My thoughts on Chant Down Babylon
Yay! Max is alive!! Yay!! Max regained control of his body!! Yay! Liz wants to go home!! Yay!! My dream couple is happy! Will it last for more than 2 episodes? Hmmm.. judging from spoilerish behind the scenes pix I saw of a certain someone, I guess 2 episodes is what we'll get once again. :(

Twice while watching this episode I stepped out of my Dreamer-self to wonder "Is this storyline very, very lame?" But in the end, my Dreamer side said, "Who the hell cares, I'm totally buying this!!" I guess actors with less talent could have really screwed this storyline up, as it was borderline on cheese, but one look at Jason's eyes while Max and Clayton were fighting for control of the body and I was totally hooked.

Isabel reacted as I expected her to react to Max's death. "He can't be dead". Hhmmm... isn't that what I repeated ad nauseam in my last review? ;)

The TV guide said "Jesse comes closer to discovering the truth". I'd say that Michael saying "She's an alien" is not just "coming closer"!!! I didn't expect Isabel to get shot. Those first few moments were pretty unnerving.

Michael is having a really bad week, isn't he? First Monk, then Max, now Isabel. And Maria's away. Sucks to be him!

Hey, the Wheeler residence, isn't that Langley's house from another angle?

"This is not me!" Uh... Clayton? I don't know what you used to look like in your younger days, but I would bet that this body is an improvement. "Why did he make me look like him?" Why are you complaining exactly? Take a good look at yourself. You're a BABE!! See, Meris saw the potential. Now, there's a woman with eyes. Okay, I probably could have done without Morgan Fairchild making out with Jason Behr, but I can't say I blame the woman *lol*

I love the look in Clayton's eyes when he finally gets a clue and says, "this is *my* body". "You know, it's not a bad one." Gee, Meris, understatement much? *lol* (Okay, who let my hormones run free again?)

Did I hear that right, did he actually say "That alien boy must work out"?!! LOL!!

For the record, I love the song by Sense Field. BTW, the whole soundtrack is great. I think it found a semi-permanent home in my CD player! How about that nice big picture of Max on the inside cover? Ah, yes. Back to the show.

Yay! For the first time on UPN: flashes!! And boy did we get some. I think we never got so many flashes in one eppy, except maybe Sexual Healing. I missed the flashes. Really good use of them when Clayton was making out with his wife and Max wanted to get out and cried for Liz. And with the lyric to Save Yourself, it was a beautiful dreamer moment.

How about that, Liz's roommate found out about Max's death before the Evanses did. Though it's a good thing no one told the Evanses, considering that Max is back and all ;)

Max died heroically, Michael said. How very Max, eh? When Maria said that, it occurred to me that Michael probably didn't know about the whole Wheeler thing yet. I wonder if Valenti will tell them.

I loved, totally *loved* the scene with Kyle and Isabel. I wanted Kyle to kiss her and bring her back. Then I figured I was read too many fairy tales as a child. But I still wish Kyle could have done something. Especially since having alien powers is his greatest fear, but he wouldn't have mind if it meant saving Isabel.

A 115-degree fever. Whoa. How high did Michael's temperature get in Balance? It was non-human high too, wasn't it?

It's great that Michael could bring Isabel back. I was pretty sure he would. But why didn't he try before? Healing is not his main power, but he did heal RiverDog before. He may not have been able to heal Monk but he is connected to Isabel in a special way.

Nice also that we got the story of how they first met. But where was Max during that lunch? I would have thought that in the early days, Max and Isabel didn't let the other out of their sights.

"Liz. I have to go to her." Yay!! You go, Max! "I killed people for you, Clayton." Yeah, but Liz got shot at for Max, jumped off bridges for Max, sacrificed her happiness for Max, saved herself for Max... (Valerie looks around – sheepish smile) Got a little carried away there. Sorry.

"Max... he wants control. He wants to be with Liz." Heard that Mr. Katims? Just in case you missed it, here it is again. MAX WANTS TO BE WITH LIZ.

So did Max kill Meris so she wouldn't kill Liz, or did Clayton just got tired of hearing her and used Max as an excuse? ;)

Thanks to Jesse's friend for explaining the reference to Chant Down Babylon. I would have completely missed it. And thanks to Maria for the audio aid.

Why did Clayton try to kill Maria? Because she was in the way, or he just enjoyed killing Meris so much, he decided to try his psycho- killer persona on again?

Liz brought the picture that was above her bed in Roswell to Vermont. (I always assumed it's Grandma Claudia.) Neat.

Woo-hooo!! Liz's alien powers are back! And it's a good thing for once! Take that, Clayton!!

"Liz, you're in danger. You have to kill this body." No! Max, NO! Shut up! Darn it, you know she'll do anything you ask her, don't tell her to do this!!! "He'll kill you if you don't." Once again, he's willing to sacrifice himself for her. Sigh. No cure in sight for my dreamer-state.

And I MUST mention once again what an outstanding job Jason did. Clayton and Max had different looks in their eyes and different voices, and you could always tell which one was in control. Kudos.

Giving new meaning to "my life flashed before my eyes". When I die, will I also get the "Roswell montage"? ;)

Oh my! What happened? (insert a hint of sarcasm here) When the writers went back to the old tapes to find good flashes, they came across this power Max used to have, the ability to create a green shield-thingy and decided, "Hey, that was kinda neat, let's use this again!!" (end sarcasm) Let's hear it for the return of the green shield-thingy. It was missed by me, if by no one else.

And that it was used in a moment when, once again, Max puts Liz before himself just makes my dreamer heart really happy.

Isabel and Jesse. I'm sorry, but when Max and Liz just fell from I don't know how many stories and are lying on the ground possibly wounded, or dead, I don't care if you're "ok". I. Don't. Care. Leave her. Stay. Makes no difference to me. So she lied to you. So she was good at it. But it's not about you, moron, she lied to protect her life. It's not like she didn't tell you she used to be blonde and now pretends that she's been a brunette all her life. People would *kill* her if they knew who she was. She hasn't even told her *parents*. So you can take your "feeling-sorry-for-yourself that you've been lied to" crap and go. "You're not Isabel Evans." Yes, she is, you idiot. Arggh. Whatever. I'm not talking to you anymore. You know what? I do care after all. Isabel, leave him. You won't be alone very long. Look around. You're in Kyle's bed. Now, that should put an idea in your head. Can we go back to Max and Liz now?

Oh, crap. Is Max dead again? He is, isn't he. Stop killing Max!!!!

The people from Liz's school won't be happy when they come back from Spring Break, what with all the debris and the dead woman in the library.

I just love how Liz's tear fell on Max's cheek as she was kissing him. Sigh. A kiss from Liz brought Max back. So Ronald D. Moore was also read a lot of fairy tales as a kid. And yes, I'd rather it was Max and Liz than Isabel and Kyle. So it all works out fine. :)

So where did the old guy go? I hope it's to hell, so he and Meris can be together again.

"You brought me back." "I guess that makes us even." Sigh. How totally and beautifully Max and Liz. Valerie is a happy dreamer. And a hopeless romantic, but let's not dwell on that! :)

Gotta go back to work, believe it or not. Arghh. It's past quitting time!!!!

Valerie