The Teaser opens on the same day as the previous episode (122: "Breathing Lessons") ends; right after Tess has met Isabel and revealed to her she knows where Nasedo is. Tess is on her cell phone with someone, confused that Isabel did not jump at the chance to meet Nasedo. Isabel is with the others, telling them what happened, and also confused at her own reaction.

Alex reveals that the Desert Man is a doppelganger for a dead lieutenant who was in charge of Operation Poholman Ranch; the same ranch where there pods were found.

The kids decide they don't know if they can trust either Tess or Nasedo, so they decide to investigate Tess by questioning her and checking her school records.

Liz opens her locker to find a present from Max—pens with her name engraved on them. She laments she can't leave him presents like that, so he gives her his locker combination number.

Tess and Kyle meet in math class and when they shake hands she has a fantasy of them having a make-out scene on the teacher's desk. She's flummoxed by this and behaves awkwardly with Kyle, causing him to agree with his friends that's she's strange, but he gives her props for shooting down Peter Gulla's advances.

An art class project in preserving objects has Liz bringing her corsage from the dance and Maria bringing a rose her mother received from Valenti. Michael overhears some of the other girls commiserating on Maria's behalf that she didn't get a corsage from Michael for the dance.

Max sees someone who might be Tess following Isabel and Diane to the mall and decides to follow the blonde girl. He decides it was a false alarm … or was it?

Isabel helps Diane with her volunteer work at the sanitarium and uses the time to ask her mom about heredity. While there she sees Valenti and Amy visiting his dad. Valenti shows his pleasure that Amy accompanied him when he brings her home.

Alex, having trouble breaking into the school computers (to access Tess's records) from home, decides he needs to break into the school office for more direct access and enlists Michael's help. While there, Michael finds his own disciplinary file and makes some adjustments to it.

Tess spies on the Evans home with night vision binoculars.

Liz and Maria quiz Tess, pretending to be part of the school's welcoming committee.

Max finds chocolate chip cookies from Liz in his locker and shares them with Alex, not realizing they have a special ingredient—chili peppers! Max sees Tess approaching and he and Alex run to the boy's room to hide. Michael sees them and follows. While there he confronts them for not letting him know about corsages, so they give him a quick "Relationships 101" lesson.

Tess goes into the empty art classroom and finds the corsage Max gave to Liz, getting visions from it. Kyle sees Tess looking at art projects and goes in to strike up a conversation. He ends up getting a mini vocabulary lesson. While admiring Michael's dome painting Tess touches Kyle's arm and gets mixed emotions.

The kids meet in an empty classroom to discuss what they have learned about Tess: She's sixteen; moved around a lot because her father (Ed Harding) is an import/export salesman for museums; mostly been home schooled; has a 4.0 average; mother is deceased, no siblings; they live in a development on Cottage. Isabel reveals she found a note from Tess in her locker pleading with her to meet again. Isabel realizes how alone she must feel and is inclined to meet, but Max convinces her it might be a trick, that they need more information. Michael suggests they should stake out their home on Cottage. Alex convinces them it should be the humans that do this, so Tess and Nasedo can't sense the hybrids, as long as all they do is steal their trash so they can go through it for clues. Without telling the hybrids, the humans decide to take pictures as well. While searching for "evidence" in the yard outside the Harding home, Liz loses one of the pens with her name on it. After finishing the picture taking of Tess and Ed having dinner, and getting the trash in the trunk of the Jetta, Liz goes back to find the pen; Maria and Alex remain in the car. By this time Ed and Tess sense they have visitors and Ed goes out to investigate. He confronts Liz. Maria and Alex pretend to be making-out in the car while they watch (but can't hear) what's going on, so Ed doesn't notice them. When Liz walks away from Ed, he turns towards the Jetta and Maria kisses Alex for real so he won't see their faces.

Alex develops the pictures he took at his uncle's photography studio. While waiting for them to develop, Isabel kisses Alex and realizes he kissed Maria. In the meantime Max and Liz and Maria and Michael have gone through the trash they stole. All the couples discuss separately what they thought they might learn when they met someone who had the answers. When the pictures are developed, Isabel tries to dreamwalk Tess and Ed with the pictures. She succeeds with Tess (a nightmare where Tess, very scared, feels she is being followed and hides in her pod chamber) but not Ed.

Max and Liz plan to do a dreamwalking test to see if she has been helping them dreamwalk or not. They do not succeed trying alone but they do together. This time Liz "sees" when she got shot and one of Max's nightmares—that his parents will find out he's an alien and reject him. Liz visits him in his bedroom to discuss the dreamwalk. While there Isabel comes in and asks them to try dreamwalking Ed.

Michael arranges to meet the others at his apartment after school, not telling them he has also invited Tess and Ed.

Larry calls Deputy Green about the private he met in the bar.

Max, Isabel, and Liz discuss with the others the differences they felt from the dreamwalk using the sketch of Desert Man and the dreamwalk using the picture of Ed (troubled soul vs tortured soul). Tess & Ed arrive and are surprised to see the humans there. At first Ed tries to pretend he and Tess are human too until Michael, using his powers, convinces them that the humans are "in the know". Angry, Ed insists the humans have to leave before he will talk to them, so the humans do so.

Liz's voice-over about answers and how they aren't always what you want, sounds over a video of the private trapped in an all white room.

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