really interesting, and taking us to the position that we’re in now with Alex. Now Alex is gone, Michael’s gonna go after him. I don’t know, I can’t say they reunite or what happens here but there will be a very special– it’s not the end of them, right? I think everybody will know that, that’s not some crazy spoiler, but there is as much truth as one can tell their partner is told in this season. That truth leads to, I think, some performances that I’m going to be most proud of and that I can share. The performances that we both did together in those scenes, I’m very, very proud of but you will never know what they are.